tankie
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[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/10_Soviet_Invasion_of_Czechoslovakia_-_Flickr_-_The_Central_Intelligence_Agency.jpg/220px-10_Soviet_Invasion_of_Czechoslovakia_-_Flickr_-_The_Central_Intelligence_Agency.jpg)
Alternative forms
[edit]- (tank soldier; member of the Communist Party of Great Britain): tanky
Etymology
[edit]Senses 1 and 2 were named for the tanks used by the Soviet Union against uprisings in Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /taŋki/
- (General American) IPA(key): /tæŋki/
Audio (General Australian): (file) - Rhymes: -æŋki
- Homophone: tanky
- Hyphenation: tank‧ie
Noun
[edit]tankie (plural tankies)
- (UK, politics, slang, historical) A member of the Communist Party of Great Britain who supported the Soviet Union's policy of crushing revolts in Hungary in the 1950s and Czechoslovakia in the 1960s by sending tanks into those countries.
- 1985, Terry Bushell, “Softliners and Tankies”, in Marriage of Inconvenience: An Anglo-Soviet Alliance, London: André Deutsch, →ISBN, page 10:
- [W]e also desired to shock the staid older party members and the tankies. The tankies and softliners differed as to what sort of magazine Challenge should be.
- 2006, Tom Stoppard, Rock 'n' Roll, London: Faber and Faber, →ISBN:
- Stephen Well, read the Morning Star and keep up with the tankies. / Max The tankies … How the years roll by. Dubcek is back. Russia agrees to withdraw its garrisons. Czechoslovakia takes her knickers off to welcome capitalism. And all that remains of August '68 is a derisive nickname for the only real Communists left in the Communist Party. I'm exactly as old as the October Revolution …
- (politics, slang, derogatory, by extension) A supporter of policies and actions by the Soviet Union, China, Cuba or other Marxist-Leninist governments.
- 2009, Arthur Smith, “Rooms above Pubs”, in My Name is Daphne Fairfax: A Memoir, London: Hutchinson, ISBN 978-0-09-192103-3; republished London: Arrow Books, Random House, 2010, ISBN 978-0-09-951965-2, pages 181–182:
- As far as the Sparklies were concerned the new comics were scruffy herberts who shouted ‘Fuck Thatcher’ over and over, while raving Tankie Stalinists hooted indiscriminately in the front row.
- 2021, Mike Watson, The Memeing of Mark Fisher[1], John Hunt Publishing:
- Though in an age in which anyone can publish texts, images, and videos to potentially huge audiences and in which impassioned leftists of “woke,” “tankie,” and “democratic-socialist” (post-Corbynista or Bernie Bro) persuasions post constant calls to action, informational posts, and manifestos, the failure of the left to ignite needs further analysis.
- 2009, Arthur Smith, “Rooms above Pubs”, in My Name is Daphne Fairfax: A Memoir, London: Hutchinson, ISBN 978-0-09-192103-3; republished London: Arrow Books, Random House, 2010, ISBN 978-0-09-951965-2, pages 181–182:
- (military, slang) A soldier from a tank regiment.
- 1981, Noel “Wig” [Frank] Gardiner, “A Team Talk with the Tankies”, in Freyberg's Circus: Reminiscences of a Kiwi Soldier in the North African Campaign of World War II, Auckland: Ray Richards Publisher, →ISBN, page 88:
- Obviously a thrust by the tankies over the ridge and through the minefield was just not on, there and then in broad daylight, a fact they appeared to recognise. At that stage the Germans were well positioned to give them a warm reception with their powerful 88s and other artillery.
- 2010, Michael Asher, The Flaming Sword (Death or Glory; part 2), London: Michael Joseph, →ISBN:
- Caine focused on the RTR [Royal Tank Regiment] badge directly above Glenn's left eye. 'Never had you down as a tankie, sir,' he said. 'Always thought you were a greenjacket through and through.' Glenn snorted. 'I'm no more a tankie than you are,' he said, curling back dry lips to show the slablike teeth.
- (rail transport, slang) A tank engine.
- 1987, The Railway Magazine, volume 133, London: IPC Magazines, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 382:
- The "tankies", as they were known, shunted empty carriages from Copley Hill sidings onto the buffers at Leeds […]
Translations
[edit]A supporter of policies and actions by the Soviet Union, China, Cuba or other Marxist-Leninist governments.
Adjective
[edit]tankie (not comparable)
- (politics, slang, derogatory) Supporting the policies of the Soviet Union or other Marxist-Leninist governments.
See also
[edit]Further reading
[edit]Anagrams
[edit]Categories:
- English terms suffixed with -ie
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/æŋki
- Rhymes:English/æŋki/2 syllables
- English terms with homophones
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- British English
- en:Politics
- English slang
- English terms with historical senses
- English terms with quotations
- English derogatory terms
- en:Military
- en:Rail transportation
- English adjectives
- English uncomparable adjectives
- en:Communism
- en:Leftism
- en:Marxism
- en:Military vehicles
- en:People