Why do communists call each other comrade?

[Fourth Internationalist]

I always hear communists call each other "comrade". Why? I find it to be really stupid sounding when I hear some one say it.

[Drosophila]

It's not exclusive to communists at all. In fact, I've heard Neo-Nazis use it.

[Comrade #138672]

I think it's to affirm a certain kind of relationship between communists (or between a communist and other people) that strengthens their bond to serve the shared goal of communism. To me it doesn't sound stupid at all.

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

Sounds cool.

[Igor]

It came originally from the need to address people with no reference to class or gender, and the German word Kamerad was picked, of which words like comrade and Russian tovarisch are approximate translations of. It was a neutral term that also implied affection and unity. I don't see anything wrong per se with its contemporary usage, but some commies go kind of overboard with it and I can't really deny the fact that it's corny as fuck. I don't much use it myself.

[Caj]

It's fun to say.

[Hit The North]

It's a friendly formality we use to mask the utter contempt we feel for each other.

[Ostrinski]

I like it

Would never use it irl tho

[Comrade Samuel]

I like it

Would never use it irl tho

Same, that and it sounds way better than saying "hello fellow individual affiliated with communism!"

[Comrades Unite!]

I say it in real life...

[#FF0000]

Same, that and it sounds way better than saying "hello fellow individual affiliated with communism!"

The IWW's "Fellow Worker" is way better.

[Flying Purple People Eater]

Good evening Comrade!


..Because it's better than saying Sir or M'lady.

[Workers-Control-Over-Prod]

I always found the english Comrade quite funny sounding, Genosse i use in real life quite a lot and since in the GDR officially everyone called each other Genosse it is still in the culture a bit.

[Rafiq]

French Revolution: Called each other "citizen", you know, Liberalist rhetoric.

More radical groups in France started to call each other "comrade" to signify, well, that they meant buisness.

There you go.

[Veovis]

The IWW's "Fellow Worker" is way better.

Only problem, not everyone in a revolutionary organization is necessarily a worker. I for one was unemployed for a long time.

(Yes, I know unemployed people are still part of the working class, but if they aren't working they aren't workers.)

[Manic Impressive]

French Revolution: Called each other "citizen", you know, Liberalist rhetoric.

More radical groups in France started to call each other "comrade" to signify, well, that they meant buisness.

There you go.
In the 1st international they refereed to each other as citizen.

I didn't used to like the term but since joining a party where some people really attribute value to it, it has taken on a knew meaning for me.

[Art Vandelay]

I would use it in real life, but I don't have any irl comrades :(.

[Prof. Oblivion]

I think that most socialist organizations have developed a whole culture of their own, and that this is part of that culture, which, being completely outside of the "socialist left," I find rather silly.

[RedHammer]

It's just a term signifying solidarity with your fellow workers/radicals..

Use in real life depends on where you live and what the situation is. Pre-teen kids in the suburbs calling each other "comrade" is a bit corny, but Naxalites in India whooping landlord ass should use it to their hearts' content.

[theblackmask]

I think it's interesting that before the Russian Revolution, tovarischwas also applied to the assistants of government officials. In a sense, after the revolution, its meaning never changed, as party members were still assistants of the state.

[Pretty Flaco]

comrade just sounds so stupid in english if youre using it to refer to one person specifically. i can think of like a dozen other words that basically mean the same thing.

buddy, pal, partner, homie, homes, friend, cuz... or seven.

[Zostrianos]

It's not exclusive to communists at all. In fact, I've heard Neo-Nazis use it.

The old Nazis also used it

[Luc]

i think German Commies say Genosse and Nazis say Kamerad

[Pretty Flaco]

i think German Commies say Genosse and Nazis say Kamerad

im not sure about in german, but in english comrade has very militaristic connotations.

[Luc]

im not sure about in german, but in english comrade has very militaristic connotations.

ya thats why Nazis say Kamerad because of military connotations, and then Genosse is slightly diff in meaning that lends a socialist and personal character to it which is why Commies and Socialists use it

wikipedia explains the whole thing for German usage
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comrade#German_usage

[levyel]

Usually the term is used derisively against me, so I guess I've developed a bias toward not using it myself. That, and it's awfully unimaginative and stereotypical.

