Why are the police called “garbage”? Where did the offensive nickname “garbage” come from?

WHO TAKES OUT THE PRESIDENT'S TRASH?
Interesting etymology

REMEMBER, ONE OF OUR SATIRISTS READ FROM STAGE a humorous dialogue between two ordinary people about the life of President Gorbachev:
-Who takes out Gorbachev’s trash?
- So he takes out the trash!

That is, the president’s trash is taken out by a policeman, who is also popularly called “garbage.” Moreover, there are different types of “garbage”. A police officer is called “colored trash,” distinguishing him from the general environment of “garbage,” which also includes prison officers and guards.

Of course, the origin of the word is most easily associated with real trash and garbage, with which the criminal world compares its enemies, called upon to uphold the law. But the question is: why garbage? There are many other suitable words in the Russian language: trash, trash, junk, rabble, trash, vomit, etc. What determined the choice of the criminal community?

According to one version, “garbage” is a slightly distorted Hebrew moser, which in Hebrew means an informer, traitor, spy. True, in Hebrew the stress falls on the second syllable - MosEr. But, according to Jewish researchers, currently “muser” in the meaning of “informer” is pronounced with the emphasis on the first syllable. So let's remove this objection.

However, there are other objections. Most researchers attribute the emergence of the words garbage-muser-moser to the period of the late 19th - early 20th centuries. However, IN NOT ONE DICTIONARY OF CRIMINAL JARGON published before the revolution will we find either “garbage”, “muser”, or “moser”! That is, in general. These words don’t come across in works of art of that time, in the newspaper chronicle or in any other sources.

You say - so what? You never know what words don't make it into dictionaries. This doesn't prove anything. Well, how can I say... "Ment", for example, for some reason ended up in these directories, and very often. It is also found in famous authors - for example, in Alexander Kuprin’s “Kyiv Types” (1895-1897). But not a word about “garbage”. Although according to logic: a POPULAR slang word denoting police officers or specifically detective police agents, SHOULD have been clearly reflected AT LEAST SOMEWHERE!

Meanwhile, perhaps for the first time it was inserted into the dictionary of S.M. Potapov “Thief Music” (M., 1927). There is moser, and garbage, and mussar... In any case, I could not find any earlier mentions. “Moser” is not mentioned in the 1908 dictionary “Thief Music” by Vasily Trakhtenberg - in any form (although some “experts” like to refer to this). Even in the same Potapov’s dictionary “Thief Music” of 1923 (published by the Criminal Investigation Department of the Republic) there is neither trash-muser nor moser!

Another objection: there is a distance between the “informer” and the policeman (“militiaman”) huge size. “Connection” is clearly far-fetched.

But we won’t quibble here either. After all, the Russian detective police of that time actively used a wide range of agents from among the members of the criminal world. This form of obtaining information first became widely used in security (political) and detective (general criminal) departments. Here, for the first time in Russian practice, the concept of “agent” (now more popular – “secret element”) appeared.

Another method of collecting evidence, facts, and incriminating evidence on criminals was no less popular - introducing an experienced detective into a criminal environment. The employee of the detective department was prepared with a cover story, provided with cover, communications, and a way out of the development in case of failure. Detective agents studied in detail the morals, traditions, laws, customs of criminals, their jargon, demeanor, etc. So, in a certain sense, they could also be called “musers.”
Note that these are fairly common techniques in the work of law enforcement agencies around the world; They also moved from the Tsarist secret police to the Soviet criminal investigation department.

AND STILL THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN “TRASH” AND “TRASH.” Of course, the Hebrew “moser” or the Yiddish “muser” could become “garbage” as a result of phonetic “Russianization” - in order to make the word more familiar to the Russian ear. Such examples can be found. For example, the German “messer” (knife) in many dialects of Russian argot turned into “mesar”, “koknar” - into “kitchen”, etc.

However, in the case of “garbage”, a number of researchers suggest more compelling reasons for phonetic metamorphoses. A significant part of experts contrast the “Jewish” etymological version with the “historical” Russian one. These linguists derive the word “garbage” from the acronym MUS, which stands for Moscow Criminal Investigation.

True, adherents of this interpretation sometimes go too far in their constructions. One of the volunteer “linguists”, a LiveJournal user under the nickname tsaritsa_makosh, for example, states:

“The word “garbage” dates back to Moscow in the 20s. When the Cheka was disbanded, on its basis the Moscow authorities created an organization called the Moscow Criminal Investigation. Abbreviated as ICC. The guys who worked there were responsible and faithful to their work, because... Most of them at one time worked in the tsarist secret police, and the people who served there were almost fanatics. And the gangs that ran rampant had a hard time in the first years after the revolution. And the ICC was successfully renamed the MUR in the 50s.”

Well, firstly, in the 1920s, “criminal investigation” did not exist in the Republic of Soviets. It was indeed replaced by the Moscow Criminal Investigation Department, but not in the 50s. The Soviet threat arose on October 5, 1918, according to the “Regulations on the organization of criminal investigation departments” issued by the NKVD of the RSFSR. And the assertion that the detectives of the first years of Soviet power were mostly recruited from former employees of the Tsarist secret police seems completely absurd. Quite the contrary, the “former” were purged with all revolutionary adherence to principles. But we'll talk about this a little later.

There are also more exotic assumptions. Alexander Melenberg spoke about one of them in the publication “Where the “garbage” came from (“ New Newspaper", October 30, 2008):

“One uncle from Odessa, a veteran of the police since 1944, even told a curious correspondent that ICC operatives wore reverse side There are badges on the lapel of the jacket, “so small, round, with the letters “MUS”. And when introducing themselves, instead of the “red book,” they “so casually turned away their lapels,” saying: “MUS OR so-and-so,” that is, Moscow Criminal Investigation Worker.”

