“Goat”: why is it an insult in a Russian prison

Phraseologisms

Here are examples of phraseological units and stable phrases with the word being studied:

High-speed (non-speed) goat - in aviation, a jump of an aircraft during landing at an increased (reduced or normal) speed.
Standing on a sawhorse is a colloquial, slang expression for raising the front wheels of a vehicle - a car, bicycle, motorcycle.
To tear a goat is, in common parlance, to sing ineptly, in an unpleasant voice.
To score a goat is a slang term for playing dominoes.
Like milk from a goat - a saying denoting the insufficiency of the benefit brought, the return.
Local collapse is the technical term for a partial collapse that occurs in a reactor core.
Letting a goat into the garden is a saying that hints that it is undesirable to allow a person to go where he can act in his own selfish interests.
Construction goat - see above.

The place of goats in the prison hierarchy

Speaking about the castes of prisoners, it is worth noting that the goat in the zone stands apart from other categories of prisoners. With thieves and peasants everything is quite clear. The first are the highest caste in the hierarchy of convicts. In black zones, they determine the rules of conduct and resolve all controversial issues between other prisoners. In the red zones, thieves do not have such absolute power, but they still enjoy authority and influence among other convicts.

The men work in the prison and comply with the requirements of the hostel without breaking taboos. As a result, although they are not such an influential caste, being the most widespread, they enjoy the recognition and respect of other prisoners.

Roosters or lowered ones are the lowest caste, kind of untouchable. People get into it for violating the basic rules of behavior in prison or in the wild.

Unlike all of the above, goats are closest to the administration, but are not considered absolute outcasts among prisoners. The attitude towards them is, of course, wary and cautious, but not strictly negative.

It should be borne in mind that it can vary significantly in different zones. In the black zones, the status of goats is significantly lower than in the red zones. In the Reds, with the support of the administration, they can even influence the order and relationships between prisoners.

Scapegoat

Let us consider separately the widespread expression “scapegoat”, the meaning of which, however, is not clear to everyone. This phrase, taken from the Old Testament, implies that the goat in this case is a special animal. After a symbolic Jewish ritual, during which the sins of the entire people were, as it were, laid upon him, he was taken into the desert.

In Christian theologians, for example in John the Baptist, one can find an interpretation of this phrase as a prototype of the self-sacrifice of Jesus Christ, called the Lamb of God and taking upon himself of his own free will all the sins of the world. Today they say this about a person whom they want to make guilty without guilt.

Men's talk

Among other meanings, “goats” appear to us in the following guises:

In a figurative sense, this is a swear word that means a slow-witted, mean-spirited and very unpleasant person. (Marina instructed her son in a stern voice: “Remember, Yura, even if a person is unpleasant to you, has done something bad to you, this is not a reason to stoop to his level and call him a goat.”
This is the name of the Soviet all-terrain vehicle GAZ-69, as well as the UAZ-469. (Finally, the necessary advertisement was found in the newspaper: “I am selling a frame for GAZ-69 (goat), we will agree on the price”).
The name of the game is dominoes and also cards. (An article on the Internet said that learning to play goat in dominoes is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance).
The name of the person who lost in the specified game. (Sergei was already tired of being a goat, and he decided to quit playing dominoes for today).

In plural

When this word is used in the plural - “goats”, it also means the following:

The front part of a horse-drawn carriage on which the driver sits. (“Sanka, don’t sleep, move, sit down on the box quickly, otherwise we’ll be late,” the lady went bankrupt).
A construction device used when working at low heights. (“Guys, be careful on the trestles there, the height is still quite high,” the elderly foreman carefully admonished the builders).
A device used for sawing wood. (Having laid out the firewood on the trestles and busily rubbing his hands, the stocky man prepared to prepare firewood for the winter).
A device that is used when driving on roads that do not have a hard surface. (On country roads they use rolls for driving cattle, called “goats”).

