Udaff
Encyclopedia
Udaff.com or the resource is a Russian Padonki
counter-culture site devoted to publishing short stories. Although technically anything can be posted on the site, it is pre-moderated by its creator, so boring or homosexual
-sympathetic stories will most likely will end up in "/dev/null
". Most stories contain outrightly obscene and grammatically incorrect language, as well as scenes of nudity, violence and alcohol
/drug
consumption, although this is not a must. On the other hand, the content of the site can boast a number of gems and talented authors who feel that censorship and the lengthy approval process in more conventional magazines affect their freedom of speech (normally, Udaff.com publishes new articles within 48 hours of submission with few formal requirements). The only strictly enforced policy on Udaff.com is intolerance towards homosexuals specifically, although this doesn't mean a total ban on homosexual-related topics. The stories shouldn't be sympathetic towards gay
people, not necessarily avoiding the topic altogether.
Udaff.com started in 2001 as a brainchild of Dmitry Sokolovsky, an electrical engineer from Saint Petersburg
, nicknamed "Udav" (Удав, translated as "boa
"). The domain name parodies old English transliteration of Slavic last names which replaced last "v" with "ff". The old logo of the sign was the famous illustration from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
's The Little Prince
of a boa constrictor swallowing an animal; however, later it was replaced with original design as the site became something more than a personal hobby Web page.
Since the very first days the whole operation of site was surrounded with controversy, due to explicit language, content, homophobia
, lack of racial tolerance policy and unmoderated message boards. Since the very beginning and in the spirit of Russian counterculture movement the site was positioned as an antagonist of gay.ru (famous Russian gay site of the time), thus spurring a message board war between the two that lasted for some time.
Although it can be said that the whole site stands on homophobic and conservative agenda (at least, as conservative as you can be while defending underage sex, alcohol abuse and writing gore stories), the creator successfully separates declared freedom of speech from private opinion. The page publishes essays with the views opposing the official policy, however, in such cases the anonymous comments might be forwarded to submitter's email and the work might be sent to the colleagues and/or supervisors.
Despite all of the above, the whole movement seem to have a noticeable impact on modern Russian culture and language. Several authors elevated from "huyators" (authors on Udaff.com) to more conventional literature, and the whole site proved to be a commercial success.
In 2004, the site started running a "news column", which posts links to real news with lengthy "news descriptions" by authors who found those articles. These descriptions might and do include profanities, racial slurs and complete misinterpretation of original sources, although they should be at least loosely based on original news item. Link to the source is a must.
Unmoderated discussion boards under stories provided visitors with a unique ability to express freely. Although these comments were largely obscene, several of the less rude gems entered current Russian slang
, and, judging by their influence, some of them might settle there for a long time. Russian edition of Newsweek
ran an extensive article on this influence in May, 2005, discussing the impact of this slang. The article ignited a discussion about the role of slang and obscenity
in the development of the Russian language
, bringing back a figure of Ivan Barkov
as an author of highly erotic verses and one of the authors of modern Russian language.
Padonki
Padonki is a counter-culture subculture within the Russian-speaking Internet community most famous for using their slang Olbanian language or padonkaffsky jargon...
counter-culture site devoted to publishing short stories. Although technically anything can be posted on the site, it is pre-moderated by its creator, so boring or homosexual
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
-sympathetic stories will most likely will end up in "/dev/null
/dev/null
In Unix-like operating systems, /dev/null or the null device is a special file that discards all data written to it and provides no data to any process that reads from it ....
". Most stories contain outrightly obscene and grammatically incorrect language, as well as scenes of nudity, violence and alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
/drug
Drug
A drug, broadly speaking, is any substance that, when absorbed into the body of a living organism, alters normal bodily function. There is no single, precise definition, as there are different meanings in drug control law, government regulations, medicine, and colloquial usage.In pharmacology, a...
consumption, although this is not a must. On the other hand, the content of the site can boast a number of gems and talented authors who feel that censorship and the lengthy approval process in more conventional magazines affect their freedom of speech (normally, Udaff.com publishes new articles within 48 hours of submission with few formal requirements). The only strictly enforced policy on Udaff.com is intolerance towards homosexuals specifically, although this doesn't mean a total ban on homosexual-related topics. The stories shouldn't be sympathetic towards gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
people, not necessarily avoiding the topic altogether.
Udaff.com started in 2001 as a brainchild of Dmitry Sokolovsky, an electrical engineer from Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, nicknamed "Udav" (Удав, translated as "boa
Boa
The Boidae are a family of nonvenomous snakes found in America, Africa, Europe, Asia and some Pacific Islands. Relatively primitive snakes, adults are medium to large in size, with females usually larger than the males. Two subfamilies comprising eight genera and 43 species are currently...
"). The domain name parodies old English transliteration of Slavic last names which replaced last "v" with "ff". The old logo of the sign was the famous illustration from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry , officially Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, comte de Saint Exupéry , was a French writer, poet and pioneering aviator. He became a laureate of France's highest literary awards, and in 1939 was the winner of the U.S. National Book Award...
