Tsar Boris' Firm Handshake

The era of Boris Yeltsin – ho ruled Russia through the 1990s – eft behind a mixed heritage. Historians will rightfully take their time to issue any final verdicts. Yet, most would agree that one of the indisputable achievements of the “First President of Russia,” is a cementing of Russia’s newly-won freedom of speech. Taking advantage of this gain, we offer a quick analysis of Boris Nikolayevich’s linguistic heritage.

The first “yeltsinism” was just noted. Tsar Boris could not suffer any other title. “Former president” or “Ex-president” was not for him. So the Kremlin PR machine came up with a title that will serve Boris for life: “первый президент России.”

The earliest stages of Yeltsin’s presidential career were especially rich in memorable idioms. One of the first was Yegor Ligachyov’s, “Борис, ты не прав!” (“Boris, you are wrong!”) The phrase actually predates Yeltsin’s tenure as president, to when Boris Nikolayevich was the maverick communist leader of Moscow. But with Yeltsin’s ascension to the Kremlin, it became frequent fodder for headlines and political jokes.

Having won the Russian presidency, Boris Nikolaevich awarded us with more “yeltsinisms”. Thus, his promise that, if prices rise, “я лягу на рельсы” (“I will lay on the rails”). Prices did go up and Boris did not lie down, so the phrase became our equivalent of Georges H.W. Bush’s famous “Read my lips, no new taxes.”

Economic difficulties, the first war in Chechnya and personal health problems led to Yeltsin’s decline in popularity. The First President’s handsome spokes-man, Sergei Yastrzhembsky, became quite adept at deflecting difficult questions about the aging Yeltsin’s long absences from the public eye. Kremlinologists had to read between the lines. If Yastr-zhembsky said: “Президент работает с документами” (“The president is working with documents”), journalists would usually conclude that Boris Nikolayevich could barely stand up. To parry such cynicism, Yastrzhembsky invented still another famous cliché: у президента крепкое рукопожатие (the president has a firm handshake). This was read as “the president is still alive.”

Later, despite the very precarious state of his health (particularly his heart problems), Yeltsin ran for reelection in 1996, even dancing on stage with pop singers. That campaign gave birth to two famous slogans: Голосуй, а то проиграешь (Vote, or you will lose.) and the ironic Голосуй сердцем! (Vote with your heart). Yeltsin got reelected, his heart barely withstanding the battle. Soon, the Kremlin spokesman had to learn a medical term which became known to millions: аортокоронарное шунтирование (heart bypass operation).

After his recovery from the quintuple bypass operation, Yeltsin was a different man. His mood changed like the winds blowing over the green roof of the Kremlin palace. “Working with documents” no longer satisfied him and the last months of his presidency were a succession of cabinet and premier reshufflings, which the president dubbed with the chess term рокировочка (little castling). On the foreign front, Yeltsin was fond of встреча без галстуков (“meetings without ties,” or informal meetings). But, on the domestic front, Tsar Boris was losing control over the country. The power in the Kremlin was usurped by the семья (The Family) conferring a mafia-esque notion to this previously innocuous Russian word. It was the семья which was believed to be behind the бандитcкий капитализм (criminal capitalism), or thieving of state assets.

There was another phrase Boris Nikolayevich uttered which would not have had special linguistic distinction were it not coming from the mouth of a Russian ruler. He said to his fellow Russians: “Простите меня” (“Pardon me”). Tsar Boris actually used the phrase in a very public way at least twice. The first time was in August 1991, during the funerals for three young Russians who died during the abortive putsch. The second time was on the last day of 1999, when bidding farewell to his compatriots. This yeltsinism may well remain the most valuable pearl in his linguistic legacy.

Yeltsin’s преемник, (heir apparent) Vladimir Putin, has so far had little time to distinguish himself linguistically. During the transitionary period he focused instead on other fronts, i.e. Chechnya. So it is to this battle that we owe the first “putinism.” A law student by education, Putin speaks good, sophisticated Russian. But he does like to color his speech with popular colloquial phrases, like the infamous “в сортире террористов замочим” (“we’ll wet [kill] the terrorists even in a water closet”). Some “refined” intellectuals were shocked at this thieves’ jargon coming from the mouth of our country’s leader. But the average Russian, tired of suffering from беспредел (slang for “chaos”) wrought by bandits of all stripes, obviously enjoyed Putin’s linguistic nonchalance.

For, unlike so many of Russia’s law faculty graduates, Putin not only knows how to speak, but also how to get business done. This prompts me to quote that other Vladimir, a law graduate to whom Putin’s native city owed its former name, Leningrad. That famous leninism has it: “Интелли­генция – г**, а надo дело делать” (“The intelligentsia is just -sh**. You have to take care of business”). Let’s hope, however, that Russia’s new president, the so-called “enlightened Chekist” (просвещённый чекист), will do business differently from his infamous namesake.

In any case, in terms of energy levels, Putin is head and shoulders above the первый президент России. His рукопожатие is firm, and, unlike the “дед” (“grandpa,” as they called Yeltsin in the latter days of his Kremlin tenure) Putin can work with more than just documents.