"What a Pushkin, what a son of a bitch!" (; sometimes separated by exclamation mark instead of comma) is a catchphrase and winged word from Alexander Pushkin's correspondence with one of his friends, poet Pyotr Vyazemsky. The phrase commonly expresses a joy after finishing one's work and appears particularly in several Russian literary works. In a letter dated circa November 7 or beginning of October 1825 Pushkin, celebrating his finished drama Boris Godunov wrote to Vyazemsky: That was preceded by what Pushkin wrote to Vyazemsky on July 13 of the same year: See also Pushkin studies Notes External links JSTOR: The Letters of Alexander Pushkin Quotations from literature Russian words and phrases 1820s neologisms Alexander Pushkin Cultural depictions of Alexander Pushkin 1825 works Catchphrases