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I hear this term in hardbass a lot. "Kolbaser" literally means sausage maker, but refers to something completely different. What is the exact meaning of this term and why does it mean what it means? Is it because the suffix "-baser", referring to the bass of the music?

XS Project - "Bochka, Bass, Kolbaser" - I found a translation online https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5uzc3U8Qhc

XS Project - "Kolbasa" - would be cool if someone could translate this song as well ;) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw4Ui6SsFOs

3 Answers 3

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  1. There's no specific word for sausage-maker. Колбасер does not, has not and never could mean this in common, general Russian.

  2. This -er ending in kolbaser is clearly mimicking English, so it's from the latest post-Perestroika times, while the word "колбаса" is much older. If there were a truly Russian word for sausage-trader or sausage-craftsman, it would probably be constructed with the suffix -nik instead: колбасник. Just like мясник (butcher, from мясо=meat), кукурузник (derogatory nickname for Khrushev for his policy of enforcing American corn in USSR). Or maybe -shchik like in старьевщик (collector/reseller of OLD things). Or -chik as in грузчик (load runner). But not -er. This is clearly a pattern from the West.

  3. We have a slang verb, колбаситься, which literally means to sausage oneself. It refers to certain parties with music, where there's lots of physical movement and heavily crowded rooms that exceeded the level of comfort and sound quality. It may somehow be related to the English word "jamming", while "jamming" doesn't seem to imply getting squashed together as in "traffic jam".

  4. These kinds of dance clubs — loud, late-night music parties for young people, also have a western, post-Perestroika influence. So it's only natural that a person who themself starts to колбаситься (or maybe causes others to), would be called that newly coined noun, constructed from this newly coined verb using the English suffix -er. After all, all things American and European were really trendy in the 1990s. And western-style night dance parties were definitely focal points for wannabe Westerners.

  5. However, regardless of the etymology of that verb, it has practically no relation to колбаса (sausage) as a food, and neither does "колбасер". It could be related to developers (construction workers) slang though (later).


With regard to the lyrics, I only found this: http://webkind.ru/text/94567214_5126008p995356038_text_pesni_nas-vstavlyaet-kolbasa.html

Мы колбасим до утра
Нас встaвляет колбаса.

Нас вставляет колбаса
Колба- колба- колбаса.

Скорость колбаса
Скорость нас вставляет.

This heavily uses drug addict and dance addict slang, so I would be hard put to offer any kind of good translation of it, but there's also nothing to translate. They — in different ways — convey how they like to колбаситься faster and faster.

In particular, "колбаса" here is retrofitted from the said slang verb, meaning here the process whereby lots of people "sausage" themselves.

"Вставляет" probably means "rushing" as in "....the feeling you get on smoke when the top of your neck feels like it's going into the back of your head.", see pp.109/110 at Gift of Wings

This does not contradict "straight edge" tendencies in hardbass community. While the verb most probably either appeared in Soviet criminals and drug users subculture, or perhaps was coined by literature translators who needed a word to convey American slang, since then it crossed that boundary and today might be considered semi-common, if not official.

Literally that 2nd line says "Sausage inserts us". Meaning something like "makes as feel good, exalted, excited". Among youth liking to pose informal and rules-breaking this "вставляет" is rather popular word. Less so in more serious/agier environments.

Hence a possible translation for that song was made in the comments before, where it is hard to find and read. Uplifting it now.

We're moshing till morning 
Moshing rushes us (x2) 
Moshi- Moshi- Moshing!
Speed and moshing
Speed rushes us

Whether that kind of lyrics is worth translation i sincerely wonder...


Now, remembering my Soviet childhood I recall one thing that was called "колбаса" while being elastic and heavy. It was used in constructin as heat insulator, and when kids found ways to construction sites - they often took some as bounty.

Mentioned here, for example, but sadly given no photos or description.

You would find some examples searching pictures for "строительная колбаса" - but again, you mostly have moder, white and not elastic insulator foam. You have to look for blask or dark gray "old school" matter. Something (probably, not quite sure) like this "Шнур пористый ПРП-60 (гернит)" - probably "gernite cord" in English.

I could not though find any video of children using it for entertaining themselves. Today you can just go shopping and get ready-made toys of any kind. There are some serious videos in Russian about making or selling it, but nothing else. And i found nothing in English, probably it is very niche and unpopular thing in the West.

Actually, the only place it was mentioned in English that Google knew was... a translated article from Ukraine, so ex-USSR again, nothing authentically western for reference.

But remembering how those "gray goo" sosages about 4-6 cm thick were weaving in our hands, when we kids cut or found pieces about 30-50 cm long, I can perhaps feel something similar to "moshing".

Just an baseless personal speculation, though.

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    For 3), I think the English word is "moshing," which refers to energetic dancing with physical collisions. A place where moshing takes place is referred to as a "mosh pit." Sometimes, hardbass includes moshing. Commented Sep 28, 2017 at 17:26
  • I would be surprised however, if it was actually referring to drug use and not natural strong feelings when dancing. Hardbass tends to be straightedge (anti-drug). There is even a song by Hard Bass School called "Narkotik kal" meaning "drugs are shit" or something like that. Commented Sep 28, 2017 at 18:52
  • 3
    "Вставляет" term originally comes from drug users, but since then it crossed that boundary and might be considered semi-common, if not official. Literally that line says "Sausage inserts us". Meaning something like "makes as feel good, exalted, excited". Among youth liking to pose informal and rules-breaking it is rather popular word. Less so in more serious/agier environments.
    – Arioch
    Commented Sep 28, 2017 at 20:15
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    There is no any specific word for sausage-maker Actually, there is one. It's "Колбасник".
    – Matt
    Commented Sep 29, 2017 at 9:09
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    @Arioch you should distinguish native cognates from borrowings. The suffixes -арь, -er were borrowed from Latin -arius (the Slavic one either directly or via proto-Germanic). On the other hand, -ник is a native suffix. It comes from a combination of PIE suffixes -n- and -ik- (plus ending -os, so to form -ik-os). The Proto-Germanic cognate of -ik-os is -igaz, which gave Old English -ig, modern English -y. In Latin it was inherited as -icus, which was later also borrowed into English to form suffix -ic. PIE *-kos on noun stems carried the meaning 'characteristic of, like, typical, pertaining to'
    – Anixx
    Commented Apr 1, 2021 at 20:13
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I asked one on my Russian coworkers. She said: bochka = barrel (bass is bass)

Kolbaser is like partymaker — it's an urban word.

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Bochka,bass,kolbasior. 1 Bochka repreesent amphetamine/cocaine etc. 2 BASS - no need of explonation 3 Kolbasion means PENIS lol

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