[human strike]

The highest irony of addressing those with whom you engage in struggle and/or feel an affinity as "comrade" is that far from having an equalising affect, it creates an informal hierarchy between enlightened and unenlightened. It is an extension of the activist logic, of the idea that there are special, conscious or active people, like oneself, who are better than others. It is a form of elitism that manages to be less communistic than the language of some corporate PR departments. It's implicitly vanguardist. Enlightened "comrades" lead unconscious "workers" (with added patronising sympathy) against their "capitalist" enemies.

As for members of organisations like the IWW calling each other "fellow worker" - to me this is very backward. Communism is the movement that negates work and the worker as the worker. Is this not just workerism and completely counter-productive (if you'll excuse the pun)?

Just sayin' is all.

[ВАЛТЕР]

It is a sign of equality. It doesn't put one person ahead of another like the term "sir".

[Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant']

I kind of like it but would never use it in real life to be honest.

It was funny when I was a party member and during our frequent 'meetings' (3 of us at the organiser's house or in the back room of a pub) the organiser would always open each meeting with a 'Welcome Comrades'...just three guys in a room, seemed like a strange way to address us.

[citizen of industry]

It was common in the US among soldiers in the civil war, before it had a "communist" coloring. The etymology goes back pretty far and isn't exclusive to communism.

Some people in our union use the term. Personally I use it for party members and not other unionists, and then only in written correspondence, e.g., "According to Comrade..." or "Comradely Regards..", not "Hey Comrade, what's up?"

[ВАЛТЕР]

That's our word! Only we can use that word!

[Le Socialiste]

I would use it in real life, but I don't have any irl comrades :(.

The first time someone beyond this site called me "comrade" I didn't quite know what to think. Like most people here, I thought it ridiculously cheesy. But now its kind of grown on me, and I generally do refer to the socialists I work with as comrades now. Just them, within the proper context(s). Nowadays it'd be a little absurd rushing up to the casual passerby saying "comrade!" - especially if they have little to no background in or understanding of radical leftism. That said, most Occupy meetings I attended earlier in the year often had a fair number of people using the word. Then again, a lot of them were fairly pretentious, middle-class fucks with a degree in hipsterism (no disrespect to hipsters, I admire their fashion sense - or lack thereof) who seemed more in love with recreating the revolution and acting out certain roles than actually taking the time to build an organization strong and capable enough in its capacity within the broader movement.

[helot]

comrade just sounds so stupid in english if youre using it to refer to one person specifically. i can think of like a dozen other words that basically mean the same thing.

buddy, pal, partner, homie, homes, friend, cuz... or seven.

I must say i'm always calling people "mate". It's the standard way to address someone in my area. The problem arises when i feel a need to distinguish between a mate and someone im organised with even though i would consider them friends. A form of political address would be useful but i've not found the right word to use that doesn't sound ridiculous.

[Prometeo liberado]

Back in "the day", circa 1989 when I was a wee one on the scene, comrade was a tag word meaning you were a member of the CPUSA. Today I real only hear it in regards to a third person's identity. Like "Is he/she a comrade?". It irritates me to no end when I hear skinheads call each other comrade though.

[Rocky Rococo]

It definitely takes on different tones in different languages. The Spanish compañero embodies a warm sense of personal connection, of equal status and shared destiny, quite the opposite of the military tone in the Germanic "comrade" or "Kamerad" mentioned above. So I use the Spanish word a fair amount in my RL political interactions. I'll use the English "comrade" under more formal situations, such as making May Day greetings.

