Bad egg, scoundrel, rotter, shady character. Derived from the standard noun for a radish (редис / редиска). In Soviet and modern Russian slang, it is a playful, mild, and vintage insult used to describe a reliable but untrustworthy, bad, or treacherous person (не общайся с ним, он редиска — “don’t hang out with him, he’s a bad egg”). The term famously exploded into pop culture through the iconic 1971 Soviet comedy film Gentlemen of Fortune (Джентльмены удачи), where it was introduced as a fake prison slang term used by a disguised kindergarten director to avoid using actual profanity.
Скажи своему сисадмину, что он полный редиска!
Tell your sysadmin that he is a complete shmuck!
