Russian winged expressions. Burn the hearts of people with the verb. What is a “Stolypin tie”

“If the mountain does not come to Mohammed”, “On a silver platter”, “And you, Brutus!” - how firmly these phrases have entered our lives. And each of them very briefly and accurately, in just a few words, can describe the current situation or convey the feelings experienced.

What is it?

Winged words or expressions are phraseological units that are drawn from historical events, folklore and various literary sources- artistic, journalistic, scientific. They often contain names literary characters, historical figures, geographical names. These may be quotes from speeches of famous people.

Most catch phrases lose their original meaning and are used in relation to current realities.

Winged words can have the features of an aphorism, or simply be figurative in nature, or used in a figurative sense. They, like proverbs, are known to many, are often and universally used, have special expressiveness and accurately convey ideas.

Where did this name come from?

The very phrase “winged words” belongs to Homer and has by no means the meaning that is attributed to it now. The Greek poet in his Odyssey had in mind loud speech. Later, however, the expression “winged words” acquired a slightly different meaning in the mouth of Homer. It has come to mean smooth speech, the words of which fly from the speaker’s mouth to the listener’s ear.

This phrase acquired its current meaning thanks to the publication in 1864 of a collection of popular quotes compiled by the German scientist Georg Buchmann. Since then, the expression has become a term used in stylistics and linguistics.

The history of the appearance of some catchphrases dates back to ancient times. Some of them relate to mythology, others - to historical events or the speeches of eminent figures and philosophers of the past. Translated from Latin and Greek, catchphrases have firmly entered our lives, having, however, lost their original meaning. And expressions drawn from mythology are generally used only in a figurative sense.

Sources

A special place is occupied by winged words, the source of which is the Bible. Individual phrases or even whole sentences - biblical words - are often found in everyday speech and give it a special coloring and meaning. The most famous of them are “judge not, lest ye be judged”, “the book of seven seals”, “the voice of one crying in the wilderness” and many others.

In addition to biblical quotes, a separate niche is occupied by literary sayings found in the works of Russian and Ukrainian classics - N.V. Gogol, A.S. Pushkin, M.Yu. Lermontov. A huge source of popular expressions are the fables of I. A. Krylov and “Woe from Wit” by A. S. Griboyedov. Much later, the collection of similar phrases was replenished with quotes from the works of Ilf and Petrov.

Losing their original meaning, partially changing under the influence of time, winged words, however, decorate our speech, making it richer and more interesting. Some expressions are instructive, others add a humorous spin to the words. Increasingly, popular expressions can be found in the titles of books and articles.

Conclusion

However, some phrases in different countries may have a slightly different meaning, although they are taken from the same source. There are expressions that have no analogues at all in another language, and when translated they will seem completely meaningless. This is worth knowing for people who want to show off their speech and knowledge abroad, so as not to get into an awkward position. It’s better to memorize several popular expressions that are actively used in a given country. This will be the best evidence of genuine interest in the culture and history of the host country.

Top most famous catchphrases

Who are the judges?
Quote from A. S. Griboyedov’s comedy “Woe from Wit” (1824), d.2, yavl.5, words by Chatsky:
Who are the judges? - For the antiquity of years
TO free life their enmity is irreconcilable,
Judgments are drawn from forgotten newspapers
The times of the Ochakovskys and the conquest of Crimea.

Balzac age
The expression arose after the publication of the novel by the French writer Honore de Balzac (1799-1850) “A Woman of Thirty” (1831); used as a characteristic of women aged 30-40 years.

Without a rudder and without sails
Quote from M. Yu. Lermnotov’s poem “The Demon” (1842), part 1:
On the air ocean
Without a rudder and without sails
Quietly floating in the fog -
Choirs of slender luminaries.

White Crow
This expression, as a designation of a rare person, sharply different from the rest, is given in the 7th satire of the Roman poet Juvenal (mid-1st century - after 127 AD):
Fate gives kingdoms to slaves and brings triumphs to captives.
However, such a lucky person is rarer than a black sheep.

Adopt greyhound puppies
It arose from the comedy of N.V. Gogol's "The Inspector General", d. 1, yavl. 1, words by Lyapin-Tyapkin: “There are different sins. I tell everyone openly that I take bribes, but with what bribes? With greyhound puppies. This is a completely different matter.”

Throwing a stone
The expression “throwing a stone” at someone in the sense of “accusing” arose from the Gospel (John 8:7); Jesus said to the scribes and Pharisees, who, tempting him, brought to him a woman caught in adultery: “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” (in ancient Judea there was a penalty - stoning).

Paper endures everything (Paper does not turn red)
The expression goes back to the Roman writer and orator Cicero (106 - 43 BC); in his letters “To Friends” there is an expression: “Epistola non erubescit” - “A letter does not blush,” that is, in writing one can express thoughts that one is embarrassed to express orally.

To be or not to be - that is the question
The beginning of Hamlet's soliloquy tragedy of the same name Shakespeare translated by N.A. Polevoy (1837).

You cannot harness a horse and a tremulous doe to one cart
Quote from the poem by A.S. Pushkin "Poltava" (1829).

The great, powerful, truthful and free Russian language
Quote from a prose poem by I.S. Turgenev "Russian language" (1882).

Let's go back to our sheep
With these words in the farce "Lawyer Pierre Patlen" (c. 1470), the first of a series of anonymous farces about the lawyer Patlin, the judge interrupts the speech of a wealthy clothier. Having initiated a case against the shepherd who stole his sheep, the clothier, forgetting about his litigation, showers reproaches on the shepherd's defender, lawyer Patlen, who did not pay him for six cubits of cloth.

Wolf in sheep's clothing
The expression originated from the Gospel: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.”

In borrowed plumes
It arose from a fable by I.A. Krylov "The Crow" (1825).

Time is money
An aphorism from the work of the American scientist and politician Franklin (1706-1790) “Advice to a Young Merchant” (1748).

I carry everything I have with me
The expression originated from an ancient Greek legend. When the Persian king Cyrus occupied the city of Priene in Ionia, the inhabitants abandoned it, taking with them the most valuable of their possessions. Only Biant, one of the “seven wise men”, a native of Priene, left empty-handed. In response to the perplexed questions of his fellow citizens, he answered, referring to spiritual values: “I carry everything I own with me.” This expression is often used in the Latin formulation due to Cicero: Omnia mea mecum porto.

Everything flows, everything changes
This expression, which defines the constant variability of all things, sets out the essence of the teachings of the Greek philosopher Heraclitus from Ephesus (c. 530-470 BC)

Was there a boy?
One of the episodes of M. Gorky’s novel “The Life of Klim Samgin” tells about the boy Klim skating with other children. Boris Varavka and Varya Somova fall into the wormwood. Klim hands Boris the end of his gymnasium belt, but, feeling that he too is being pulled into the water, he lets go of the belt. Children are drowning. When the search for the drowned begins, Klim is struck by “someone’s serious, incredulous question: “Was there a boy, maybe there wasn’t a boy.” The last phrase became popular as a figurative expression of extreme doubt about something.

Twenty two misfortunes
This is how in A.P. Chekhov’s play “The Cherry Orchard” (1903) they call the clerk Epikhodov, with whom some comic misfortune happens every day. The expression is applied to people with whom some misfortune constantly happens.

Twenty-three years and nothing has been done for immortality
Words of Don Carlos from F. Schiller's drama "Don Carlos, Infant of Spain" (1782), d.2, yavl. 2.

Two-Faced Janus
In Roman mythology, Janus - the god of time, as well as every beginning and end, entrances and exits (janua - door) - was depicted with two faces facing in opposite directions: young - forward, to the future, old - back, to the past. The resulting expression “two-faced Janus” or simply “Janus” means: a two-faced person.

The work of helping drowning people is the work of the drowning people themselves
In the novel by I. Ilf and E. Petrov “The Twelve Chairs” (1927), in chapter 34, a poster with such a slogan is mentioned, hung in the club at the evening of the Water Rescue Society.

Money doesn't smell
The expression arose from the words of the Roman emperor (69 - 79 AD) Vespasian, said by him, as Suetonius reports in his biography, on the following occasion. When Vespasian's son Titus reproached his father for introducing a tax on public latrines, Vespasian brought the first money received from this tax to his nose and asked if it smelled. To Titus's negative answer, Vespasian said: "And yet they are made of urine."

Domostroy
"Domostroy" is a monument of Russian literature of the 16th century, which is a set of everyday rules and moral teachings. The husband, according to Domostroy, is the head of the family, the master of the wife, and Domostroy indicates in detail in what cases he must beat his wife, etc. Hence the word “domostroy” means: conservative way of life family life, a morality that affirms the slave position of women.

Draconian measures
This is the name given to the excessively harsh laws named after Dragon, the first legislator of the Athenian Republic (7th century BC). Among the punishments determined by its laws, the death penalty allegedly occupied a prominent place, which punished, for example, such an offense as theft of vegetables. There was a legend that these laws were written in blood (Plutarch, Solon). In literary speech, the expression “draconian laws”, “draconian measures, punishments” became stronger in the meaning of harsh, cruel laws.

Eat to live, not live to eat
The aphorism belongs to Socrates (469-399 BC), and was often quoted by ancient writers.

Yellow press
In 1895, American graphic artist Richard Outcault published a series of frivolous drawings with humorous text in a number of issues of the New York newspaper "The World"; Among the drawings was a picture of a child in a yellow shirt, to whom various funny sayings were attributed. Soon another newspaper, the New York Journal, began publishing a series of similar drawings. A dispute arose between these two newspapers over the right of primacy to the "yellow boy". In 1896, Erwin Wardman, editor of the New York Press, published an article in his magazine in which he contemptuously called both competing newspapers "yellow press." Since then, the expression has become popular.

Finest hour
Expression by Stefan Zweig (1881-1942) from the preface to his collection of historical short stories " star clock humanity" (1927). Zweig explains that he called historical moments "finest hours" "because, like eternal stars, they invariably shine in the night of oblivion and decay."

Knowledge is power
Expression of the English philosopher Francis Bacon in Moral and Political Essays (1597).

Golden mean
An expression from the 2nd book of odes of the Roman poet Horace: “aurea mediocritas”.

And it’s boring, and sad, and there’s no one to give a hand to
Quote from the poem by M. Yu. Lermontov “Both boring and sad” (1840).

And you, Brutus?
In Shakespeare's tragedy "Julius Caesar" (v. 3, iv. 1), with these words the dying Caesar addresses Brutus, who was among the conspirators who attacked him in the Senate. Historians consider this phrase legendary. Marcus Junius Brutus, whom Caesar considered his supporter, became the head of the conspiracy against him and was one of those involved in his assassination in 44 BC.

Choose the lesser of two evils
An expression found in the works of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, in the form: “The lesser of evils must be chosen.” Cicero (in his essay “On Duties”) says: “One should not only choose the least of evils, but also extract from them themselves what can be good in them.”

Making an elephant out of a molehill
The expression is one of the ancient ones. It is quoted by the Greek writer Lucian (3rd century AD), who ends his satirical “Praise of the Fly” like this: “But I interrupt my speech, although I could say a lot more, lest anyone think that I “As the proverb goes, I make a mountain out of a molehill.”

Highlight
The expression is used in the meaning: something that gives a special taste, attractiveness to something (a dish, a story, a person, etc.). It arose from a popular proverb: “Kvass is not expensive, the zest in kvass is expensive”; became popular after the appearance of L. N. Tolstoy’s drama “The Living Corpse” (1912). The hero of the drama, Protasov, talking about his family life, says: “My wife was an ideal woman... But what can I tell you? There was no zest - you know, the zest in kvass? - there was no game in our life. And I had to forget myself . And without the game you won’t forget..."

Capital to acquire and innocence to maintain
An expression popularized by M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin ("Letters to Auntie", letter 10, 1882; "Children of Moscow", "Little things in life", 1877, "Mon Repos Shelter").

Scapegoat
A biblical expression that arose from a description of the special ritual that existed among the ancient Jews of transferring the sins of the entire people onto a living goat; on the day of absolution, the high priest laid both hands on the head of a live goat as a sign of transferring the sins of the Jewish people onto it, after which the goat was driven into the desert. The expression is used in the sense: a person who is constantly being blamed for someone else, who is responsible for others.

Swan song
The expression is used to mean: the last manifestation of talent. Based on the belief that swans sing before death, it arose in ancient times. Evidence of this is found in one of Aesop’s fables (6th century BC): “They say that swans sing before they die.”

Summer. Sink into oblivion
IN Greek mythology Lethe is the river of oblivion in Hades, the underworld; upon arrival in the underworld, the souls of the dead drank water from it and forgot their entire past life.