[ВАЛТЕР]

Here in Serbia/Croatia/Bosnia/Montenegro etc. The word we use for comrade is "Drug" or "Drugarica" if referring to a female. It means friend. So it is used all the time here, since it basically just means friend.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Like someone said here a while back, I think it's OK (although I still don't use the word) to use when refering to abstract comrades, ie "are there any comrades in Chicago?" I personally frown on it's use in a personal setting, though, like looking someone straight in the face and saying "comrade", or pointing at someone in the room and saying "as comrade so-and-so was saying..."

Just sounds too corny.

[Flying Purple People Eater]

Like someone said here a while back, I think it's OK (although I still don't use the word) to use when refering to abstract comrades, ie "are there any comrades in Chicago?" I personally frown on it's use in a personal setting, though, like looking someone straight in the face and saying "comrade", or pointing at someone in the room and saying "as comrade so-and-so was saying..."

Just sounds too corny.
NO, COMRADE, IT IS YOU WHO SOUNDS CORNY!

Petit-Bourgeois liberal scum.

[Os Cangaceiros]

NO, COMRADE, IT IS YOU WHO SOUNDS CORNY!


NO, COMRADE, IT IS YOU


NO, COMRADE


COMRADE

:unsure:

[Rugged Collectivist]

I like it, and I don't think it sounds any cornier than "sir" or "mister" or whatever, but I wouldn't use it to refer to someone if I knew they didn't like it.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

Maybe I haven't been exposed to enough anti-communist propaganda, but I think "comrade" can still be used appropriately, without sarcasm or irony. At worst it reminds me of when one selects a unit from the RTS game Red Alert 2, but since that game was awesome, what the fuck.


Here in Serbia/Croatia/Bosnia/Montenegro etc. The word we use for comrade is "Drug" or "Drugarica" if referring to a female. It means friend. So it is used all the time here, since it basically just means friend.

How do you pronounce it? Because I'm wondering if that provided inspiration for "droog", the future slang term from A Clockwork Orange.

Just checked, and I was kind of sort of right, except the author Anthony Burgess drew from the Russian language, so I was close?

Maybe I should make you all my droogs.

[hetz]

Because I'm wondering if that provided inspiration for "droog", the future slang term from A Clockwork Orange.Yes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadsat
In Russian drug means friend, comrade is tovarisch.

[Pelarys]

I frequently use the word camarade IRL without anyone seeing it as a negative term. In France it's still used to designate a group of affiliated people, like a class ("Stop copying your comrade" or "Go line up with your comrades" for example, are frequently used by teachers) so it's probably not as weird sounding to us.

[Slavoj Zizek's Balls]

How do you pronounce it? Because I'm wondering if that provided inspiration for "droog", the future slang term from A Clockwork Orange.

Just checked, and I was kind of sort of right, except the author Anthony Burgess drew from the Russian language, so I was close?

Maybe I should make you all my droogs.

That is exactly what I thought, so I'm wondering why both the Serbian and Russian language have this word. Possibly due to Greek influences centuries before as that is associated with "Cyrillic" as well as historical influences e.g. USSR.

Plus what are the other alternatives for "Comrade" that you could say to someone who is formally above you in the system but you want to call your equal without using the word friend?

[hetz]

Serbian and Russian are both Slavic languages, and all Slavic languages share a big part of their vocabularies.

[Ravachol]

The Dutch word for comrade is 'kameraad' (like the German but with a drawn-out a, pronounced 'kahmehraat') and its usage isn't that weird over here. A lot of old people use it to refer to their close friends (without political connotations) and so do young folks in certain regions (like some of the south and parts of the east of the Netherlands).

I never use it to address people as it sound too much like role-playing to me but I occasionally use it to refer to a third person in political conversation, ie. 'some comrades of mine'.

[black magick hustla]

Like someone said here a while back, I think it's OK (although I still don't use the word) to use when refering to abstract comrades, ie "are there any comrades in Chicago?" I personally frown on it's use in a personal setting, though, like looking someone straight in the face and saying "comrade", or pointing at someone in the room and saying "as comrade so-and-so was saying..."

