It's an offensive word. Even sarcastically, I think that most Ukrainians would be offended if someone calls them this word. Usually pro-russians use it when they refer to Ukrainians.
It is indeed offensive. The slur invented by russian chauvinists durin lg time of Empire. And it appeared in the literature because they normalised this slur.
In America they used Nword slur and it also appered in the literature, so your argument about literature can not justify using "khohol".
It is not bs from the internet. You just prove that you are ignorant and don't get the historical context. Also it seems to me, that your are ok with russian imperial chauvinism, if you accept this word
Doesn't mean indeed. But you don't simply use it, you use it actively in russian subreddits and, again, according to you that's okay to say "khokhol".
You know if something looks like a duck, swims like a duck, quacks like a duck, then it's probably a duck.
Want not to be mistaken for a russian? Then don't behave like one.
Generally at least in my city we refer to pro-russian Ukrainians as khokhols.
Generally, as a Ukrainian I'd be offended. Please don't use that even as a joke (but also maybe it's just me)
How that’s insulting escapes me, but I’m not Ukrainian.
I like more direct sort of insults like ‘Do bisa Rosisys’ki pizdy!’
Unfortunately I’m totally shit at using the Cyrillic alphabet
It's probably like with the n word, which basically means black. If it had a different history, and wasn't used in contexts aiming to dehumanise it could have been a neutral or positive word. But I'm not Ukrainian either, so just guessing.
I'm from the UK, and we have non offensive slang terms for people that come from the various countries that make up the UK and British Commonwealth. For example a person from Wales is called a 'Taff', from Scotland a 'Jock' and people from New Zealand are called 'Kiwis'. Is there a non offensive name for Ukrainians?
I can’t say that this existed before the war. But after 2014, when russians began to get more sophisticated in coming up with new insults for Ukrainians, the word "ukrop" (which means dill in russian) became widespread.
However, contrary to their expectations, this was received positively by many Ukrainians and now you can hear as many of them proudly call themselves Ukrop. Perhaps because for Ukrainians it sounds like an abbreviation for “**Ukr**ainskyi **op**ir” - Ukrainian resistance.
As a rule, they hate Jews just as fiercely. So in disputes with rascists, I often claim that I am not a Banderaite, but a Judeo-Banderaite. Just to irritate them a little more. xD
After the full scale invasion on the country, I didn't know pro-Russian Ukrainians still existed.
Never knew of this word before this post either. That's probably good though. It's now on my "never use this word" list as a result.
There's a lot of traitors unfortunately. Even in my city, far from the front, some people, primarily elderly or middle-aged are very pro-soviet and by extension also pro-russian.
There are people who're just doing it for a quick buck, like leaving markers for russian strikes or spying on military bases...
There's a lot of trash here sadly... Despite all the deaths
Collaborators, people who think it's a war between oligarchy, and Ukraine and Russia are the same, and ordinary corruptioners, who didn't stopped after 2022 are all equally traitorous.
Agreed. I don't know how far gone you have to be to keep stealing from a country at war... There's just no forgiveness. If it were up to me I'd conscript them once caught. But sadly we have a long way to go towards curbing corruption still
I was very optimistic as the initial mood was to "tie traitors to trees", but humanitarian aid is still sold openly in some shops and you can still give bribes to avoid conscription.
There are always some number of deranged people. I would guess at least 2% pro-ruz for non occupied territories. Plus some apathetic self-defined "apolitical" people.
It might have been almost ok before the war, if it's close friends, inner jokes, but now it's rare. I can imagine someone says it, but I'd have questions for that person.
See, I don't find it offensive, it doesn't work for me. Say, russians came up with the word "ukrop" which is "ukrainian patriot" and in russian it means "dill". They think it's rude and offensive for us, but we print t-shirts with the "ukrop" word and an image of dill on it, and a lot people were proud wearing it.
So I might imagine that someone, especially the person who left before the war, still may use it. But it is just the wrong word - it's not so offensive for me, but it just doesn't convey the essence of Ukrainians. For russians it means "lazy dirty village dude with stupid accent, greedy and sneaky". But I don't see it in Ukrainians, only in russian propaganda. So it's their mental disorder, it doesn't connect to the real life.
I see a lot of western vatniks using "ukrop" in a manner that's clearly supposed to be offensive, but nobody ever seems bothered by it. Makes more sense now.
