What is "shpak"? Interesting Facts

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:46

Older people may remember a film made by a Soviet director, where the future son-in-law and father-in-law, respectively, having the names of Skvortsov and Shpak, sorted out the relationship. Everyone thought that his last name was better. But not everything is so simple with this word! Indeed, the word "shpak" has at least three meanings. Let's take a look at each one.

"Grains" for the addict

Drug addiction has been thriving in Asian countries for a long time. In the nineteenth century, caravans with opium were pulled from there to Europe. At that time, many doctors used morphine preparations as a painkiller, and opium, which has a high content of it, became a common medicine.

But the high cost of this substance makes it beyond the reach of many today. Instead, drug addicts learned to make a more accessible potion from improvised materials in artisanal conditions.

What is a shpak for a drug addict? These are small grains of dark green color with an unpleasant odor. They call them "shpak" or "nasvay", and 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 placed on the cheek, trying not to touch the lips. A strong concentration of a substance can cause a burn of delicate skin, due to which blisters appear.

The cheapness of such a potion allows teenagers and long-term smokers to use it. Putting such a grain in the mouth, a person feels dizzy, short-term clouding of the mind, light euphoria.

People who take nasvay for a long time give off an unpleasant odor. Experts believe that his appearance is associated with the wearing of packets of drugs. Longtime smokers use shpak to reduce the number of cigarettes they smoke.

Simple bird

Ornithologists know countless bird names. Each such name, in addition to the international Latin, also has a local one, depending on the country.

So, the common starling, living in the vast territory of Asia and Europe, is called shpak in Ukraine. This interesting dark-colored bird lives in colonies of five or six pairs and is a notorious pest, pecking at fruits of fruit trees. Even the scarecrows displayed in the gardens rarely help save the harvest from a flock of birds, which can reach a hundred individuals. Now, if someone asks you what a shpak is, you can easily answer this question.

There are no former military men

Another meaning of this word refers to the military. What is a shpak for military personnel,you ask? In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, military service was compulsory. Many men have lived in the barracks for more than a quarter of a century.

In the end, the time came when they were transferred to the reserve. It was the storekeepers, as well as petty civilian officials, that the military called “shpaks”. What does such a word do in an officer's lexicon? It's all about the suits that the clerks wore and that made them look like nimble birds in dark clothes. Hence the civilian officials got their nickname among the officers.