Just sounds too corny.

yea, i use it that way. when i talk about "comrades" i imply "political allies" cuz' there isn't really any other word for that type of things. but yea the whole comrade bmh thing is corny. "comrade" to me implies a very specific type of relationship. for example, members of a fascist organization are comrades between themselves.

[Jimmie Higgins]

What's up my 'rades!

In the US, the early SP actually formally decided this was the way they should officially adress people - probably influenced by European/German socialists. But the practical reason was that religious people called eachother "friend" and reformist unionists called eachother "brothers/sisters (though probably more brothers at that time because they didn't organize the industrial labor which was the job typically done by female workers at that time). "Citizen" probably wasn't much in use by that point, but it was the liberal republicanism term in the early US as in France.

I am all in favor of non-gendered friendly names expressing solidarity or openess. In the US this doesn't really exist: people say "dude" and only unionists and black people tend to say "brother/sister" for a term of comradere. Mostly it's "Hey you".

So I'm in favor of it but I tend to only use it when amongst "comrades":lol:. It does reek of socialist-kitch when used in mixed company or in public political settings. When it's organic and not forced, it's not bad at all. If there is an increase in radicalization in the US, then comrade or some new/different analogus word among people involved in struggle will no doubt become much more common and not sound so antiquated (either a revived organic "comrade" use or something else).

Comrade is used by US vets all the time, so it's not that it isn't used in the US in general - it just has been tainted by 40 years of movies and books and TV with "evil Russian communists" calling eachother "comrade". But it's a good word, and while yeah anyone (whose working class) can be called "fellow worker" it doesn't say much about the relationship - I know many fellow workers who are my fellow workers, but are not in struggle or radical at all - so it doesn't make sense outside of a radical union like the IWW - it becomes like "brother/sister" outside this context. Comrade is specific, I see it as a term signifying not only "solidarity" but specifically people who you are in struggle alongside with - a comrade in the class struggle just as in the military soliders are comrades in battle.

[Crux]

I use it when talking to my comrades. I like it. I do find that I feel like I'm in a coldwar propaganda movie though when someone with an american accent calls me comrade.

Also word of advise, never call a german comrade "Kamerad". The word of choice is Genosse/Genossieren because Kamerad is pretty much owned by the nazis over there.

[Rugged Collectivist]

"Drug" or "Drugarica"


Genosse/Genossieren

Doesn't it kind of defeat the purpose if you have different words for each gender?

[Crux]

Doesn't it kind of defeat the purpose if you have different words for each gender?

You can call them kameraten if you like, genosse, but they're going to look at you funny. The purpose, I believe is to have a way to address our allies in the trenches of the class war, comrade.

[Anarchocommunaltoad]

I exclusively use the word camarada to both adhere to the rule of cool and to piss off cubans that i pass on the sidewalk.

[Pravda]

Here in Serbia/Croatia/Bosnia/Montenegro etc. The word we use for comrade is "Drug" or "Drugarica" if referring to a female. It means friend. So it is used all the time here, since it basically just means friend.
Yeah, but today in Croatia it has (negative) ideological connotations, its a slur used to allude that somebody is communist, sometimes even Serbian (that is supposed to be an insult). So its not used so much anymore, instead it is used "prijatelj" (friend).
When i first became a communist i also thought word comrade is corny, but now i like it:)

[Rugged Collectivist]

You can call them kameraten if you like, genosse, but they're going to look at you funny. The purpose, I believe is to have a way to address our allies in the trenches of the class war, comrade.

No, I mean isn't the term meant to be an egalitarian form of address? I thought one of the appeals was that it was genderless, unlike mr or mrs. I guess it's kind of hard to avoid with languages where everything is gendered, like Spanish and (I'm assuming) German and Serbian.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

Comrade is used by US vets all the time, so it's not that it isn't used in the US in general - it just has been tainted by 40 years of movies and books and TV with "evil Russian communists" calling eachother "comrade".

Really? I didn't think so, although as an abbreviation of "comrades-in-arms" it makes sense.

[The Jay]

Really? I didn't think so, although as an abbreviation of "comrades-in-arms" it makes sense.