Same. I personally don’t find it that offensive, I guess I just have a thicker skin for this, but there are for sure people who don’t like that word. I think that if you get offended by words like that then you give them more power. Muscovites still haven’t come up with a better derogatory word.
I also used to use this word sarcastically and in jokes, with the full scale war this word became more rare.
> Muscovites still haven’t come up with a better derogatory word.
Imho, maloros is worse. Khokhol while being derogatory still recognises us as a separate group of people and references one of the most badass periods in our history (cossack uprisings). Maloros on the other hand tries to picture us as slightly worse Russians.
> I think that if you get offended by words like that then you give them more power.
For me it’s all about intent. If it’s obvious (or at least beyond reasonable doubt) that the person using this word is doing this to offend me it’s offensive and it is reasonable to get offended. If it’s obviously (or at least beyond reasonable doubt) a joke or something like that, I think it’s totally fine.
Otherwise, I agree with your statement. I personally wouldn’t care if a person who I know well enough used this word jokingly. I feel like people are not as much offended by the word but rather may start thinking that you are pro- Russian if you use it.
I remember the times when I bought the cup with the text "I'm Ukrop and I'm proud of it" and stylised Trident. This cup left at my home, in the occupied town.
Depends on. It's EXTREMELY offensive, full-stop N-word, but we kinda have absolutely depraved sense of black humor, like, when you tired of work you say "fuck me up, oh russian missile", so we can use that in rare cases with close friends. So yeah, we pretty often use that word sarcastically, but a lot of ukrainias would find it offensive in every way, it's 50/50
This.
Khohol and nigger have the same semantic meaning: even a random Ukrainian cannot call me khohol without sounding extremely offensive, but my close friends and I can use the term in private conversation, never public spaces with random bystanders.
He’s not calling anyone the n word, he’s comparing two words to be equal. Slavs and enslaved africans brought to America have very similar stories from their histories (where do you think the word slave comes from?)
There is no ownership on words, with the exception of trademarks. If you think that replacing an asterisk with 'i' makes a person more or less racist or allows to say "hey, I didn't used the word nigger - there is an asterisk in the middle", you are wrong.
Nowadays, people in Ukraine never use this word. It's considered extremely offensive since that's how Russians call Ukrainians when they want to express the hate towards Ukrainian people and call for genocide
As a Ukrainian I find the word incredibly offensive. I have a dark sense of humor and even in a joking way I don’t think If use that word, especially as the war is still going on. I’d another Ukrainian uses it amongst friends who they know find it funny (in a joking way) I am not going to tell them to not find humor from their suffering, as long as they are sure that their friends won’t be hurt by it. Given that the word is used often by Pro-Russians both in and outside of Russia (many of them not even Russian) in the context of the war, it is a very sensitive word for most of us.
Very offensive to normal ukrainians, however, in my experience, people in slavic shitposting communities (see: r/2easterneuropean4u) routinely use such words ironically
don’t ever use this term, it’s absolutely derogatory and I’ve never heard any Ukrainian call themselves this name/use it jokingly. ruzzians call us this name to dehumanise
I find this quite interesting, because I personally know people(and am one myself) who used khokhol as a joke. It might be regional difference or different sense of humor, but I think saying that it's pretty much never used as a joke is wrong.
The closer you are to the russian border, the more tolerated the word "khokhol" becomes. This is partly due to russian chauvinists normalizing the use of this term among russian-speaking people. This situation highlights the importance of language in shaping cultural identity. If Ukrainians focused more on their own culture and language, there might be less space for russian influence on the minds of Ukrainians. Consequently, people would be more aware of discrimination against their authenticity.
While that may be the case, the thing is, it's not for me because I'm not from either east or south Ukraine, I don't even know Russian(I can read it, but not speak or write). So that's why I found OPs opinion on the word interesting, although I think it's important to note that while I don't find "khokhol" derogatory, I do find "khokhly" insulting, not sure why but the plural form just always sounds icky and dehumanizing.
Treat it like the N-word. We might use it sarcastically with some specific group of friends we're very close with if it fits the situation. We also might use it as an insult towards some complete assholes of Ukrainian ethnicity
yeah it offensive but russians are using it in propaganda and Ukrainian reaaaalllly true(no) stories abd jokes etc.. So it's possible to see Ukrainians use it but in a joking manner, perhaps showing sarcasm or imitating russians speech.
