Yolka (gaffe)

"Yolka" (йолка) was a gaffe made in 2010 by the Ukrainian president, Victor Yanukovych. During a speech, he forgot how to say "Christmas tree" in Ukrainian (ялинка), and, after a long pause, said "yolka". "Yolka" is close to the pronunciation of the Russian word for Christmas tree (ёлка), 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 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, 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) and Russian-influenced way of speaking (Russianisms), as well as surzhyk, 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 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.