Of course, stories of this kind are absurd by their very nature. It’s wild to even imagine that there would be such an idiot who would present himself as “garbage.” This can only be attributed to the quirks of “folk” etymology. Without even reminding once again that the “Moscow investigation” did not exist as such in the Land of Soviets.

MOST RESEARCHERS attribute the emergence of the abbreviation MUS (Moscow Criminal Investigation) to more early period. And here you can’t do without short excursion into history.

For a long time, “search” and “search” as legal terms in Russian legislation were actually synonymous. In the middle of the 17th century, the terms “detective” and “detective” were still dominant (which, for example, is enshrined in the largest code of laws - Cathedral Code 1649, operating in the Russian state for over two hundred years). And by the end of the century, the frequency of using “detective” and “search” in the same meaning (search for criminals, investigative trials and criminal courts) is leveling out.

So, at the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th centuries. the term “search” is assigned the meaning of investigative, inquisitorial trial by combining the functions of court and investigation in one government agency, using torture as the main method. This is recorded in the Personal Decree of 1697 “On the abolition of confrontations in court cases, on the existence instead of questioning and searching, on witnesses, on the challenge of them, on the oath, on the punishment of false witnesses and on duty money.” The first article of this document states: “And instead of trials and confrontations on petitions of all ranks of people in grievances and ruin, carry out a search in battle and in dishonor or in battle and in injury and in all sorts of grievances and ruin.” In the other 13 articles of the Decree, the lexeme “search” is synonymous with the term “search”. In the 18th century, we find both the decree of 1711 “On the unhindered search and prosecution of thieves and robbers and their accomplices by detectives in all provinces” and the “Instructions specified for the detection and eradication of thieves and robbers to the chief detective” of 1756.

Both the Detective Order (1682, 1730 - in Moscow), and the Search Expedition (1729 - in St. Petersburg; 1763 - in Moscow) were bodies of the state apparatus for detecting and capturing criminals, conducting inquiries, investigations and courts for criminal and political cases.

From the end of the 18th to the first half of XIX centuries The terms “detective” and “search” practically disappear from legislative documents on the police.

They were revived only in the second half of the 19th century and already differ significantly in meaning. It was from this time (more precisely, from 1866) that as part of the general police Russian Empire special units appear to combat general criminality. These units - the Detective Police - first operated in St. Petersburg (1866) and Moscow (1881), and then throughout the country as Detective Branches (since 1908). The content of their activities was the detection of crimes based on the traces left, the detection and capture of criminals, their transfer into the hands of the judicial investigative authorities with all the evidence found and recorded and material evidence collected during the investigation of crimes.

At the same time, “detective” is interpreted in a broad sense - as a type law enforcement aimed at protecting the interests of the state, society and individuals from criminal attacks.

But the term “search” acquires a narrower special meaning in comparison with “detective” - activity of a covert nature, necessary component detective This type of criminal procedural activity precedes inquiry and investigation.

It is in Article 61 of the mentioned Instructions that the concept of “criminal investigation” is fixed as an official term.

TRUE, THE ALREADY MENTIONED ALEXANDER MELENBERG in his article “Where the Garbage Comes From” categorically opposes the version that “garbage” comes from the old regime ICC. He remarks ironically:

“Any Internet visitor who is interested in the etymology of the word “garbage” in its popular sense will very quickly find out that such “garbage” is derived from the abbreviation ICC - Moscow Criminal Investigation. A dozen users will explain to him that the employees of this institution are first punks, and then the whole Russian, then the Soviet and again Russian people with genuine voluptuousness they began to call him by this word, soon broadly transferring it to all other policemen.
But before the revolution, criminal investigation in Moscow had a stable name - the Moscow Detective Police (MSP), and after the revolution it had an equally stable abbreviation MUUR (MUR). Where did the ICC come from? Users... don’t explain this.”

Mehlenberg also reminds us that “Trachtenberg does not use the word ‘garbage’. Although there is a “muser”, in the sense of a traitor, an informer.” To be honest, Trachtenberg does not even have the word “muser,” but we will forgive his comrade for his delusions.

The objections, to put it mildly, are not entirely correct. First of all, regarding the stable name of the Moscow Detective Police (MSP). Honestly, if we have a “stable name”, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, does it abolish the term “police bodies”? Please note: the “official term” “police” practically did not exist in our documents! Everywhere - the department of internal affairs, the department of internal affairs, the ministry of internal affairs... Well, we didn’t have a “ministry of police”! But the “Police Law” existed.

In addition, since 1908, it was not the DETECTIVE POLICE that operated in Russia, but detective police departments. 89 detective departments arose in large cities of the empire according to the law “On the organization of the detective department” of July 6, 1908.

From that time on, the terms “detective departments” and “criminal investigation” existed on equal terms. As I already mentioned, the term “criminal investigation” was also used in official police documents. So there is no “contradiction” here.

As for Trachtenberg, his dictionary was published in the same 1908. That is why there could be no “garbage” there.

“Instructions for the ranks of detective departments” was published even later - on August 9, 1910. As we have already mentioned, it is in it that the term “criminal investigation” first appears. Structurally, criminal investigation was part of the Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire. With the introduction of this term into circulation, there arises stable expression Moscow Criminal Investigation. Before this, the ICC did not really exist as an official term.

EVEN IF WE ASSUME that the word “garbage” is a derivative of the abbreviation ICC, the question arises: why did the criminal world single out Moscow detectives and not any other detectives? There is a fairly convincing version. In 1908, just after the law “On the Organization of the Detective Unit” was issued, the Moscow detective police was headed by an amazingly talented and active person - Arkady Frantsevich Koshko - the “Russian Sherlock Holmes”.

