"Sharashka" or "Sharashka's office" - what is it? “Shabby look”, “Sharashkina’s office”, “The smoking room is alive”: the secret meaning of familiar expressions.

The expression that we will analyze today is almost slang or jargon. But nevertheless, it justifiably arouses a certain interest among people. We are talking about the phraseological unit “sharashkin’s office”. Let's consider the origin and main situations of use.

Etymology

According to the dictionary (or rather, some hypotheses from it), “sharashkina factory (office)” has a pronounced negative character. Of course, without a doubt, the expression is used primarily in colloquial speech.

Regarding the origin, a hypothesis is put forward that the phraseological unit is formed from dialecticism - “sharash”, i.e. crook, coward, trash.

Compare also the verbs “to stun” - to stun, “to shy away” - to hit. This is the presumptive etymology of the phrase “sharashkin’s office.” The meaning of the phraseological unit follows.

Meaning

Knowing the etymology, it is not difficult to understand the meaning. If “Sharash” is a crook, then Sharashka’s factory (or office) is an organization of bandits or a criminal organization, a collection of swindlers and scoundrels. There are even several variations of phraseological units among people: “sharash-montazh” and “sharaga”.

There is one unscientific phenomenon in colloquial speech: when an expression takes root in a language, they try to shorten it as much as possible in order to speak in one breath. For example, the cumbersome word “video recorder” turned into a simple “video recorder”. This happened just at the time when “Video” became an indispensable attribute any Russian apartment (or almost any).

The same can be said about the expression “sharashkin’s office” - this is a fairly close ancestor of “sharaga”. However, enough theory, let's move on to practice.

"Sharashkin's offices" in sports

There are several interpretations here. For example, football: here the meaning of the expression shifts a little. In football, a “sharashkin’s office” can be called a weak club that prepares players mainly for sale, for import, so to speak.

But an important note: the Porto football club, well known in this regard, is not a “sharashkin’s office”. Although he sells half his team every season to different, more famous clubs, he does not allow himself to lower the bar for his achievements.

In this context, the expression “sharashkin’s office” has the following meaning: something that does not meet a certain standard or level. As can be seen from this example, here “sharaga” has nothing to do with swindlers and scoundrels.

In general, when they talk about a football club (any one), it is a “sharashkina factory”, i.e. a forge of personnel for other teams, then such assessments are more likely of an emotional nature than reflect the actual state of affairs. IN different time this epithet could characterize the policies of the London Arsenal, Moscow CSKA and others no less famous clubs, but not the monsters of European football. The latter usually collect all the cream.

Bets

Another meaning of the phrase “sharashkin’s office” (football still occupies us), which concerns sports. So, for example, they talk about a bookmaker’s office that is not very honest, in the opinion of users. Its management can, for example, lower betting odds and perform other tricks. Of course, such a policy is not very profitable, because there will be an outflow of bettors, but some people believe that they are smarter than others.

As can be seen from previous example, when it comes to betting, people return in their assessments to the original, classic interpretation of the phraseology “sharashkin's office” - that is, an organization of crooks. To be fair, it must be said that people who play betting are not always objective in their assessments.

Commercial universities as “sharashkin’s offices”

Here again we have to say that the phrase discussed in the article departs from its original meaning and only says that commercial universities are inferior in quality of education to public ones.

Of course, it does not mean (at least directly) that such “sharashka offices” do not, for example, have a license. Although, anything could happen. But here we mean only such parameters as “demandingness” - it, as people believe, is reduced in commercial educational institutions compared to state universities. The meaning seems clear.

Such fabrications and names, of course, have a right to exist, but here they are judged indiscriminately and in general such an approach is, as a rule, false.

Educational boom and the phenomenon of “sharashkin’s offices”

In defense of commercial universities, it is worth saying that they responded (and still do) to a certain request from society. Agree that in our society there is such a trend to “have higher education" When you read any, even a janitor should be educated. Of course, this is slightly absurd, but this is our social reality.

That’s why “universities” arose, which, in terms of quality, lacked stars from the sky, but satisfied the population’s need for the coveted “crust” of higher education.

Yes, in the 2000s of the 21st century it happened that such establishments went bankrupt. Some even had not very pleasant stories associated with them.

