As in all languages of the world, in Russian there are jargon or, as it is fashionable to call them today, slang. Despite their active use in speech, linguistic scholars are not in a hurry to introduce these terms into dictionaries, considering such names “second-class words”. Moreover, terms of this kind are still part of the language, and very important. Let's look at one of these slang nouns - "crap." What does this mean? Where did the word come from in Russian, and what features does it have?
The definition of word "crap"
This noun is called in the common people musicians. However, those who do not like to masterfully perform the works of Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, but those who play in restaurants for money.
It is worth noting that "crap" is a word that has a negative connotation. Usually they call them musicians who are ready to play various base music for the sake of tipsy restaurant visitors for the sake of money. Such people are also called "tavern musicians."
In addition to all of the above, crap musicians are also called craps at funerals and are also skeptical of their profession.
Some scholars believe that the root of the negative attitude towards kabatsky musicians lies in envy of them. It's no secret that playing in restaurants where a wealthy audience gathers, you can sometimes earn more in the evening than the average musician who performs classical music receives in a month.
In addition, many craps are self-taught, not educated and playing by ear. Some of them do not even know the notes. In this regard, the quality of their game is not always really good - hence the habit of considering them second-rate musicians. However, for the sake of justice, it is worth noting that many tavern nuggets are real virtuosos, although the drunken audience does not expect much skill from them.
What does it mean to "labat" and "lobanina"
Having dealt with what “crap” means, it is worth paying attention to the words “coughing” and “lobanin” that are close to it in structure and meaning.
If an ordinary musician plays or performs a piece of music, then the crap does not play, he cries. These two root words are interconnected. Scientists believe that one of them was formed from the second. However, it is not known exactly which of the terms appeared first in the speech.
There is another word related to the crap - this is "lobanina." This is the name of the game of the tavern musician. At the same time, for some reason, the root of this term does not spell “but” (as in “crap” and “cack”), but “about”. However, since it is not stressed, it sounds like [a] - [laban'ina].
Lab vocabulary
Although among professionals, kabak performers are treated with a degree of neglect, the people of this profession have for many years developed a whole dictionary of specific professional terms.
For example, a clarinet is a “bitch”, a flute is a draft, a trumpet is a toad, a piano is plywood, an accordion is a drumstick, etc. It’s worth noting that in the lab’s dictionary, many jargon look very much like expressions, inherent in the language of bandits. This is not a coincidence. The fact is that regulars of restaurants at the time when the word “crap” appeared (it is believed that this happened in the 20-30s of the XX century), were mostly criminals. Often talking with them on duty, kabatsky musicians adopted some of their words, making them "their own."
Also in the jargon of Labuchs there are many terms borrowed from the English language. For example: “hayer” - long hair (from hair), “shoes” - shoes (from shoes), “gerla” - girl (from girl).
Who used to be called craps
The modern meaning of the word “crap” is slightly different from what it was originally. So, at one time this noun was called not all restaurant performers, but only those who played jazz.
There is also an opinion that initially only the musicians of the string group were called by this word, although this version has no evidence so far.
Who is called the "antique crap"
This unusual phrase is not very common in modern spoken language. But it can often be found in questions for crosswords or scanwords. Their authors under the phrase "antique crap" mean wandering lyrers, singers and kobzars, who begged on the roads of Ukraine and Belarus in the past centuries.
Gypsy theory of the origin of the word "crap"
Since the word in question is not very beloved by linguists, no one has ever really studied its etymology. In this regard, today there is no serious and reliable theory of the origin of the word "crap".
It is considered official linguistics that the noun “crap” and the verb “crap” arose in Odessa during the NEP period. However, there is no reliable evidence to support this version.
The Russian linguist Shapoval V.V. puts forward his own theory of the appearance in the language of the jargonisms "crap" and "cack." So, he believes that both terms are derived from the gypsy verb “gabanit” (to sing). This name was gradually transformed into the term "gilaban". Over time, according to Shapoval, Russian-speaking listeners adapted this word to the spelling for them - “crap”, and then “cack”.
The linguist also believes that the gypsy word “money” - “love” or “labe” could influence the formation of the slang name of the kabatsky musician. After all, the crap plays to order for the sake of money, from here the noun appeared, calling it a profession.
The situation with the noun considered in this article is characteristic of many words of the modern Russian language. Thus, linguists throughout all ages have taken the liberty of filtering (as they believe) speech from weeds in the form of jargon. However, sometimes the terms eliminated by them eventually began to refer to the literary norm. But due to ignoring the history of the appearance of such names, it became almost impossible to establish, as in the case of the “crap”. It is hoped that the linguists of the future will be impartial to neologisms and jargon. After all, every word in a certain period of history belonged to one of these two categories.