In the shortest possible time, Koshko made the Moscow criminal investigation the best in the empire. It was then that the “garbage” appeared - that’s what Moscow detective agents were called. Speaking on the Vesti television program, Andrei Chumakov, an employee of the press service of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, proudly recalled this in 2008:

“It was precisely thanks to its creation that the nickname “garbage” was subsequently assigned to police officers. On the lapel of their jacket, employees of the Moscow detective police wore a sign with the inscription “MUS” - Moscow Criminal Investigation.”

To be honest, about the badge, it’s just a simple story. No one has ever seen this mysterious icon; there are no mentions or even hints about him in memoirs. The same kind of stories exist about the badges of hunting societies with the image of a pointing dog, which were supposedly worn by detectives either in Tsarist Russia, or, according to other sources, by Soviet detectives of the 20s of the last century. Hence the offensive nickname- "cops." In fact, again, no confirmation of this information, other than rumors and gossip, could be found. True, in the Moscow Museum of the Ministry of Internal Affairs they even show a couple of badges with cop dogs; as an ASSUMPTION, the guides express the idea that these signs were screwed on the outside of the collar, and the MUR badge was screwed on the inside to the same “rod”. But this is complete nonsense, since the contemptuous name “cop” has been recorded in relation to the tsarist detectives at least since 1908 - in the already mentioned dictionary of Vasily Trakhtenberg as a synonym for the word “greyhound”: “Detective police agent. Persons related to the detective police also use the nicknames of “frogs,” “bitches,” and “cops.”

As for Koshko, he soon headed the entire criminal investigation department of the empire, thanks to which at the 1913 International Congress of Criminologists in Switzerland, the Russian detective police was recognized as the best in the world in the “crime detection” category. Accordingly, the nickname of Moscow detectives spread to all Arkady Frantsevich’s subordinates.

However, let’s make a reservation: the icon with the abbreviation ICC still exists! True, it appeared not so long ago and is awarded exclusively to police officers of the Republic of Belarus. Yes, and it stands for a little differently - the Ministry of Internal Affairs Sprau (Ministry of Internal Affairs). But at least Belarusian police officers can call themselves “garbage” with every right...

BUT LET'S CONTINUE TO QUOTE MEHLENBERG. Without denying the connection between “garbage” and the ICC, he, however, attributes the appearance of the word “garbage” itself to the revolutionary and post-revolutionary years:

“After the February, and even after October revolution The Moscow detective police continued to function as before. Unlike other police, legal and prison buildings, no one stormed or burned its premises. Perhaps for the reason that, acting mostly autonomously, it was located separately from other institutions of this kind.

Hidden in the depths of Maly Gnezdnikovsky Lane, this picturesque mansion was destroyed a couple of years ago during the construction of a modern office complex in its place.

And the detective police themselves were formally destroyed on December 4, 1917. On this day, the NKVD board decided to liquidate the criminal investigation department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Provisional Government and its subordinate institutions.

But this is in Smolny, and the local Bolshevik authorities, seeing the growing gangster lawlessness (after all, according to the amnesty of March 18, 1917, all criminals were free), were not at all inclined to abolish the detective departments, losing valuable specialists. The cook will be able to manage this state, but being a seasoned operative, forensic expert or fingerprint examiner is weak for her, however...

The entire staff of the Moscow detective police, exemplary in the country, as we already know, led by its chief Karl Marshall, after the forceful seizure of power by the Bolsheviks, remained in their places and recognized the new masters. The Soviets appointed a commissar to the “detective department,” whose signature from now on made all the orders of its chief valid. The former detectives remained in service until January 1918, gradually being squeezed out by new personnel. The Moscow Soviet even paid for the Marshal’s business trip to... Riga, occupied by the Germans. As a sign of special recognition of his services."

True, Melenberg himself admits that Alexander Kerensky, upon coming to power in March 1917, replaced the word “police” with “militia”, and instead of the old regime word “detective”, which hurt the revolutionaries’ ears, he introduced the concept of “criminal investigation”. But further, in order to prove that the word “garbage” arose not BEFORE, but AFTER the revolution, the author states: the transformation of “detective” into “wanted” happened only in St. Petersburg, but in Moscow and the provinces they not only left the former local employees of the detective departments , but even the previous name was not touched. Although the detective police themselves were formally destroyed by the Bolsheviks on December 4, 1917:

“In the country this change was not immediately accepted and half-heartedly, trying to cling to the familiar sound that is familiar to the ear. So the Moscow Detective Police began to be called the Moscow Criminal Investigation. Moreover, the ICC was practically not mentioned in official documents. It was replaced by the expanded abbreviation MUSiR - Moscow Criminal Investigation and Search. It, of course, provoked an even greater resemblance to the notorious “garbage.”

This story confuses the holy and the sinful.

First of all, the statement that “after the February and even after the October Revolution, the Moscow detective police continued to function as before” is absolutely untrue. Firstly, the Moscow detective police never existed in nature at all, but a detective department operated, which was located in the same building as the security department. Secondly, immediately after February Revolution The building of the Moscow security and detective departments in Gnezdnikovsky Lane was raided and set on fire. To be precise, this happened on March 3 (16), 1917, although some researchers call February 1917. It couldn’t have been otherwise: at that time, the buildings of the security and detective departments throughout the country were burning. The secret police agents sought to destroy the incriminating evidence that gave them away, the criminals burned their “track records.” But in the St. Petersburg criminal investigation department, a fire broke out only after the October Revolution, on October 29, 1917. Almost all documents relating to the criminal world of Petrograd were burned in the fire.

