бавовна

Borrowed from Ukrainian баво́вна (bavóvna), itself a mistranslation of Russian хлопо́к (xlopók, “crack, snap, pop”), a euphemism for an explosion, as хло́пок (xlópok, “cotton”) by automated translation tools.

• IPA^(key): [bɐˈvovnə]

баво́вна • (bavóvna) f inan (genitive баво́вны, nominative plural баво́вны, genitive plural баво́вн)

1. (humorous, Internet slang, Ukraine) explosions (of Russian war infrastructure)

• ба́волна (bávolna), ба́волня (bávolnja), бавольна (bavolʹna), ба́вільна (bávilʹna), ба́вільня (bávilʹnja), ба́вона (bávona), ба́вина (bávyna), ба́вна (bávna), ба́вуна (bávuna), бавелна (bavelna), баволь (bavolʹ) — dialectal

Inherited from Old Ruthenian баво́вна (bavóvna), баво́лна (bavólna), borrowed from Polish bawełna. Partial calque of German Baumwolle. Compare Belarusian баво́ўна (bavóŭna), Czech bavlna.

Sense 2 is a semantic loan from Russian хло́пок (xlópok, “cotton”). Automated translation tools are prone to confusing Russian хлопо́к (xlopók, “crack, snap, pop”), a euphemism for an explosion, with хло́пок (xlópok, “cotton”).

The sense was occasionally used before, but was popularized at the end of April 2022 when a mistranslation in a Telegram channel went viral on Ukrainian Twitter. Famous people, such as Serhii Sternenko, started actively using the term. This was because the word for "explosion" was censored or banned in Russia when referring to the drone strikes on Russian military positions in Ukraine.

• IPA^(key): [bɐˈwɔu̯nɐ]

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баво́вна • (bavóvna) f inan (genitive баво́вни, uncountable, relational adjective баво́вняний or бавовня́ний)

1. cotton (fiber harvested from a plant of the genus Gossypium; textile made from this)
2. (humorous, Internet slang, uncountable) explosions (of Russian war infrastructure)
   • 2022 August 19, Olha Kotiv, “"Бавовна" наближається до південного берега – до кримського мосту лишилося трохи, – Жданов ["Bavovna" is approaching the southern coastline; there's not much distance left to the Crimean Bridge – Zhdanov]”, in 24 Kanal‎:
   • 2023 December 21, Vadim Khludzinsky, “"Бавовна" в Крыму: Керченский мост не работает ["Bavovna" in Crimea: The Kerch Bridge is out of order]”, in Ukrainian Independent Information Agency‎:

• баво́вник m (bavóvnyk)

• Hrinchenko, Borys, editor (1907–1909), “баво́вна”, in Словарь украинского языка [Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language] (in Russian), Kyiv: Kievskaya starina
• Bilodid, I. K., editor (1970–1980), “бавовна”, in Словник української мови: в 11 т. [Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language: in 11 vols] (in Ukrainian), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka
• Rusanivskyi, V. M., editor (2010), “баво́вна”, in Словник української мови: у 20 т. [Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language: in 20 vols] (in Ukrainian), volumes 1 (а – бязь), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka, →ISBN
• Melnychuk, O. S., editor (1982), “баво́вна”, in Етимологічний словник української мови [Etymological Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language] (in Ukrainian), volumes 1 (А – Г), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka, page 107
• “бавовна”, in Горох – Словозміна [Horokh – Inflection] (in Ukrainian)
• “бавовна”, in Kyiv Dictionary (in English)