Older people may recall a film shot by a Soviet director, where future son-in-law and father-in-law, with the names of Skvortsov and Shpak, respectively, sorted out the relationship. Everyone thought his last name was better. But not so simple with this word! Indeed, the word “spar" has at least three meanings. Let's look at each of them.
"Grains" for an addict
In Asian countries, drug addiction has flourished for a long time. In the nineteenth century, caravans of opium reached Europe. Then many doctors used morphine as a painkiller, and opium, which has a high content, has become a common drug.
But the high cost of this substance makes it today inaccessible to many. Instead, addicts learned in artisanal conditions from improvised materials to prepare a more affordable potion.
What is a spack for an addict? These are small grains of dark green color with an unpleasant odor. They are called “spar" or "nasvay", and they are obtained by mixing tobacco (shag), manure (goat, chicken, cow) and lime.
A similar mixture is passed through a meat grinder, and the finished sticks are dried. The drug is laid behind the cheek, trying not to touch the lips. A strong concentration of the substance can cause a burn of delicate skin, due to which blisters appear.
The low cost of such a potion allows teenagers and smokers with long experience to use it. Putting such a grain in his mouth, a person feels dizzy, momentary clouding of his mind, slight euphoria.
An unpleasant odor emanates from people who take nasvay for a long time. Experts believe that his appearance is associated with the carrying of drug bags. Senior smokers use a spar to reduce the number of cigarettes smoked.
Simple bird
Ornithologists know countless bird names. Each such name, except for the international Latin, depending on the country, also has a local one.
So, an ordinary starling living in the vast territory of Asia and Europe, in Ukraine is called shpak. This interesting dark-colored bird settles in colonies of five or six pairs and is a notorious pest, pecking the fruits of fruit trees. Even scarecrows exhibited in gardens rarely help save crops from a bird flock, which can reach one hundred individuals. Now, if someone asks you what a spack is, you can easily answer this question.
There are no former military
Another meaning of the word refers to the military. What is a soldier’s spar, you ask? In the late XIX - early XX centuries, military service was mandatory. Many men lived for more than a quarter of a century in the barracks.
In the end, the time came when they were fired. It was the storekeepers, as well as small civilian officials, that the military called “spas." What does a word do in officer vocabulary? It's all about the costumes that the clerks wore and which made them look like nimble birds in dark clothes. Hence, civilian officials got their nickname among the officers.