Now about the mysterious term "MUSIR". There was no MUSiR! And the ICC did not exist during the period of the Provisional Government. On March 11, 1917, the militia was established by decree of the Provisional Government. Its activities were regulated by the “Temporary Regulations”. The new government adopted an extremely tough policy in relation to the tsarist law enforcement agencies (in this it differed little from the subsequent Bolshevik one): “Continuing service as police officers turned out to be impossible in the vast majority of cases. Old officers and their families became victims of political squabbles, as a result of which stable attitudes prevailed in society anti-police sentiments" ("Essays on the history of the internal affairs bodies of the Russian state." V.A. Demin, V.E. Ivanov, A.V. Luchinin, V.P. Lyaushin)

An exception was made only for detective police officers.

The former detective departments were renamed the CRIMINAL DETECTIVE POLICE. This is it (and not the ICC or the MUSR) and was headed by the former collegiate adviser (which corresponded to the rank of colonel) Karl Petrovich Marshalk, for a long time who worked with Arkady Frantsevich Koshko himself.

Let's decide again on the ICC and the "musyas". We have already seen that the Provisional Government dealt with any mention of “investigation”. The Bolsheviks were not going to return to the “investigation” either. On October 5, 1918, the NKVD approved the “Regulations on the organization of criminal investigation departments.” In accordance with it, criminal investigation bodies were established in the cities of the RSFSR of at least 45 thousand people “to protect the revolutionary order through the secret investigation of crimes of a criminal nature and the fight against banditry.”

Karl Marschalk now headed the Moscow criminal investigation police. But after the “Red Terror” unfolded in the country, fearing for his life, at the end of 1918, Karl Petrovich, during business trip to Petrograd fled to the West and settled in Berlin.

Yes, the old specialists made statements about their readiness to cooperate with the new leadership of the country - both in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and in other large cities that were under Bolshevik rule. For example, on November 2, 1917, a meeting of the operational staff (of course, from among the old regime “specialists”) was held at the Petrograd Criminal Investigation Department, where the issue of working in the new conditions was discussed. Here is the resolution of the meeting:

“...Bearing in mind that criminal investigation officers, by their vocation, have as their task and responsibility only the fight against criminal crime, that this institution is non-partisan and helps every victim, and its work has not been suspended during all changes in government power, despite the double defeat of the administration interested criminals, the general meeting decided to continue its criminal investigation work under the existing this moment authorities and fulfill their heavy civic duty to the population of Petrograd in the fight against ever-increasing criminal crime.”

However, the new government did not need the defiant non-partisanship of the former detectives. The suspicious formulation regarding the CURRENTLY EXISTING government and the fulfillment of duty not to it, but to the POPULATION, looked offensive to the Bolsheviks.

In general, after the creation of the MUR, open persecution of the “former” begins. In October 1918, the Petrograd Criminal Investigation Department addressed all local Soviets:

“The business of criminal investigation in the Russian Federative Republic, which was under the tsarist regime in the harsh grip of the gendarmerie and police, of course, could not be raised to the desired height at which this activity, which is extremely important for any civilized state, should be...
The time has come to raise the business of investigation to a scientific level and create a cadre of truly experienced employees, scientific specialists.
As a legacy from the damned tsarist regime, we were left with a dilapidated, worthless detective apparatus with employees who, for the most part, were viewed by the general population (and often rightly) as elements of dubious morality, dealing with their personal affairs with the underworld. This situation cannot be tolerated any longer...”

Former criminal investigation officers ALL OVER THE COUNTRY have been stripped of their civil rights. It was strictly forbidden to involve them in the activities of the new, workers' and peasants' law enforcement system.

True, the ban on hiring old detectives locally was often violated: in the Petrograd Criminal Investigation Department, for example, more than a hundred old “specialists” worked. Of these, a special task force was created to develop tactics to combat professional crime. Moreover: a scientific reference, registration and fingerprinting bureau was created, which was headed by a detective specialist with pre-revolutionary experience Alexey Andreevich Salkov. The bureau had an excellent photo laboratory, a forensic science office, developed methods for searching for criminals and identifying murdered criminals by tattoos... But all this was done at your own peril and risk.

The ridiculous decision on specialists was canceled only by the 3rd All-Russian Congress of Heads of Departments of Internal Affairs Directorates of Executive Committees, which was held from January 20 to 31, 1920 in Moscow. At the congress it was officially recognized that without people who know the detective business intimately, it is impossible to achieve high results - no matter how enthusiastic the amateurs may be.

Why such a deep excursion into history? Yes, to make it clear: the word “garbage” in the sense of “criminal investigation officer” could not have appeared after the revolution from the abbreviation ICC. Because there was NO such abbreviation itself.

SO, IT APPEARED BEFORE THE REVOLUTION? It seems like it. It is even possible to determine with a sufficient degree of accuracy that it arose after 1910, with the advent of the official term “criminal investigation.” Let’s say it was the employees of the Moscow criminal investigation department (the most successful at that time) that the punks began to call at first “GASTER” - indeed, thus comparing them with garbage, rubbish, unnecessary rubbish.

This method is quite typical for “criminal” word formation: this is how, for example, the word “Murka” arose (from MUR - Moscow Criminal Investigation Department; “Murkas” in the 20s - early 30s were the name given to employees of this organization). Already today, the word “vIchik” has appeared in prison jargon - a convict who is a carrier of HIV infection.

Alas, a number of doubts arise here too.

The first is the same as in relation to the Jewish “moser” - “muser”: BEFORE THE REVOLUTION this word was not recorded.

The second is no less thorough. In Tsarist Russia there was practically no tradition of designating certain institutions with abbreviations. Abbreviations in the Russian Empire, of course, existed, for example, in the names of reigning persons:
E.V. – His (Her) Majesty, E.I.K.V. – His Imperial and Royal Highness, etc. However, it is government agencies As a rule, they were not indicated by abbreviations. This tradition appeared precisely under Soviet rule and acquired hypertrophied, ugly forms. However, under the Soviets there was NO LONGER DETECTIVE! Moreover, the abbreviation ICC stands for Moscow Criminal Investigation.

