Literal Translation
It’s the Berezina
Actual Meaning
It’s a humiliating and total defeat
Etymology
The Berezina is a river in today’s Byelorussia. In November 1812, Napoleon and his Grande Armée fought there, attacked by the Russians who were counting on the river and the surrounding marshes to annihilate the enemy troops during their retreat. Despite their numerical superiority and having the initiative, the Russians failed to eliminate Napoleon’s army, but thanks to authors such as Balzac and Hugo, the story lived on in cultural imagination as a symbol on Napoleon’s retreat, and the name Berezina became synonym with disaster or humiliating defeat.