Matvienko called on deputies and officials to abandon foreign words

Speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko called on officials and parliamentarians to refuse to use foreign words in official speech if there are Russian analogues.

To abandon almost all foreign words is “too radical an approach,” Matvienko said during a hearing on state policy in the field of preservation, protection and development of the Russian language. She called for combating situations where borrowed words are used unnecessarily in official speech.

“I’m trying to explain that cashback is a bad word; it shouldn’t be used in official documents,” Matvienko said. “Terms such as “moderator” – presenter, “deadline” – deadline, “coffee break” – it is clear that a break, a number of others, in most cases look completely inappropriate,” the speaker of the Federation Council gave an example, proposing to start with public authorities .

“In our work, we need to more closely monitor both speech and the content of documents,” Matvienko instructed, TASS reports. She also quoted linguist Lyudmila Verbitskaya, who once called for “speaking and writing Russian correctly.”

The Federation Council speaker also criticized the use of foreign words by Russian business. In her opinion, this is “bad taste and yesterday.” “Many Russian brands, even those that have replaced the departed Western ones, continue to use foreign names and imitate the design of foreign products,” Matvienko pointed out.

In turn, State Duma Deputy Speaker Pyotr Tolstoy stated that it is inadmissible for citizens of countries where Russian is not the state language to work in public places, including as drivers, sellers and couriers. “If Russian is not your state language, then, excuse me, citizens of these countries should not work in public places. Such responsible work is not for them,” Tolstoy said during parliamentary hearings.

Previously, Matvienko found a way to increase the birth rate in the Russian Federation by offering to give an apartment for a third child.