Fish fur (Russian: рыбий мех) is a Russian language ironic expression used to describe poor quality of coats and other clothes worn for warmth. In modern times it is also used for fake fur, especially of poor quality. The term traces back to a Russian proverb "A poor man's fur coat is of fish fur." ( У бедняка шуба на рыбьем меху).
The expression has often been used to describe the uniform of the Soviet Army,. In particular, elements of winter uniform (ushanka, collars, mittens) of ordinary soldiers and lower ranks were made of wool pile, which has been a popular cheap material for civilian clothing as well.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in his Gulag Archipelago records the expression "Stalin's fur" in the meaning of no fur of any kind, in reference to the dress of Gulag inmates, supposedly derived in an analogy with "fish fur".
Famous quotes containing the words fish and/or fur:
“All the fish in us
had escaped for a minute.
The real fish did not mind.
We did not disturb their personal life.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“I have no doubt that they lived pretty much the same sort of life in the Homeric age, for men have always thought more of eating than of fighting; then, as now, their minds ran chiefly on the “hot bread and sweet cakes;” and the fur and lumber trade is an old story to Asia and Europe.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)