Everywhere in Turkey, Russians are called the dissonant word yabancı (“yabanji”), and due to the mass emigration of compatriots to the Turkish coast, this word, spoken both in the face and in the back, can now be heard much more often. But what does it mean and is it worth getting annoyed and offended by what you hear in your address, the Russian tourist said in his blog on Yandex.Zen.
According to him, a combination of letters, unusual for the Russian ear, is most often pronounced when compatriots find themselves in an awkward situation when they understood or did something wrong. “In general, all the prerequisites for thinking that this is something bad,” the author noted. – At the entrance to the stadium, at the screening frame, they ask us for something, but because of not knowing the language, we do not understand what they want from us. The minibus driver wants to know where the passengers should get off, but we don’t hear that this question is addressed to us, too, because it’s impossible to make out what he is saying there and to whom exactly. At the post office, the operator does not know English, and we do not speak Turkish – they call someone for help and say yabancı.
However, in reality, this word is not used by the Turks for insult. “Yabanji” means foreigner, non-native, alien. An ordinary word without any serious negative connotation. According to the situation, we understand that something like the following is happening: the person clearly sees that he will not achieve anything from us, but the issue needs to be resolved. And he asks someone – they say, help me explain – here again these non-Russians (in the sense of non-Turkish). Or he simply looks at the sky from impotence and sighs – well, here again these come in large numbers, how can you communicate with them ?! We can see by intonation, facial expressions and the desire to help that we are not scolded, ”explained the meaning of the word Russian, now popular in Turkey.
Further, the author noted that in fact, yabancı is used by the Turks in relation to others the inhabitants of the republic. For example, it is appropriate to place it on a sign at the residential complex indicating that residents can occupy parking spaces, while citizens who do not live there, i.e. yabancı – not allowed. The word does not discriminate against tourists and is not tied to nationality – and this is the main thing.
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