# All Slavic: Shebeen, underground/illegal bar



## arn00b

I'm looking for the word "Shebeen" in any Slavic language... I'm not sure it exists.   It means an illegal establishment selling alcohol without a license...  This is not a legitimate business, like a restaurant, that is selling without a permit... The whole establishment is illicit... 

In some places it's just a makeshift shed, or set up in an abandoned building or in the countryside... or it could even be someone's house that turns into a business after dark...

Does this word exist?

I'm sure that there were illicit, underground establishments during Communism.... but I can't find anything about them, because I need that word.

Thanks in advance.


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## rusita preciosa

I can't think of any in Russian, I don't believe enough of such establishments existed to have a specific term. People would just buy alcohol from taxi drivers after hours and drink it at home or in a park. If someone was to translate a text about the American prohibition they would call it a *спикизи*. 

Otherwise it is just *нелегальное питейное заведение / нелегальный бар*. 

If someone ran something like that out of their appartment, it could be also a *притон*, but it entailed much more than a bar, I imagine along with alcohol it would include sex, games, drugs etc...


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## arn00b

Thanks for your answer.  That's what I was thinking - doubting that such places existed in the Soviet Union.   People/businesses in the Soviet Union had a whole list of problems, but not getting a license to operate or sell liquor is probably really, really low on that list.

Maybe in current Russia these places would start appearing.... business owners who don't want to pay taxes on liquor, or respect laws like opening hours, gambling, etc... or serve minors... or have other "services" - or things that have to be underground for reasons like being a gay bar, for example... or a "traveling bar/shed" run by Gypsies... 

But there doesn't seem to be a word grouping all these concepts together... Even in American English, we don't call these things "shebeens."  Even in Arabic, with countries having the equivalent of shebeens don't seem to have words for shebeens distinguishing them from their legal counterparts... 

I'm going to search some historical references, hoping to find words for frontier restaurant/bar... some kind of mobile drinking establishment...  

Thanks for your help.

BTW: I googled *притон*, hoping/imagining that it would be something close to a small bar run from an apartment - I saw some scary places (krokodil pritons)...


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## rusita preciosa

We are moving away from a linguistic discussion, but you have to take into account cultural differences: the bar/pub/cafe culture in Russia is very recent, it virtually did not exist in the Soviet times. If people wanted to drink alcohol, they did it at home. As I mentioned, alcohol is readily available in 24-hour shops and the type of people who would patronize a "shebeen" in Ireland, in Russia would simply buy liquor in a store or a 24-hour kiosk (they are fortunately going away) and drink it at home or on a bench in a park.


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## ahvalj

In the Soviet times, there were places called _пивная_ or _распивочная_, though those I remember probably couldn't be called bars. Cafes did exist, however.


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## marco_2

In Poland the place where you could buy cheaper alcohol illegally was called *melina*, but it definitely wasn't a bar - just a private apartment, though some friends of the owners could stay there and drink.


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## rusita preciosa

ahvalj said:


> In the Soviet times, there were places called _пивная_ or _распивочная_, though those I remember probably couldn't be called bars. Cafes did exist, however.


they were not illegal though.


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## arn00b

Thanks a lot, Marco.  I think this is the closest thing to a shebeen.  Could you please tell me the stress falls on which syllable?  In my mind, it's the "i"  (mel*i*na) - but that's just an educated guess.  Is that correct?


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## ahvalj

rusita preciosa said:


> they were not illegal though.


Yes, of course: this was just my remark to your words that this culture is very recent. As to the illegal places of this kind, I don't think they were widespread in Russia: one was able to find alcohol freely in state-owned places, and any other activity was very difficult for its owner for the simple reason that there were almost no private supply chains, at least in Slavic republics. In the south, though, such illegal bars doubtlessly existed.


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## marco_2

arn00b said:


> Thanks a lot, Marco.  I think this is the closest thing to a shebeen.  Could you please tell me the stress falls on which syllable?  In my mind, it's the "i"  (mel*i*na) - but that's just an educated guess.  Is that correct?



That's right - mel*i*na. I must add that the primary meaning of this word was "criminals' den / haunt" (in Russian: _малина_) and it is still used in this meaning. In colloquial speech the verb _zamelinować _means: to receive and conceal stolen goods, to harbour criminals, etc.


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## Maroseika

rusita preciosa said:


> We are moving away from a linguistic discussion, but you have to take into account cultural differences: the bar/pub/cafe culture in Russia is very recent, it virtually did not exist in the Soviet times. If people wanted to drink alcohol, they did it at home. As I mentioned, alcohol is readily available in 24-hour shops and the type of people who would patronize a "shebeen" in Ireland, in Russia would simply buy liquor in a store or a 24-hour kiosk (they are fortunately going away) and drink it at home or on a bench in a park.



Just to specify (and maybe warn a tourist): in Russia nowadays alcohol is not sold in the shops between 11 p.m. and 8 a.m. So there is still a space for the illegal trade here. Same kinds of restriction existed in the Soviet times, but one could easily buy alcohol from the taxi-drivers, a kind of the "mobile shebeen".


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