I have heard it. They aren't as queasy about using the word as the average american for obvious reasons, they have military cred.

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

Generally I greet other wobblies as "eff-dub" (as in "FW" as in "Fellow Worker") because it roles off the tongue really easily.
As for the contentions that "We're not all workers, I've been unemployed for fucking ever" and "Communism aims at the abolition of the working class as such", I'd say to the former that it's not about whether or not one is currently engaged in wage labour, but it's a question of class, and to the latter that the second that in order to realize the communist project, the working class must confront itself in-its-working-class-ness as a real limit of struggle, which necessitates a self-reflexive relationship to ones class.

[more_like_"crapitalism"]

anytime i hear anyone on the left use comrade in a serious way, i can't help but chuckle. it all seems so forced and phony, and just makes the left look like some kind of weird "soviet preservation society", or like soviet-fetishists or something (not that there aren't types like that here). i think it's alienating to people outside of the left, and just fucking goofy in general.

when i'm addressing or greeting anyone on a personal level, it's gonna be more like "hey asshole" than "greetings comrade".

[Jimmie Higgins]

Really? I didn't think so, although as an abbreviation of "comrades-in-arms" it makes sense.

Yes, although I think even then it's less in use now than in WWII and earlier - probably because outside of the military context is sounds as much like a villain in a 1960s movie as it does when we use it in a mixed non-political context. But here's something from a few days ago:


Fallen Comrade Sculpture Honors USA Military Veterans







November 12, 2012

Soldiers, political leaders and students joined the crowd celebrating the dedication of the Fallen Comrade on Veterans Day.

Of course their comrade-ship is, at best, an internal solidarity forged from being put in a really shitty situation together - and sometimes it's not comradeship at all:



8 U.S. soldiers charged in death of comrade in Afghanistan

KABUL — The U.S. Army, which has struggled in recent years to combat a mounting suicide toll, took an unusual step when it announced Wednesday that it had charged eight American soldiers serving in Afghanistan in connection with the apparent suicide of one of their lower-ranking comrades.

[Soomie]

I personally don't see it as corny at all as long as it isn't overused. I have never used it in real life either. However, if I saw a person walking down the street that I knew was openly communist and well educated about it, I might acknowledge them as "comrade" in passing by. I don't see anything wrong with it.

[Red Commissar]

Also word of advise, never call a german comrade "Kamerad". The word of choice is Genosse/Genossieren because Kamerad is pretty much owned by the nazis over there.

There's a similar problem in Italy with this too. Camerata, which sounds similar to the English "Comrade", is a term with military connotations and is heavily used by right-wing circles in the form of the fascists.

"Compagno/a" is the equivalent and preferred term used by Italian left-wing circles. So yeah, similar issue, don't be calling an Italian comrade camerata...

[Jimmie Higgins]

because Kamerad is pretty much owned by the nazis over there.I fucking hate them.

We don't try and take their jackboots.:cursing:

[Crux]

I fucking hate them.

We don't try and take their jackboots.:cursing:
Well, in germany it has military connotation originally. In sweden "folkkamrat" hasn't really caught on as well, although the hardcore hitlerists surely are trying haha.

[Blake's Baby]

There's a similar problem in Italy with this too. Camerata, which sounds similar to the English "Comrade", is a term with military connotations and is heavily used by right-wing circles in the form of the fascists.

"Compagno/a" is the equivalent and preferred term used by Italian left-wing circles. So yeah, similar issue, don't be calling an Italian comrade camerata...

Oh, right, I did that yesterday. Googletranslate was telling me 'compagno' was 'mate' and 'camerata' was 'comrade'. Bollocks.

[Anticommi]

None of you weird communist wannabes know the history behind your own word 'Comrade'? It's actually an acronym standing for 'Communist Radical'. If you all are left wing weirdos you may wanna' study up on your own shit. Good evening wanna'*****es!

[Q]

None of you weird communist wannabes know the history behind your own word 'Comrade'? It's actually an acronym standing for 'Communist Radical'. If you all are left wing weirdos you may wanna' study up on your own shit. Good evening wanna'*****es!

