Talk:Sovok

Proposed stub

I propose the following stub as a more informative option instead of a plain DAB:

Sovok (Cyrillic: Совок) is a Russian and Ukrainian slang term for the Soviet Union, its customs and ideology, or its supporters. Literally meaning scoop or dustpan, it is formed from from сове́т (sovét, Soviet, lit. 'council') +‎ -о́к (diminutive suffix).

See also

• Homo Sovieticus

External links

Citations needed. ;) Russian Wikipedia has a substantial article for anyone game to expand. ⁓ Pelagic ( messages ) 10:14, 13 August 2022 (UTC)

"Restored the structure"

@Altenmann, why did you make this edit?
In "restoring" the headings, you also introduced redundancy in Borenstein's definition of the term and Genis' characterization, which I already improved and included in the article here and here .

This edit includes the term "clam" for a decidedly non-mollusc topic ; this edit uses the phrase "Literally,"... this is not standard in formal writing. Drew Stanley (talk) 02:38, 10 June 2026 (UTC)

"Restored the structure"

(movef from my talk page) --Altenmann >talk 14:54, 10 June 2026 (UTC)

@Altenmann, why did you make this edit?
In "restoring" the headings, you also introduced redundancy in Borenstein's definition of the term and Genis' characterization, which I already improved and included in the article here and here .

This edit includes the term "clam" for a decidedly non-mollusc topic ; this edit uses the phrase "Literally,"... this is not standard in formal writing. Drew Stanley (talk) 02:38, 10 June 2026 (UTC)

@Drew Stanley: The edit summary says that I restored the structure:

• there were three sections to clearly indicate three different meanings of the term. Your edit, while improving English, made the article less comprehensive. The sections have a potential for expansion
• There is nothing wrong with the word "literally": it draws the distinctuion between literal and figurative language.
• "Clam" is a typo. Your edit "are commonly credited" is incorrect: it is your liberal generalization of the source cited. They are not "commonly credited"; there is a "pissing contest" for the glory, and the source says thusly, ironically: "на авторство этого слова претендуют сразу несколько человек".
• There are other problems with your edit, but I was planning to deal with this later, after discussion, e.g., remove the redundancy.
• Last but not the least, you have to discuss article edits in article talk page, if my edit summary was unclear. --Altenmann >talk 14:54, 10 June 2026 (UTC)

I made the fist quick sweep, dismantling the section "History" which was not really "history":

• "Etymology": collects discussions of the etymology of the term
• "Meanings" are clearly sorted. And the subsections have potential for expansion: "the first two chapters of his book Soviet Self-Hatred are devoted to..." - clearly, plenty of usable stuff is there.
• "In popular culture" collects notable popculture items: Talkov, Mamin, and Pelevin are notable sample usages in popculture, not "history".
• Now the lede looks like a lede, i.e., summary of article content. Some repetitions in lede and text are normal.

If you disagree with this structure, please explain why. --Altenmann >talk 15:15, 10 June 2026 (UTC)