petty bourgeois--how old?
Vadim Besprozvanny
vbesproz at UMICH.EDU
Fri May 11 04:52:58 UTC 2012
The word "буржуй" belongs to colloquialisms (low register). One of
the first instances of its usage can be dated (to the best of my knowledge)
by 1860s. In the 1870-1880 it became quite common in the literature of
Russian Realism (Turgenev, Boborykin, Gorkii, etc.) as a pejorative
appellation to prosperous people of any social stratum. It also can be
traced to popular language (as a joke, irony, even offense); for example,
among kids: "- Mne mama rubl' dala. - Nu ty i burzhuy!").
VB
On Thu, 10 May 2012 15:47:00 -0700, Jules Levin wrote: How old is the
phrase "melkiy burzhua/burzhuy"?
If used in the 19th Century, would it have been used as an official class
or category, or only in the
rhetorical style of certain circles?
Jules Levin
Los Angeles
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