You got the etymology completely wrong. But then again, you were banned for trolling.

[T5seconds]

Sir and Madam are terms that to the uninitiated, are titles of respect, but in reality, its a term of subservience. (Ie. Why you call a teacher sir, but he calls you by your name) Comrade means we as people are equals. I use comrade whenever I'm talking about another person who hates class antagonism.

[Rusakov]

I'd agree with the poster above. By addressing another as Comrade, I aim to show a feeling of respectful friendship and solidarity that expressions like sir do not convey.

[Brutus]

The real question is: how do you pronounce it?
Rhyming with lemonade or sad?
I pronounce it like com-rad (rhyming with sad)

[La Guaneña]

I like Companheiro/a better than the Camarada (comrade). Companheiro also serves to indicate being in a relationship with someone, in a much better sense than the equivalent of girlfriend or boyfriend.

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

I'm partial to "compañero" myself, though that might just be the Latin American influence in where I'm from

[Madavascus]

I know it is gendered, and saying it may make me sound Christian, but I say "brother" or "sister," because of the union culture that I've experienced. If I met someone that I knew shared my politics beliefs, I would definitely call them comrade.

Deep down, I really want to be able to do that; call someone comrade.

"Comrade" is used pejoratively by some (conservatives and liberals) in my country, saying it when they make reference to the New Democratic Party's leaders (Canada's mainstream centre-left politicaly party).

[Lokomotive293]

I use it when formally addressing a group of members of my organization ("Dear comrades..."), when talking about members of my organization in general ("It would be great if a few comrades could go to..."), or when wanting to emphasize that a certain third person I'm talking about is "one of us" ("That guy is a comrade", not so often "The comrade this and that").
I hardly ever use it when addressing a single person, except on very special occasions, even though I know people who will scream "Hey, comrade, wanna help me out with this?" because they've forgotten your name for the 25th time :rolleyes:

Anyway, I kind of like the word, it just gets weird if you overuse it. And, I live in Germany, here the word is Genosse/Genossin

[farooq]

A companion who shares one's activities or is a fellow member of an organization.
A fellow soldier or serviceman.

[shantaram]

It is an ok term if used correctly and sparingly, however at certain trade union rally's there is nothing more uninspiring and alienating than speakers using it after every sentance.

[Fourth Internationalist]

Wow this thread is still getting replies to this day. I made it about a week after I registered here. :D

[helot]

I just call people 'mate'. It doesn't seem as odd and it's the standard way to address people in these parts. I'm not taking on weird forms of addressing people just because we're revolutionaries. It sounds cultish to those outside.

[Geiseric]

I think using it all the time diminishes its value. Only in formal speech is when I would use comrade.

[Paul Pott]

^Only use it in formal situations and polemics. As "Comrade Lastname" or Comrade Firstname M. Lastname"

[The Intransigent Faction]

I just call people 'mate'. It doesn't seem as odd and it's the standard way to address people in these parts. I'm not taking on weird forms of addressing people just because we're revolutionaries. It sounds cultish to those outside.

If people are gonna dismiss an entire political tendency as "cultish" just because it tends to use the word "comrade", then I'd never want them as comrades anyway.

Or maybe that's just me being in one of my moods. :D

[Paul Pott]

"Mate" sounds like someone has been watching too much monty Python and believes they are British.

what do you say to that

[Dogs On Acid]

I always find the English "Comrade" to be kind of corny, probably because of those terrible Russian accents in American films.

In Portugal communists always use "Camarada" to address each-other and it rolls of the tongue quite well.

I read that it's roots lie in Revolutionaries wanting to get rid of the terms "Sir" and "Madam" because of their sexist, bourgeois nature.

[helot]

If people are gonna dismiss an entire political tendency as "cultish" just because it tends to use the word "comrade", then I'd never want them as comrades anyway.