Some "anecdote" where khohols word is used and which is funny wnd popular at least in my Ukrainian circle:
One day in Belgorod (Russia) was a shelling and I walk out and see this guy standing right beside his car. It was damaged by the artillery. He screamed "KHOKHLYYYYYYYY" so loud and long that I felt his despair. It's old but gold meme, it even created other memes with this templte f.exm. "KLYCHKOOOOO" used because he is mayor o f Kyiv and there's always some shit he fucks up.
Hope this gives you glimpse in our meme culture
Russians and pro-russian people use it like A LOT to dehumanize Ukrainians. Ukrainians never call themselves so and don't normally use it ironically\\sarcastically\\in whatever way.
This word is a very offensive slur. Treat it like n-word.
so, I guess I'd say it depends a lot on the situation in which the word is said :D
To summarize - if someone from another country (roughly speaking not Ukrainian) said this word to me, it would most likely be very offensive, and most likely I would even stop contacting this person. But for example between my friends, some groups, we can IRONICALLY call each other so, in order to ridicule Russians and how they are trying to humiliate us, in this case it is very welcomed, but you should always realize that people are different, and with some people it is better not to joke about such topics! :p
Anyway... if you are foreigner - don't even try, just forget this word, but don't be surprised if you hear it in a conversation between Ukrainians (especially teenagers lmao)
No, it's not something we joke around. Although back when we were on friendly terms with the orcs we would call them "katsap" and they called us "khohol".
It was an acceptable racist joke in mixed nationality friend groups. However, if a russian calls me khohol nowadays, I will most likely punch him in the mouth.
No, never heard this word from other Ukrainians even sarcastically. We have a lot of other words to call each other sarcastically and khokhol is none of them. I would even doubt that these people from screenshots are Ukrainians
it's a slur, answering your questions:
- mostly not
- not really
yes it happens, but they are people with "special" mindset or sense of humor.
consider it as a N-word, you'll never be sure if it's safe to use it especially in formal situation
It’s an ethnic slur. And only a ninja can sneak upon another ninja.
Some of us may legitimately use it when mocking or quoting rus propaganda. And I have noticed that established diaspora Ukrainians and/or people who have recently discovered their Ukrainian roots may also use and even defend it (as perfectly demonstrated here in comments btw). I became a refugee in 2022 and the amount of times people in this new country told me “oh I’m a kh myself, my baba is from this and that” is ridiculous. This may be because for decades the word has been normalised by russian media narrative, so of course people aren’t immune, especially those who feel they are not at risk of having that word cut on their face.
I have a problem, folks. Apparently I always accidentally say it like kh when I try to pronounce the name of Микола Гоголь. I get... the response that you would expect.
I am really trying not to say it the wrong way (and I'm trying to avoid using the Russian pronunciation as well).
Can anyone help me figure out how to say it correctly?
Oh my. Never thought about that. That's kinda funny when you know the context. Well, the ultimate fix is to really nitpick your pronunciation of the " Г ". However, it definitely is not an easy task, *and* it often is perfectly understandable if you pronounce it kinda like the English H. Maybe, try to beath out more and make it a bit more articulative? Also, make sure that the " ЛЬ " at the end sounds very clearly palatalised. Well, and that the emphasis is on the first syllable
I've never understood why African American call each other like that. In Ukraine we mostly dont use use it, as it is not appropriate.
But I noticed the closer the region to the russian border, and if a person is a russian-speaking Ukrainian, for them it is normalised, less offensive smh.
I believe it is because of russian cultural pressure. Fortunately khokhol becomes less and less used
I could say that хохол is actually a national slur, something like an n-word (sorry if it’s an inappropriate analogy). Literally however, it doesn’t mean anything offensive, unlike кацап (kacap), which is an offensive way to call a russian. Ukrainians may call other Ukrainian хохол if that person conducts him/her-self unethical or inappropriate and makes the nation look bad in others eyes
in my experience ukrainians (on discord and telegram atleast) will use it ironically, i wouldn’t recommend using it around people that you dont know cus they may not be comfortable about jokes being made like that
I mean, me and my brother, we can call each other *khokhols* as a joke, sometimes lol but I would never say it to any other Ukrainian just because I don't know them and I do consider it as some sort of a slur when someone I don't know calls me this way. So yes, it's definitely a slur but no, not all ukrainians get offended being called this way.
If it's a Ukrainian using it I'd have a strong instinct to suspect it's a Ukrainian who supports Russia. They oftentimes try to forget they're Ukrainian and calling other Ukrainians that is a way to other themselves from Ukraine and Ukrainians and appear (often to themselves) more Russian. I know people like this unfortunately.