Flying Dutchman
A Dutch legend has preserved the story of a sailor who vowed, in a strong storm, to round the cape that blocked his path, even if it took him forever. Because of his pride, he was doomed to forever rush around on a ship on a stormy sea, never landing on the shore. This legend obviously arose in the age of great discoveries. It is possible that its historical basis was the expedition of Vasco da Gama (1469-1524), who rounded the cape in 1497 Good Hope. In the 17th century this legend was associated with several Dutch captains, which is reflected in its name.

Seize the day
The expression apparently goes back to Horace (“carpe diem” - “seize the day”, “take advantage of the day”).

The lion's share
The expression goes back to the fable of the ancient Greek fabulist Aesop "The Lion, the Fox and the Donkey", the plot of which - the division of prey among the animals - was later used by Phaedrus, La Fontaine and other fabulists.

The Moor has done his job, the Moor can leave
Quote from the drama by F. Schiller (1759 - 1805) “The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa” (1783). This phrase (d. 3, iv. 4) is pronounced by the Moor, who turned out to be unnecessary after he helped Count Fisco organize a rebellion of the Republicans against the tyrant of Genoa, Doge Doria. This phrase has become a saying characterizing a cynical attitude towards a person whose services are no longer needed.

Manna from heaven
According to the Bible, manna is the food that God sent to the Jews every morning from heaven when they walked through the desert to the promised land (Exodus 16, 14-16 and 31).

Disservice
The expression arose from I. A. Krylov’s fable “The Hermit and the Bear” (1808).

Honeymoon
The idea that the happiness of the first stage of marriage is quickly replaced by the bitterness of disappointment, figuratively expressed in oriental folklore, used by Voltaire for his philosophical novel“Zadig, or Fate” (1747), in the 3rd chapter of which he writes: “Zadig experienced that the first month of marriage, as it is described in the book of Zend, is honeymoon, and the second - the wormwood month."

Between a rock and a hard place
Title of the novel (1868) by Friedrich Spielhagen (1829-1911). It is used to characterize someone’s difficult situation when dangers and troubles threaten from two sides.

Maecenas
The wealthy Roman patrician Gaius Cilnius Maecenas (between 74 and 64 - 8 BC) widely patronized artists and poets. Horace, Virgil, Propertius glorified him in their poems. Martial (40 - 102 AD) in one of his epigrams says: “If Flaccus were Patrons, there would be no shortage of Maroons,” that is, Virgilius (Vergilius Maro). Thanks to the poems of these poets, his name became a household name for the wealthy patron of the arts and sciences.

Your gift is not dear to me, your love is dear to me
An expression from the Russian folk song “On the Pavement Street”:
Oh, my darling is good,
Chernobrov soul, handsome,
He brought me a gift,
Dear gift,
A gold ring from the hand.
Your gift is not dear to me, -
Your love is dear.
I don't want to wear a ring
I want to love my friend like that.

Young people love us everywhere
Quote from “Song of the Motherland” in the film “Circus” (1936), text by V. I. Lebedev-Kumach, music by I. O. Dunaevsky.

Milk rivers, jelly banks
An expression from a Russian folk tale.

Silence is a sign of consent
Expression of Pope Boniface VIII (1294-1303) in one of his messages, included in canon law (a set of decrees of church authority). This expression goes back to Sophocles (496-406 BC), in whose tragedy “The Trachinian Women” it is said: “Don’t you understand that by silence you agree with the accuser?”

Torments of Tantalus
In Greek mythology, Tantalus, the king of Phrygia (also called the king of Lydia), was the favorite of the gods, who often invited him to their feasts. But, proud of his position, he offended the gods, for which he was severely punished. According to Homer ("Odyssey"), his punishment was that, thrown into Tartarus (hell), he forever experiences the unbearable pangs of thirst and hunger; he stands up to his neck in water, but the water recedes from him as soon as he bends his head to drink; branches with luxurious fruits hang over him, but as soon as he stretches out his hands to them, the branches deviate. This is where the expression “torment of Tantalus” arose, meaning: unbearable torment due to the inability to achieve the desired goal, despite its proximity.

We are lazy and not curious
Quote from “Travel to Arzrum” (1836) by A. S. Pushkin, ch. 2.

We cannot wait for favors from nature; taking them from her is our task
The expression belongs to the biologist-geneticist breeder I.V. Michurin (1855-1935), who in practice, on a large scale, showed the ability to change the hereditary forms of organisms, adapting them to human needs.

Over the moon
The expression, meaning the highest degree of joy, happiness, goes back to the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BC), who in his essay “On Heaven” explains the structure firmament. He believed that the sky consists of seven motionless crystal spheres on which the stars and planets are established. The seven heavens are mentioned in various places in the Quran: for example, it is said that the Quran itself was brought by an angel from the seventh heaven.

Our regiment has arrived
An expression from the ancient “game” song “And we sowed millet”; used in the meaning: there have been more people like us (in some respect).

Don't throw pearls before swine
An expression from the Gospel: “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls (Church Slavic beads) before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn and tear you to pieces” (Matt. 7:6). Used to mean: do not waste words with people who cannot understand or appreciate them.

Without further ado
An expression from A. S. Pushkin’s tragedy “Boris Godunov” (1831), scene “Night. Cell in the Miracle Monastery”, words of the chronicler Pimen:
Describe without further ado,
All that you will witness in life.


I don't want to study, I want to get married
Words by Mitrofanushka from D. I. Fonvizin’s comedy “The Minor” (1783), no. 3, yavl. 7.

The sky is in diamonds
An expression from A. P. Chekhov’s play “Uncle Vanya” (1897). In the 4th act, Sonya, consoling the tired Uncle Vanya, exhausted by life, says: “We will rest! We will hear the angels, we will see the whole sky in diamonds, we will see how all earthly evil, all our suffering will drown in the mercy that will fill the whole world, and our life will become quiet, gentle, sweet, like a caress.”

Regardless of faces
Expression from the Bible. The idea of ​​acting without partiality, without subservience to superiors is expressed in many places in the Old and New Testaments (Deuteronomy 1:17; Matt. 22:16; Mark 12:14, etc.), although in slightly different words. It is possible that the expression “regardless of persons” is a translation of the phrase “Ohne Ansehen der Person”, common in German speech, which is a quote from Luther’s translation of the Gospel (First Epistle of Peter, 1, 17).

No one will embrace the immensity
Aphorism from “Fruits of Thoughts” by Kozma Prutkov (1854).

Nothing is new [eternal] under the moon
Quote from N. M. Karamzin’s poem “Experienced Solomon’s Wisdom, or Selected Thoughts from Ecclesiastes” (1797):
There's nothing new under the sun:
What is, has been, will forever be.
And before, blood flowed like a river,
And before, a man cried...
This poem is an imitation of Ecclesiastes, one of the books that make up the Bible.

New is well forgotten old
In 1824, the memoirs of milliner Marie Antoinette Mademoiselle Bertin were published in France, in which she said these words about the queen’s old dress that she had updated (in reality, her memoirs are fake, their author is Jacques Pesce). This idea was perceived as new only because it had been well forgotten. Already Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400) said that “there is no new custom that is not old.” This quote from Chaucer was popularized by Walter Scott's book The Folk Songs of Southern Scotland.

O times! oh morals!
An expression that Cicero (106-43 BC) often used in his speeches, for example, in his first speech against Catiline. It is also quoted in Latin: “O tempora! o mores!”

About the dead it's either good or nothing
The expression often quoted in Latin: "De mortuis nil nisi bene" or "De mortuis aut bene aut nihil", apparently goes back to the work of Diogenes Laertius (3rd century AD): "Life, teaching and opinions famous philosophers", which contains the saying of one of the "seven wise men" - Chilon (VI century BC): "Do not slander the dead."

Oh holy simplicity!
This expression is attributed to the leader of the Czech national movement, Jan Hus (1369-1415). Sentenced by a church council as a heretic to be burned, he allegedly uttered these words at the stake when he saw that some old woman (according to another version, a peasant woman) in simple-minded religious zeal threw the brushwood she had brought into the fire. However, Hus's biographers, based on reports of eyewitnesses to his death, deny the fact that he uttered this phrase. The church writer Turanius Rufinus (c. 345-410), in his continuation of Eusebius's History of the Church, reports that the expression “holy simplicity” was uttered at the first Council of Nicaea (325) by one of the theologians. This expression is often used in Latin: “O sancta simplicitas!”

Formed
In L.N. Tolstoy's novel "Anna Karenina", part 1, chapter 2 (1875), the valet uses this word to encourage his master, Stepan Arkadyevich, who is upset by a quarrel with his wife. This word, used in the sense of “everything will be settled,” which became popular after the appearance of Tolstoy’s novel, was probably heard by him somewhere. He used it in one of his letters to his wife back in 1866, convincing her not to worry about various everyday troubles. His wife repeated his words in a response letter: “Probably, all this will work out.”

Window to Europe
Expression from A. S. Pushkin’s poem “The Bronze Horseman”, Introduction (1834):
On the shore of desert waves
He stood there, full of great thoughts,
And I looked into the distance...
And he thought:
From here we will threaten the Swede.
The city will be founded here
To spite an arrogant neighbor.
Nature destined us here
Open a window to Europe...
This expression, as Pushkin himself indicated in the notes to the poem, goes back to the Italian writer Algarotti (1712-1764), who in his “Letters about Russia” said: “Petersburg is the window through which Russia looks at Europe.”

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth
An expression from the Bible, the formula for the law of retribution: “A fracture for a fracture, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth: as he has injured a man’s body, so must he do it” (Leviticus, 24, 20; about the same - Exodus, 21, 24; Deuteronomy 19, 21).

All that's left are the horns and legs
A not entirely accurate quote from a song by an unknown author, “The Gray Goat,” which appeared in songbooks since 1855.

From great to funny one step
This phrase was often repeated by Napoleon during his flight from Russia in December 1812 to his ambassador in Warsaw, de Pradt, who spoke about it in the book “History of the Embassy to the Grand Duchy of Warsaw” (1816). Its primary source is the expression of the French writer Jean-François Marmontel (1723-1799) in the fifth volume of his works (1787): “In general, the funny comes into contact with the great.”

Oh, you are heavy, Monomakh’s hat!
Quote from A. S. Pushkin’s tragedy “Boris Godunov”, scene “The Royal Chambers” (1831), monologue of Boris (Monomakh in Greek is a martial artist; a nickname that was associated with the names of some Byzantine emperors. In ancient Rus', this nickname was assigned to the Grand Duke Vladimir (beginning of the 12th century), from which the Moscow kings descended. Monomakh's Cap - the crown with which the Moscow kings were crowned kings, a symbol of royal power). The above quote characterizes a difficult situation.

Panic fear
Originated from Greek myths about Pan, god of forests and fields. According to myths, Pan brings sudden and unaccountable terror to people, especially to travelers in remote and secluded places, as well as to troops who flee from this. This is where the word “panic” comes from.

Feast during the plague
The name of the dramatic scenes of A. S. Pushkin (1832), the basis for which was a scene from the poems of the English poet John Wilson “Plague City” (1816). Used in the meaning: feast, cheerful, carefree life during some public disaster.

Plato is my friend, but truth is dearer
The Greek philosopher Plato (427-347 BC) in his essay “Phaedo” attributes to Socrates the words “Following me, think less about Socrates, and more about the truth.” Aristotle, in his work “Nicomachean Ethics,” polemicizing with Plato and referring to him, writes: “Even though friends and truth are dear to me, duty commands me to give preference to truth.” Luther (1483-1546) says: “Plato is my friend, Socrates is my friend, but truth should be preferred” (“On the Enslaved Will,” 1525). The expression “Amicus Plato, sed magis amica veritas” - “Plato is my friend, but the truth is dearer”, was formulated by Cervantes in the 2nd part, ch. 51 novels "Don Quixote" (1615).

The fruits of enlightenment
The title of L. N. Tolstoy's comedy (1891).

Dancing to someone else's tune
The expression is used to mean: to act not according to one’s own will, but according to the will of another. Goes back to the Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BC), who in the 1st book of his “History” says: when the Persian king Cyrus conquered the Medes, the Greeks of Asia Minor, whom he had previously tried in vain to win over to his side, expressed their readiness obey him, but under certain conditions. Then Cyrus told them the following fable: “One flute player, seeing fish in the sea, began to play the flute, expecting that they would come to him on land. Having been deceived in his hope, he took a net, threw it in and pulled out many fish. Seeing how the fish fighting in the nets, he told them: “Stop dancing; when I played the flute, you did not want to go out and dance." This fable is attributed to Aesop (VI century BC).

Success is never blamed
These words are attributed to Catherine II, who allegedly expressed herself this way when A.V. Suvorov was put on trial by military court for the assault on Turtukai in 1773, undertaken by him contrary to the orders of Field Marshal Rumyantsev. However, the story about Suvorov’s arbitrary actions and about putting him on trial is refuted by serious researchers.

