Language is the wealth of the people (ethnos).
As Karamzin said: “The richness of language is the richness of thought!”. Indeed, language is a reflection of the thinking of the people. If the language is rich and diverse, then the thought does not “go in a straight line”, but has its own trajectory. So is the Russian people, they think differently and have accumulated such a colossal amount of experience that there is little European culture can be compared with our, Russian Culture. The experience of our ancestors has been carefully and prudently embedded in literature. Legends and epics, proverbs and sayings - this is our true Slavic heritage something we can rightfully be proud of.
Our ancestors were wise people and long before our days knew that sooner or later our Slavic world will worry, to put it mildly, not better times. Of course, not without the participation of Europe, if you don’t believe it, then take any adequate (not rewritten) history textbook and analyze the events of the “Byzantium-Europe” and “Russia-Europe” era.
But this is a separate topic for the article. Our ancestors were wise people and invested some of their experience in literature, namely, in proverbs and sayings. If works such as legends and epics can be banned, destroyed, stopped being studied according to school curriculum Finally, proverbs and sayings are passed from mouth to mouth, i.e. exist freely in speech. And language is harder to deal with.
Do we know where certain sayings come from? What do sometimes incomprehensible words and phrases in them mean?
Let's dive into history...
All tryn grass
The mysterious "tryn-grass" is not at all some kind of herbal medicine that is drunk in order not to worry. At first it was called "tyn-grass", and tyn is a fence. It turned out "fence grass", that is, a weed that no one needs, indifferent to everyone.
Pour in the first number
Believe it or not, in the old school, students were flogged every week, regardless of who was right and who was wrong. And if the "mentor" overdoes it, then such a spanking was enough for a long time, until the first day of the next month.
Goal like a falcon
Terribly poor, beggar. Usually they think that we are talking about the falcon. But she's not here. In fact, the "falcon" is an old military ramming gun. It was a completely smooth ("bare") cast-iron ingot, mounted on chains. Nothing extra!
Orphan Kazan
So they say about a person who pretends to be unhappy, offended, helpless in order to pity someone. But why is the orphan specifically "Kazan"? It turns out that this phraseological unit arose after the conquest of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible. Mirzas (Tatar princes), being subjects of the Russian Tsar, tried to beg him for all sorts of indulgences, complaining about their orphanhood and bitter fate.
unlucky person
In the old days in Rus', "the way" was called not only the road, but also various positions at the prince's court. The path of the falconer - in charge of princely hunting, the path of the hunter - canine hunting, the path of the stables - by carriages and horses. The boyars, by hook or by crook, tried to get a way from the prince - a position. And to those who did not succeed, they spoke of those with disdain: an unlucky person.
Inside out
Now it seems to be quite a harmless expression. And once it was associated with a shameful punishment. During the time of Ivan the Terrible, a guilty boyar was put back to front on a horse in clothes turned inside out and in this form, disgraced, was driven around the city to the whistle and ridicule of the street crowd.
lead by the nose
To deceive, promising and not fulfilling the promise. This expression was associated with fairground entertainment.
The gypsies led the bears by wearing a nose ring. And they forced them, the poor fellows, to do various tricks, deceiving them with the promise of handouts.
Scapegoat
This is the name of a person who is blamed for someone else's fault. The history of this expression is as follows: the ancient Jews had a rite of absolution. The priest laid both hands on the head of a living goat, thereby, as it were, shifting the sins of the whole people onto him. After that, the goat was driven out into the wilderness. Many, many years have passed, and the rite no longer exists, but the expression lives on.
Sharpen laces
Lassy (balusters) are chiseled curly columns of railings at the porch. Only one could make such beauty real master. Probably, at first, "sharpening balusters" meant having an elegant, bizarre, ornate (like balusters) conversation. But craftsmen to conduct such a conversation by our time became less and less. So this expression began to denote empty chatter.
Grated roll
In the old days there really was such a kind of bread - "grated kalach". The dough for it was kneaded, kneaded, "rubbed" for a very long time, which made the kalach unusually lush. And there was a proverb - "do not grate, do not mint, there will be no kalach." That is, a person is taught by trials and tribulations. The expression comes from this proverb.
Nick down
If you think about it, the meaning of this expression seems cruel - you must admit, it is not very pleasant to imagine an ax next to your own nose. In fact, everything is not so sad. In this expression, the word "nose" has nothing to do with the organ of smell. "Nose" was called a commemorative plaque, or a tag for records. In the distant past, illiterate people always carried with them such boards and sticks, with the help of which all kinds of notes or notches were made as a keepsake.
Break a leg
This expression arose among hunters and was based on the superstitious idea that with a direct wish (both down and feather), the results of the hunt can be jinxed. Feather in the language of hunters means a bird, fluff means animals. In ancient times, a hunter going on a hunt received this parting word, the "translation" of which looks something like this: "Let your arrows fly past the target, let the snares and traps you set remain empty, just like the hunting pit!" To which the miner, in order not to jinx it, also replied: "To hell!". And both were sure that the evil spirits, invisibly present at this dialogue, would be satisfied and leave behind, would not plot during the hunt.