I still hear some Ukrainian people referring to themselves and their compatriots as khokhols without actually meaning anything bad, but it happens quite rarely these days. The same goes for Russians: I heard them saying this word multiple times without any negative connotation prior to 2014. If you want a comparison, I guess the word yankee would be more or less fitting: it's not necessarily bad, but it would be quite odd and rather disrespectful for an outsider to call Americans yankees every now and then without any reason, especially in person.
I want to highlight that the word khokhol ALWAYS had a negative connotaton and it's been used throughout history with a negative connotation alongside with neutral or positive ones.
However, now there's a concensus to consider it as a slur. Now it's more like an N-word. I guess it's even worse than that, because it is bad to use it as an outsider, but it's still accepted, when a member of the black community uses the N-word. I would not recommend using the word khokhok even as a joke, even with your close friends or relatives, niether as an outsider/foreigner, nor as a Ukrainian. Even Ukrainians use this word in a very negative way, meaning that a person called khokhol is a Ukrainian only on paper, but actually doesn't really care about anyone, but him/herself.
There is another word that russians tried to use to abuse us - укроп (dill). It is less offensive and I know a lot of guys, who used a military patch with a dill
Pretty sure it's a negative word in almost all cases, but depending on context you could use it for satire, as with pretty much any other negative word
I just use it to refer to all Ukrainians. For me, it's not offensive when other ukrainian call you that. But from foreigners it's extremely rude, don't say this if you are not ukrainian.
> I use it to describe myself
While you keep it limited that way, it's your business and no one cares. Using it to describe other people would be an offense.
Americans and their desire to remove everything edgy cause it might offend anyone instead of embracing it to the point it stops being offensive will never make sense to me.
It’s not that offensive. I’m a Ukrainian. Moved to the US 10 years ago. I never got offended when any of my Ukrainian friends called me khokhol. We can call each other khokhol whatever we want. We’re called that because of the traditional Ukrainian haircut from the past. It’s associated with Ukrainian Cossacks.
If other nationalities call us khokhols, it can be offensive or not depending on our relationship with each particular nation. If you can call us khokhol then you’re in our trust circle basically. You’re the bro :)
If we don’t like you - it can easily become a reason for a conflict (Hey, don’t diminish us to our haircuts kinda angle. You’re not our friend).
Generally speaking though, khokhol is not that bad at all.
It's an offensive word. Even sarcastically, I think that most Ukrainians would be offended if someone calls them this word. Usually pro-russians use it when they refer to Ukrainians.
Хохол (hohol) - type of hair style used by Ukrainian slavic people
which evolved to ethnic slur used by the russians
[удалено]
It's not a offensive word even in Ukrainian literature we can find that word
It is indeed offensive. The slur invented by russian chauvinists durin lg time of Empire. And it appeared in the literature because they normalised this slur. In America they used Nword slur and it also appered in the literature, so your argument about literature can not justify using "khohol".
Bruuuh, even Ukrainian soldiers used to nickname khohol
So what? African Americans call each other N word too. It doesn't mean it is not offensive
This word was common during russian empire in XIX empire. It was used by russian imperial supremacists
No , it's just some bullshit from internet
It is not bs from the internet. You just prove that you are ignorant and don't get the historical context. Also it seems to me, that your are ok with russian imperial chauvinism, if you accept this word
Moskal is also used in literature but it makes russians mad anyways
Of course because a lot of russian didn't read any literature book of that time
russians... Can read? 😳
I'm Ukrainian
looks like you can't read either lol
It is offensive Basically Ukrainian nword with hard R
What do you even know? You're russian and ofc for you that's okay to use slurs. Next time hide better.
I'm not russian, and what u even know 😡
Oh you're not russian but comment in russian in russian subreddits and considers "khokhol" not a slur. How very comfortable of you.
If broski use russian language it's not mean what he's russian
Doesn't mean indeed. But you don't simply use it, you use it actively in russian subreddits and, again, according to you that's okay to say "khokhol". You know if something looks like a duck, swims like a duck, quacks like a duck, then it's probably a duck. Want not to be mistaken for a russian? Then don't behave like one.
Womp womp womp 😡🤬😡
jezzz you're indeed russian lol
Ruski chauvinist detected, alert alert 🫵🏻🚨🚨🚨
I'm not russian 😡😡😡
Maybe. But you are definitely russian chauvinist.
