Kuzma's mother, or Kuzka's mother (russian: Кузькина мать - �kusʲkʲɪnə ˈmatʲ ''Kuzkina mat''; ''Kuzka'' is a diminutive of the given name ''

Kuzma Kuzma may refer to: Locations *Kuzma, Kuzma, a settlement in the Municipality of Kuzma, Slovenia *Municipality of Kuzma, a municipality in Slovenia People *Kuzma, a Slavic given name derived from Cosmas **Kuzma Minin, Russian merchant and hero of ...

''), is part of the Russian proverb "to show Kuzka's mother (to someone)" (russian: Показать кузькину мать (кому-либо) - ɐkɐˈzatʲ ˈkusʲkʲɪnʊ ˈmatʲ (kɐˈmulʲɪbə) ''Pokazat kuzkinu mat (komu-libo)''), an expression of an unspecified threat or punishment, such as "to teach someone a lesson", "to punish someone in a brutal way", and "to give someone what for". It entered the history of the

foreign relations of the Soviet Union After the Russian Revolution, in which the Bolsheviks took over parts of the collapsing Russian Empire in 1918, they faced enormous odds against the German Empire and eventually negotiated terms to pull out of World War I. They then went to war ag ...

as part of the image of

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

, along with the

shoe-banging incident The shoe-banging incident occurred when Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, pounded his shoe on his delegate-desk in protest at a speech by Philippine delegate Lorenzo Sumulong during the 902nd Plenary ...

and the phrase "

We will bury you "We will bury you" (russian: «Мы вас похороним!», translit="My vas pokhoronim!") is a phrase that was used by Soviet First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev while addressing Western ambassadors at a reception at the Polish embassy i ...

". In his memoirs, Khrushchev mentions various "interesting and peculiar situations", including an occasion of him using the expression, but he mentioned that it was not the first time it confused the translators. The footnote in the volume to this item says that the 1999 Russian edition gave a mistaken "scientific etymology" of the expression derived from the folk name ''Kuzka the bug'' of the pest insect '' Anisoplia austriaca'', which overwinters deep under the soil, so it is hard to uncover. According to the editors, this was guesswork on the part of an annotator. During a discussion about

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

and

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...

, Khrushchev boasted that the Soviet Union will "catch up with and surpass" (, ''dogonit i peregonit'') the United States, and "we shall show you Kuzka's mother". The interpreter was stunned and said something literal about the mother of Kuzma. Phraseologic dictionaries from the 19th century record other versions of the saying about Kuzka's mother, such as "to let someone know Kuzka's mother's name", or "to learn Kuzka's mother's name". Because of the phrase's use in Cold War diplomacy, it became a code word for the atomic bomb. In particular, the ''

Tsar Bomba The Tsar Bomba () ( code name: ''Ivan'' or ''Vanya''), also known by the alphanumerical designation "AN602", was a thermonuclear aerial bomb, and the most powerful nuclear weapon ever created and tested. Overall, the Soviet physicist Andrei ...

'' had a yield of 50 MT and was

thermonuclear Thermonuclear fusion is the process of atomic nuclei combining or “fusing” using high temperatures to drive them close enough together for this to become possible. There are two forms of thermonuclear fusion: ''uncontrolled'', in which the re ...

test device that was nicknamed "Kuzka's mother" by its builders.

References

{{reflist Soviet Union–United States relations Diplomatic incidents Nikita Khrushchev Russian words and phrases Political catchphrases