Plyushkin

Plyushkin

Plyushkin (Плю́шкин) was a character in Nikolai Gogol's novel "Dead Souls". He was a landowner who obsessively collected and saved everything he came across, to the point that when he wants to celebrate a deal with the protagonist, he orders one of his serfs to find a cake that a visitor brought several years ago, scrape off the mold, and bring it to them. At the same time, his estate is incredibly inefficient--the cut wheat rots on the ground and any potential income is lost.

Today in Russia the name "Plyushkin" is semi-humorously applied to people who collect and amass various useless, broken, thrown-away things, a behavior known as compulsive hoarding. Sometimes the terms "Plyushkin symptom" or "Plyushkin syndrome" are used to describe such people.

In English slang, the word "pack rat" is used for such people.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Dead Souls — For other uses, see Dead Souls (disambiguation). Dead Souls   …   Wikipedia

  • Diogenes syndrome — Diogenes syndrome, also known as senile squalor syndrome, is a disorder characterized by extreme self neglect, domestic squalor, social withdrawal, apathy, compulsive hoarding of rubbish, and lack of shame.[1][2] The condition was first… …   Wikipedia

  • Cognitive behavioral therapy — Psychology …   Wikipedia

  • Striatum — Brain: Striatum purple=caudate and putamen, orange=thalamus …   Wikipedia

  • As Good as It Gets — Theatrical release poster Directed by James L. Brooks Produced by …   Wikipedia

  • Magical thinking — For the book, see Magical Thinking (book). Magical thinking is causal reasoning that looks for correlation between acts or utterances and certain events. In religion, folk religion, and superstition, the correlation posited is between religious… …   Wikipedia

  • NMDA receptor — NMDA Glutamic acid …   Wikipedia

  • Compulsive hoarding — in an apartment, early 1970s Compulsive hoarding (or pathological hoarding or disposophobia)[1] is the acquisition of possessions (and failure to use or discard them) in excess of socially normative amounts, even if the items are worthless,… …   Wikipedia

  • Adrian Monk — This article is about the fictional detective. For the British journalist, see Adrian Monck. Adrian Monk …   Wikipedia

  • Cingulate cortex — Brain: Cingulate cortex Medial surface of left cerebral hemisphere …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”