V.V. Mayakovsky wrote “After all, if the stars light up, does that mean someone needs it?” It’s the same story with commercial universities. If they exist, it means that someone is interested in them, and they benefit not only their owners, but also people. The provision of educational services (now called so) is a socially responsible and oriented business, so it depends on the needs and requirements of society.

Many, even students similar establishments students speak disparagingly about commercial universities, using the expression “sharashkin’s office.” Although if it weren’t for her, they would have no hope of getting a higher education at all. Commercial universities can be considered as a kind of modern “rabfak” (working faculty). It was possible to enter the workers' faculty if you passed the exams with a "3". At the same time, whoever wanted to study became, after passing the workers' school, a real professional.

In defense of the “sharashkin firms”

If we ignore the original meaning, we must admit that the phraseological unit in question cannot always be regarded as an insult. In the traditional sense, the expression “sharashkin's office” means a cluster of swindlers and dishonest people, but now, as shown above, there are some variations in the meaning of this phraseological unit.

And sometimes, if someone calls a human business a “sharashka office,” he is simply envious of the fact that it is very tenacious.

"Sharashka" or "Sharashka's office" - what is it?

Sharashka was the name of the place of detention where people of engineering, scientific and technical professions served their sentences (while working). This happened during the time of the NKVD in the Soviet Union.

Sharashkin's office - in our time, this is a slang expression denoting a company where swindlers and deceivers work who do not inspire confidence in themselves. This expression always has a negative, negative meaning.

One version of the origin of the word sharashka is associated with horses. It is known that a horse that has been wearing blinkers for too long, without them, begins to get scared of literally everything and shy away from side to side.

Hence sharashka is something unstable, unpredictable and even scary. In this sense, the word has been used at least since the third quarter of the 19th century, judging by literary sources. So sharashka as a closed office appeared much later.

The short answer is that this is a design bureau behind the barbed wire of the Stalin era.

Sharaga according to the dictionary of the living Great Russian language V.I. Dalya is a kind of crook and scrapper, that is, a poser and a frivolous person - practically a buffoon. Perhaps the word sharaga, like sharomyzhnik, has French roots, but ignorance of the Gali language does not allow me to guess more precisely.

So, Sharashka’s office is a kind of frivolous establishment, one might even say the office of Horns and Hooves

Actually, in the 30s, the expression sharaga or sharashkin konior takes on a new meaning and becomes an office in which prisoners work.

But by the 70s, everything changes again and sharaga becomes a designation for vocational school, and the concept of sharashka’s office is separated from it again and becomes a frivolous, untrustworthy enterprise.

Sharashka was the name given to design bureaus that were located behind barbed wire. They were staffed by scientists who were imprisoned. They worked for the good of their homeland. Sharashkin's office is now a phraseological unit meaning an establishment that should not be trusted.

Sharashka is a slang term for a prison-type research and design bureau (in prison), which are subordinate to the NKVD/MVD of the USSR. This is an old concept. Scientists who were imprisoned - engineers and technicians - worked in these research institutes and design bureaus.

The adjective sharashkina comes from the word sharan, which means needy, thief, disadvantaged sections of the population. If it is Sharashkin’s office, it means that it obviously does not deserve the minimum trust of respectable people.

From the lips of many young people you can hear this slang expression Sharaga (Sharashka). Sharashka is a kind of educational institution in which these students study (in most cases these are colleges, technical schools and vocational schools). This is usually said by young people (and not only) who do not respect their studies or are generally tired of studying)

We often pronounce established phrases without delving into their meaning. Why, for example, do they say “goal like a falcon”? Who is a “smoking room”? Why, finally, do they carry water to the offended? We will reveal hidden meaning these expressions.

Hot spot

Expression " hot spot” is found in the Orthodox funeral prayer (“... in a place of peace, in a place of peace...”). This is how heaven is called in texts in Church Slavonic.
The meaning of this expression was ironically rethought by the mixed-democratic intelligentsia of the times of Alexander Pushkin. The language game was that our climate does not allow growing grapes, so in Rus' intoxicating drinks were produced mainly from cereals (beer, vodka). In other words, a hot place means a drunken place.

They carry water to the offended

There are several versions of the origin of this saying, but the most plausible seems to be the one associated with the history of St. Petersburg water carriers. The price of imported water in the 19th century was about 7 kopecks in silver per year, and of course there were always greedy traders who inflated the price in order to make money. For this illegal act, such unfortunate entrepreneurs were taken away from their horse and forced to carry barrels in a cart on themselves.