However, I make a special reservation – “as a rule.” Because abbreviations and abbreviations still appeared. Including to designate law enforcement agencies. For example, such a dissonant abbreviation as Zh.P.U. For example, badge 9858 “Kremenchug Zh.P.U.Zh.D.” has reached us. - that is, the gendarme-police department of the railway.

Well, you see! - the reader will exclaim. If there was a F.P.U., why couldn't there be a M.U.S.? Yes, for one simple reason: the gendarme police department was an OFFICIAL INSTITUTION, but the Moscow Criminal Investigation Department did not OFFICIALLY exist! Officially there were detective police departments. That is, if they were cut down, then S.U.P. would come out.

By the way, let's note an interesting fact. If, according to the would-be “researchers,” before the revolution, “garbage” appeared from the mythical acronym ICC, then why didn’t such sharp-tongued punks “beat” the abbreviation Zh.P.U., which is much more well-known? In any case, we have absolutely definite MATERIAL evidence about it. “Zhepeushnik” or “zhopushnik” sounds much more offensive than “garbage.” However, it seems that precisely because of the unpopularity of abbreviations in Imperial Russia, illiterate criminal people did not pay any attention to them at all.

SO WHAT ARE WE LEFT WITH IN THE DRY RESIDUE? One thing can be said for sure: before 1927, the word “garbage,” as well as “musser” and “moser,” was unknown in Russian criminal jargon. For the first time (at least, I was unable to find anything else) it appears in print in 1927 in the reference book “Dictionary of Criminal Jargon. Thieves' music" S.M. Potapova: “Muso(a)r is a criminal investigation agent.” Not a search, but a search. In the 30s and 40s, “garbage” and “trash” coexisted, although they were interpreted more broadly. In the “Handbook of the Gulag” by Jacques Rossi, who served in Stalin’s camps for more than 20 years, it is noted: “garbage or muser (rare; from other Hebrew) - policeman; warden; operative; informer." In the end, the “muser” completely disappeared from the horizon.

Today the most reasonable assumption is that the word actually has Jewish roots, where "muser" means informer. But the borrowing did not occur until the mid-1920s. It was in the 20s of the last century that a mass exodus of shtetl Jews to Central Russia as a result of the abolition of the so-called “Pale of Settlement”. This was also facilitated by the fact that among the Bolshevik leadership a significant part (if not the majority) were Jews.

The bulk of the settlers rushed to settle in the large and small cities of the republic, but especially its capital. The indigenous population responded with a surge of everyday anti-Semitism. But this is a slightly different topic. We will note: this Soviet “exodus” could also contribute to the expansion of the influence of the language of small-town Jews on Russian criminal jargon.

The thieves' "garbage" gave life to other words of this kind: "garbage", "garbage", the generalizing "garbage", the wonderful apparatus "mentor-winged garbageschmidt" ... The police premises in the slang of the Urkagans are called "garbage". There is even a saying like this, almost according to grandfather Krylov - “The wolf, thinking of getting into the kennel, ended up in the kennel.”...

ILLUSTRATION:
badge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus.

Reviews

I heard from one old camp inmate that the word comes from the word guard in Hebrew. I think it's pronounced "musaget". the usage I knew was very close to this. The word “garbage” was used specifically to describe guards and members of police security structures. did not apply to investigators, operational workers, etc. appeared in Odessa in the 1920s in connection with mass arrests of the Jewish criminal world.

Well, what does this interpretation have in common between moser and garbage? I have a special article on my page about the idiotic binding of slang words to Hebrew and Yiddish.

You haven’t read the essay you’re reviewing :)).

There is something about moser, and about changing the form of this word, and about the unsubstantiated versions with origins from the Moscow criminal investigation.

In summary I conclude:

“Today, the most reasonable assumption is that the word really has Jewish roots, where “muser” means an informer. But the borrowing occurred no earlier than the mid-1920s. It was in the 20s of the last century that a mass exodus of small-town Jews to Central Russia took place as a result of the abolition of the so-called “Pale of Settlement.” This was also facilitated by the fact that among the Bolshevik leadership a significant part (if not the majority) were Jews.

The bulk of the settlers rushed to settle in the large and small cities of the republic, but especially its capital. The indigenous population responded with a surge of everyday anti-Semitism. But this is a slightly different topic. We will note: this Soviet “exodus” could also contribute to the expansion of the influence of the language of shtetl Jews on Russian criminal jargon.”

For me, it was more important to determine the time when the word appeared. The fact that it could not appear in the jargon BEFORE the revolution.

As for the answer to your first remark, I meant the need to more precisely formulate the connection. Moser is an informer, an informer - here the principle of transferring meaning is clear. When we are talking about phraseological units with the verb “to hand over,” you will agree that the thought is not expressed very clearly. Even if it were to betray, it would still be more reasonable to associate the borrowing of a word not with a verb, but with a verbal noun.

But, in principle, you and I have the same conclusion.

It's not a matter of "obviousness" at all. In fact, everything is not as obvious as you are convinced. Because if we are talking about an ordinary statement, it is easy to “get into prodigaldom”, as with the pseudo-Hebrew origin of “raspberries”, “freebies”, “parasha”, etc., which in fact do not have Jewish roots. With Moser, as you can see, not everything is simple either. There are a number of versions, quite smooth ones, that needed to be refuted. To substantiate the conclusion, it is necessary not just to say - “that’s clear, everything was about this and that!” :))) Why suddenly? We need to prove it. When it happened, how it happened. “What kind of evidence do you have?” - as one character from the movie “Red Heat” used to say :).