Know yourself
According to the legend reported by Plato in the dialogue “Protagoras”, the seven sages of ancient Greece (Thales, Pittacus, Bias, Solon, Cleobulus, Myson and Chilo), meeting together in the temple of Apollo at Delphi, wrote: “Know yourself.” The idea of ​​knowing oneself was explained and disseminated by Socrates. This expression is often used in its Latin form: nosce te ipsum.

After us there might be a flood
This phrase is attributed to the French king Louis XV, but memoirists claim that it belongs to the favorite of this king, the Marquise of Pompadour (1721-1764). She said it in 1757 to console the king, dejected by the defeat of the French troops at Rosbach. It is possible that this phrase is an echo of a verse by an unknown Greek poet, which was often quoted by Cicero and Seneca: “After my death, let the world perish in fire.”

Potemkin villages
In 1783, on the initiative of the statesman of the times of Catherine II, Prince G. A. Potemkin (1739-1791), Crimea was annexed to Russia, included in Novorossiya. Contemporaries said that Potemkin, in order to show Catherine the prosperity of the new territory (during her trip to the south in 1787), erected villages on the empress’s path that were entirely decorations, and set up festively dressed people to meet her, who had been brought from afar, but presented themselves as local residents, showed grain warehouses in which sacks were filled with sand instead of flour, drove the same herd of cattle from one place to another at night, planted parks in Kremenchug and other cities, and planting was carried out for several days, so that the plantings died after Catherine's passage, etc.

Delay is like death
In 1711, before the Prussian campaign, Peter I sent a letter to the newly established Senate. Thanks to the senators for their activities, he demanded that they continue not to delay in making the necessary orders, “before the lapse of time is like death, irrevocable.” Peter's words became more popular short form: “Delay is like death.”

Go all out
Big bells in ancient Rus' were called "heavy". The nature of the bell ringing, i.e. when and which bells should be rung was determined by the “Typikon” - the church charter, in which the expression “to ring all the hard” meant: to ring all the bells at once. This is where the expression “go all out” arose, which is used to mean: to go astray from the correct path in life, to begin uncontrollably indulging in carousing, debauchery, extravagance, etc.

Spreading cranberry
The expression is used as a humorous designation for nonsense reports about Russia and Russians, belonging to ill-informed foreigners, in general - anything implausible, revealing complete unfamiliarity with the subject. Oral tradition considers the source of this expression to be the description of a journey through Russia by Alexandre Dumas father (1803-1870). Meanwhile, in the books describing his travels around Russia, no gross distortions in the depiction of Russian nature, Russian morals and customs are found. In "Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language" ed. D. N. Ushakova reports that the expression “came from a description of Russia, in which a superficial French author sat under the shadow of a majestic cranberry tree.” It can be assumed that the expression “spreading cranberry” is of parodic origin and arose from a Russian author ridiculing the truly anecdotal descriptions of Russian life found in some ill-informed French authors.

Get itchy, shoulder! Swing your hand!
Quote from A.V. Koltsov’s poem “Mower” (1835).

Rare bird
This expression (Latin rara avis) meaning “rare creature” is first found in the satires of Roman poets, for example, in Juvenal (mid-1st century - after 127 AD): “A rare bird on earth, sort of like black swan".

Born to crawl cannot fly
Quote from "Song of the Falcon" by M. Gorky.

Hands off!
Expresses the requirement of non-interference in the affairs of someone or something, maintaining the inviolability of something. This expression as a political slogan was first used by the English minister William Gladstone (1809-1898) to address Austria, which occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina in the fall of 1878.

Stigma in fluff
An expression from I. A. Krylov’s fable “The Fox and the Marmot” (1813). The Fox complains to the Woodchuck that she is suffering in vain and, slandered, was exiled for bribes:
- You know, I was the judge of the chicken coop,
I lost my health and peace in my affairs,
In my labors I didn’t finish eating a bite,
Didn't get enough sleep at night:
And for that I fell into anger;
And everything is based on slander. Well, just think about it:
Who will be right in the world if he listens to slander?
Should I take bribes? Am I going to get mad?
Well, have you seen, I'll go after you,
So that I am involved in this sin?
Think, remember carefully...
- No, Kumushka; I have often seen
That your stigma is covered in fluff.
This expression is used to mean: to be involved in something criminal, unseemly.

From the ship to the ball
Expression from “Eugene Onegin” by A. S. Pushkin, chapter 8, stanza 13 (1832):
And travel for him,
Like everyone else in the world, I'm tired of it,
He returned and hit
Like Chatsky, from the ship to the ball.
This expression characterizes an unexpected, sharp change in situation or circumstances.

With sweetheart paradise and in a hut
Quote from the poem by N. M. Ibragimov (1778-1818) “Russian Song” (“In the evening the maiden is beautiful...”):
Don't look for me, rich man:
You are not dear to my soul.
What do I care about your chambers?
With my dear one, heaven and in the hut!
First published in 1815, this poem gained great popularity and became a folk song.

With feeling, with sense, with arrangement
Quote from A. S. Griboedov’s comedy “Woe from Wit” (1824), d.2, yavl.1.

Blue stocking
The expression, denoting a contemptuous name for women who are completely absorbed in bookish, scientific interests, arose in England in the 80s of the 18th century. and did not have the disparaging meaning that it received later. Initially, it denoted a circle of people of both sexes who gathered at Lady Montagu's for conversations on literary and scientific topics. The soul of the conversations was the scientist Benjamin Stellingfleet (1702-1771), who, disdaining fashion, wore blue stockings with dark clothes. When for some reason he did not appear in the circle, they repeated: “We cannot live without blue stockings, today the conversation is going badly - there are no blue stockings!” Thus, for the first time, this nickname was given to a man, not a woman. The expression especially spread when Byron used it in his satire of Lady Montague's circle, "The Blues."

blue bird
A play by Maurice Maeterlinck (1862-1949), staged at the Moscow Art Theater on September 30, 1908. The plot of this play is the adventures of the children of a poor woodcutter in search of the Blue Bird. According to Oak in the play, the Bluebird is "the secret of things and happiness." “If a person finds the Blue Bird, he will know everything, see everything” (words of the Cat).

A mixture of French and Nizhny Novgorod languages
Quote from A. S. Griboyedov’s comedy “Woe from Wit.”

Combine business with pleasure
An expression from “The Art of Poetry” by Horace, who says about the poet: “He is worthy of all approval who combines the pleasant with the useful.”

Happy Hours don't observe
Quote from A. S. Griboyedov’s comedy “Woe from Wit”, no. 1, yavl. 4, words by Sophia.

Wash your hands
Used to mean: to avoid responsibility for something. It arose from the Gospel: Pilate washed his hands before the crowd, giving Jesus to them for execution, and said: “I am not guilty of the blood of this righteous man” (Matt. 27:24). The ritual washing of hands, which serves as evidence of the non-involvement of the person washing in anything, is described in the Bible (Deuteronomy 21:6-7).

Weak spot
It arose from the myth about the only vulnerable spot on the hero’s body: Achilles’ heel, a spot on Siegfried’s back, etc. Used in the meaning: the weak side of a person, deeds.

Fortune. Wheel of Fortune
Fortuna is the goddess of blind chance, happiness and misfortune in Roman mythology. She was depicted blindfolded, standing on a ball or wheel (emphasizing her constant variability), and holding a steering wheel in one hand and a cornucopia in the other. The rudder indicated that fortune controls a person's destiny.

He who laughs last laughs best
The expression belongs to the French writer Jean-Pierre Florian (1755-1794), who used it in the fable “Two Peasants and a Cloud.”

End justifies the means
The idea of ​​this expression, which is the basis of Jesuit morality, was borrowed by them from the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679).

Man is a wolf to man
An expression from the “Donkey Comedy” by the ancient Roman writer Plautus (c. 254-184 BC).

Q.E.D
This formula ends every mathematical reasoning of the great Greek mathematician Euclid (3rd century BC).

What we have, we don’t keep, having lost it, we cry
The name of the vaudeville (1844) by S. Solovyov

The language of native aspens
Expression from an epigram (1884) by I. S. Turgenev to N. H. Ketcher (1809-1886), translator of Shakespeare; His translations are distinguished by their exceptional closeness to the original, which often harms poetry:
Here is another luminary of the world!
Catcher, friend of sparkling wines;
He performed Shakespeare for us
In the language of native aspens.
This expression is used ironically to refer to rough translations from foreign languages ​​into Russian.

We use ancient sayings and various catchphrases in everyday life, sometimes without even knowing the history of the origin of such catchphrases. We all know the meanings of many of these phrases from childhood and use these expressions appropriately; they came to us unnoticed and became entrenched in our culture for centuries. Where did these phrases and expressions come from?

But everyone folk wisdom there is a story, nothing comes out of nowhere. Well, it will be very interesting for you to find out where these catch phrases and expressions, proverbs and sayings came from!

Read also our material Russian folk superstitions, about the history of the origin of popular signs and superstitions - very interesting!

Where did the expressions come from?

bosom friend

“Pour over your Adam’s apple” is a rather ancient expression; in ancient times it literally meant “to get drunk”, “to drink a lot of alcohol.” The phraseological unit “bosom friend”, formed since then, is used to this day and means the closest friend.

Money doesn't smell

The roots of this expression should be sought in Ancient Rome. The son of the Roman Emperor Vespasian once reproached his father for introducing a tax on public toilets. Vespasian showed his son the money received into the treasury from this tax and asked him if the money smelled. The son sniffed and gave a negative answer.

Washing the bones

The expression dates back to ancient times. Some peoples believed that an unrepentant damned sinner, after his death, emerges from the grave and turns into a ghoul or vampire and destroys everyone who gets in his way. And in order to remove the spell, it is necessary to dig up the remains of the dead person from the grave and wash the bones of the deceased with clean water. Now the expression “washing the bones” means nothing more than dirty gossip about a person, a pseudo-analysis of his character and behavior.

Breathing on its last legs

Christian custom required that the dying were confessed by priests before death, and also that they received communion and burned incense. The expression stuck. Now they say about sick people or poorly functioning devices and equipment: “they are dying.”

Play on your nerves

In ancient times, after doctors discovered the existence of nervous tissue (nerves) in the body, based on their resemblance to the strings of musical instruments, they called nervous tissue in Latin with the word strings: nervus. From that moment on, an expression came about that means annoying actions - “playing on your nerves.”

vulgarity

The word “vulgarity” is originally Russian, the root of which is derived from the verb “went”. Until the 17th century, this word was used in a good, decent meaning. It meant traditional, familiar in the everyday life of people, that is, what is done according to custom and happened, that is, WENT from time immemorial. However, the coming reforms of the Russian Tsar Peter I with their innovations distorted this word, it lost its former respect and began to mean: “uncultured, backward, simple-minded,” etc.

Augean stables

There is a legend according to which King Augeis was an avid horse breeder; there were 3,000 horses in the king’s stables. For some reason, no one cleaned the stables for 30 years. Hercules was entrusted with cleaning these stables. He directed the bed of the Althea River into the stables, and the flow of water washed away all the dirt from the stables. Since then, this expression has been applied to polluting something to the extreme.

Scum

The remaining liquid that remained at the bottom along with the sediment used to be called scum. All sorts of rabble often hung around taverns and taverns, drinking the cloudy remains of alcohol in glasses behind other visitors, very soon the term scum passed on to them.

Blue blood

The royal family, as well as the nobility of Spain, were proud that they were leading their
ancestry from the West Goths, as opposed to the common people, and they never mixed with the Moors, who entered Spain from Africa. Blue veins stood out clearly on the pale skin of the indigenous Spaniards, which is why they proudly called themselves “blue blood.” Over time, this expression began to denote a sign of aristocracy and passed on to many nations, including ours.

Reach the handle

In Rus', rolls of bread were always baked with a handle, so that it was convenient to carry the rolls. The handle was then broken off and thrown away for hygiene purposes. The broken handles were picked up and eaten by beggars and dogs. The expression means to become extremely poor, to go down, to become impoverished.

Scapegoat

The ancient Jewish rite consisted of the fact that on the day of remission of sins, the high priest laid his hands on the head of a goat, as if laying all the sins of the people on it. Hence the expression “scapegoat”.

The game is not worth the candle

In the old days, before the invention of electricity, gamblers gathered to play in the evenings by candlelight. Sometimes the bets made and the winner's winnings were negligible, so much so that even the candles that burned during the game did not pay for themselves. This is how this expression appeared.

Add the first number

In the old days, students were often flogged at school, sometimes even without any misconduct on their part, simply as a preventive measure. The mentor could show diligence in educational work and sometimes the students got it very hard. Such students could be released from whipping until the first day of the next month.

Beat your head

In the old days, logs cut off from logs were called baklushas. These were the blanks for wooden utensils. Making wooden utensils did not require any special skills or effort. This matter was considered very easy. From that time on, it became a custom to “knuckle down” (do nothing).

