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The Russian word шпаргалка can mean a few things. Most often, this slang refers to a cheatsheet, crib, or some concealed form of notes that a student uses during an exam. The slang word шпора (spur) is used less, but is basically equivalent to шпаргалка.

I remember during my high school years in the US hearing stories of students writing test answers on their arms, the bill of their hat, or even on their tennis shoe, not to mention the whole ‘one cough means a, two means b, and so on. . .’  method of cheating. Still, I’d have to say that I think Russian students take the cake on this one; they seem much more creative in their cheating.

In February 1998 the Russian newspaper Moskovskij Komsomolyets had an article precisely about this (you can read the original article here, if you like). They surveyed 107 university/institute students, inquiring about their cribsheet practices: if they used shpargalki, what they wrote on, and where they hid them.

The results went something like this:

Out of 107 students, only one denied using shpargalki.

71% - write their cheatsheets on small scraps of paper
11% - write on purchased goods
7% - have a whole notepad of crib for all their subjects
5% - record information onto a tape and listen through a player
7% - some other way

21% - hide their cheatsheets in their pockets
20% - underneath their notebook
11% - behind their belt
8% - under their watch or in their sleeve
7% - in their shoe
7% - write on their hands
6% - hide it in their socks
5% - under their skirt
5% - record onto a tape and listen through player
2% - hide it in their bra
2% - in their ear

If you’re still not convinced that Russian students put more thought and imagination into their cheat sheets, then perhaps you should visit the Museum of Shpargalki in the Russian city of Yarovoe. There you’ll find such wonders as a cheatsheet written on a cigarette and a normal pencil with ten physics equations written on it.