So in our case - if you do not substantiate the HISTORICAL connection between moser and garbage, do not show when, how and why this happened and why garbage could not have come from the mythical ICC, no expressions in Yiddish will be in any way conclusive.

Well, it sounds kind of similar there - so what? The version with the Moscow Criminal Investigation and Operational Investigation is much more convincing :))). Here is a direct abbreviation for you: GARBAGE, and not some vague “moser” - especially with a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT MEANING. After all, now in the argot there is no meaning of “informer” at all. Therefore, first we need to make sure that it existed and was recorded, then show that stories with abbreviations are just myths, and this requires a historical excursion with a refutation of ridiculous theories...

Etymology is a serious science, and not reasoning at the level of “I knew because I heard.”

Nothing like this. as you can see, most of the assumptions can be refuted with the help of facts. with the help of facts, historical data and other arguments, the search range is narrowed. thus, even if there is no ONE HUNDRED PERCENT CONFIDENCE, there is reason to consider one version highly probable or completely improbable, the other more plausible and reliable. For example, a completely, at first glance, convincing version about the borrowing of the word “loch” from Yiddish (or from German through Yiddish) can be considered unreliable on the grounds that there is an expression “lokh in der kopf” (according to other sources, in der kop ) - that is, a hole in the head. I don’t know why “in der” and not in dem (im) kopf, as it would sound in German.

But the whole point is that the word sucker in the meaning of a simpleton, a fool, a fool existed in the Russian language long before the local Jewish Yiddish (especially Hebrew) began to influence the argot. And this meaning is enshrined in dictionaries (as is the derivative - sucker - fool). And it comes from Russian dialects, where, for example, in the North, salmon was called lokh - salmon after spawning, which could be caught almost with bare hands.

For example, Dahl:

Salmon, salmon that have been spawned by spawning eggs: for this, salmon rises from the sea along rivers, and having spawned eggs, it goes even higher and stands in the pools to get sick; the meat turns white, the splash of black turns into silver, a gristly hook grows under the mouth, the whole fish sometimes loses half its weight and its name. sucker. She goes to the sea in the fall, and after spending the winter there, she takes a day off and turns into a salmon again. Sucker's other names are: pan, valchak, valchug.
Loch, Psk. loser, razinya, shalapay (in Ofensky: man, peasant in general).

At Fyodor Glinka's
Karelia, or the imprisonment of Marfa Ioannovna Romanova
1830

That son of Karela is silent
Careless suckers are drowsy
Disturbs with a well-aimed spear.

With a note: Suckers are the name here for fish of the salmon genus; these same suckers, having been
several months in the waters of the White Sea, they get the taste and name of salmon,
which is caught in abundance in the Arkhangelsk province and, it seems, in
features near the city of Onega.

That is, the word passed into Russian jargon from the secret Ofen language (feni, the jargon of peddlers, peddlers).

And “by ear”, connections picked out from the nose can be found in huge quantities. For example, in Yakutia, a sucker is a newly born deer calf. And make as many guesses as you want :).

The daily audience of the Proza.ru portal is about 100 thousand visitors, who total amount view more than half a million pages according to the traffic counter, which is located to the right of this text. Each column contains two numbers: the number of views and the number of visitors.

On March 1, the Law “On the Police” comes into force. The law, in particular, provides for the renaming of the police to the police, as well as the reduction personnel by 20%. All employees will be removed from the staff, and after passing an extraordinary recertification they will return to service as police officers.

The word militia is traditionally used in Russian in two main meanings: a) an administrative institution in charge of security public order, state and other property, safety of citizens and their property; b) voluntary military squad, people's (zemstvo) militia (obsolete).

Historically the word "police" goes back to the Latin militia - " military service, army", as well as "military campaign, campaign" (according to the verb milito - "to be a soldier, infantryman", the same root as in the word militarism). In Russian literary language the word militia most likely came through French or Polish (see old French form milicie; Polish milicija).

The term "police" was used back in Ancient Rome, where it meant serving as infantry soldiers. In medieval Europe (mid-15th century), militia was the name given to militia units from the local population, convened during war.

In Russia, the militia was the name given to the zemstvo army, which existed in 1806-1807, and in late XIX century - troops deployed by the indigenous population of the Caucasus and the Trans-Caspian region (permanent mounted militia). The main difference between the militia and the regular troops was that it was not recruited on the basis conscription, but on a voluntary basis.

The origin of the militia as a public order service is associated with the Paris Commune of 1871, where the prefecture of police was abolished, and the responsibilities of ensuring order and the safety of citizens were assigned to the reserve battalions of the National Guard. In Russia, during the February bourgeois-democratic revolution (1917), the Provisional Government abolished the Police Department and proclaimed the replacement of the police with a "people's militia with elected authorities, subordinate to the authorities local government". Her legal basis became government resolutions of April 30 (17 old style) “On the establishment of the police” and the Temporary Regulations on the Police. However, these decisions were not fully implemented.

IN Soviet Russia executive body The workers' and peasants' militia (RKM) became responsible for the protection of revolutionary public order. The foundations of the RKM were laid by the NKVD decree of November 10 (October 28, old style) 1917 “On the workers’ militia.”

According to Ozhegov's dictionary, police- “in Tsarist Russia and in some other countries, an administrative body for the protection of state security and public order.”

In Russian the word police is known from early XVIII century, and it was included in dictionaries in the first third of it (Weismann's Dictionary, 1731).

The word "police" directly goes back to the German polizei - "police", which comes from the Latin politia - " government structure, state." The Latin word politia itself has its origin Greek word politeia - “state affairs, form of government, state” (it is based on the word poliz - originally “city”, and then “state”).

