Thread: жук

Hi, I was with a bunch of russians and they kept referring to each other as жук. I assume it's slang for "buddy"? Or not?

It's slang for "beetle"

Originally Posted by Alware

It's slang for "beetle"

It's literally a beetle and a slang for smth like swindler, but not really negative. You may call somebody a "жук" with a slight admiration, when that person managed to accomplish something tricky, if somewhat unappropriate.
So in your case it's really may be translated as "buddy" - an affectional nickname among friends, some inner joke may be.

Жук = slang: sly, slick, shrewd, smooth (liar), sometimes greedy, mingy and everything together

When a friend calls a friend жук it doesn't bear any negative meaning, but when that refers to some third person (which is not usually present at the moment) is can bear some negative overtones.