's The Little Prince
The Little Prince
The Little Prince , first published in 1943, is a novella and the most famous work of the French aristocrat writer, poet and pioneering aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ....
of a boa constrictor swallowing an animal; however, later it was replaced with original design as the site became something more than a personal hobby Web page.
Since the very first days the whole operation of site was surrounded with controversy, due to explicit language, content, homophobia
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
, lack of racial tolerance policy and unmoderated message boards. Since the very beginning and in the spirit of Russian counterculture movement the site was positioned as an antagonist of gay.ru (famous Russian gay site of the time), thus spurring a message board war between the two that lasted for some time.
Although it can be said that the whole site stands on homophobic and conservative agenda (at least, as conservative as you can be while defending underage sex, alcohol abuse and writing gore stories), the creator successfully separates declared freedom of speech from private opinion. The page publishes essays with the views opposing the official policy, however, in such cases the anonymous comments might be forwarded to submitter's email and the work might be sent to the colleagues and/or supervisors.
Despite all of the above, the whole movement seem to have a noticeable impact on modern Russian culture and language. Several authors elevated from "huyators" (authors on Udaff.com) to more conventional literature, and the whole site proved to be a commercial success.
In 2004, the site started running a "news column", which posts links to real news with lengthy "news descriptions" by authors who found those articles. These descriptions might and do include profanities, racial slurs and complete misinterpretation of original sources, although they should be at least loosely based on original news item. Link to the source is a must.
Language influence
Main article: Padonkaffsky jargonPadonkaffsky jargon
Padonkaffsky jargon or Olbanian language is a cant language developed by padonki of Runet. It started as an Internet slang language originally used in the Russian Internet community...
Unmoderated discussion boards under stories provided visitors with a unique ability to express freely. Although these comments were largely obscene, several of the less rude gems entered current Russian slang
Slang
Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...
, and, judging by their influence, some of them might settle there for a long time. Russian edition of Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
ran an extensive article on this influence in May, 2005, discussing the impact of this slang. The article ignited a discussion about the role of slang and obscenity
Obscenity
An obscenity is any statement or act which strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time, is a profanity, or is otherwise taboo, indecent, abhorrent, or disgusting, or is especially inauspicious...
in the development of the Russian language
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, bringing back a figure of Ivan Barkov
Ivan Barkov
Ivan Semyonovich Barkov was a Russian poet, the author of erotic "Shameful Odes". He was a student of Mikhail Lomonosov, whose works he frequently parodied. He was also a translator and editor at the Russian Academy of Sciences.-Biography:...
as an author of highly erotic verses and one of the authors of modern Russian language.
Examples of Udaff expressions
- КГ/АМ (креатив говно/автор мудак) (KG/AM) – "Your creativity is shit, author is fucker", strong disapproval of someone's point of view, akin to SOBS.O.B.S.O.B. is a 1981 American film written and directed by Blake Edwards starring Richard Mulligan and Julie Andrews. Also appearing are Robert Preston, Robert Vaughn, Larry Hagman, Shelley Winters, Loretta Swit, Robert Webber and, in his last movie appearance, William Holden.S.O.B. was originally...
. - Аффтар жжот! Пешы исчо! – Distorted Автор жжёт! Пиши ещё!, "Author rocks! Write more!", an extreme approval of the posted article.
- Аффтар - аццкий сотона! – "Author is satan from hell!" (автор - адский сатана), the highest approval.
- Низачот - distorted незачёт (Nizachot) – "Credit failed", disapproval.
- Ниасилил - distorted не осилил (Niasilil) – "didn't cope with (to read in full)" (не осилил), the text is too long or boring, too hard to read it all, akin to TLDR.
- Ф Бабруйск, жывотнае! – "To Bobruisk, animal!" (В Бобруйск, животное), a plea for the author to remove himself to the god-forsaken town of Bobruisk, BelarusBelarusBelarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
. Similar to "send to CoventrySend to CoventryTo send someone to Coventry is a British idiom meaning to ostracise someone, usually by not talking to them. To be sent to Coventry is to be regarded as absent. It is often used by children to bully others, and can be used to punish people who, for example, refuse to join a strike...
". - Ф газенваген! – "To the gas wagon!", extreme disapproval.
- Аффтар, убей сибя ап стену – "Author, go run into a wall to kill yourself" (Автор, убей себя об стену), anger, extreme disapproval.
- Превед (PrevedPrevedPreved is a term used in the Padonkaffsky jargon, a meme in the Russian-speaking Internet which developed out of a heavily-circulated picture, and consists of choosing alternative spellings for words for comic effect...
) – Distorted "привет", "hello". Originated in a picture of a bear catching two lovers during the act in the middle of the forest and saying "Preved!" In the original, English, version of the picture by John LurieJohn LurieJohn Lurie is an American actor, musician, painter and producer. He is co-founder of The Lounge Lizards, a jazz ensemble. Lurie has acted in 19 films including Stranger than Paradise and Down by Law, composed and performed music for 20 television and film works, and he produced and starred in...
the bear was saying "surprise". - Кросавчег – Distorted "красавчик", "handsome man", means the person labelled as such is someone great, "cool guy". Probably a worthy example for others to follow.