"Yolka" () was a

gaffe A political gaffe is a mistake or blunder in speech or action made by a politician that attracts media attention and public scrutiny. While often unintended, political gaffes can have significant consequences, as they may reveal the politician's p ...

made in 2010 by the

Ukrainian president The president of Ukraine (, ) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, conducts negotiations and concludes international treaties. ...

Victor Yanukovych Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych (born 9 July 1950) is a Ukrainian politician who served as the fourth president of Ukraine from 2010 to 2014. He also served as the prime minister of Ukraine several times between 2002 and 2007 and was a member of t ...

. During a speech, he forgot how to say "

Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen pinophyta, conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, associated with the celebration of Christmas. It may also consist of an artificial tree of similar appearance. The custom was deve ...

" in Ukrainian (), and, after a long pause, said "yolka". "Yolka" is close to the pronunciation of the

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

word for Christmas tree (), but not quite. The word became a meme criticizing Yanukovych as a "Ukrainian president who doesn't know Ukrainian".

Gaffe

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:

Reactions

The clip of Yanukovych was widely spread on the internet, with netizens criticizing him as a Ukrainian president who doesn't speak Ukrainian. Yanukovych was made the subject of

internet memes An Internet meme, or meme (, ''MEEM''), is a cultural item (such as an idea, behavior, or style) that spreads across the Internet, primarily through social media platforms. Internet memes manifest in a variety of formats, including images, v ...

depicting him in various humorous situations with 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 The Revolution of Dignity (), also known as the Maidan Revolution or the Ukrainian Revolution, took place in Ukraine in February 2014 at the end of the Euromaidan protests, when deadly clashes between protesters and state forces in the capit ...

, and was not taken down until August 2014.

Linguistic analysis

Ukrainian linguist N. Trach said the creation of the term was linked to Yanukovych's own idiolect (

Yanukisms Yanukisms () is a Ukrainian colloquial term for various linguistic blunders and mistakes made by former President Viktor Yanukovych, who put up a façade of a well-educated man but frequently embarrassed himself with misspellings and other mistakes ...

) and Russian-influenced way of speaking (

Russianism Russianism or Russicism is an influence of the Russian language on other languages. In particular, Russianisms are Russian or Russified words, expressions, or grammar constructs used in Slavic languages, languages of CIS states and languages of R ...

s), as well as

surzhyk Surzhyk ( Ukrainian and Russian: , ) is a Ukrainian– Russian pidgin used in certain regions of Ukraine and the neighboring regions of Russia and Moldova. The vocabulary mix of each of its constituent languages (Ukrainian and Russian) varies ...

, a colloquial, habitual mixture of the Ukrainian and Russian languages by some Ukrainians. Scholarly observers described the gaffe and reactions to it as transforming the semantics for a word meaning "Christmas tree" into that of signifying an insult to Yanukovych for not being able to speak Ukrainian, and said it was emblematic of systematic failures by post-Soviet governments to coherently communicate with their citizens and gain trust.

Legacy

In 2016, Yanukovych's successor as president

Petro Poroshenko Petro Oleksiiovych Poroshenko (born 26 September 1965) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician and Oligarchy, oligarch who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine), Minister ...

made a similar gaffe, forgetting the Ukrainian word for "wallet" and turning to ask an aide what the proper word was. Ukrainian media made comparisons to the "yolka" incident.

References

{{Reflist Euromaidan Political satire Viktor Yanukovych Political neologisms

Gaffe

Reactions

Linguistic analysis

Legacy

See also

References