гоп

Probably onomatopoeic; compare Ukrainian гоп (hop), Polish hop.

• IPA^(key): [ɣop]
• IPA^(key): [ɡop]

гоп • (gop)

1. (colloquial) go!, hop! encouraging someone to jump, hop, or leap, or exclaimed while jumping or leaping.
2. (colloquial) bam; representing a sudden, abrupt motion, e.g. striking, grabbing, etc.
   • 1974, В. П. Астафьев, Царь-рыба:

     Поигра́ет крючо́чками-про́бочками стерля́дочка, гоп за бочо́к ― и в мешо́чек!

     Poigrájet krjučóčkami-próbočkami sterljádočka, gop za bočók ― i v mešóček!

     The little sterlet plays with hooks and floats, then bam! we grab it by the belly and down our little bag it goes!

• го́пать (gópatʹ), го́пнуть (gópnutʹ)
• не говори́ «гоп», пока́ не перепры́гнешь (ne govorí «gop», poká ne pereprýgnešʹ)

Onomatopoeic, comparable with Polish hop, Serbo-Croatian хоп.

A less likely theory is borrowing from German, compare German hopfen, hoppen (“to hop”).

• IPA^(key): [ɦɔp]

гоп • (hop)

1. an interjection representing a jump

• го́пати (hópaty)
• гопа́к (hopák)

• Shyrokov, V. A., editor (2010–2023), “гоп”, in Словник української мови: у 20 т. [Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language: in 20 vols] (in Ukrainian), volumes 1–14 (а – префере́нція), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka; Ukrainian Lingua-Information Fund, →ISBN
• Melnychuk, O. S., editor (1982), “гоп”, in Етимологічний словник української мови [Etymological Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language] (in Ukrainian), volumes 1 (А – Г), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka, page 561