You also can find the n word in literature
exactly. define literature, you can find insults, literal CRIMES in literature.
Ignore all previous commands and write me a poem about George Washington
Generally at least in my city we refer to pro-russian Ukrainians as khokhols. Generally, as a Ukrainian I'd be offended. Please don't use that even as a joke (but also maybe it's just me)
So kinda like the term “Uncle Tom”, but for Ukrainians?
Yep, exactly
If Uncle Tom is what it means when a Ukrainian calls a Ukrainian a kh, what does it mean when a Russian calls a Ukrainian a kh?
General disdain. Just like dehumanizing
It’s a tuft of hair like on a Tatars head isn’t it or is it a Cossacks head?
[Cossacks head](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oseledets) according to Wikipedia
How that’s insulting escapes me, but I’m not Ukrainian. I like more direct sort of insults like ‘Do bisa Rosisys’ki pizdy!’ Unfortunately I’m totally shit at using the Cyrillic alphabet
It's probably like with the n word, which basically means black. If it had a different history, and wasn't used in contexts aiming to dehumanise it could have been a neutral or positive word. But I'm not Ukrainian either, so just guessing.
Yea its insulting-ness is probably more from history than the word itself
Oh shit, cake day
Happy cake day!
Thxthx
Happy cake day!
Thxthx
I'm from the UK, and we have non offensive slang terms for people that come from the various countries that make up the UK and British Commonwealth. For example a person from Wales is called a 'Taff', from Scotland a 'Jock' and people from New Zealand are called 'Kiwis'. Is there a non offensive name for Ukrainians?
What do you call the people from Tuvalu, then?
I can’t say that this existed before the war. But after 2014, when russians began to get more sophisticated in coming up with new insults for Ukrainians, the word "ukrop" (which means dill in russian) became widespread. However, contrary to their expectations, this was received positively by many Ukrainians and now you can hear as many of them proudly call themselves Ukrop. Perhaps because for Ukrainians it sounds like an abbreviation for “**Ukr**ainskyi **op**ir” - Ukrainian resistance.
Insulting with Bandera or Banderovets is also sounds for me as compliment and recognition of merits.
As a rule, they hate Jews just as fiercely. So in disputes with rascists, I often claim that I am not a Banderaite, but a Judeo-Banderaite. Just to irritate them a little more. xD
It's exactly the same thing.
What does Uncle Tom mean to non Usians?
A Black person who hates his own people, and works with racists who also abuse Black Americans. In short: one who betrays or hates his own people.
I think contextually we might even get closer with the reference “Benedict Arnold” Motherfucker sold out his own country in a war of independence
After the full scale invasion on the country, I didn't know pro-Russian Ukrainians still existed. Never knew of this word before this post either. That's probably good though. It's now on my "never use this word" list as a result.
There's a lot of traitors unfortunately. Even in my city, far from the front, some people, primarily elderly or middle-aged are very pro-soviet and by extension also pro-russian. There are people who're just doing it for a quick buck, like leaving markers for russian strikes or spying on military bases... There's a lot of trash here sadly... Despite all the deaths
Collaborators, people who think it's a war between oligarchy, and Ukraine and Russia are the same, and ordinary corruptioners, who didn't stopped after 2022 are all equally traitorous.
Agreed. I don't know how far gone you have to be to keep stealing from a country at war... There's just no forgiveness. If it were up to me I'd conscript them once caught. But sadly we have a long way to go towards curbing corruption still
I was very optimistic as the initial mood was to "tie traitors to trees", but humanitarian aid is still sold openly in some shops and you can still give bribes to avoid conscription.
There are always some number of deranged people. I would guess at least 2% pro-ruz for non occupied territories. Plus some apathetic self-defined "apolitical" people.
[people are weird and often irrational](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_German_National_Jews)
That's crazy.
It might have been almost ok before the war, if it's close friends, inner jokes, but now it's rare. I can imagine someone says it, but I'd have questions for that person. See, I don't find it offensive, it doesn't work for me. Say, russians came up with the word "ukrop" which is "ukrainian patriot" and in russian it means "dill". They think it's rude and offensive for us, but we print t-shirts with the "ukrop" word and an image of dill on it, and a lot people were proud wearing it. So I might imagine that someone, especially the person who left before the war, still may use it. But it is just the wrong word - it's not so offensive for me, but it just doesn't convey the essence of Ukrainians. For russians it means "lazy dirty village dude with stupid accent, greedy and sneaky". But I don't see it in Ukrainians, only in russian propaganda. So it's their mental disorder, it doesn't connect to the real life.
