What a Pushkin, what a son of a bitch!

"What a Pushkin, what a son of a bitch!" ( _ru. ай-да Пушкин, ай-да сукин сын!; sometimes is separated by two exclamation marks instead of comma) is an eminent catchphrase and a winged word from Aleksandr Pushkin's correspondence with one of his friends, poet Pyotr Vyazemsky. The phrase may be used to express an elation after finishing one's work. In a letter dated circa November 7ru iconcite web|url=http://bibliotekar.ru/encSlov/a/58.htm|title=Энциклопедический словарь крылатых слов и выражений |author= Вадим Серов |publisher= Bibliotekar.ru|accessdate=2008-04-26] or beginning of October, [cite book | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title =Разговоры Пушкина | publisher =Федерация | date =1929 | location = Moscow| pages = | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 5-250-01701-0] 1825 Pushkin, marking his finished drama "Boris Godunov" wrote: :"I greet you, my joy, with a romantic tragedy, the first person Boris Godunov is also in it! My tragedy is done; I reread it aloud, alone, and clapped my hands and shouted: What a Pushkin, what a son of a bitch!"

That was preceded by what Pushkin wrote to Vyazemsky on July 13 of the same year::"My joy, for the time being I've undertook such a literary feat, for which you'll shower me with kisses: a romantic tragedy! Look out, keep silent: few people know that" [ru iconcite web|url=http://www.tvervedm.nm.ru/06-2/book2.htm|title=“Все смуты похожи одна на другую” |author= Лариса Сорина |publisher= Тверские Ведомости|accessdate=2008-04-26]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.jstor.org/pss/126225 JSTOR: The Letters of Alexander Pushkin]