Fish fur
Russian-language ironic expression
Fish fur (Russian: рыбий мех, romanized: ryby mekh) is a Russian-language ironic expression used to describe poor quality of coats and other clothes worn for warmth. In modern times, it is also used for fake fur, especially of poor quality. The term traces back to a Russian proverb "A poor man's fur coat is of fish fur." (Russian: У бедняка шуба на рыбьем меху, romanized: U bednyaka shuba na rybyem mekhu.)
The expression has often been used to describe the uniform of the Soviet Army. In particular, elements of winter uniform (ushanka, collars, mittens) of ordinary soldiers and lower ranks were made of wool pile, which has been a popular cheap material for civilian clothing as well.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in his Gulag Archipelago records the expression "Stalin's fur" in the meaning of no fur of any kind, in reference to the dress of Gulag inmates, supposedly derived in an analogy with "fish fur".
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Fish fur”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Soviet soldier DN-SC-92-04942.jpg by JO1(SW) Joe Bartlett, Public domain
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