In Putin's address where he announces a "partial" mobilisation, he tries to maximize the stakes for Russia and minimize the costs of this move for ordinary Russians. But the stakes are high first and foremost for Putin himself.
Category: Language genius
Putin’s reaction to Ukraine’s counter-offensive
After Ukraine's successful counter-offensive near Kharkiv, Putin pretends that nothing serious has happened. A little study in lexical semantics.
Ruscist-English dictionary
A result of careless smoking in the Crimea. The Russian propaganda machine has produced many beautiful expressions, which would have made Joseph Goebbels envious. I have collected several of them. This little dictionary can help you understand the language of Putin and his friends better, and also to appreciate the numerous memes in the Internet. … Continue reading Ruscist-English dictionary
“The exercises are going according to plan”, or How Putin exploits the rules of cooperative interaction
I'm not sure if this photo was really taken immediately after Macron's calling Putin, but it is a good illustration. The Élysée Palace published the telephone call between Macron and Putin a few days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine (the French transcript can be found here and an English translation here). This text gives … Continue reading “The exercises are going according to plan”, or How Putin exploits the rules of cooperative interaction
Russia doesn’t take away, Russia returns!
Russian version below. Русская версия внизу. Putin's story-telling has taken another unexpected turn, this time from the whining "It's all NATO's fault, we are only defending ourselves!" to the audacious "What's ours is ours!". Again, Putin is hiding behind a historical figure, which is literally and figuratively bigger than he is. During his meeting with … Continue reading Russia doesn’t take away, Russia returns!
Why does Putin avoid the pronoun “I”?
Russian version below. Русская версия внизу. Many people outside of Russia know what Putin says. Not many people know how he says it. But his way of speaking can reveal a lot about him and his strategies, so it’s definitely worth examining it closer. One well-known peculiarity of Putin’s speech is his avoidance of the … Continue reading Why does Putin avoid the pronoun “I”?
“Structural transformation”
This week the most brilliant language user has been Elvira Nabiullina, the head of the Central Bank of Russia. She predicted that the Russian economy will soon reach the stage of "structural transformation" because of the sanctions. This was a very clever euphemism for the economy becoming less effective, less profitable and more primitive. Bravo, … Continue reading “Structural transformation”
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