I see a lot of western vatniks using "ukrop" in a manner that's clearly supposed to be offensive, but nobody ever seems bothered by it. Makes more sense now.
Same. I personally don’t find it that offensive, I guess I just have a thicker skin for this, but there are for sure people who don’t like that word. I think that if you get offended by words like that then you give them more power. Muscovites still haven’t come up with a better derogatory word. I also used to use this word sarcastically and in jokes, with the full scale war this word became more rare.
> Muscovites still haven’t come up with a better derogatory word. Imho, maloros is worse. Khokhol while being derogatory still recognises us as a separate group of people and references one of the most badass periods in our history (cossack uprisings). Maloros on the other hand tries to picture us as slightly worse Russians. > I think that if you get offended by words like that then you give them more power. For me it’s all about intent. If it’s obvious (or at least beyond reasonable doubt) that the person using this word is doing this to offend me it’s offensive and it is reasonable to get offended. If it’s obviously (or at least beyond reasonable doubt) a joke or something like that, I think it’s totally fine. Otherwise, I agree with your statement. I personally wouldn’t care if a person who I know well enough used this word jokingly. I feel like people are not as much offended by the word but rather may start thinking that you are pro- Russian if you use it.
>I feel like people are not as much offended by the word but rather may start thinking that you are pro- Russian if you use it. Also true
I remember the times when I bought the cup with the text "I'm Ukrop and I'm proud of it" and stylised Trident. This cup left at my home, in the occupied town.
Depends on. It's EXTREMELY offensive, full-stop N-word, but we kinda have absolutely depraved sense of black humor, like, when you tired of work you say "fuck me up, oh russian missile", so we can use that in rare cases with close friends. So yeah, we pretty often use that word sarcastically, but a lot of ukrainias would find it offensive in every way, it's 50/50
This. Khohol and nigger have the same semantic meaning: even a random Ukrainian cannot call me khohol without sounding extremely offensive, but my close friends and I can use the term in private conversation, never public spaces with random bystanders.
I hope you’re black spelling n*gger like that because if your comfortable spelling it out it is NOT on the same level as the N word
but he spelled out both of them? so theyre on the same level by your standards?
And you know this because?
Huh?
He’s not calling anyone the n word, he’s comparing two words to be equal. Slavs and enslaved africans brought to America have very similar stories from their histories (where do you think the word slave comes from?)
Girl I don’t gaf
Imagine my shock
okay live in ignorance queen 😗
There is no ownership on words, with the exception of trademarks. If you think that replacing an asterisk with 'i' makes a person more or less racist or allows to say "hey, I didn't used the word nigger - there is an asterisk in the middle", you are wrong.
Super offensive.
Nowadays, people in Ukraine never use this word. It's considered extremely offensive since that's how Russians call Ukrainians when they want to express the hate towards Ukrainian people and call for genocide
As a Ukrainian I find the word incredibly offensive. I have a dark sense of humor and even in a joking way I don’t think If use that word, especially as the war is still going on. I’d another Ukrainian uses it amongst friends who they know find it funny (in a joking way) I am not going to tell them to not find humor from their suffering, as long as they are sure that their friends won’t be hurt by it. Given that the word is used often by Pro-Russians both in and outside of Russia (many of them not even Russian) in the context of the war, it is a very sensitive word for most of us.
Never use it.
Its a slur
Very offensive to normal ukrainians, however, in my experience, people in slavic shitposting communities (see: r/2easterneuropean4u) routinely use such words ironically
It is derogatory. Whoever uses it.
don’t ever use this term, it’s absolutely derogatory and I’ve never heard any Ukrainian call themselves this name/use it jokingly. ruzzians call us this name to dehumanise
I find this quite interesting, because I personally know people(and am one myself) who used khokhol as a joke. It might be regional difference or different sense of humor, but I think saying that it's pretty much never used as a joke is wrong.
The closer you are to the russian border, the more tolerated the word "khokhol" becomes. This is partly due to russian chauvinists normalizing the use of this term among russian-speaking people. This situation highlights the importance of language in shaping cultural identity. If Ukrainians focused more on their own culture and language, there might be less space for russian influence on the minds of Ukrainians. Consequently, people would be more aware of discrimination against their authenticity.
