Russian Word of the Day

When a random person is walking down the street and producing tense chewing motions with the jaw, he or she is probably having some жевательная резинка. The adjective жевательная (chewing) and the noun резинка (rubber/eraser/elastic), combined together, make up the term “chewing gum.” But most of the time Russians will avoid the longer, two-part term and simply say жвачка or резинка instead.

Gum was always kind of a big deal among kids when I was growing up, especially if the wrapper included stickers of superheroes, famous athletes, fast cars or nude women. But before that, in the Soviet days, gum was rare and was largely looked upon as another bogus product of depraved Western culture, standing alongside Coca-Cola and blue jeans. So way back then (60s, 70s), as the ultimate replacement people tell me, they chewed sweet tree sap. Thankfully no one needs to resort to such folksy measures any longer; they just buy a pack of Wrigley or Orbit at any kiosk.

Here is the declension of word резинка; adding жевательная is just too long:

Image from 20th.su

Picture of a Soviet chewing gum called "Coffee Aroma."

Here are some example sentences with the words жевательная резинка and жвачка: