Viktor Chernomyrdin - Sayings

Sayings

In Russian-speaking countries, Chernomyrdin is famous for his numerous malapropisms and syntactically incorrect speech. His idioms received the name Chernomyrdinki, and are somewhat comparable to Bushisms in style and effect.

One of his expressions "We wanted the best, but it turned out as always" (Хотели как лучше, а получилось как всегда in Russian) about the economic reforms in Russia became a very popular proverb. The phrase was uttered after a highly unsuccessful monetary exchange performed by the Russian Central Bank in July 1993.

Among his other sayings were:

• We have completed all the items: from A to B.
• Better than vodka there is nothing worse.
• From the very beginning there was nothing like that, and now there it is again.
• The direction we have is one – the correct one.
• A government is not that body which you can do with a tongue as you wish.
• Better to be the head of a fly than the buttocks of an elephant.
• 27 millions were left with no arms, no leg, and without nothing else.
• The soul hurts for grandchildren and the country.
• You got to think what to understand.
• Always we in Russia have something standing that we don't need.
• The principles that were principled were non-principled.
• There is still time to save the face. Later we will be forced to save some other parts of a body.
• Wine we need for health, and the health we need to drink vodka.
• My life has passed in the atmosphere of oil and gas.
• I can speak to everybody in whichever tongue, but that is the instrument I try not to use.
• Accuse of what? Of corruption? Whom? Me? Who? USA? What, did they, there, just wake up?
• I don't paint, but if I would like to none will seem to be too little.
• We need to do what our people need, not what we are doing now.
• The country we have – enough for her by skipping to do jumping.
• Here is what can happen when somebody's starting to reason.