Or maybe that's just me being in one of my moods. :D

Perceptions of the uninitiated are incredibly important when you're not wanting to be in a political ghetto. People i struggle alongside dont necessarily become comrades and that doesn't bother me i'm not trying to increase membership to my own organisation or anything i'm trying to build initiative and the likelihood of people engaging in struggle instead of getting shafted.

I like to think reputation is important.



"Mate" sounds like someone has been watching too much monty Python and believes they are British.

what do you say to that

*looks outside*

Oh shit im in England.

[RedAnarchist]

The real question is: how do you pronounce it?
Rhyming with lemonade or sad?
I pronounce it like com-rad (rhyming with sad)

I pronounce it like com-rad as well.

Sent from my YP-GI1 using Tapatalk 2

[The Idler]

There is a talk on the term comrade at SPGB summer school 2013.

[ANTIFA GATE-9]

"Comrade means "friend", "colleague", or "ally". The word comes from French camarade from Latin camera (room). The term has seen use in the military, but is most commonly associated with left-wing movements, where "comrade" has often become a stock phrase and term of address.

When the socialist movement gained momentum in the mid-19th century, socialists began to look for an egalitarian alternative to terms like "Mister", "Miss", or "Missus". They chose "comrade" as their preferred term of address. In German, this practice was started in 1875, with the establishment of the Socialist Workers' Party of Germany.

In the late 19th century Russian Marxists and other leftist revolutionaries adopted tovarishch (abbreviated tov.) as a translation of the words for "Comrade" which were used as a form of address in international (especially German) Social Democracy and in the associated parts of the workers' movement. For instance, one might be referred to as Comrade Plekhanov or Comrade Chairman, or simply as Comrade. After the Russian Revolution, translations of the term in different languages were adopted by Communists worldwide. As a result, even though many other socialists would continue to use "Comrade" among themselves (e.g. German and Austrian social-democrats and, for a long time, members of the British Labour Party), it became most strongly associated in public consciousness with "Soviet-style" Communism of the Marxist-Leninist, Stalinist and Trotskyist varieties. This is exemplified in its mocking use in stereotypical portrayals of the Soviet Union in Cold War films and books."


I can't post the link because I'm new to revleft but you can find it on Wikipedia when you search comrade.

[scmarxist]

It identifies us to each other. It's sexless, ageless, classless and it sounds cool.

[Comrade Jacob]

It means ally, friend, companion etc.

[Ace High]

I really do kind of think it's silly to call each other comrade, but if someone calls me that it does make me feel friendly towards them. I guess I just never use it because I feel like I'm just borrowing it from the Russian revolutionaries for the sake of sentiment.

[NeonTrotski]

Its sort of an informal way of saying your on the same team.
Hippies say brother and sister in the same manor.
Bro, cuz, etc

[Igor]

seriously the reason why i feel 'comrade' is so corny is that it's been killed in the most brutal way by various hollywood films, commie larpers and so on. this isn't why i think people shouldn't it use or something, it's just why to me it's going to sound kinda silly

actual original russian товарищ or the finnish toveri don't sound anywhere as bad to my ear even though they too can and have been widely misused in larping purposes. maybe its just a question of exposure

[Ace High]

seriously the reason why i feel 'comrade' is so corny is that it's been killed in the most brutal way by various hollywood films, commie larpers and so on. this isn't why i think people shouldn't it use or something, it's just why to me it's going to sound kinda silly

actual original russian товарищ or the finnish toveri don't sound anywhere as bad to my ear even though they too can and have been widely misused in larping purposes. maybe its just a question of exposure

See, that's the thing. In spirit, I like the word, but I feel like it is just insanely cliche now. If we call each other that, nobody, and I mean NOBODY, is going to take the left seriously.

[TheEmancipator]

To signify that he is your equal. So even some old wise dude you call comrade instead of sir.

It's to show that you are neither above or below him as a human being. I call loads of friends who aren't communist comrade and they appreciate it, particularly as they usually thin us Marxists as obnoxious from time to time, so I take the time to explain to them that comrade is ultimately a term to show humility and respect.