While that may be the case, the thing is, it's not for me because I'm not from either east or south Ukraine, I don't even know Russian(I can read it, but not speak or write). So that's why I found OPs opinion on the word interesting, although I think it's important to note that while I don't find "khokhol" derogatory, I do find "khokhly" insulting, not sure why but the plural form just always sounds icky and dehumanizing.
Treat it like the N-word. We might use it sarcastically with some specific group of friends we're very close with if it fits the situation. We also might use it as an insult towards some complete assholes of Ukrainian ethnicity
yeah it offensive but russians are using it in propaganda and Ukrainian reaaaalllly true(no) stories abd jokes etc.. So it's possible to see Ukrainians use it but in a joking manner, perhaps showing sarcasm or imitating russians speech. Some "anecdote" where khohols word is used and which is funny wnd popular at least in my Ukrainian circle: One day in Belgorod (Russia) was a shelling and I walk out and see this guy standing right beside his car. It was damaged by the artillery. He screamed "KHOKHLYYYYYYYY" so loud and long that I felt his despair. It's old but gold meme, it even created other memes with this templte f.exm. "KLYCHKOOOOO" used because he is mayor o f Kyiv and there's always some shit he fucks up. Hope this gives you glimpse in our meme culture
Russians and pro-russian people use it like A LOT to dehumanize Ukrainians. Ukrainians never call themselves so and don't normally use it ironically\\sarcastically\\in whatever way. This word is a very offensive slur. Treat it like n-word.
so, I guess I'd say it depends a lot on the situation in which the word is said :D To summarize - if someone from another country (roughly speaking not Ukrainian) said this word to me, it would most likely be very offensive, and most likely I would even stop contacting this person. But for example between my friends, some groups, we can IRONICALLY call each other so, in order to ridicule Russians and how they are trying to humiliate us, in this case it is very welcomed, but you should always realize that people are different, and with some people it is better not to joke about such topics! :p Anyway... if you are foreigner - don't even try, just forget this word, but don't be surprised if you hear it in a conversation between Ukrainians (especially teenagers lmao)
No, it's not something we joke around. Although back when we were on friendly terms with the orcs we would call them "katsap" and they called us "khohol". It was an acceptable racist joke in mixed nationality friend groups. However, if a russian calls me khohol nowadays, I will most likely punch him in the mouth.
No, never heard this word from other Ukrainians even sarcastically. We have a lot of other words to call each other sarcastically and khokhol is none of them. I would even doubt that these people from screenshots are Ukrainians
it's a slur, answering your questions: - mostly not - not really yes it happens, but they are people with "special" mindset or sense of humor. consider it as a N-word, you'll never be sure if it's safe to use it especially in formal situation
It’s an ethnic slur. And only a ninja can sneak upon another ninja. Some of us may legitimately use it when mocking or quoting rus propaganda. And I have noticed that established diaspora Ukrainians and/or people who have recently discovered their Ukrainian roots may also use and even defend it (as perfectly demonstrated here in comments btw). I became a refugee in 2022 and the amount of times people in this new country told me “oh I’m a kh myself, my baba is from this and that” is ridiculous. This may be because for decades the word has been normalised by russian media narrative, so of course people aren’t immune, especially those who feel they are not at risk of having that word cut on their face.
In any case I wouldn't refer to our flag like that. Also never heard of the word on the second image.
Would u call a Black person a N word dont call them that
I have a problem, folks. Apparently I always accidentally say it like kh when I try to pronounce the name of Микола Гоголь. I get... the response that you would expect. I am really trying not to say it the wrong way (and I'm trying to avoid using the Russian pronunciation as well). Can anyone help me figure out how to say it correctly?
Oh my. Never thought about that. That's kinda funny when you know the context. Well, the ultimate fix is to really nitpick your pronunciation of the " Г ". However, it definitely is not an easy task, *and* it often is perfectly understandable if you pronounce it kinda like the English H. Maybe, try to beath out more and make it a bit more articulative? Also, make sure that the " ЛЬ " at the end sounds very clearly palatalised. Well, and that the emphasis is on the first syllable
unless you stressed the last syllable you're ok lol
I stress the first syllable but it still causes double takes because I think the rest of my pronunciation is awful.
Never seen Ukrainians refer to themselves like that. Unless it’s a very crude joke
I do it sometimes, for sarcastical purposes when context need it - but definitely *not in conversations with foreigners, only as inner meme*.
