What is bavovna? In russian newspeak, the word for "explosion" is forbidden and replaced with a word for "clap". However, the russian word for "clap" is spelled the same as the word for "cotton", only pronounced with a different emphasis — "хлопОк" vs "хлОпок". Ukrainian news reporters exploit this when commenting on explosions in russia and use the Ukrainian word for "cotton" — "бавовна" or "bavovna".