Yanukism

Yanukisms (Ukrainian: янукізми, romanized: yanukizmy) is a humorous term for various linguistic blunders and mistakes that Ukrainian politicians make. The phenomenon is named after the previous president Viktor Yanukovych who was trying to put up a façade of a well-educated man but ended up embarrassing himself due to numerous mistakes.[1]

One of the best known examples of a Yanukism is probably proffessor (Ukrainian: проффесор), which got started as Yanukovych misspelled the academic title in his registration form during the 2004 presidential election. In the same form, Yanukovych made in total 12 different mistakes: he misspelled the names of his wife and his hometown.[2] In addition, Yanukovych has made so many other mistakes that his doctor's degree in economics has been called into question.[3] Also, the fact that Yanukovych was among the best-selling authors of Ukraine in the early 2010s raised questions about the true author of his books due to all his past mistakes.[4]

Examples on Yanukisms
Yanukism Explanation Ref.
проффесор (proffesor) extra ф (f); also the Ukrainian language seldom uses geminates in foreign loanwords [2]
Welcome in Ukraine! wrong preposition (to instead of in); Yanukovych uttered this while on a state visit to Japan in 2011 [5]
Isaak Bebel Yanukovych mixed up the Ukrainian author Isaac Babel and the German politician August Bebel [6]
йолка (yolka) means 'a Christmas tree'. The correct Ukrainian term is ялинка (yalynka), which Yanukovych forgot. [5]
прємьєр-міністр (premyer-ministr) correct spelling: прем'єр-міністр, means 'a Prime Minister'
the incorrect spelling is derived from the Russian "Премьер-министр", substituting е and и with the Ukrainian letters є and і (which carry the same pronunciation in Ukrainian as е and и do in Russian — although е and и exist in the Ukrainian alphabet as well, they are pronounced differently).		 [2]
курасани (kurasany) correct spelling: круасани (kruasany), means 'croissants' [7]
Secretary General Clinton while meeting Hillary Clinton, Yanukovych mistitled her as 'Secretary General' instead of 'Secretary of State' [6]
People from Lviv are "the country's best genocide" Yanukovych mixed up the words for gene pool (генофонд, henofond) and genocide (геноцид, henotsyd) [8]
Anna Akhmetova correct spelling: Akhmatova [6]
"when you see with your own hands (– –) you touch it with your own eyes" Yanukovych describes reports from regional governors [9]

Yanukisms can also be manifested by factual mistakes instead of misspellings or other mistakes language-wise. Yanukovych has said among other things that Mount Athos is located in Palestine (actually in Greece), called the Winter Olympics 2022 'a World Championship' and said that Israel is a European country.[6][10]

See also

References
  1. "Янукізми". Український тиждень (in Ukrainian). 2010-09-03. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  2. "Тому що "проффесор"". Українська правда (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  3. "The proFFesor's latest flub: Yanukovych without a clue". Kyiv Post. 2010-09-30. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  4. "Ukrainian President's Millions In Book Fees Raise Eyebrows". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 2012-04-19. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  5. "Янукович помилився, вимовляючи класичну англійську фразу". Корреспондент.net (in Russian). Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  6. "35 курйозів, що сталися в житті екс-гаранта України Віктора Януковича". Погляд – новини Чернівці та Чернівецької області. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  7. ""Самсунг" вам й "курасани" з маком: найкумедніші ляпи Януковича за рік". Gazeta.ua (in Ukrainian). 2012-12-28. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  8. "Янукович назвав львів'ян "кращим геноцидом країни"". tsn.ua (in Ukrainian). 2010-03-11. Archived from the original on 2010-03-11.
  9. "В Луганске Янукович рассказал об украинской традиции "увидеть руками, глазами потрогать"". Сегодня (in Russian). Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  10. "Черговий конфуз Януковича. Тепер спортивний". Українська правда (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2023-03-04.
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