As one of the main weapons state power the police appeared with the formation of the state.

At one time, Karl Marx emphasized that the police are one of the earliest signs of the state: for example, in Ancient Athens “... public authority originally existed only as a police force, which is as old as the state" (K. Marx and F. Engels, Works, 2nd ed., vol. 21, p. 118).

In the Middle Ages, the police institute received greatest development: This was the period of its heyday, especially in the conditions of the police states of the era of absolute monarchy. The bourgeoisie, having in turn conquered political power, not only preserved, but also improved the police, which (like the army) became the stronghold of the state.

In Russia, the police were established by Peter the Great in 1718. It was divided into general, which kept order (its detective departments conducted investigations of criminal cases), and political (information and security departments, later - the gendarmerie, etc.). There were also special police services - palace, port, fair, etc. City police departments were headed by police chiefs; there were also local police officers (supervisors) and police officers (police guards). (Military Encyclopedia. Military Publishing House. Moscow, 8 vols., 2004)

In Russia, the police were abolished on March 23 (10 according to the old style) March 1917.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

On November 12, at about 18.30, in the underground passage near the Obolon metro station, random passers-by witnessed how our police were protecting us. Three representatives of law enforcement agencies (in relation to them this word can be used exclusively categorically) agencies, clearly demonstrating that it is not for nothing that people call them “garbage”, with shouting and swearing they dispersed elderly grandmothers who were selling parsley and cucumbers. Obviously, they, as representatives of state power, thus showed concern that older people did not have “unearned income” other than their homeless pension, and did not evade paying taxes on their crazy parsley profits. Because in our country, perhaps, all the oligarchs pay taxes on their offshore assets, which means these grandmothers should too. And then we got drunk...

Unexpectedly, the situation took its illogical and unusual development. A young guy stood out from the crowd of passers-by who silently walked past a living example of the police caring for order in the state. He approached our valiant police, who were having fun to the fullest, and said that it was impossible to behave this way with elderly people. The cops were somewhat stunned by such impudence. But, as representatives of the law in the performance of their official duties, they politely and tactfully recommended that the guy go to hell... if he doesn’t want to be “closed.” And he, a scoundrel, not heeding the voice of reason, declared that the cops are like that themselves, since they do not respect elderly people who are old enough to be their grandmothers, and do not allow them to earn even a penny for bread.

Further events unfolded according to a scenario known in advance. The cops twisted the guy's hands and, throwing him to the ground, began kicking him, as required by the charter and service instructions. Then they handcuffed him, pulled a sweater over his head to limit his mobility and field of vision, and tried to take him outside to the street.

During this time, people gathered around. Many began to be outraged by the actions of the stern boys in uniform, and one girl began to film their actions on mobile phones. The naturally modest heroes did not like this; one of them approached the girl and hit her on the hand with the phone. The phone flew out of her hands from the impact and hit the face of an elderly woman who was standing nearby, breaking her face. The cop, having assessed the situation better than any forensic examination with a trained eye, immediately stated that the girl was drunk and would now be taken to the police department, and therefore it was better to give her the phone. Having been refused, he tried to do it with gentlemanly gallantry - that is, by force. The only thing that stopped him was that the events described were filmed by about a dozen witnesses on their phones (video below).

The guy was dragged into the street and beaten along the way. People, outraged by this, tried to fight him off, demanding that the police officers show their identification. Some people started calling the police. About fifty people followed them out into the street.

The guy was thrown into the “Bobby”, but the crowd surrounded the car, blocked traffic and demanded to release the detainee. Three “heroes” tried to forcefully throw people away like Ilya Muromets of the Polovtsians in order to clear the passage, but failed. They were pushed away from the car - the spirit of Mr. Lynch, blessed memory, was in the air. Then these epic heroes rushed to the taxi standing nearby and tried to escape in it. But in vain. At this moment, one of the characters apparently screwed himself up a little - he started calling someone on the phone and shouting “Get me out of here, I’m scared!”

Here people in civilian clothes just arrived and introduced themselves as detectives from the Obolonsky District Department of Internal Affairs, among them was the deputy head of the department - he was the only one who showed his ID. While this deputy demanded that people disperse, promising that “it will be worse,” other opera men mentioned the classic song of the Lyube group - “if we break through, the opera will answer!” (With). They rudely, with swear words, proved to everyone present that a trained cop is significantly superior in level physical training an average woman, and quickly cleared the way for the car with the detainee.

After the heroic escape of "Bobik", the opera began to demand the crowd to disperse, threatening and swearing. When asked to introduce himself and show his ID, one of them said: My name is Viktor Yushchenko! In response to the remark that this was not true, the false Victor neighed like a horse, obviously feeling like not only the president (that is, the all-powerful king), but also the famous humorist Petrosyan. The deputy head of the Obolonsky District Department of Internal Affairs did not react in any way to the behavior of his subordinates, which indicates hard work and lack of complexes. Sorry, about a clear understanding of the requirements of laws and official instructions by an authorized person.

At the same time, the guy who stood up for the grandmothers in the crossing was taken to some yard, pulled out of the car and thrown onto the asphalt. One of the policemen pressed his knees on the handcuffs so that they cut the skin on his hands to the bone. “Well, you shaggy guy, are you silent now?!” asked the defender of order and law. After which he stood with his feet on the detainee’s back and began to twist his arms upward. Then the poor fellow was stretched face-first across the asphalt and the abuse continued.

At the police station, the arrested person was photographed, his data was recorded, and his fingerprints were taken. His name was Galkin Vladislav Alexandrovich, born in 1985. Galkin was taken to the hospital, where a doctor briefly examined him and, without conducting any tests, allowed him to be taken back to the department.

