A gopnik is a member of a subculture in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and other former Soviet republics - a young man of lower-class families that usually live in Russian suburban areas coming from families of poor education and income. The female form is gopnitsa, and the collective noun is gopota. The subculture of gopniks has its roots in the late Russian Empire, and evolved during the 20th century in many cities in the Soviet Union. As of the late 2010s, the subculture has faded for the most part, although youth gangs that resemble gopniks still exist in Russia and in other Slavic and Baltic countries.
Etymology
Gopnik is most likely derived from the Russian slang term for a street robbery: gop-stop. However, it could also be related to GOP, the acronym for the Gorodskoye Obshchestvo Prizreniya. These were almshouses for the destitute created by the Bolshevik government after the October Revolution in 1917. According to Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary, a Russian explanatory dictionary, an old slang word for "sleeping on street" was "гопать" something that was related to the "mazuricks", or the criminals of Saint Petersburg.
Stereotypical appearance and behaviour
Gopniks are often seen squatting in groups "in court" or "doing the crab" outside blocks of flats or schools with their heels on the ground. It is described as a learned behavior attributed to Russian prison culture to avoid sitting on the cold ground. Gopniks are often seen wearing Adidas or Puma tracksuits, which were popularised by the 1980 Moscow Olympics Soviet team. Sunflower seeds or semechki ) are habitually eaten by gopniks, especially in Ukraine and Russia. Gopniks can also be seen wearing flat caps and Adidas backpacks. Gopniks are often associated with cheap alcohol, such as low-quality vodka and light beer, cheap cigarettes, low-end mobile devices, and sometimes firearms. They also utilize common Russian profanities and often behave rudely. Gopniks favor Lada Classics as their primary means of transport. The subculture is stereotypically associated with Russian chanson music, specifically the blatnaya pesnya subgenre ; also, since the mid-2010s, in internet memes and viral videos, with hardbass and Russian rock. Gopniks commonly have Russian nationalism or Pan-Slavism as their primary political views, though there are also leftist or even far-right gopnik communities. Gopniks typically hold strong anti-Western views. Gopniks are sometimes avid video gamers, especially online first-person shooters such as .
