tankie

Miroslav Luzetsky / Wikimedia Commons

Tankie began as an insult for members of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB), who supported the Soviet Union’s response to the Hungarian Revolution (1956) and the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia (1968). Suffice to say, the Soviet response involved tanks. Thus the term tankie, which perhaps draws on earlier uses of tankie (or tanky) for a tank driver or a member of a tank unit. The term was recorded as early as 1983 in Marxism Today, the CPGB’s magazine from 1957–91.

Imagine being a tankie

— Woofers (@NotWoofers) April 22, 2019

Tankie spread in the 1980s as the Cold War dragged on. Though the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, tankie stuck around, evolving as an insult for a Stalinist or Soviet apologist. I.e., a leftist who defends the aggressive and inhumane actions of the Soviet Union (especially under Joseph Stalin), like the famine-genocide in Ukraine 1932–33.

In the 2000s, tankie further spread in leftist internet slang as an insult for a militaristic anti-capitalist, as well as a term for performative Communism more generally.

I mean, remember – I became a full blown tankie like 3 hours ago; y'all are the ones who want to "keep capitalism" and compromise… not me.

Well, rich people are rushing to the table trying to get you to settle for a bad deal

This is not good enough; but it's a sign you'll win

— Nina Illingworth (@EIWBM_Cat) April 23, 2019