One could only wish U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was understating the 2008 financial crisis, comparing it to the Great Depression.

Unfortunately, he wasn't intending anything of the kind. In a closed-door interview made public this week, it was revealed Bernanke told the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in Washington, "As a scholar of the Great Depression, I honestly believe that September and October of 2008 was the worst financial crisis in global history, including the Great Depression."

One would also hope there was a bit more tongue in cheek this week in Winnipeg, Canada, when former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger mentioned the "Canadians that went over there to Iraq," declaring "Those are heroes!"

Canadians were only sent to Afghanistan, Post Media pointed out.

This was at the same event that Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay mentioned that California and British Columbia share a border.

Fail.

But the Understatement of the Week honors goes to 61-year old Wisconsin ice fisherman Mike Popko, who was fishing with 80-year-old Skip Wick on Lake Superior last Saturday when the 12-inch ice began to break apart.

Before they could react, the two men were separated from each other and Wick's family and the shore ice, floating on individual pans of ice, each about the size of a car, the Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune reported.

In 8-foot swells, the two ice jockeys danced on their floating platforms, somehow managing to stay on and dry for 2 hours until rescued.

"I looked at the situation and thought, 'Am I going to drown or get crushed to death?' When a wave would crest, the chunks would separate. Then, in the troughs, one big chunk would crash into another one. It would about knock you on your rear end," Popko said.

Wick said he'd ridden this scenario before, stating, "This isn't my first rodeo."

Then the Understatement of the Week:

"We should have never left the boat," Popko said.

By the way, you know it's an understatement, when your reaction to a statement is this: "Ya think?"