If we don't wash, we'll just ride

In the old days, women in villages literally “rolled” their laundry after washing using a special rolling pin. Thus, well-rolled linen turned out to be wrung out, ironed and, moreover, clean (even in cases of poor quality washing). Nowadays we say “by washing, by skiing,” which means achieving a cherished goal by any means.

It's in the bag

In the old days, messengers who delivered mail to recipients sewed very valuable important papers, or “deeds,” into the lining of their caps or hats, in order to hide them from prying eyes. important documents and do not attract the attention of robbers. This is where the expression “it’s in the bag,” which is still popular to this day, comes from.

Let's go back to our sheep

In a French comedy from the Middle Ages, a rich clothier sued a shepherd who stole his sheep. During the court hearing, the clothier forgot about the shepherd and switched to his lawyer, who, as it turned out, did not pay him for six cubits of cloth. The judge, seeing that the clothier had drifted into the wrong direction, interrupted him with the words: “Let's go back to our sheep.” Since then, the expression has become popular.

Contribute

IN Ancient Greece There was a lepta (small coin) in circulation. In the Gospel parable, a poor widow donated her last two mites for the construction of the temple. Hence the expression “do your bit.”

Versta Kolomenskaya

In the 17th century, by order of the then reigning Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the distance between Moscow and the royal summer residence in the village of Kolomenskoye was measured, as a result of which very high milestones were installed. Since then, it has become a custom to call very tall and thin people “Verst Kolomenskaya”.

Chasing a long ruble

In the 13th century in Rus', the monetary and weight unit was the hryvnia, which was divided into 4 parts (“ruble”). Heavier than the others, the remainder of the ingot was called the “long ruble.” The expression “chasing a long ruble” means easy and good income.

Newspaper ducks

The Belgian humorist Cornelissen published a note in the newspaper about how one scientist bought 20 ducks, chopped one of them and fed it to the other 19 ducks. A little later, he did the same with the second, third, fourth, etc. As a result, he was left with one and only duck, which ate all 19 of its friends. The note was posted with the aim of mocking the gullibility of readers. Since then, it has become a custom to call false news nothing more than “newspaper ducks.”

Money laundering

The origins of the expression go to America, at the beginning of the 20th century. Al Capone found it difficult to spend his ill-gotten gains because he was constantly under the watchful eye of the intelligence services. In order to be able to safely spend this money and not get caught by the police, Capone created a huge network of laundries, in which there were very low prices. Therefore, it was difficult for the police to track the actual number of clients; it became possible to write down absolutely any income of laundries. This is where the now popular expression “money laundering” comes from. The number of laundries since that time has remained huge, the prices for their services are still low, so in the USA it is customary to wash clothes not at home, but in laundries.

Orphan Kazan

As soon as Ivan the Terrible took Kazan, he decided to bind the local aristocracy to himself. To do this, he rewarded high-ranking officials of Kazan who voluntarily came to him. Many of the Tatars, wanting to receive good, rich gifts, pretended to be seriously affected by the war.

Topsy-turvy

Where did this popular expression come from, which is used when a person has dressed or done something incorrectly? During the reign of Tsar Ivan the Terrible in Rus', an embroidered collar was a sign of the dignity of one or another nobleman, and this collar was called “shivorot”. If such a worthy boyar or nobleman in any way angered the tsar or was subjected to royal disgrace, he was, according to custom, seated backwards on a skinny nag, having first turned his clothes inside out. Since then, the expression “topsy-turvy” has been established, which means “on the contrary, wrong.”

From under the stick

The expression “under the stick” takes its roots from circus acts in which trainers force animals to jump over a stick. This phraseological turn has been used since the 19th century. It means that a person is forced to work, forced to do some action or behavior that he really does not want to do. This phraseological image is associated with the opposition “will - captivity.” This metaphor likens a person to an animal or a slave who is forced to do something or work under pain of physical punishment.

One teaspoon per hour

This catchphrase appeared in quite distant times thanks to pharmacists. In those difficult times, pharmacists themselves prepared mixtures, medicinal ointments and infusions for many diseases. According to the rules that have existed since then, each bottle of the medicinal mixture must contain instructions (recipe) for the use of this medicine. Back then they measured things not in drops, as they mostly do now, but in teaspoons. For example, 1 teaspoon per glass of water. In those days, such medications had to be taken strictly by the hour, and treatment usually lasted quite a long time. Hence the meaning of this catchphrase. Now the expression “a teaspoon per hour” means a long and slow process of some action with time intervals, on a very small scale.

Get into trouble

To get into trouble means to be in an awkward position. Prosak is an ancient medieval special rope machine for weaving ropes and twisting ropes. It had a very complex design and twisted the strands so strongly that clothing, hair or beard getting caught in its mechanism could even cost a person his life. This expression originally even had a specific meaning, literally - “accidentally falling into twisted ropes.”

Typically, this expression implies being embarrassed, going nuts, getting into an unpleasant situation, disgracing yourself in some way, getting into a puddle, screwing up, as they say these days, losing face in the dirt.

Freebies and for free

Where did the word "freebie" come from?

Our ancestors called a freebie the top of a boot. Typically, the bottom of the boot (the head) wore out much faster than the top of the muff. Therefore, to save money, enterprising “cold shoemakers” sewed a new head to the boot. Such updated boots, one might say - sewn on “for free” - were much cheaper than their new counterparts.

Hack on the nose

The expression “hack on the nose” came to us from ancient times. Previously, among our ancestors, the term “nose” meant writing boards that were used as ancient notepads - all kinds of notes were made on them, or it would be more correct to say even notches for memory. It was from those times that the expression “hack on the nose” appeared. If they borrowed money, they wrote the debt on such tablets and gave it to the creditor as promissory notes. And if the debt was not repaid, the creditor was “left with his nose,” that is, with a simple tablet instead of the borrowed money.

Prince on a white horse

The expression of modern princesses about the expectations of a “prince on a white horse” arose in medieval Europe. At that time, royalty rode beautiful white horses in honor of special holidays, and the most highly respected knights rode horses of the same color in tournaments. From that time on, the expression about princes on white horses came about, because a stately white horse was considered a symbol of greatness, as well as beauty and glory.

Far away

Where is this located? In ancient Slavic fairy tales, this expression of distance “far away lands” occurs very often. It means that the object is very far away. The roots of the expression go back to the times of Kievan Rus. At that time there were decimal and nine numeral systems. So, according to the nine-fold system, which was based on the number 9, the maximum scale for the standards of a fairy tale, which increases everything threefold, the number distant was taken, that is, three times nine. This is where this expression comes from...

I'm coming at you

What does the expression “I’m coming to you” mean? This expression has been known since the times of Kievan Rus. The Grand Duke and Bright Warrior Svyatoslav, before a military campaign, always sent the warning message “I’m coming at you!” to enemy lands, which meant an attack, an attack - I’m coming at you. During the times of Kievan Rus, our ancestors called “you” specifically to their enemies, and not to honor strangers and older people.

It was a matter of honor to warn the enemy about an attack. The code of military honor and the ancient traditions of the Slavic-Aryans also included a prohibition to shoot or attack with weapons an unarmed or unequally powerful enemy. The Code of Military Honor was strictly adhered to by those who respected themselves and their ancestors, including Grand Duke Svyatoslav.

There is nothing behind the soul

In the old days, our ancestors believed that the human soul was located in the dimple in the neck between the collarbones.
According to custom, money was kept in the same place on the chest. Therefore, they said and still say about the poor man that he “has nothing behind his soul.”

Sewn with white threads

This phraseological unit comes from tailoring roots. In order to see how to sew the parts when sewing, they are first hastily sewn together with white threads, so to speak, a rough or test version, so that later all the parts can be carefully sewn together. Hence the meaning of the expression: a hastily assembled case or work, that is, “on the rough side,” may imply negligence and deception in the case. Often used in legal vernacular when an investigator is working on a case.

Seven spans in the forehead

By the way, this expression does not speak of a person’s very high intelligence, as we usually believe. This is an expression about age. Yes, yes. A span is an ancient Russian measure of length, which is equal to 17.78 cm in terms of centimeters (the international unit of measurement of length). 7 spans in the forehead is a person’s height, it is equal to 124 cm, usually children grew to this mark by the age of 7. At this time, the children were given names and began to be taught (boys - a male craft, girls - a female one). Until this age, children were usually not distinguished by gender and they wore the same clothes. By the way, until the age of 7 they usually didn’t have names, they were simply called “child”.

In search of Eldorado

El Dorado (translated from Spanish as El Dorado means “golden”) is a mythical country in South America that is rich in gold and precious stones. The conquistadors of the 16th century were looking for her. In a figurative sense, “Eldorado” is often called a place where you can quickly get rich.

Karachun has arrived

There are popular expressions that not everyone can understand: “Karachun came,” “Karachun grabbed.” Meaning: someone, someone suddenly died, died or perished... Karachun (or Chernobog) in ancient Slavic mythology pagan times - the underground god of death and frost, moreover, he is not at all a good spirit, but on the contrary - evil. By the way, his celebration falls on the winter solstice (December 21-22).

About the dead it's either good or nothing

The implication is that the dead are spoken of either well or not at all. This expression has come down to the present day in a rather seriously modified form from the depths of centuries. In ancient times this expression sounded like this: “Either good things are said about the dead, or nothing but the truth.”. This is a fairly well-known saying of the ancient Greek politician and poet Chilon from Sparta (VI century BC), and the historian Diogenes Laertius (III century AD) tells about it in his essay “The Life, Teaching and Opinions of Famous Philosophers” . Thus, the truncated expression has lost its original meaning over time and is now perceived in a completely different way.

Exasperate

You can often hear in colloquial speech how someone drives someone to the point of insanity. Meaning of the expression: heat up to strong emotions, bring someone into a state of extreme irritation or even complete loss of self-control. Where and how did this turn of phrase come from? It's simple. When a metal is gradually heated, it becomes red, but when it is further heated to a very high temperature, the metal becomes white. Heat it up, that is, warm it up. Heating is essentially very intense heating, hence the expression.

All roads lead to Rome

During the Roman Empire (27 BC - 476 AD), Rome tried to expand its territories through military conquest. Cities, bridges, and roads were actively built for better communication between the provinces of the empire and the capital (for the collection of taxes, the arrival of couriers and ambassadors, the rapid arrival of legions to suppress riots). The Romans were the first to build roads and, naturally, construction was carried out from Rome, from the capital of the Empire. Modern scientists say that the main routes were built precisely on ancient ancient Roman roads that are thousands of years old.

Woman of Balzac's age

How old are women of Balzac's age? Honore de Balzac, a famous French writer of the 19th century, wrote the novel “A Woman of Thirty,” which became quite popular. Therefore, “Balzac age”, “Balzac woman” or “Balzac heroine” is a woman of 30-40 years old who has already learned life wisdom and worldly experience. By the way, the novel is very interesting, like other novels by Honore de Balzac.

Achilles heel

The mythology of Ancient Greece tells us about the legendary and greatest hero Achilles, the son of the sea goddess Thetis and the mere mortal Peleus. In order for Achilles to become invulnerable and strong like the gods, his mother bathed him in the waters of the sacred river Styx, but since she held her son by the heel so as not to drop him, it was this part of Achilles’ body that remained vulnerable. The Trojan Paris hit Achilles in the heel with an arrow, causing the hero to die...

Modern anatomy calls the tendon above the calcaneus in humans “Achilles.” Since ancient times, the very expression “Achilles’ heel” has meant a person’s weak and vulnerable spot.

Dot all the I's

Where did this rather popular expression come from? Probably from the Middle Ages, from the copyists of books in those days.

Around the 11th century, a dot appears over the letter i in the texts of Western European manuscripts (before that, the letter was written without a dot). At continuous writing letters in words in italics (without separating the letters from each other), the line could get lost among other letters and the text would become difficult to read. In order to more clearly designate this letter and make texts easier to read, a dot was introduced over the letter i. And the dots were placed after the text on the page had already been written. Now the expression means: to clarify, to bring the matter to an end.

By the way, this saying has a continuation and completely sounds like this: “Dot the i’s and cross the t’s.” But the second part didn’t catch on with us.

Speech is a way of communication between people. To achieve complete mutual understanding and express your thoughts more clearly and figuratively, many lexical techniques are used, in particular, phraseological units (phraseological unit, idiom) - stable figures of speech that have independent meaning and are characteristic specific language. Often, in order to achieve something speech effect simple words sometimes it's not enough. Irony, bitterness, love, mockery, your own attitude to what is happening - all this can be expressed much more succinctly, more precisely, more emotionally. We often use phraseological units in everyday speech, sometimes without even noticing - after all, some of them are simple, familiar, and familiar from childhood. Many of the phraseological units came to us from other languages, eras, fairy tales, and legends.

Augean stables

Rake these first Augean stables, and then you’ll go for a walk.

Meaning. A cluttered, polluted place where everything is in complete disarray.