Shabby look

This expression appeared under Peter I and was associated with the name of the merchant Zatrapeznikov, whose Yaroslavl linen manufactory produced both silk and wool, which were in no way inferior in quality to products from foreign factories. In addition, the manufactory also produced very, very cheap hemp striped fabric - motley, “shabby” (rough to the touch), which was used for mattresses, trousers, sundresses, women’s headscarves, work robes and shirts.
And if for rich people such a robe was home clothes, then for the poor, things from the meal were considered “going out” clothes. A shabby appearance spoke of a short social status person.

Sieve friend

It is believed that a friend is called this by analogy with sieve bread, usually wheat. To prepare such bread, much finer flour is used than in rye. To remove impurities from it and make the culinary product more “airy”, not a sieve is used, but a device with a smaller cell - a sieve. That's why the bread was called sieve bread. It was quite expensive, was considered a symbol of prosperity and was put on the table to treat the most dear guests.
The word “sieve” when applied to a friend means the “highest standard” of friendship. Of course, this phrase is sometimes used in an ironic tone.

7 Fridays a week

In the old days, Friday was a market day, on which it was customary to fulfill various trading obligations. On Friday they received the goods, and agreed to give the money for it on the next market day (Friday of the next week). Those who broke such promises were said to have seven Fridays a week.
But this is not the only explanation! Friday was previously considered a day free from work, so a similar phrase was used to describe a slacker who had a day off every day.

Where did Makar drive his calves?

One of the versions of the origin of this saying is as follows: Peter I was on a working trip to the Ryazan land and communicated with the people in an “informal setting.” It so happened that all the men he met on the way called themselves Makars. At first the king was very surprised, and then said: “From now on, you will all be Makars!” Allegedly, from then on, “Makar” became collectively the Russian peasant and all peasants (not only Ryazan) began to be called Makars.

Sharashkin's office

Yours strange name the office received from dialect word“Sharan” (“trash”, “golytba”, “crook”). In the old days, this was the name given to a dubious association of swindlers and deceivers, but today it is simply an “undignified, unreliable” organization.

If we don't wash, we'll ride

In the old days, skilled laundresses knew that well-rolled linen would be fresh, even if the washing was not done at all brilliantly. Therefore, having made a mistake in washing, they achieved the desired impression “not by washing, but by rolling.”

Goal like a falcon

“As naked as a falcon,” we say about extreme poverty. But this saying has nothing to do with birds. Although ornithologists claim that falcons actually lose their feathers during molting and become almost naked!
“Falcon” in ancient times in Rus' was called a ram, a weapon made of iron or wood in the shape of a cylinder. He was hung on chains and swung, thus breaking through the walls and gates of enemy fortresses. The surface of this weapon was flat and smooth, simply put, bare.
In those days, the word “falcon” was used to describe cylindrical tools: an iron crowbar, a pestle for grinding grain in a mortar, etc. Falcons were actively used in Rus' before the advent of firearms at the end of the 15th century.

Alive smoking room

“The smoking room is alive!” - an expression from the ancient Russian children's game “Smoking Room”. The rules were simple: the participants sat in a circle and passed a burning torch to each other, saying: “Alive, alive, the smoking room! The legs are thin, the soul is short.” The one in whose hands the torch went out left the circle. It turns out that the “smoking room” is not a person at all, as one might think, but a burning sliver of which in the old days lit the hut. It barely burned and smoked, as they called “smoking” back then.
Alexander Pushkin did not miss the chance to take advantage of this linguistic ambiguity in an epigram to the critic and journalist Mikhail Kachenovsky:
- How! Is the Kurilka journalist still alive?
- Lively! still dry and boring
And rude, and stupid, and tormented by envy,
Everything squeezes into its obscene sheet
Both old nonsense and new nonsense.
- Ugh! tired of the smoking-room journalist!
How to extinguish a stinking splinter?
How to kill my smoking room?
Give me advice. - Yes... spit on him.

Drunk as hell

We find this expression in Alexander Pushkin, in the novel in verse “Eugene Onegin”, when we're talking about about Lensky’s neighbor Zaretsky:
Falling off a Kalmyk horse,
Like a drunk Zyuzya, and the French
Got captured...
The fact is that in the Pskov region, where Pushkin for a long time was in exile, “zyuzey” is the name given to a pig. In general, “as drunk as a drunk” is an analogue of the colloquial expression “drunk as a pig.”

