Lukashisms Explained

Lukashisms (Russian: лукашизмы, лукашенкизмы) are peculiar utterances of President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, a frequent target of Belarusian and Russian humor. Apart from being gaffes, the humor of Lukashisms relies on the peculiarity of Lukashenko's speech: to a significant degree it contains elements of Trasianka, a mixture of Belarusian and Russian languages and accents, seen as a sign of a poorly educated rural dweller, "kolkhoznik".^[1]

Notable examples

• "Не успел я узяцца за яйца как масла ишчэзла" (I had hardly seized the eggs when the butter disappeared). He was talking about his struggle with food supply shortages in Belarus. The humorous effect comes from heavy trasianka and the fact that "eggs" (яйца) is a Russian slang term for "balls" (testicles), a popular butt of many Russian jokes. So this may read as, "I had hardly grabbed the balls when the butter disappeared."^[1]
• "Наш народ будет жыць плоха, но не долга" (Our people will live poorly, but not for long.)^[1]
• "Я регулярно ператрахиваю все кадры и точно знаю, кто врот, а кто не врот!" In correct Russian it should be "Я регулярно ператрЯхиваю все кадры и точно знаю, кто врЁт, а кто не врЁт!" meaning "I regularly shuffle all the cadre and know for sure who lies and who doesn't". As a result of trasianka the sentence sounds like, "I regularly fuck all the cadre and know for sure who (takes it) in the mouth and who doesn't."^[2]
• "Я свое государство за цивилизованным миром не поведу." (I will not lead my state after the civilized world.)^{[2] [3]} The humor comes from the fact that among Russian conservative-leaning populace the term "the so-called civilized world" (essentially meaning Western world) has become an insult aimed at their opponents when, after a brief period of post-Soviet de-escalation, Russia pitched itself against the West again.^[4]
• "Я атеист, но я православный атеист." (I am an atheist, but I am a pravoslavny atheist.)^{[3] [5]} (A "Christian" or "pravoslavny" atheist is an oxymoron; Lukashenko meant that he associated himself with the secular Christian culture.)
• A minor political scandal happened in 1995 when Lukashenko uttered a praise to Adolf Hitler in an interview to Handelsblatt: "Germany rose from the ruins thanks to very severe rule, and not everything connected with Adolf Hitler in Germany was bad. " ("В свое время Германия была поднята из руин благодаря очень жесткой власти. Не все только плохое было связано в Германии с известным Адольфом Гитлером.")^{[6] [7] [8]} See more of his controversial utterances in Alexander Lukashenko#Controversial statements.

See also

• Putinisms

Notes and References

1. Dorota Brzozowska, Władysław Chłopicki (eds.), Culture's Software: Communication Styles, p.80
2. http://www.politnauka.org/humour/lukashenko.php "Перлы Александра Григорьевича Лукашенко"
3. https://www.eg.ru/politics/945092-aleksandr-lukashenko-ya-svoe-gosudarstvo-za-civilizovannym-mirom-ne-povedu/ Александр Лукашенко: «Я свое государство за цивилизованным миром не поведу!»
4. https://tass.com/politics/1554015 Putin says West sought to divide Russia for centuries
5. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8021513.stm Belarus president visits Vatican
6. https://jamestown.org/program/washington-condemns-lukashenkos-praise-of-hitler/ WASHINGTON CONDEMNS LUKASHENKO’S PRAISE OF HITLER.
7. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1995/11/27/Belarus-leader-defends-Hitler-praise/9348817448400/ Belarus leader defends Hitler praise
8. https://daily.afisha.ru/news/40739-polozhitelnye-storony-gitlera-i-bednost-belorusskogo-yazyka-samye-spornye-vyskazyvaniya-lukashenko/ Положительные стороны Гитлера и бедность белорусского языка: самые спорные высказывания Лукашенко