Yolka (satire)

Yolka (Ukrainian: Йолка, romanized: Yolka) was a slip-of-tongue by former Ukrainian president Victor Yanukovych. During a speech, he forgot how to say "Christmas tree" in Ukrainian（Ukrainian: Ялинка, romanized: Yalynka), and said this word after a long pause. "Yolka" is close to the pronunciation of the Russian word for Christmas tree（Russian: ёлка, romanized: yolka), but not quite. This word has become a meme criticizing Yanukovych as a "Ukrainian president who doesn't know Ukrainian"[1].

Poster's caption reads: "Yolka from president"

Origin

In December 2010, Yanukovych tried to disperse protesters against his tax reform policies and used "preparing for Christmas" as the excuse to take down the tents put up. This was his speech during a news television interview:

Сьогодні в Києві вже встановлюється на тому місці, де вчора стояли палатки пікетувальників... Сьогодні вже встановлюється новорічна...（long pause）... «йолка», і люди почнуть дуже-дуже скоро святкувати Новий рік. Ми підтримуємо бажання киян жити в спокої, в стабільній ситуації, будемо все робити для того, щоб це відбувалось завжди, був гарний настрій.

Today in Kyiv, they (referring to the Christmas trees) are already being put up, where there were picketers yesterday, today we are already setting up... (long pause) ... "yolka", and people will be celebrating Christmas Eve very soon. We wish you a life in a stable and peaceful environment, and we will do everything to ensure that you are feeling a good mood.

— Victor Yanukovych[2]

Since then, this clip of Yanukovych has been widely spread on the internet, with netizens criticizing him as the Ukrainian president who doesn't speak Ukrainian. For example, some compared the length of his pause thinking about how to say the word to the time it took Bolt to finish his 100-meter race[3].

Usage during the Euromaidan
Christmas tree in the Independence Square in Kyiv, December 9, 2013. Also satired as the "Yolka"

During the Euromaidan Protests in 2013–2014, the protesters prevented the Christmas tree from being completed in the Independence Square in Kyiv, and has since been satired as being the "Yolka". This tree has also been a symbol of the Revolution of Dignity[4], and was not taken down until August 2014[5].

See also

References
  1. Огаренко Е. С. (2018), "Парадоксальный аспект политической коммуникации", Вестник ОНУ им. И. И. Мечникова. Социология и политические науки, vol. 23, no. 2 (31), ISSN 2304-1439, archived from the original on 2021-10-03
  2. "Янукович, йолка і вінок" (in Ukrainian). Українська правда. 2013-11-30. Archived from the original on 2021-10-03. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
  3. Янукович, йолка и Усэйн Болт, archived from the original on 2023-06-05, retrieved 2023-03-03
  4. Гунчик I., Горблянський Ю. (2015), "Фольклорні паремії та афоризми Київського Євромайдану", Мiфологiя i фольклор (in Ukrainian), no. 3–4 (15), pp. 133–144, archived from the original on 2021-10-03
  5. Palayda V. (2019), "Noun innovations in the modern Ukrainian media space (Maidan vocabulary)" (PDF), The Ukrainian language in space and time (in Ukrainian), pp. 147–148, archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-10-03
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