Kuzma's mother

Kuzma's mother, or Kuzka's mother (Russian: Кузькина мать - [ˈkusʲkʲɪnə ˈmatʲ], Kuzkina mat; Kuzka is a diminutive of the given name Kuzma), is part of the Russian proverb "to show Kuzka's mother (to someone)" (Russian: Показать кузькину мать (кому-либо) - [pɐkɐˈzatʲ 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 as part of the image of Nikita Khrushchev, along with the shoe-banging incident and the phrase "We will bury you".

[1] 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, making it difficult to uncover.

[citation needed] During a discussion about communism and capitalism, Khrushchev boasted that the Soviet Union will "catch up with and surpass" (Russian: догонит и перегонит, romanized: dogonit i peregonit) the United States, and "we shall show you Kuzka's mother".

In particular, the Tsar Bomba had a yield of 50 MT and was a thermonuclear test device, nicknamed "Kuzka's mother" by its builders.