Chernomyrdinka

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Viktor Chernomyrdin

A chernomyrdinka (

gaffe, attributed to the former Russian prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. Many of them entered the everyday Russian lexicon. The most famous example[2] is "We wanted the best, but it turned out as always", uttered in the context of Russia's efforts in economic reforms, namely the monetary reform in Russia, 1993.[3][4]

Chernomyrdin did not try to be smart, chernomyrdinkas were produced naturally. Even when they sounded funny, people have found a deeper meaning in them.[4] They were produced after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, when country leadership, including Chernomyrdin, attempted to speak "not from the paper sheet" (in other words, not in a scripted fashion) and without bureaucratisms typical of the late Soviet Union.[5] Russian journalist Dmitry Travin [ru] writes that chernomyrdinkas often reflected the spirit of the epoch better than thick books of writers and philosophers.[6]

Russian writer and satirist

Victor Shenderovich is quoted to say that he envies Chernomyrdin: a writer toils hard, but Chernomyrdin just opens his mouth, and here you go: a brilliant quote is here.[7]

The Orenburg gas processing plant [ru], whose first director was Chernomyrdin, on the occasion of its 45th anniversary opened a park dedicated to Chernomyrdin and adorned it with plaques with chernomyrdinkas.[8]

Quotes

We Wanted the Best... has become the title of the book about Chernomyrdin and the

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Russia’s Yogi Berra", Foreign Policy, November 4, 2010
  2. ^ a b c d "Бессмертные фразы Виктора Черномырдина", Rossiyskaya Gazeta, November 2, 2013
  3. ^ Barry, Ellen & Schwirtz, Michael (3 November 2010). "Viktor Chernomyrdin, Ex-Russian Premier, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
  4. ^
    globalsecurity.org
  5. ^ "ЯЗЫК МОЙ - ВРАГ МОЙ?", by Maksim Krongauz [ru], Новый мир. - М., 2002, № 10)
  6. ^ "Виктор Черномырдин: Человек эпохи", by Dmitry Travin, fontanka.ru, November 11, 2020
  7. Radio Liberty
  8. ^ "На Оренбургском газоперерабатывающем заводе открыт сквер памяти Виктора Черномырдина"
  9. ^ "Мы хотели как лучше..." Archived 2014-11-06 at the Wayback Machine, by Konstantin Dushenko
  10. ^ "Философия обыденного языка .На смерть политика и афориста", by Pavel Kostylev, Russian Journal, April 11, 2010
  11. ^ a b "Viktor Chernomyrdin", an obituary, The Economist