Sharing the skin of an unkilled bear

It is noteworthy that back in the 30s of the 20th century in Russia it was customary to say: “Sell the skin of an unkilled bear.” This version of the expression seems closer to the original source, and more logical, because there is no benefit from a “divided” skin; it is valued only when it remains intact. The original source is the fable “The Bear and Two Comrades” French poet and the fabulist Jean La Fontaine (1621 -1695).

Dusty story

In the 16th century, during fist fights, dishonest fighters took sandbags with them, and at the decisive moment of the fight they threw it into the eyes of their opponents. In 1726, this technique was prohibited by a special decree. Currently, the expression “show off” is used to mean “to create a false impression of one’s capabilities.”

The promised one has been waiting for three years

According to one version, it is a reference to a text from the Bible, to the book of the prophet Daniel. It says: “Blessed is he who waits and attains one thousand thirty-five days,” that is, three years and 240 days. The biblical call for patient waiting was humorously reinterpreted by the people, because the full saying goes like this: “They wait for the promised for three years, but refuse the fourth.”

Retired goat drummer

In the old days, among traveling troupes, the main actor was a scientist, a trained bear, followed by a “goat”, dressed in disguise with a goat skin on his head, and only behind the “goat” was a drummer. His task was to beat a homemade drum, inviting the audience. Eating odd jobs or handouts is quite unpleasant, and then the “goat” is not real, it’s retired.

Leavened patriotism

The expression was introduced into speech by Pyotr Vyazemsky. Under leavened patriotism understands blind adherence to outdated and absurd “traditions” national life and categorical rejection of the alien, the foreign, “not ours.”

Good riddance

In one of Ivan Aksakov’s poems you can read about a road that is “straight as an arrow, with a wide surface that spreads like a tablecloth.” This is how they saw off in Rus' long journey, and they didn’t put any bad meaning into them. This original meaning of the phraseological unit is present in Explanatory dictionary Ozhegova. But it also says that in modern language the expression has the opposite meaning: “An expression of indifference to someone’s departure, departure, as well as a desire to get out, wherever.” An excellent example of how ironics rethink stable etiquette forms in language!

Shout to the entire Ivanovskaya

In the old days, the square in the Kremlin on which the bell tower of Ivan the Great stands was called Ivanovskaya. On this square, clerks announced decrees, orders and other documents concerning the residents of Moscow and all the peoples of Russia. So that everyone could hear clearly, the clerk read very loudly, shouting throughout Ivanovskaya.

Dance from the stove

To dance from the stove means to act according to a once and for all approved plan, without using any of your knowledge and ingenuity. This expression became famous thanks to the Russian to the writer XIX century to Vasily Sleptsov and his book “ Good man" This is the story of Sergei Terebenev, who returned to Russia after a long absence. The return awakened childhood memories in him, the most vivid of which were dancing lessons.
Here he is standing by the stove, his feet in the third position. Parents and servants are nearby and watch his progress. The teacher gives the command: “One, two, three.” Seryozha begins to make the first “steps,” but suddenly he loses his rhythm and his legs get tangled.
- Oh, what are you, brother! - the father says reproachfully. “Well, go back to the stove and start over.”

Hot spot

The expression “green place” is found in the Orthodox funeral prayer (“...in a green place, in a place of peace...”). This is how heaven is called in texts in Church Slavonic.
The meaning of this expression was ironically rethought by the mixed-democratic intelligentsia of the times of Alexander Pushkin.

The language game was that our climate does not allow growing grapes, so in Rus' intoxicating drinks were produced mainly from cereals (beer, vodka). In other words, a hot place means a drunken place.

They carry water to the offended

Shabby look

And if for rich people such a robe was home clothes, then for the poor, things from the meal were considered “going out” clothes. A shabby appearance spoke of a person’s low social status.

Sieve friend

The word “sieve” when applied to a friend means the “highest standard” of friendship. Of course, this phrase is sometimes used in an ironic tone.

7 Fridays a week

Where did Makar drive his calves?

One of the versions of the origin of this saying is as follows: Peter I was on a working trip to the Ryazan land and communicated with the people in an “informal setting.” It so happened that all the men he met on the way called themselves Makars. The Tsar was at first very surprised, and then said: “From now on, you will all be Makars!” Allegedly, from then on, “Makar” became a collective image of the Russian peasant and all peasants (not only Ryazan) began to be called Makars.