Origin. An ancient Greek legend tells us that King Augeas lived in ancient Elis, a passionate lover of horses: he kept three thousand horses in his stables. However, the stalls in which the horses were kept had not been cleaned for thirty years, and they were overgrown with manure up to the roof.

Hercules was sent to Augeas' service, and the king instructed him to clean the stables, which no one else could do.

Hercules was as cunning as he was powerful. He directed the waters of the river into the gates of the stables, and a stormy stream washed away all the dirt from there within a day.

The Greeks sang this feat along with the other eleven, and the expression “Augean stables” began to be applied to everything neglected, polluted to the last limit, and generally to denote great disorder.

Arshin swallow

It stands as if it had swallowed an arshin.

Meaning. Standing unnaturally straight.

Origin. The Turkish word “arshin”, meaning a measure of length of one cubit, has long become Russian. Before the revolution, Russian merchants and craftsmen constantly used arshins - wooden and metal rulers seventy-one centimeters long. Imagine what a person must look like after swallowing such a ruler, and you will understand why this expression is used in relation to prim and arrogant people.

Overeat henbane

In Pushkin’s “The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish,” the old man, outraged by the shameless greed of his old woman, angrily says to her: “Why, woman, have you eaten too much henbane?”

Meaning. Behaving absurdly, viciously, like a madman.

Origin. In the village, in the backyards and landfills, you can find tall bushes with dirty yellowish flowers with purple veins and unpleasant smell. This is henbane - a very poisonous plant. Its seeds resemble poppy seeds, but whoever eats them becomes like a madman: he raves, goes on a rampage, and often dies.

Buridanov's donkey

He rushes about, cannot decide on anything, like Buridan’s donkey.

Meaning. An extremely indecisive person, hesitating between equally valuable decisions.

Origin. Philosophers of the late Middle Ages put forward a theory according to which the actions of living beings depend not on their own will, but solely on external causes. The scientist Buridan (more precisely Buridan), who lived in France in the 14th century, confirmed this idea with this example. Take a hungry donkey and put on both sides of his muzzle, at equal distances, are two identical armfuls of hay. The donkey will have no reason to prefer one of them to the other: after all, they are exactly alike. He will not be able to reach for either the right one or the left one and in the end he will die. from hunger.

Let's go back to our sheep

However, enough about this, let's get back to our sheep.

Meaning. An appeal to the speaker not to be distracted from the main topic; a statement that his digression from the topic of conversation was over.

Origin. Let's return to our sheep - a tracing from the French revenons a nos moutons from the farce “The Lawyer Pierre Patlin” (c. 1470). With these words, the judge interrupts the speech of the rich clothier. Having initiated a case against the shepherd who stole a sheep from him, the clothier, forgetting about his litigation, showers reproaches on the shepherd's defender, lawyer Patlen, who did not pay him for six cubits of cloth.

Versta Kolomenskaya

Everyone will immediately pay attention to a Kolomna mile like you.

Meaning. This is what they call a very tall person, a brute.

Origin. In the village of Kolomenskoye near Moscow there was the summer residence of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The road there was busy, wide and considered the main one in the state. And when huge milestones were erected, the likes of which had never been seen in Russia, the glory of this road increased even more. The savvy people did not fail to take advantage of the new product and dubbed the lanky man the Kolomna milepost. That's what they still say.

Lead by the nose

The smartest man, he fooled his opponent by the nose more than once or twice.

Meaning. Deceive, mislead, promise and fail to deliver.

Origin. The expression was associated with fairground entertainment. Gypsies took bears to show by wearing a nose ring. And they forced them, poor fellows, to do various tricks, deceiving them with the promise of a handout.

Hair on end

Horror gripped him: his eyes rolled out, his hair stood on end.

Meaning. This is what they say when a person is very frightened.

Origin. “Standing on end” means standing at attention, on your fingertips. That is, when a person gets scared, his hair seems to stand on tiptoes on his head.

That's where the dog is buried!

Ah, that's it! Now it’s clear where the dog is buried.

Meaning. That's the thing, that's the real reason.

Origin. There is a story: the Austrian warrior Sigismund Altensteig spent all his campaigns and battles with his beloved dog. Once, during a trip to the Netherlands, a dog even saved its owner from death. The grateful warrior solemnly buried his four-legged friend and erected a monument on his grave, which stood for more than two centuries - until early XIX century.

Later, the dog monument could only be found by tourists with the help of local residents. At that time, the saying “That’s where the dog is buried!” was born, which now has the meaning: “I found what I was looking for,” “I got to the bottom of it.”

But there is a more ancient and no less probable source of the saying that has come down to us. When the Greeks decided to give the Persian king Xerxes a battle at sea, they put old men, women and children on ships in advance and transported them to the island of Salamis.

They say that a dog that belonged to Xanthippus, the father of Pericles, did not want to part with its owner, jumped into the sea and swam after the ship to Salamis. Exhausted from fatigue, she died immediately.

According to the testimony of the ancient historian Plutarch, a cinema sema was erected for this dog on the seashore - a dog monument, which was shown to the curious for a very long time.

Some German linguists believe that this expression was created by treasure hunters who, out of fear of evil spirits, supposedly guarding every treasure, did not dare to directly mention the purpose of their search and tentatively began to talk about a black dog, implying both the devil and the treasure.

Thus, according to this version, the expression “that’s where the dog is buried” meant: “that’s where the treasure is buried.”

Add the first number

For such deeds, of course, they should get paid the first day!

Meaning. Severely punish or scold someone

Origin. Well, what, this expression is familiar to you... And where did it come from on your unfortunate head! You won't believe it, but... from the old school, where students were flogged every week, regardless of whether they were right or wrong. And if the mentor overdoes it, then such a spanking would last for a long time, until the first day of the next month.

Rub glasses

Don't believe it, they're trying to bully you!

Meaning. To deceive someone by presenting the matter in a distorted, incorrect, but beneficial light for the speaker.

Origin. We are not talking about glasses that are used to correct vision. There is another meaning for the word "points": the red and black marks on playing cards. For as long as there have been cards, there have been dishonest players and cheaters. In order to deceive their partner, they resorted to all sorts of tricks. They knew how, by the way, to quietly “rub in points” - to turn a seven into a six or a four into a five, on the go, during the game, by gluing in a “point” or covering it with a special white powder. It is clear that “to cheat” began to mean “to cheat”, hence special words were born: “fraud”, “fraud” - a trickster who knows how to embellish his work, pass off the bad as very good.

Voice in the wilderness

Work in vain, you will not convince them, your words are the voice of one crying in the wilderness.

Meaning. Denotes vain persuasion, appeals that no one heeds.

Origin. As the biblical stories tell, one of the ancient Hebrew prophets called out from the desert to the Israelites to prepare the way for God: to lay roads in the desert, to make the mountains lower, the valleys to be filled, and the crookedness and unevenness to be straightened. However, the calls of the hermit prophet remained “the voice of one crying in the wilderness” - they were not heard. The people did not want to serve their fierce and cruel god.

Goal like a falcon

Who says a good word to me? After all, I'm an orphan all around. Goal like a falcon.

Meaning. Very poor, beggar.

Origin. Many people think that we are talking about a bird. But she is neither poor nor rich. In fact, the “falcon” is an ancient military battering gun. It was a completely smooth (“bare”) cast iron block attached to chains. Nothing extra!

Naked truth

This is the state of affairs, the naked truth without embellishment.

Meaning. The truth is as it is, without mincing words.

Origin. This expression is Latin: Nuda Veritas [nuda veritas]. It is taken from the 24th ode of the Roman poet Horace (65 - 8 BC). Ancient sculptors allegorically depicted truth (truth) in the form of a naked woman, which was supposed to symbolize the true state of affairs without silence or embellishment.

Onion grief

Do you know how to cook soup, dear onion.

Meaning. A klutz, an unlucky person.

Origin. The caustic volatile substances contained in abundance in the onion irritate the eyes, and the housewife, while crushing the onion for her cooking, sheds tears, although there is not the slightest grief. It is curious that tears caused by the action of irritating substances differ in chemical composition from sincere tears. Fake tears contain more protein (this is not surprising, since such tears are designed to neutralize caustic substances that enter the eye), so fake tears are slightly cloudy. However, every person knows this fact intuitively: there is no faith in muddy tears. And onion grief is not called grief, but a passing nuisance. Most often, they turn half-jokingly, half-sorrowfully to a child who has done something strange again.

Two-Faced Janus

She is deceitful, cunning and hypocritical, a real two-faced Janus.

Meaning. Two-faced, hypocritical person

Origin. In Roman mythology, the god of all beginnings. He was depicted with two faces - young man and the elder - looking in opposite directions. One face is turned to the future, the other to the past.

It's in the bag

Well, that's it, now you can sleep peacefully: it's all in the bag.

Meaning. Everything is fine, everything ended well.

Origin. Sometimes the origin of this expression is explained by the fact that in the days of Ivan the Terrible, some court cases were decided by lot, and the lot was drawn from the judge’s hat. However, the word “hat” came to us no earlier than in the days of Boris Godunov, and even then it was applied only to foreign headdresses. It is unlikely that this rare word could have found its way into a popular saying at that time.

There is another explanation: much later, clerks and clerks, when dealing with court cases, used their hats to receive bribes.

If only you could help me,” says the plaintiff to the clerk in a sarcastic poem. A.K. Tolstoy, - I would pour ten rubles into my hat, by the way. Joke? “Rash now,” said the clerk, holding up his cap. - Come on!

It is very possible that the question: “Well, how am I doing?” - clerks often answered with a sly wink: “It’s in the bag.” This is where the saying could have come from.

Money doesn't smell

He took the money and didn’t wince, money doesn’t smell.

Meaning. It is the availability of money that is important, not the source of its origin.

Origin. To urgently replenish the treasury, the Roman Emperor Vespasian introduced a tax on public urinals. However, Titus reproached his father for this. Vespasian brought the money to his son's nose and asked if it smelled. He answered negatively. Then the emperor said: “But they are from urine...” Based on this episode, a catch phrase developed.

Keep in a black body

Don't let her sleep in bedBy the light of the morning star, Keep the lazy girl in the black body And don’t take the reins off her!

Nikolay Zabolotsky

Meaning. To treat someone harshly, strictly making you work hard; to oppress someone.

Origin. The expression comes from Turkic expressions associated with horse breeding, meaning - to eat in moderation, to be malnourished (kara kesek - meat without fat). The literal translation of these phrases is “black meat” (kara - black, kesek - meat). From the literal meaning of the expression comes “to keep in a black body.”

Bring to white heat

Vile guy, drives me crazy.

Meaning. Make you angry to the limit, drive you crazy.

Origin. When metal is heated during forging, it glows differently depending on the temperature: first red, then yellow, and finally blinding white. At a higher temperature, the metal will melt and boil. An expression from the speech of blacksmiths.

Smoke rocker

In the tavern the smoke stood like a yoke: songs, dances, shouting, fighting.

Meaning. Noise, din, disorder, turmoil.

Origin. In old Rus', huts were often heated in a black way: the smoke escaped not through the chimney, but through a special window or door. And they predicted the weather by the shape of the smoke. The smoke comes in a column - it will be clear, dragging - towards fog, rain, a rocker - towards the wind, bad weather, or even a storm.

Egyptian executions

What kind of punishment is this, just Egyptian executions!

Meaning. Disasters that bring torment, severe punishment

Origin. Goes back to the biblical story of the exodus of the Jews from Egypt. For Pharaoh’s refusal to release the Jews from captivity, the Lord subjected Egypt to terrible punishments - ten Egyptian plagues. Blood instead of water. All the water in the Nile and other reservoirs and containers turned into blood, but remained transparent for the Jews. Execution by frogs. As was promised to Pharaoh: “They will go out and enter into your house, and into your bedroom, and into your bed, and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens, and into your kneading bowls. Toads filled the whole land of Egypt.

Invasion of midges. As a third punishment, hordes of midges fell upon Egypt, attacking the Egyptians, clinging to them, getting into their eyes, noses, and ears.

Dog flies. The country was flooded with dog flies, from which all animals, including domestic ones, began to attack the Egyptians.

Cattle pestilence. All Egyptians' livestock died out; only the Jews were not affected by the attack. Ulcers and boils. The Lord commanded Moses and Aaron to take a handful of furnace soot and throw it up in front of Pharaoh. And the bodies of the Egyptians and the animals were covered with terrible sores and boils. Thunder, lightning and fiery hail. A storm began, thunder roared, lightning flashed, and a hail of fire fell on Egypt. Locust invasion. Blown strong wind, and behind the wind, hordes of locusts flew into Egypt, devouring all the greenery down to the last blade of grass on the land of Egypt.

Unusual darkness. The darkness that fell on Egypt was thick and dense, you could even touch it; and candles and torches could not dispel the darkness. Only the Jews had light.

Execution of the firstborn. After all the firstborn children in Egypt (except for the Jewish ones) died in one night, Pharaoh gave up and allowed the Jews to leave Egypt. Thus began the Exodus.