There Vladislav was beaten again, and then ordered to empty everything from his pockets and taken to a cell. During the night, Galkin was beaten several more times. In the morning, his mind clouded from the beatings, he was forced to sign protocols and explanations and was sent to the “homicide” department. They asked where his things were. Galkin replied that they were taken by those who brought him here. After phone call one of those who mocked Vladislav appeared - he brought mobile phone and a wallet from which about 200 hryvnia inexplicably disappeared. The cop was very indignant that the unscrupulous Galkin forced him to return, and he, an honest policeman, could have already had time to drink beer...

The consequence of this undoubtedly indicative and cautionary tale it became that the investigator of the prosecutor's office of the Obolonsky district of Kiev Nedilko A.V. opened a case against Galkin under Part 2 of Article 342 (Resistance to a law enforcement officer in the performance of official duties) and Part 2 of Article 345 (Intentional infliction of beatings, light or moderate bodily harm on a law enforcement officer or his close relatives in connection with performance of official duties by this employee).

At Galkin’s trial, the judge asked: why do you need a lawyer, you admitted your guilt anyway? In response to Vladislav’s statement about bullying and forced testimony against himself, the judge called the investigator. The investigator expressed outrage. No, really! How dare this long-haired guy demand a lawyer guaranteed by law after his testimony was kicked out of him?!

But this story is not the first and, I’m afraid, not the last. Recently, the Court of Appeal of the Kharkov Region acquitted tractor driver Mikhail Zhidenok, who shot a cop in his own yard in the fall of 2006. Infoporn has already written about this. However, the story of Zhidenok is an exception rather than a rule. The situation with the atrocities committed by the police has long gone beyond the limits of common sense. The people called upon to protect us from criminals often act no worse than the maniacs in low-budget Hollywood action films. And everyone who resists them risks either being tortured to death or going to prison, and for a very long time. The line between bandits and cops has blurred.

And it is no longer known who should be feared more.

And it is also not known which of them should be shot first, like wild animals.

Vladimir Boroday, Infoporn

Eyewitness videos.

Despite the latest reform of domestic law enforcement agencies, you can still hear the word “garbage” on screens or in ordinary conversation, which is used to derogate police officers. Popular films made him famous among ordinary citizens who had nothing to do with the criminal world.

An offensive nickname is not used in a conversation with a representative of the authorities. It is used in conversation when you want to emphasize the incompetence of police officers. Where did this nickname come from?

Historians' version

Experts involved in the study of the criminal environment in Russia claim that the disparaging nickname used to be common official name criminal investigation agents. The abbreviation ICC stands for Moscow Criminal Investigation. His agents were simply called GARBAGE. This name did not carry any disparaging connotations.

Criminal investigation existed in Moscow from 1866 until the Revolution. The Soviet government considered his work unnecessary and disbanded him. Unfortunately, the number of crimes increased significantly at this time and a similar body had to be created again. The new structure received a different name - the Moscow Criminal Investigation Department. The last word changed, but the term “garbage” had already taken root in the criminal environment, so it remained.

In the USSR, many concepts changed their meaning. The word “garbage” began to be applied to criminal investigation officers capable of the most vile acts. There are always such people in any law enforcement agencies. They curry favor with management and can commit any meanness in order to move up the career ladder. A synonym for this term means household waste, so the association with them is obvious.

Odessa version

It’s not for nothing that at one time this “pearl” by the sea was considered the most criminalized place in the country. This was facilitated by its favorable location, the presence of a port, a mild climate and the presence of a large Jewish community.

Many slang words and phrases originate from the southern “Palmyra”. There were many criminal groups here that “worked” not only in the city and region, but influenced the entire country.

Due to the characteristic ethnic composition the criminal environment used a certain amount of foreign words. Most have Yiddish and Hebrew origins, such as “nishtyak” or “shmon”. Now they are known far beyond Odessa.

In the Hebrew language there was a word muser (moser). It denoted a person who cooperates with the authorities and informs on his friends and neighbors. The offensive expression took root in Odessa and began to be used as a curse word.

Another synonym

IN modern Russia There is another expression for a police officer - “cop”. It has Polish roots. Most of the country was part of the Empire, so many words from Polish language. Wardens in local correctional institutions wore “mentiks” - special raincoats made of thick fabric. This is where their nickname “cop” came from, which, together with the convicts, came to indigenous Russia and took root here.

For many citizens, this renaming idea still remains incomprehensible. Let's figure it out. I would like to immediately note that the article will only answer the question of why they renamed, and not why...

The President of the Russian Federation himself (then this post was held by D. A. Medvedev) on the eve of the renaming noted the national character and proposed moving away from this outdated name, which had been preserved since the October Revolution.

In many European countries this name appears - . Many even think that by renaming the police to the police, our legislators are simply Once again take an example from the West. Of course, this should not be denied either, but the main reason for the change should be the irrevocable transition to the creation of a new society and state.

Alexander Smirnov, head of the scientific and exhibition department of the Museum political history Russia, expressed himself on this matter as follows: “...Whatever you call the ship, that’s how it will sail,” noting both positive and negative aspects of this change.

Photo:

However, there is no consensus on this matter: for some the name of the structure does not matter at all, for some the term “police” is associated with fear and humiliation, for some the term “police” does not inspire confidence, for others sees in this renaming only an attempt to find another use for funds from the state budget.

There are many options, but the meaning is the same: it is important that, along with the name, something else changes in better side. It is necessary to establish the status of the current police in such a way that the disdain, mistrust, fear and other negative feelings of citizens that sometimes arise when these government officials appear are replaced by completely opposite ones. What is needed for this? Demonstrate a high level of professionalism, including culture, mutual respect, courtesy, etc.

Photo:

It is the police who, by definition, are necessarily characterized high level professionalism. And the police are just that, volunteers.