Sharashkin's office

The office got its strange name from the dialect word “sharan” (“trash”, “golytba”, “crook”). In the old days, this was the name given to a dubious association of swindlers and deceivers, but today it is simply an “undignified, unreliable” organization.

If we don't wash, we'll ride

Goal like a falcon

In those days, the word “falcon” was used to describe cylindrical tools: an iron crowbar, a pestle for grinding grain in a mortar, etc. Falcons were actively used in Rus' before the advent of firearms at the end of the 15th century.

Alive smoking room

How! Is the Kurilka journalist still alive?
- Lively! still dry and boring
And rude, and stupid, and tormented by envy,
Everything squeezes into its obscene sheet
Both old nonsense and new nonsense.
- Ugh! tired of the smoking-room journalist!
How to extinguish a stinking splinter?
How to kill my smoking room?
Give me advice. - Yes... spit on him.

Drunk as hell

We find this expression in Alexander Pushkin, in the novel in verse “Eugene Onegin”, when talking about Lensky’s neighbor, Zaretsky:
Falling off a Kalmyk horse,
Like a drunk Zyuzya, and the French
Got captured...
The fact is that in the Pskov region, where Pushkin was in exile for a long time, “zyuzya” is called a pig. In general, “as drunk as a drunk” is an analogue of the colloquial expression “drunk as a pig.”

Sharing the skin of an unkilled bear

It is noteworthy that back in the 30s of the 20th century in Russia it was customary to say: “Sell the skin of an unkilled bear.” This version of the expression seems closer to the original source, and more logical, because there is no benefit from a “divided” skin; it is valued only when it remains intact. The primary source is the fable “The Bear and Two Comrades” by the French poet and fabulist Jean La Fontaine (1621 -1695).

Dusty story

The promised one has been waiting for three years

Retired goat drummer

Leavened patriotism

The expression was introduced into speech by Pyotr Vyazemsky. Leavened patriotism is understood as blind adherence to outdated and absurd “traditions” of national life and categorical rejection of someone else’s, foreign, “not ours.”

Good riddance

In one of Ivan Aksakov’s poems you can read about a road that is “straight as an arrow, with a wide surface that spreads like a tablecloth.” This is how in Rus' people were seen off on a long journey, and no bad meaning was put into them. This original meaning of the phraseological unit is present in Ozhegov’s Explanatory Dictionary. But it also says that in modern language the expression has the opposite meaning: “An expression of indifference to someone’s departure, departure, as well as a desire to get out, wherever.” An excellent example of how ironics rethink stable etiquette forms in language!

Shout to the entire Ivanovskaya

Figure out a person

The expression to figure out a person came to us from those times when coins from precious metals. Their authenticity was checked by tooth: if there is no dent, the coin is real.

Pull the gimp

What is a gimp and why does it need to be pulled? This is a copper, silver or gold thread used in gold embroidery for embroidering patterns on clothes and carpets. Such a thin thread was made by drawing - repeated rolling and pulling through increasingly smaller holes. Pulling out the rigmarole was a very painstaking task, requiring a lot of time and patience. In our language, the expression “pull the ropes” has been fixed in its figurative meaning - to do something long, tedious, the result of which is not immediately visible.

Dance from the stove

To dance from the stove means to act according to a once and for all approved plan, without using any of your knowledge and ingenuity. This expression became famous thanks to the 19th century Russian writer Vasily Sleptsov and his book “A Good Man.” This is the story of Sergei Terebenev, who returned to Russia after a long absence. The return awakened childhood memories in him, the most vivid of which were dancing lessons.
Here he is standing by the stove, his feet in the third position. Parents and servants are nearby and watch his progress. The teacher gives the command: “One, two, three.” Seryozha begins to make the first “steps,” but suddenly he loses his rhythm and his legs get tangled.
- Oh, what are you, brother! - the father says reproachfully. “Well, go back to the stove and start over.”

Three met. To the question “Where do you work?” the answer was:

In sharashka, at the Research Institute of Light Industry.
- In the sharashka, an acquaintance and a friend opened it. We sell, buy, exchange.
- In sharashka, five years in a camp Far East new engine I came up with it for a tank.

Everyone has their own sharashka, and all three took place in our lives.