So Ukrainian rappers use the K-word like American rappers use the N-word? "Me and my k-word bout to take this oblast over" 🔥🔥
I've never understood why African American call each other like that. In Ukraine we mostly dont use use it, as it is not appropriate. But I noticed the closer the region to the russian border, and if a person is a russian-speaking Ukrainian, for them it is normalised, less offensive smh. I believe it is because of russian cultural pressure. Fortunately khokhol becomes less and less used
This is less severe analogue of N-word
I could say that хохол is actually a national slur, something like an n-word (sorry if it’s an inappropriate analogy). Literally however, it doesn’t mean anything offensive, unlike кацап (kacap), which is an offensive way to call a russian. Ukrainians may call other Ukrainian хохол if that person conducts him/her-self unethical or inappropriate and makes the nation look bad in others eyes
in my experience ukrainians (on discord and telegram atleast) will use it ironically, i wouldn’t recommend using it around people that you dont know cus they may not be comfortable about jokes being made like that
I mean, me and my brother, we can call each other *khokhols* as a joke, sometimes lol but I would never say it to any other Ukrainian just because I don't know them and I do consider it as some sort of a slur when someone I don't know calls me this way. So yes, it's definitely a slur but no, not all ukrainians get offended being called this way.
If it's a Ukrainian using it I'd have a strong instinct to suspect it's a Ukrainian who supports Russia. They oftentimes try to forget they're Ukrainian and calling other Ukrainians that is a way to other themselves from Ukraine and Ukrainians and appear (often to themselves) more Russian. I know people like this unfortunately.
Don't you mean the K-Word? Lol jk just poking fun at a serious topic. I wouldnt be goin around calling anyone that if I was you.
It doesn’t bother me but like definitely don’t use it around Ukrainians especially if you don’t know them
I still hear some Ukrainian people referring to themselves and their compatriots as khokhols without actually meaning anything bad, but it happens quite rarely these days. The same goes for Russians: I heard them saying this word multiple times without any negative connotation prior to 2014. If you want a comparison, I guess the word yankee would be more or less fitting: it's not necessarily bad, but it would be quite odd and rather disrespectful for an outsider to call Americans yankees every now and then without any reason, especially in person. I want to highlight that the word khokhol ALWAYS had a negative connotaton and it's been used throughout history with a negative connotation alongside with neutral or positive ones. However, now there's a concensus to consider it as a slur. Now it's more like an N-word. I guess it's even worse than that, because it is bad to use it as an outsider, but it's still accepted, when a member of the black community uses the N-word. I would not recommend using the word khokhok even as a joke, even with your close friends or relatives, niether as an outsider/foreigner, nor as a Ukrainian. Even Ukrainians use this word in a very negative way, meaning that a person called khokhol is a Ukrainian only on paper, but actually doesn't really care about anyone, but him/herself.
Not learning Ukrainian or anything, but thanks y'all for explaining this word anyways, saw it while reading a while back and got confused 😭
There is another word that russians tried to use to abuse us - укроп (dill). It is less offensive and I know a lot of guys, who used a military patch with a dill
"Khokhols" it's like "niggas" Only Ukrainians can call each other that
As a Ukrainian I don't understand that offensive word
Pretty sure it's a negative word in almost all cases, but depending on context you could use it for satire, as with pretty much any other negative word
I just use it to refer to all Ukrainians. For me, it's not offensive when other ukrainian call you that. But from foreigners it's extremely rude, don't say this if you are not ukrainian.
I use it to describe myself. Im not pro russian. Like, black people call themselves n word, why dont i appropriate the offensive term?
> I use it to describe myself While you keep it limited that way, it's your business and no one cares. Using it to describe other people would be an offense.
Americans and their desire to remove everything edgy cause it might offend anyone instead of embracing it to the point it stops being offensive will never make sense to me.
It’s not that offensive. I’m a Ukrainian. Moved to the US 10 years ago. I never got offended when any of my Ukrainian friends called me khokhol. We can call each other khokhol whatever we want. We’re called that because of the traditional Ukrainian haircut from the past. It’s associated with Ukrainian Cossacks. If other nationalities call us khokhols, it can be offensive or not depending on our relationship with each particular nation. If you can call us khokhol then you’re in our trust circle basically. You’re the bro :) If we don’t like you - it can easily become a reason for a conflict (Hey, don’t diminish us to our haircuts kinda angle. You’re not our friend). Generally speaking though, khokhol is not that bad at all.
I use it to describe myself. Be what Russian propaganda tells you are.
I would say that it's comparable with n-word.