Former Social Democrat prime minister Viorica Dancila, known for the many grammatical gaffes and serious protocol mistakes made during her term as PM of Romania, said on Tuesday evening, October 13, that other political leaders have been making grammar mistakes as well. During a show at local news station Digi24, she gave president Klaus Iohannis as an example, saying that he has introduced new words in the Romanian language vocabulary. And according to her, one of these words is "gyroscope."

Asked if the Social Democratic Party (PSD) can now blame her for the grammatical mistakes made during her term as prime minister, mistakes that damaged the party's image, Dancila said: "I don't believe the PSD can make such accusations. Let's look at the statements of political leaders from other parties, those of the minister of education, who is a Romanian language teacher, I am an engineer; let's look at the statements of the president of Romania, who introduced new words in the Romanian language vocabulary."

Asked to give examples of words invented by the president, Viorica Dancila said "gyroscope" and "sertarizare" (which would translate as drawering).

"Gyroscope or sertarizare. That would be some examples. I remembered a few of them. When there is pressure, even the most skilled player can make mistakes," Dancila said.

"Gyroscope" is not a new word, however. According to its definition on Britannica.com, for example, the gyroscope is a device containing a rapidly spinning wheel or circulating beam of light that is used to detect the deviation of an object from its desired orientation. Klaus Iohannis used the term during a conference on August 19.

Viorica Dancila was the prime minister of Romania from late-January 2018 until early November 2019. She was the first woman in Romanian history to hold the office of prime minister. However, while the government and her party were trying to promote their achievements and plans for the country, Dancila's blunders made the front page more often, especially as some of them were quite serious. And all of them were criticized by the opposition and taxed by the Romanians on social media, fueling many jokes.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Gabriel Petrescu/Dreamstime.com)