When did the expression “sharashkin's office” appear?

There are three versions. The first will take us to the beginning of the 20th century.

New economic policy – The NEP gave the citizens of the Soviet Union the opportunity to engage in private business. Baths, cafes, hairdressers, fashion studios, and shoemakers opened in large numbers. Simultaneously with very the right people Enterprises, like mushrooms after rain, began to multiply various offices. Remember this one in the immortal novel by Ilf and Petrov? No one knew what “Horns and Hooves” did, but the money flowed like a river.

Who organized such sharashkin offices?

The police had a clear answer to this question: swindlers of all stripes. In polite society they were called “sharash”, and ordinary people, without ceremony, used the word “trash”. Everyone agreed that these offices were opened by all sorts of crooks who had neither honor nor conscience at heart. Not only do they open, but the same people work there dishonest people. This means that doing business with this kind of office is a big risk. They will cheat you, ruin you and let you go around the world naked.

Long gone are the days of the NEP, and the experience of opening sharashka offices was not in vain. From time to time they reopen, constantly improving the techniques and methods of collecting easy money from gullible citizens. Either they sell dietary supplements under the guise of a panacea, or they sell miracle water purification devices to people, or saline dressings All illnesses and even cancer are cured.

Stalin's sharashkas

The second version tells about them. The first wave of repressions slightly spared the design engineers and scientists, but the second washed away the entire flower of science into the camps. Those who did not commit suicide out of despair and did not die from exhaustion were decided to be “used for their intended purpose.” It was a sin to simply destroy such minds; let them be useful. And it’s convenient: you don’t need to pay, you don’t need to provide a car and an apartment either. Humiliated and discouraged, these people will work for a plate of “skinny” gruel and for the illusory hope of someday being released and rehabilitated.

The corresponding Decree was issued in February 1930, although the first sharashkas began operating in 1938. The authorities received a detailed circular on May 15. The main task is to use enemies of the people and pests with great efficiency for the military industry. Moreover, it had to be done only on the premises of the OGPU, that is, in places of serving punishment.

The OGPU immediately began organizing sharashkas behind barbed wire. Design bureaus and even large research institutes were opened, in which great benefit The country's brightest minds worked for the state. Three years before the war, the Department of Special Design Bureaus was created, which in the same year, 1938, was renamed the 4th Department of the Special Department.

Until Stalin's death in 1953, these sharashkas created engines for sea vessels, aircraft engines, new military aircraft and tanks, artillery shells and worked on the creation of chemical weapons. From the end of 1944, German prisoners of war - engineers and designers - appeared in these design bureaus.

Help: in sharashkas for barbed wire were created:

in 1930 - I-5 fighter (TsKB-39, project manager - Polikarpov N.G.);
in 1931 - a high-capacity steam locomotive "Felix Dzerzhinsky" (TB OGPU);
in 1938 - the DVB-102 bomber, flying at high altitudes (TsKB-29, project manager - V.M. Myasishchev);
in 1939 - Pe-2 dive bomber (TsKB-29, project manager - Petlyakov V.M.);
in 1941 - front-line bomber Tu-2 (TsKB-29, project manager - Tupolev A.N.);
in 1942-1943, auxiliary aviation liquid-propellant rocket engines RD-1, RD-2, RD-3 were delivered to the front from the special department of the NKVD, supervising the sharashka at the Kazan plant No. 16 (project manager - Glushko V.P.)

There was also a 152 mm artillery system and a 75 mm regimental cannon. Yes, the prisoners who worked in the sharashkas managed to produce a lot more for the army. No one would dare speak of them as idlers and scoundrels.

Is the research institute also a sharashka?

The third version will tell about all kinds of Scientific Research Institutes, that is, research institutes. There were a variety of people working there; there were many talented engineers. But there were also a lot of “idle people.” There is no talent, perseverance and desire to learn anything are also completely absent. Having received an assignment to a research institute after college, these young specialists spent many years wiping their pants there. It is because of them that many design institutes, either jokingly or seriously, were also called sharashkas. In this case, the analogy with the “Horns and Hooves” offices worked.

Which is correct - sharashka or sharazhka?

Linguists allow both spellings. If the word was formed from sharaga, then we write “sharazhka”, that is, there is an alternation of the consonants G and Zh in the root. If we meant certain swindlers Sharashkins - the pioneers of such offices, then we write “Sharashka”.