Iron curtain

We live as if behind an iron curtain, no one comes to us, and we don’t visit anyone.

Meaning. Obstacles, obstacles, complete political isolation of the country.

Origin. At the end of the 18th century. An iron curtain was lowered onto the theater stage to protect spectators in case of a fire. At that time, open fire was used to illuminate the stage - candles and oil lamps.

This expression acquired political overtones during the First World War. On December 23, 1919, Georges Clemenceau declared in the French Chamber of Deputies: “We want to put an iron curtain around Bolshevism so as not to destroy civilized Europe in the future.”

Yellow press

Where did you read all this? Don't trust the yellow press.

Meaning. A low-quality, deceitful press, greedy for cheap sensations.

Origin. In 1895, the New York World newspaper began regularly publishing a series of comic strips called “The Yellow Kid.” Her main character, a boy in a long yellow shirt that went down to his toes, made funny comments about various events. In early 1896, another newspaper, the New York Morning Journal, lured the creator of the comic strip, artist Richard Outcault. Both publications thrived on publishing scandalous materials. A dispute broke out between competitors over the copyright of “Yellow Baby.” In the spring of 1896, the editor of the New York Press, Erwin Wordman, commenting on this litigation, contemptuously called both newspapers “the yellow press.”

Alive Smoking Room

A. S. Pushkin wrote an epigram to the critic M. Kachenovsky, which began with the words: “How! Is Kurilka the journalist still alive? It ended with wise advice: “...How to extinguish a stinking splinter? How can I kill my Smoking Room? Give me some advice.” - “Yes... spit on him.”

Meaning. An exclamation when mentioning someone's continued activity or existence despite difficult conditions.

Origin. There was an old Russian game: a lit splinter was passed from hand to hand, chanting: “The Smoking Room is alive, alive, alive, alive, not dead!..” The one whose sparkle went out, began to smoke, and smoke, lost.

Gradually, the words “the Smoking Room is alive” began to be applied to certain figures and various phenomena that, according to the logic of things, should have disappeared long ago, but, despite everything, continued to exist.

Behind seven seals

Well, of course, because this is a sealed secret for you!

Meaning. Something incomprehensible.

Origin. Goes back to the biblical expression “a book with seven seals” - a symbol of secret knowledge inaccessible to the uninitiated until seven seals are removed from it, III from the prophetic New Testament book “Revelations of St. John the Evangelist." “And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne, a book written inside and outside, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice: “Who is worthy to open this book and to open its seals?” And no one in heaven, nor on earth, nor under the earth could open this book and look into it. The Lamb, who “was slain and redeemed us to God with his blood, opened the seals of the book. After the opening of six seals, the seal of God was placed on the inhabitants of Israel, according to which they were accepted as true followers of the Lord. After the opening of the seventh seal, the Lamb ordered John to eat the book: “... it will be bitter in your belly, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey,” in order to talk about the future renewal of the whole world and dispel the fears of believers about the future of Christianity, which Jews, pagans and false teachers are fighting on all sides.”

Hack on the nose

And get this in your head: you won’t be able to deceive me!

Meaning. Remember it firmly, once and for all.

Origin. The word “nose” here does not mean the organ of smell. Oddly enough, it means “memorial tablet”, “record tag”. In ancient times, illiterate people carried such sticks and tablets with them everywhere and made all kinds of notes and notches on them. These tags were called noses.

The truth is in the wine

And next to the neighboring tables Sleepy footmen hang around, And drunkards with rabbit eyes shout “In vino Veritas.”

Alexander Blok

Meaning. If you want to find out exactly what a person is thinking, treat him to wine.

Origin. This is the famous Latin expression: In vino Veritas (in wine veritas). It is taken from the work “Natural History” by the Roman scientist Pliny the Elder (1st century AD). where it is used to mean: what is on the sober mind is on the tongue of the drunk.

The game is not worth the candle

You shouldn't do this. The game is clearly not worth the candle.

Meaning. The effort expended is not worth it.

Origin. The phraseological expression is based on a card term, which means that the stakes in the game are so insignificant that even the winnings will be less than the funds spent on candles to illuminate the card table.

To the head analysis

Well, brother, you've come late to the very basic analysis!

Meaning. Be late, show up when it’s all over.

Origin. The saying arose in those days when in our frosty country people, coming to church in warm clothes and knowing that it was forbidden to go inside with a hat, put their three hats and caps at the very entrance. At the end of the church service, when everyone left, they took them apart. Only those who were clearly in no hurry to go to church came to the “head-by-side analysis.”

How to get chickens into cabbage soup

And he ended up with this case like chickens in cabbage soup.

Meaning. Bad luck, unexpected misfortune.

Origin. A very common saying that we repeat all the time, sometimes without any idea of ​​its true meaning. Let's start with the word "chicken". This word in old Russian means “rooster”. But “cabbage soup” was not in this proverb before, and it was pronounced correctly: “I got caught in the plucking like a chicken,” that is, I was plucked, “unlucky.” The word “plucking” was forgotten, and then people, willy-nilly, changed the expression “to plucking” to “into cabbage soup.” When she was born is not entirely clear: some think that even under Demetrius the Pretender, when she was “plucked”; the Polish conquerors fell; others - that in the Patriotic War of 1812, when the Russian people forced Napoleon's hordes to flee.

King for a day

I would not trust their generous promises, which they give out right and left: caliphs for an hour.

Meaning. About a man who accidentally found himself on short time endowed with power.

Origin. The Arabian fairy tale “A Waking Dream, or Caliph for an Hour” (collection “A Thousand and One Nights”) tells how the young Baghdadian Abu-Shssan, not knowing that the caliph Grun-al-Rashid was in front of him, shares his cherished dream- become caliph at least for a day. Wanting to have fun, Harun al-Rashid pours sleeping pills into Abu Hassan’s wine, orders the servants to take the young man to the palace and treat him like a caliph.

The joke succeeds. Waking up, Abu-1ksan believes that he is the caliph, enjoys luxury and begins to give orders. In the evening, he again drinks wine with sleeping pills and wakes up at home.

Scapegoat

I'm afraid that you will forever be their scapegoat.

Meaning. Responsible for someone else's fault, for the mistakes of others, because the true culprit cannot be found or wants to evade responsibility.

Origin. The phrase goes back to the text of the Bible, to the description of the ancient Hebrew ritual of transferring the sins of the people (community) onto a living goat. This ritual was performed in the event of desecration of the sanctuary where the Ark of the Ark was located by Jews. To atone for sins, a ram was burned and one goat was slaughtered “as a sin offering.” All the sins and iniquities of the Jewish people were transferred to the second goat: the priest laid his hands on it as a sign that all the sins of the community were transferred to him, after which the goat was expelled into the desert. All those present at the ceremony were considered purified.

sing Lazarus

Stop singing Lazarus, stop being poor.

Meaning. Beg, whine, complain exaggeratedly about fate, trying to evoke the sympathy of others.

Origin. In tsarist Russia, crowds of beggars, cripples, blind men with guides gathered everywhere in crowded places, begging, with all sorts of pathetic lamentations, alms from passers-by. The blind people especially often sang the song “About the Rich Man and Lazarus,” composed based on one gospel story. Lazarus was poor and his brother was rich. Lazarus ate the rich man's leftover food along with the dogs, but after death he went to heaven, while the rich man ended up in hell. This song was supposed to frighten and reassure those from whom beggars begged for money. Since not all beggars were actually so unhappy, their plaintive moans were often feigned.

Get into trouble

You promised to be careful, but you deliberately get into trouble!

Meaning. Undertaking something risky, running into trouble, doing something dangerous, doomed to failure.

Origin. Rozhon is a sharpened stake that was used in bear hunting. When hunting with a goad, daredevils held this sharp stake in front of them. The enraged beast got into trouble and died.

Disservice

Constant praise from your lips is a real disservice.

Meaning. Unsolicited help, a service that does more harm than good.

Origin. The primary source is I. A. Krylov’s fable “The Hermit and the Bear.” It tells how the Bear, wanting to help his friend the Hermit smack a fly that had landed on his forehead, killed the Hermit himself along with it. But this expression is not in the fable: it developed and entered folklore later.

Cast pearls before swine

In a letter to A. A. Bestuzhev (late January 1825), A. S. Pushkin writes: “The first sign of an intelligent person is to know at first glance who you are dealing with, and not to throw pearls in front of the Repetilovs and the like.”

Meaning. Wasting words speaking to people who cannot understand you.

Origin. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Christ says: “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn and tear you to pieces” (Gospel of Matthew, 7: b). In the Church Slavonic translation, the word “pearl” sounds like “beads”. It is in this version that this biblical expression entered the Russian language.

You can't ride a goat

He looks down on everyone, you can’t even approach him on a crooked goat.

Meaning. He is completely unapproachable, it is not clear how to contact him.

Origin. Amusing their high patrons, using both harp and bells for their amusement, dressing up in goat and bear skins, and in the plumage of a crane, these “spouts” were sometimes able to do some pretty good things.

It is possible that their repertoire also included riding goats or pigs. Obviously, it was the buffoons who sometimes encountered such a bad mood from a high-ranking person that “even a goat had no effect on him.”

Unlucky man

Nothing went well with him, and in general he was a bad person.

Meaning. Frivolous, careless, dissolute.

Origin. In the old days in Rus', not only the road was called a path, but also various positions at the prince’s court. The falconer's path is in charge of princely hunting, the hunter's path is in charge of hound hunting, the stablemaster's path is in charge of carriages and horses. The boyars tried by hook or by crook to get a position from the prince. And those who did not succeed were spoken of with disdain: a good-for-nothing person.

Shelve

Now you’ll put it on the back burner, and then you’ll forget it completely.

Meaning. Give the case a long delay, delay its decision for a long time.

Origin. Perhaps this expression originated in Muscovite Rus', three hundred years ago. Tsar Alexei, the father of Peter I, ordered a long box to be installed in the village of Kolomenskoye in front of his palace, where anyone could drop their complaint. Complaints were received, but it was very difficult to wait for a solution: months and years passed. The people renamed this “long” box “long”.

It is possible that the expression, if not born, was fixed in speech later, in “presences” - institutions of the 19th century. The officials of that time, accepting various petitions, complaints and petitions, undoubtedly sorted them, putting them in different boxes. “Long” could be called the one where the most leisurely tasks were postponed. It is clear that the petitioners were afraid of such a box.

Retired goat drummer

I am no longer in office - a retired goat drummer.

Meaning. A person not needed by anyone, respected by anyone.

Origin. In the old days, trained bears were brought to fairs. They were accompanied by a dancing boy dressed as a goat, and a drummer accompanying his dance. This was the “goat drummer”. He was perceived as a worthless, frivolous person. What if the goat is also “retired”?

Bring it under the monastery

What have you done, what should I do now, you brought me under the monastery, and that’s all.

Meaning. Put in a difficult, unpleasant position, subject to punishment.

Origin. There are several versions of the origin of the turnover. Perhaps the turnover arose because people who had big troubles in life usually went to the monastery. According to another version, the expression is related to the fact that Russian guides led enemies under the walls of monasteries, which during the war turned into fortresses (bring a blind man under a monastery). Some believe that the expression is associated with the difficult life of women in Tsarist Russia. Only strong relatives could protect a woman from her husband’s beatings, having achieved protection from the patriarch and the authorities. In this case, the wife “brought her husband to the monastery” - he was sent to the monastery “in humility” for six months or a year.

Plant the pig

Well, he has a nasty character: he planted the pig and is satisfied!

Meaning. Secretly set up some nasty thing, do some mischief.

Origin. In all likelihood, this expression is due to the fact that some peoples do not eat pork for religious reasons. And if such a person was discreetly put pork into his food, then his faith was desecrated.

Get into trouble

The guy got into such trouble that even the guard screamed.

Meaning. Find yourself in a difficult, dangerous or unpleasant situation.

Origin. In dialects, BINDING is a fish trap woven from branches. And, as in any trap, being in it is not a pleasant thing.

Professor of sour cabbage soup

He is always teaching everyone. Me too, professor of sour cabbage soup!

Meaning. Unlucky, bad master.

Origin. Sour cabbage soup - no wonder peasant food: water and sauerkraut. Preparing them was not particularly difficult. And if someone was called a master of sour cabbage soup, it meant that he was not fit for anything worthwhile.

Beluga roar

For three days in a row she roared like a beluga.

Meaning. Scream or cry loudly.

Origin. “As dumb as a fish” - this has been known for a long time. And suddenly “beluga roar”? It turns out that we are not talking about the beluga, but about the beluga whale, which is the name of the polar dolphin. He really roars very loudly.

Breeding antimonies

That's it, the conversation is over. I have no time to create antimonies with you here.

Meaning. Chat, carry on empty conversations. Observe unnecessary ceremony in relationships.

