Khokhol

The Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks to Sultan of Turkey (1880-91). Painted by Ilya Repin.

Khokhol (Russian: хохо́л, Polish: hahol, chachol) is a term used to describe the typical Ukrainian cossack style of haircut that features a lock of hair sprouting from the top or the front of an otherwise closely shaven head. It is commonly used as a pejorative term for ethnic Ukrainians.

Colloquialism

Russians and Poles commonly use the word khokhol (hahol) as an ethnic slur for Ukrainians, as it was a common haircut of Cossacks. The term is frequently derogatory or condescending, an equivalent of the Ukrainian term katsap and Polish kacap for Russians.^[1]

Ukrainian culture

The Ukrainian name for this type of haircut is oseledets or chub (чуб, "crest"). There are several Ukrainian surnames derived from this word. In the Cossacks times the haircut carried an honorary meaning identifying one as being the true Cossack. That tradition is depicted in various motion pictures such as Propala Hramota that is based on works of Nikolai Gogol.

The khokhol/oseledets is a standard feature in the stereotype image of a Ukrainian Cossack.

See also

• Oseledets or chupryna
• Sikha

References

1. ^ Thompson, Ewa Majewska (1991). The Search for self-definition in Russian literature. 27. John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. 22. ISBN 9027222134.