“Goat”: why is it an insult in a Russian prison

It is customary to call convicts who openly cooperate with the administration of a correctional institution as goats in places of deprivation of liberty. This is one of the lowest castes in the prison hierarchy.

Already from the 14th century in Rus', the abusive word “goat” was used in relation to all kinds of scoundrels and swindlers. Since the early 1960s, this word has come to mean a person who actively cooperates with the administration of the colony. The prisoner's status as a goat was practically constant throughout his entire stay in prison.

Prisoners belonging to the goat group prefer to call themselves activists, reds, independent men or positive. But the prisoners never call them goats.

The word "asshole" is one of the most serious insults for a prisoner who does not belong to this group. He is obliged to react immediately and harshly (to hit or even kill the offender), otherwise he risks his reputation and a decrease in status. So the word “goat” itself and its derivatives (goat, goat, goat and horned) are prohibited from being used in everyday speech.

Many believe that this category of prisoners are informers. Actually this is not true. None of the prisoners will chat in their presence. Moreover, they keep themselves apart. The heads of the operational part of the zone are very cunning people, they always have such “assistants” who are the least likely to be suspected. Therefore, it should be recognized that goats, reds, activists (call them whatever you want) in areas where thieves are established are useless. They don’t knock and the administration cannot maintain order. Well, in the “red zones”, where the influence of the administration is strong, their task is simple, like grandfathers in the army - to suppress the rest of the prisoners by force, so that the colony employees do not bother themselves with worries about discipline.

A prisoner automatically turned red upon joining the internal order section or the so-called “amateur organizations of convicts,” or if he agreed to take the position of a work assistant, foreman, supply manager, or orderly. Working in these positions provides a number of benefits from the administration and makes it possible to move into the category of people “firmly on the path of correction,” which ensures inclusion in the number of candidates for early release or pardon. But a person can be considered a goat only when he openly harms other convicts.

One former authority said: “Red is a way of life. There is no demand for the lifestyle. Demand for actions. But if a red one does a good deed, then he is still red. Reds are different. There are those that publish wall newspapers and organize sporting events. These are harmless red ones. But there are also goats. For me, goats are those who help break people's progress. Life in the camp is arranged in such a way that the trash cannot do anything without the help of the prisoners. And if there are real goats in the positions of supply managers, foremen, and order workers, then this is a real disaster for the camp. All people are different. Everyone has their own worldview. For some, being red is good. For some, being red means selling yourself for an extra scoop of porridge. It often happens that the authorities rely on “their” people, and sometimes it happens that in order to transfer heat to the punishment cell [punishment cell – Author], the Reds are needed, because only they have access there.”

The famous thief in law Alexander Severov (Sasha Sever) expressed his point of view in an interview: “The category of these people has their own “right path” - to quickly jump out to freedom. They put on a bandage, join sections, and begin to cooperate with the administration. The latter characterizes them as “those who have taken the path of correction.” And they: here I reported on one, there on another. And he went on parole. I’m sitting in the zone, two months pass, Vasya comes, the one who went on parole. The administration is happy. But according to the normal logic of things, she should tell him: “Oh, you scoundrel! You have failed us. You are on the path to correction. We vouched for you, but a month later you committed a crime again.” Severov is sure that such people only consider themselves to be on the path of correction, but in reality they are ordinary opportunists deceiving the administration: “According to their reports, people are put in a punishment cell. Instead of helping someone in trouble, they build their well-being on him. Betray your neighbor for profit.”

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What are the zones?

There are two types of zones in Russia:

Reds.
Black.

In red zones, the administration retains full control over all areas of the prisoners’ lives. In the black zones, orders are established by authorities from the criminal caste. The administration usually does not interfere in affairs between prisoners, except in situations where they are clearly breaking the law and this violation has serious consequences.

Sometimes they also talk about gray zones, in which both systems are mixed. In this case, each specific prison may differ significantly from others in its order and conditions of detention for convicts.