Origin. From the Latin name for antimony (antimonium), which was used as a medicine and cosmetic, after first grinding it and then dissolving it. Antimony does not dissolve well, so the process was very long and laborious. And while it was dissolving, the pharmacists carried on endless conversations.

On the side of the bake

Why should I go to them? Nobody called me. It's called coming - on the side of the heat!

Meaning. Everything is random, extraneous, attached to something from the outside; superfluous, unnecessary

Origin. This expression is often distorted by saying “on the side.” In fact, it could be expressed with the words: “side bake.” For bakers, baked, or baked, are burnt pieces of dough that stick to the outside of bread products, that is, something unnecessary, superfluous.

Orphan Kazan

Why are you standing, rooted to the threshold like an orphan from Kazan.

Meaning. This is what they say about a person who pretends to be unhappy, offended, helpless in order to pity someone.

Origin. This phraseological unit arose after the conquest of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible. The Mirzas (Tatar princes), finding themselves subjects of the Russian Tsar, tried to beg all sorts of concessions from him, complaining about their orphanhood and bitter fate.

Grated kalach

Like a grated kalach, I can give you practical advice.

Meaning. This is what they call an experienced person who is difficult to deceive.

Origin. There used to be such a type of bread - “grated kalach”. The dough for it was crushed, kneaded, “grated” for a very long time, which is why the kalach turned out to be unusually fluffy. And there was also a proverb - “do not grate, do not crush, there will be no kalach.” That is, trials and tribulations teach a person. The expression comes from a proverb, and not from the name of the bread.

Tip on your tongue

What are you saying? Thump your tongue!

Meaning. An expression of dissatisfaction with what was said, an unkind wish to someone who says something that is not meant to be said.

Origin. It is clear that this is a wish, and not a very friendly one. But what is its significance? Pip is a small horny tubercle on the tip of a bird's tongue that helps them peck food. The growth of such a tubercle may be a sign of illness. Hard pimples on the human tongue are called pimples by analogy with these bird bumps. According to superstitious beliefs, pip usually appears in deceitful people. Hence the bad wish, designed to punish liars and deceivers. From these observations and superstitions, an incantatory formula was born: “Tip on your tongue!” Its main meaning was: “You are a liar: let there be a pip on your tongue!” Now the meaning of this spell has changed somewhat. “Tip your tongue!” - an ironic wish to the one who expressed an unkind thought, predicted something unpleasant.

Sharpen the laces

Why are you sitting idle and sharpening your swords?

Meaning. Talking idle talk, engaging in useless chatter, gossiping.

Origin. Lyasy (balusters) are turned figured posts of the railing at the porch; Only a true master could make such beauty. Probably, at first, “sharpening balusters” meant conducting an elegant, fancy, ornate (like balusters) conversation. And by our time, the number of people skilled in conducting such a conversation has become fewer and fewer. So this expression came to mean empty chatter. Another version elevates the expression to the meaning of the Russian word balyasy - tales, Ukrainian balyas - noise, which go back directly to the common Slavic “tell”.

Pull the gimp

Now they’re gone, he’ll keep dragging his feet until we give up on this idea ourselves.

Meaning. To procrastinate, to delay something, to speak monotonously and tediously.

Origin. Gimp is the finest gold, silver or copper thread, which was used to embroider braids, aiguillettes and other decorations on officer uniforms, as well as priests' vestments and simply rich costumes. It was made in a handicraft way, by heating the metal and carefully pulling out a thin wire with pliers. This process was extremely long, slow and painstaking, so that over time the expression “pull the gimp” began to refer to any protracted and monotonous business or conversation.

Hit face in the dirt

Don't let us down, don't lose face in front of the guests.

Meaning. To make a mistake, to disgrace oneself.

Origin. To hit the dirt with your face originally meant “to fall on the dirty ground.” Such a fall was considered especially shameful by the people in fist fights - wrestling competitions, when a weak opponent was thrown prone to the ground.

In the middle of nowhere

What, should we go see him? Yes, this is in the middle of nowhere.

Meaning. Very far away, somewhere in the wilderness.

Origin. Kulichiki is a distorted Finnish word “kuligi”, “kulizhki”, which has long been included in Russian speech. This is what forest clearings, meadows, and swamps were called in the north. Here, in the wooded part of the country, settlers of the distant past constantly cut down “kulizhki” in the forest - areas for plowing and mowing. In old charters the following formula is constantly found: “And all that land, as long as the ax walked and the scythe walked.” The farmer often had to go to his field in the wilderness, to the farthest “kulizhki”, worse developed than those close to him, where, according to the ideas of that time, goblins, devils, and all sorts of forest evil spirits lived in the swamps and windfalls. This is how ordinary words received their second, figurative meaning: very far away, at the edge of the world.

Fig leaf

She is a terrible pretender and lazy person, hiding behind her imaginary illness like a fig leaf.

Meaning. A plausible cover for unseemly deeds.

Origin. The expression goes back to the Old Testament myth about Adam and Eve, who, after the Fall, experienced shame and girded themselves with fig leaves (fig tree): “And their eyes were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed together fig leaves and made girdles for themselves "(Genesis 3:7). From the 16th to the end of the 18th century, European artists and sculptors had to cover the most revealing parts of the human body with a fig leaf in their works. This convention was a concession to the Christian church, which considered the depiction of naked flesh sinful and obscene.

Filka's certificate

What kind of stupid letter is this, can’t you really express your thoughts?

Meaning. An ignorant, illiterate document.

Metropolitan Philip could not come to terms with the revelry of the guardsmen. In his numerous messages to the tsar - letters - he sought to convince Grozny to abandon his policy of terror and dissolve the oprichnina. Tsyuzny contemptuously called the disobedient Metropolitan Filka, and his letters - Filka letters.

For his bold denunciations of Ivan the Terrible and his guardsmen, Metropolitan Philip was imprisoned in the Tver Monastery, where he was strangled by Malyuta Skuratov.

Grab the stars from the sky

He is a man not without abilities, but there are not enough stars from heaven.

Meaning. Do not be distinguished by talents and outstanding abilities.

Origin. A phraseological expression associated, apparently, by association with the award stars of military and officials as insignia.

That's enough of a prickle

He was in great health, and suddenly he got sick.

Meaning. Someone died suddenly or was suddenly paralyzed.

Origin. According to the historian S. M. Solovyov, the expression is associated with the name of the leader of the Bulavin uprising on the Don in 1707, Ataman Kondraty Afanasyevich Bulavin (Kondrashka), who in a sudden raid destroyed the entire royal detachment led by the governor, Prince Dolgoruky.

Apple of discord

This ride is a real bone of contention, can’t you give in, let him go.

Meaning. What gives rise to conflict, serious contradictions.

Origin. Peleus and Thetis, the parents of the Trojan War hero Achilles, forgot to invite the goddess of discord Eris to their wedding. Eris was very offended and secretly threw a golden apple onto the table at which gods and mortals were feasting; on it was written: “To the most beautiful.” A dispute arose between three goddesses: Zeus's wife Hera, Athena the maiden, goddess of wisdom, and the beautiful goddess of love and beauty Aphrodite.

The young man Paris, the son of the Trojan king Priam, was chosen as a judge between them. Paris gave the apple to Aphrodite who bribed him; For this, Aphrodite made the wife of King Menelaus, the beautiful Helen, fall in love with the young man. Leaving her husband, Helen went to Troy, and in order to avenge such an insult, the Greeks began a long-term war with the Trojans. As you can see, the apple of Eris actually led to discord.

Pandora's Box

Well, now hold on, Pandora's box has opened.

Meaning. Everything that can serve as a source of disaster if you are careless.

Origin. When the great titan Prometheus stole the fire of the gods from Olympus and gave it to people, Zeus terribly punished the daredevil, but it was too late. Possessing the divine flame, people stopped obeying the celestials, learned various sciences, and came out of their pitiful state. A little more - and they would have won complete happiness.

Then Zeus decided to send punishment on them. The blacksmith god Hephaestus sculpted from earth and water beautiful woman Pandora. The rest of the gods gave her: some cunning, some courage, some extraordinary beauty. Then, handing her a mysterious box, Zeus sent her to earth, forbidding her to open the box. Curious Pandora, as soon as she came into the world, opened the lid. Immediately all human disasters flew out of there and scattered throughout the universe. Pandora, in fear, tried to slam the lid again, but in the box of all the misfortunes, only one deceptive hope remained.

Monday, July 30, 2012 18:57 + to quote book

Get into trouble

Prosak used to be called a special machine for weaving ropes and ropes. It had a complex design and twisted the strands so tightly that getting clothes, hair, or a beard in it could cost a person his life. Exactly from similar cases The expression “to get into trouble” originated, which today means to be in an awkward position.

Latest Chinese warning

In the 1950s and 1960s, American aircraft often violated Chinese airspace for reconnaissance purposes. The Chinese authorities recorded every violation and each time sent a “warning” to the United States through diplomatic channels, although no real action followed them, and such warnings were counted in the hundreds. This policy gave rise to the expression “China's final warning,” meaning threats without consequences.

Hanging dogs

When a person is reproached or accused of something, you can hear the expression: “They hang dogs on him.” At first glance, this phrase is completely illogical. However, it is not associated with an animal at all, but with another meaning of the word “dog” - burdock, thorn - now almost not used.

Quietly

The word sape means "hoe" in French. In the 16th-19th centuries, the term “sapa” was used to denote a method of digging a trench, ditch or tunnel to approach fortifications. Gunpowder bombs were sometimes placed in tunnels to castle walls, and specialists trained to do this were called sappers. And from the secretive digging of mines came the expression “on the sly,” which is used today to denote careful and unnoticed actions.

Big Shot

The most experienced and strong barge hauler, walking first in the strap, was called a cone. This evolved into the expression "big shot" to refer to an important person.

The case burned out

Previously, if a court case disappeared, the person could not be legally charged. Cases often burned down: either from fire in wooden court buildings, or from deliberate arson for a bribe. In such cases, the accused said: “The case has burned out.” Today this expression is used when we talk about the successful completion of a major undertaking.

Leave in English

When someone leaves without saying goodbye, we use the expression “left in English.” Although in the original this idiom was invented by the British themselves, and it sounded like ‘to take French leave’ (“to leave in French”). It appeared during the Seven Years' War in the 18th century as a mockery of French soldiers who left their unit without permission. At the same time, the French copied this expression, but in relation to the British, and in this form it became entrenched in the Russian language.

Blue blood

The Spanish royal family and nobility were proud that, unlike the common people, they traced their ancestry to the West Goths and never mixed with the Moors who entered Spain from Africa. Unlike the dark-skinned commoners, blue veins stood out on the pale skin of the upper class, and therefore they called themselves sangre azul, which means “blue blood.” From here this expression for denoting aristocracy penetrated into many European languages, including Russian.

And it's a no brainer

The source of the expression “It’s a no brainer” is a poem by Mayakovsky (“It’s even a no brainer - / This Petya was a bourgeois”). It became widespread first in the Strugatskys’ story “The Country of Crimson Clouds”, and then in Soviet boarding schools for gifted children. They recruited teenagers who had two years left to study (classes A, B, C, D, E) or one year (classes E, F, I). The students of the one-year stream were called “hedgehogs.” When they arrived at the boarding school, the two-year students were already ahead of them in the non-standard program, so at the beginning of the school year the expression “no brainer” was very relevant.

Washing the bones

Among Orthodox Greeks, as well as some Slavic peoples there was a custom of secondary burial - the bones of the deceased were removed, washed with water and wine and put back. If the corpse was found undecayed and swollen, this meant that during life this person was a sinner and he was under a curse - to emerge from the grave at night in the form of a ghoul, vampire, ghoul and destroy people. Thus, the ceremony of washing the bones was necessary to ensure that there was no such spell.

The highlight of the program

The opening of the nail-like Eiffel Tower was timed to coincide with the 1889 World Exhibition in Paris, which created a sensation. Since then, the expression “highlight of the program” has entered the language.

If we don't wash, we'll just ride

In the old days, village women used a special rolling pin to “roll” their laundry after washing. Well-rolled laundry turned out to be wrung out, ironed and clean, even if the wash was not of very high quality.

Seven Fridays a week

Previously, Friday was a day off from work, and, as a result, a market day. On Friday, upon receiving the goods, they promised to give the money due for it on the next market day. Since then, to refer to people who do not fulfill their promises, they say: “He has seven Fridays in a week.”

Scapegoat

A scapegoat is a special animal in Judaism, which, after symbolically placing the sins of the entire people on it, was released into the desert on Yom Kippur.

Master (doctor) of sour cabbage soup

Used to mean “unlucky person.” This is where this expression comes from. Sour cabbage soup is a simple peasant food - water and sauerkraut, and anyone could cook it. If someone was called a master of sour cabbage soup, it meant that he was not fit for anything worthwhile.

