Belarusians with a share of irony are called Bulbashs. Although the Belarusians themselves, the villagers, and even the intelligentsia even more so, perceive their nickname very ambiguously.
Military version
It is generally accepted that Belarusians have been called Bulbas from time immemorial, but this statement is incorrect. In pre-revolutionary Russia, such a word was not used anywhere; it was not possible to find it in the dictionaries of that time. And in general, the history of the origin of the word "bulbashi" is still not entirely clear. According to some linguists, this word appeared only during the Great Patriotic War.
In the territory of Polesie and in Ukraine, the pro-fascist partisan army led by Taras Bulba-Borovets conducted active hostilities. From the name of the leader went the name of the members of this group - Bulbashi. Taras Bulba-Borovets himself never considered himself a Belarusian nationalist - only Ukrainian. He called his army the Ukrainian Military Organization.
Version "vegetable"
According to another version, the bulb (potato) was grown in Belarus since the time of the Commonwealth, which included the country at that time. The version that the Russians first began to call Belarusians “Bulbashs” is untenable. In Russia, potatoes appeared much later. The Russians met potatoes only during the first split of the Commonwealth.
Latin bulbus has a closer sound to the word "bulba", therefore it is not surprising that during the reign of Catholicism in Belarus, this word turned into "bulba", and from here already into "bulba".
