народ-богоносец

Russian

Etymology

From народ + богоносец. Originally from Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novel Demons: "Единый народ «богоносец» — это русский народ..." ("Only one nation is 'god-bearing,' that's the Russian people...") Notice the difference between the styling used by Dostoyevsky—народ «богоносец»—and the modern preferred spelling народ-богоносец.

Noun

1. (as used by the conservative right) The Russian nation, seen as the embodiment of spirituality and the Christian faith, carrying out the sacred task of defending all that is good and holy.

   Русские — народ-богоносец. Великий народ, исполняющий великую миссию.

   Russkije — narod-bogonosec. Velikij narod, ispolnjajuščij velikuju missiju.

   Russians are god-bearing people. A great nation, carrying out a great mission.

2. (ironic) The Russian nation, perceived as the embodiment of any negative quality that the speaker is ascribing to the Russian people.

   Народ-богоносец настолько богат духовно, что в какой-то момент решил поделиться своей духовностью с Украиной, частично оккупировав восток страны.

   Narod-bogonosec nastolʹko bogat duxovno, što v kakoj-to moment rešil podelitʹsja svojej duxovnostʹju s Ukrainoj, častično okkupirovav vostok strany.

   The god-bearing people are so spiritually rich that at some point they decided to share their spirituality with neighboring Ukraine by partially occupying the east of the country.

Usage notes

• This term has become politically loaded since the start of the Cold War II and should be used with caution, especially on the Internet, where irony and sarcasm aren't easily detected, but can be readily imagined.

See also

• правосла́вие (pravoslávije)
• духо́вность (duxóvnostʹ)
• Ра́шка (Ráška)