Not at ease

The meaning of the expression is in a bad mood, not in the mood. At ease, on the contrary, to feel cozy and comfortable. What does this have to do with the plate? It turns out that this expression originated in the 19th century as an erroneous translation of the French phrase “ne pas dans son assiette,” that is, “out of position.” The word assiette, meaning "state, position" has been confused with "plate", which has the same spelling in French(assiette). Despite such an unusual, one might say, involuntary origin, this expression has taken root and become firmly established in our speech.

Eat a peck of salt

They have long said: in order to get used to each other, you need to eat a pound of salt together. As a rule, this applied to newly married young people. For spouses to get used to each other, for mutual understanding and trust to arise between them, time must pass. And the two of them must eat one pound of salt. A pound of salt is not a full sack. So calculate how long it will take until two people eat this incomplete bag of salt. Scientists have calculated that, on average, two young people can eat a pound of salt in one and a half to two years, and this includes canned food for the winter in the calculation.

Cut off slice

There is a saying: “You can’t put a piece back when you cut it off.” The loaf was whole, but it became an open loaf and a chunk separately. That is why they began to call members who left the family a cut off piece. A son who separated and lived in his own house, a daughter who was given in marriage, a recruit whose forehead was shaved by lot - all these are cut off pieces, dating is not a tricky thing, but they will no longer heal as one family.

There is one more subtlety here. During times pagan gods Bread, which personified a prosperous life, could not be cut under any circumstances; it was broken by hand, hence the word hunk. Therefore, the phrase “cut off piece” is a pure oxymoron, the so-called “smart stupidity”.

Pears to hang around

The fact is that a ripe pear itself falls from the branch, although of course, you can, armed with a drin, knock on the branches, poking around the pears, but if you consider that pears are a perishable product and were almost never sold, but were used for jams and compotes little, being only a seasonal delicacy for children, it is clear why the expression “poaching pears” has become synonymous not just with idleness, but with especially malicious idleness. It’s better to play with spillikins or beat the hell out.

Baking chestnuts on coals is an uncharacteristic activity for Russians, if only because edible chestnut It simply doesn’t grow here. Indeed, this idiom came from France, and is a literal translation of the expression "Tirer les marrons du feu". The meaning of the phrase is this: to work for the sake of another, receiving nothing but trouble for your work. The source of the expression was La Fontaine's fable "The Monkey and the Cat". The monkey saw chestnuts baking in the fireplace in hot ashes, and asked his cat friend to get some chestnuts for her. While the cat, burning its paws, pulled chestnuts from the fire, the monkey quickly ate what it had caught. And the cat, captured at the scene of the crime, was also punished for theft.

Sometimes meaning of catchphrases It turns out to be completely different than we imagined, but in any case, this is a fascinating excursion into the past and I hope you liked it.

Information taken from different sources online

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Крылатые фразы и их значение
Крылатые фразы Рё РёС… значение Откуда взялись выражеРSРёСЏ "РґРѕР№С‚ РІРґРѕ ручки", "козел отпущения", "каши РЅРµ SЃРІР°СЂРёС€СЊ", "РІСЃС‹РїР°С‚С Њ РїРѕ первое S‡РёСЃР»Рѕ» Рё РґСЂСѓРіРёРµ? RџРѕРґРѕР±РЅС‹Рµ фразы РјС‹ ежедневно Ёпользуем РІ речи, ІСЃРµРј РЅРµ задумываясь РѕР± РеС… Резначальном значении происхождении. Почему RїРѕСЃР»РµРґРЅРµРµ ѕРµ? RљS‚Рѕ S‚акая S‚ихая SЃР°РїР°? R? RїРѕС‡РµРјСѓ SѓСЃРїРµС€РЅРѕРµ дело должно выгореть? R'сему есть осторическое Рели лингвистическое RѕР±СЉСЏ СЃРСРµРСРеРµ. Р-Р° каждым оборотом SЃС‚РѕРёС‚ либо значимое SЃРѕР±С‹С‚РёРµ, либРѕ реалии прошлого, Р»РеР±Рѕ вышедшее РёР· SѓРїРѕС‚ребленвзначение сло PIP°. R?S‚R°Rє...

Ruslena VERY interesting messages! I knew some, but I hadn’t even heard of many.)) Thank you! Monday, April 07, 2014 13:00 ()

Original post by limada
Catch phrases and their meaning

Where did the expressions “get to the point”, “scapegoat”, “you can’t cook porridge”, “pour in the first number” and others come from?

We use such phrases every day in speech, without thinking at all about their original meaning and origin. Why is the latest warning from China? Who is this silent sap? And why should a successful business burn out?
There is a historical or linguistic explanation for everything. Behind each phrase there is either a significant event, or realities of the past, or an obsolete meaning of the word. So.

You can't cook porridge

The meaning of this expression is that if you don’t come to an agreement, you won’t get things done, but the roots are here: in the old days in Rus' there was a ritual of jointly preparing porridge by the community. A person who did not want to participate in this was considered a stranger and unreliable.

Reach the handle

In Ancient Rus', rolls were baked in the shape of a castle with a round bow. Townspeople often bought rolls and ate them right on the street, holding them by this bow or handle. For reasons of hygiene, the pen itself was not eaten, but was given to the poor or thrown to be eaten by dogs. According to one version, about those who did not disdain to eat it, they said: they got to the point. And today the expression “to reach the point of failure” means to completely descend, to lose human appearance.

bosom friend

The ancient expression “to pour on the Adam’s apple” meant “to get drunk”, “to drink alcohol.” From here the phraseological unit “bosom friend” was formed, which today is used to denote a very close friend.

Add the first number

In the old days, schoolchildren were often flogged, often without any fault of the person being punished. If the mentor showed special zeal, and the student suffered especially hard, he could be freed from further vices in the current month, until the first day of the next month. This is how the expression “pour in the first number” arose.

Get into trouble

Prosak used to be called a special machine for weaving ropes and ropes. It had a complex design and twisted the strands so tightly that getting clothes, hair, or a beard in it could cost a person his life. It was from such cases that the expression “get into trouble” came about, which today means to be in an awkward position.

Latest Chinese warning

In the 1950s and 1960s, American aircraft often violated Chinese airspace for reconnaissance purposes. The Chinese authorities recorded every violation and each time sent a “warning” to the United States through diplomatic channels, although no real action followed them, and such warnings were counted in the hundreds. This policy gave rise to the expression “China's final warning,” meaning threats without consequences.

Hanging dogs

When a person is reproached or accused of something, you can hear the expression: “They hang dogs on him.” At first glance, this phrase is completely illogical. However, it is not associated with an animal at all, but with another meaning of the word “dog” - burdock, thorn - now almost never used.

Quietly

The word sape means "hoe" in French. In the 16th-19th centuries, the term “sapa” was used to denote a method of digging a trench, ditch or tunnel to approach fortifications. Gunpowder bombs were sometimes placed in tunnels to castle walls, and specialists trained to do this were called sappers. And from the secretive digging of mines came the expression “on the sly,” which is used today to denote careful and unnoticed actions.

Big Shot

The most experienced and strong barge hauler, walking first in the strap, was called a cone. This evolved into the expression "big shot" to refer to an important person.

The case burned out

Previously, if a court case disappeared, the person could not be legally charged. Cases often burned down: either from fire in wooden court buildings, or from deliberate arson for a bribe. In such cases, the accused said: “The case has burned out.” Today this expression is used when we talk about the successful completion of a major undertaking.

Leave in English

When someone leaves without saying goodbye, we use the expression “left in English.” Although in the original this idiom was invented by the British themselves, and it sounded like ‘to take French leave’ (“to leave in French”). It appeared during the Seven Years' War in the 18th century as a mockery of French soldiers who left their unit without permission. At the same time, the French copied this expression, but in relation to the British, and in this form it became entrenched in the Russian language.

Blue blood

The Spanish royal family and nobility were proud that, unlike the common people, they traced their ancestry to the West Goths and never mixed with the Moors who entered Spain from Africa. Unlike the dark-skinned commoners, blue veins stood out on the pale skin of the upper class, and therefore they called themselves sangre azul, which means “blue blood.” From here this expression for denoting aristocracy penetrated into many European languages, including Russian.

And it's a no brainer

The source of the expression “It’s a no brainer” is a poem by Mayakovsky (“It’s even a no brainer - / This Petya was a bourgeois”). It became widespread first in the Strugatskys’ story “The Country of Crimson Clouds”, and then in Soviet boarding schools for gifted children. They recruited teenagers who had two years left to study (classes A, B, C, D, E) or one year (classes E, F, I). Students of the one-year stream were called “hedgehogs”. When they arrived at the boarding school, the two-year students were already ahead of them in the non-standard program, so at the beginning of the school year the expression “no brainer” was very relevant.

Washing the bones

The Orthodox Greeks, as well as some Slavic peoples, had a custom of secondary burial - the bones of the deceased were removed, washed with water and wine, and put back. If the corpse was found undecayed and swollen, this meant that during life this person was a sinner and he was under a curse - to emerge from the grave at night in the form of a ghoul, vampire, ghoul and destroy people. Thus, the ceremony of washing the bones was necessary to ensure that there was no such spell.

The highlight of the program

The opening of the nail-like Eiffel Tower was timed to coincide with the 1889 World Exhibition in Paris, which created a sensation. Since then, the expression “highlight of the program” has entered the language.

If we don't wash, we'll just ride

In the old days, village women used a special rolling pin to “roll” their laundry after washing. Well-rolled laundry turned out to be wrung out, ironed and clean, even if the wash was not of very high quality.

Seven Fridays a week

Previously, Friday was a day off from work, and, as a result, a market day. On Friday, upon receiving the goods, they promised to give the money due for it on the next market day. Since then, to refer to people who do not fulfill their promises, they say: “He has seven Fridays in a week.”

Scapegoat

A scapegoat is a special animal in Judaism, which, after symbolically placing the sins of the entire people on it, was released into the desert on Yom Kippur.

Master (doctor) of sour cabbage soup

Used to mean “unlucky person.” This is where this expression comes from. Sour cabbage soup is a simple peasant food - water and sauerkraut, and anyone could cook it. If someone was called a master of sour cabbage soup, it meant that he was not fit for anything worthwhile.

Not at ease

The meaning of the expression is in a bad mood, not in the mood. At ease, on the contrary, to feel cozy and comfortable. What does this have to do with the plate? It turns out that this expression originated in the 19th century as an erroneous translation of the French phrase “ne pas dans son assiette,” that is, “out of position.” The word assiette, meaning “state, position,” has been confused with “plate,” which has the same spelling in French (assiette). Despite such an unusual, one might say, involuntary origin, this expression has taken root and become firmly established in our speech.

Eat a peck of salt

They have long said: in order to get used to each other, you need to eat a pound of salt together. As a rule, this applied to newly married young people. For spouses to get used to each other, for mutual understanding and trust to arise between them, time must pass. And the two of them must eat one pound of salt. A pound of salt is not a full sack. So calculate how long it will take until two people eat this incomplete bag of salt. Scientists have calculated that, on average, two young people can eat a pound of salt in one and a half to two years, and this includes canned food for the winter in the calculation.

Cut off slice

There is a saying: “You can’t put a piece back when you cut it off.” The loaf was whole, but it became an open loaf and a chunk separately. That is why they began to call the members who left the family a cut off piece. A son who separated and lived in his own house, a daughter who was given in marriage, a recruit whose forehead was shaved by lot - all these are cut off pieces, dating is not a tricky thing, but they will no longer heal as one family.

There is one more subtlety here. In the times of the pagan gods, bread, which personified a prosperous life, could not be cut under any circumstances; it was broken by hand, hence the word hunk. Therefore, the phrase “cut off piece” is a pure oxymoron, the so-called “smart stupidity.”

Pears to hang around

The fact is that a ripe pear itself falls from the branch, although of course, you can, armed with a drin, knock on the branches, poking around the pears, but if you consider that pears are a perishable product and were almost never sold, but were used for jams and compotes little, being only a seasonal delicacy for children, it is clear why the expression “poaching pears” has become synonymous not just with idleness, but with especially malicious idleness. It’s better to play with spillikins or beat the hell out.

Baking chestnuts on coals is an uncharacteristic activity for Russians, if only because edible chestnuts simply don’t grow here. Indeed, this idiom came from France, and is a literal translation of the expression "Tirer les marrons du feu". The meaning of the phrase is this: to work for the sake of another, receiving nothing but trouble for your work. The source of the expression was La Fontaine's fable "The Monkey and the Cat". The monkey saw chestnuts baking in the fireplace in hot ashes, and asked his cat friend to get some chestnuts for her. While the cat, burning its paws, pulled chestnuts from the fire, the monkey quickly ate what it had caught. And the cat, captured at the scene of the crime, was also punished for theft.

Sometimes the meaning of popular expressions turns out to be completely different from what we imagined, but in any case, this is a fascinating excursion into the past and I hope you liked it.

Information taken from various sources on the Internet