Question by : Russian speakers! Please explain the difference between the words друг and товарищ?
I will say it again; if you don’t speak Russian, please save your time. I can use an online translator just as well as you can.
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Answer by bluebellbkk
Well, друг is a friend, and товарищ is a comrade, but it hasn’t recovered yet from its decades of use as the standard term of address primarily among Communist Party members.
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Крошка милашечка says
друг (male) and подруга (female) mean “friend” . It’s also common to call a girlfriend подруга, but for the boyfriend we prefer the word парень – “fellow”.
товарищ (both genders) means “comrade” and “colleague” (товарищ по работе), or “fellow soldier”, “companion in arms” (товарищ по оружию).
This word was also a substitution for Mr, Mrs and Ms in the Soviet Era. Originally it was meant to outline the equality among people in the new society. Nowadays it’s back to its normal original meanings.
It derived from an Old Turkish word which meant “merchant”.