Beat the thumbs
What are "backcloths", who and when "beats" them? For a long time handicraftsmen have been making spoons, cups and other utensils from wood. To cut a spoon, it was necessary to chip off a chock - a baklusha - from a log. Apprentices were entrusted with preparing buckwheat: it was an easy, trifling matter that did not require special skills. Cooking such chocks was called "baklushi to beat." From here, from the ridicule of the masters over the auxiliary workers - "bottlenecks", our saying went.
rub glasses
How can glasses be "rubbed"? Where and why? Such a picture would look very ridiculous. And the absurdity occurs because we are not talking about glasses at all, which serve to correct vision. There is another meaning of the word "glasses": red and black marks on playing cards. There is even a gambling card game, so called - "point". Since the cards exist, there have been dishonest players, cheaters in the world. They, in order to deceive a partner, indulged in all sorts of tricks. They were able, among other things, to quietly "rub glasses" - to turn a seven into a six or a four into a five, on the go, during the game, sticking a "point" or covering it with a special white powder. And the expression "rubbing glasses" began to mean "cheating", hence other words were born: "fraud", "fraudster" - a trickster who knows how to embellish his work, pass off bad as very good.
After the rain on Thursday
Rusichi - ancient ancestors Russians - honored among their gods the main god - the god of thunder and lightning Perun. One of the days of the week, Thursday, was dedicated to him (it is interesting that among the ancient Romans, Thursday was also dedicated to the Latin Perun - Jupiter). Perun offered prayers for rain in a drought. It was believed that he should be especially willing to fulfill requests on "his day" - Thursday. And since these prayers often remained in vain, the saying "After the rain on Thursday" began to be applied to everything that is not known when it will be fulfilled.
Grandma said in two
In Rus', and now still in the villages, the word "Grandmother" or "Grandmother", in addition to its main meaning "your mother's mother" or "an elderly woman", also has an additional meaning - a fortune teller, soothsayer. In the saying “Hy, here you don’t even need to go to the grandmother” or “Don’t go to the fortuneteller” just indicates this with the meaning, the meaning of the question is extremely clear. Returning to the expression “Grandma said in two”, the word “In two” - in this context means, as we already know, ambiguity, ambiguity. Thus, the above expression means literally: "the fortuneteller did not give a definite answer." IN figuratively“I don’t know how else things will turn out.”
goof off
The fact is that in Rus' it was considered indecent for a woman to show her hair. Women going out into the street hid their hair under a headscarf and cap. A woman who goes out into the street with open hair was considered a walker and no one would marry such a woman. For decent ones, if a strand of hair fell out from under a scarf or hat, then they said that she had goneofed.
So the man could not goof off in any way and, accordingly, cannot.
With a pig snout in a Kalash row
It is no secret that in the past, in other matters, as now, in many cities, and in Moscow in particular, markets play a significant role in providing goods and food to residents. And earlier, even more so, the importance of the market was difficult to overestimate. Like it or not, but he was, perhaps, the only place where you can buy something.
Strict segmentation allowed the buyer to navigate the goods, where they sell what. Accordingly, each group of goods had its own row, on which they were sold. But merchants are cunning and agile people, and often merchants tried to squeeze into a row with a product that did not correspond to the product for which this row was assigned.
For example, a pork merchant tried to sell his product in trading row where they sell bread products, say kalachi. Of course, the sellers of rolls will say to this "impudent face":
- Where are you with a pig's snout in a Kalash row ?!
Well, pork snout is not a swear word addressed to pork sellers, but only an indication of its products in general. He sold pork, well, pig heads in particular.
And the kalashny row is nothing more than a row where they sell rolls.
Breshet like gray gelding
They say this about a person who constantly lies, with or without reason. This expression doesn't seem to make any sense at all. A gelding is a horse. Gray is the color of the horse. But it's a breat ... A horse is not a dog, it neighs, but it doesn't bleat at all. And a lying horse is also difficult to imagine.
And Peter the Great had a German engineer, he was distinguished by the fact that he invented all the stories. Yes, he spoke so smoothly that you would listen. The only thing was that there was not a word of truth in those tales. And the name of that engineer was Baron Sievers Mergen. So they said "Breshet, like Sievers Mergen." But, over time, the baron was forgotten, and the "Sivers Mergen", which is difficult to perceive by the Russian ear, was transformed into the more familiar "grey gelding". The German has sunk into oblivion, but the saying has remained
Proverbs are short folk sayings applied to various phenomena of life. Usually proverbs consist of two parts that rhyme with each other. A prime example such a proverb is the phrase "Without labor, you cannot even pull a fish out of a pond."
The first proverbs appeared a very long time ago. They were formed by the simple Russian people. Many of the proverbs were used in ancient chronicles and works. Among such works are "The Word about Igor's Campaign", written in the XII century, "Daniel the Sharpener's Prayer" from the XIII century.
The source of later proverbs can be called various works of Russian and foreign authors. For example, in the comedy "Woe from Wit" by Griboedov, there are several dozen phrases and expressions that later became proverbs.
A saying differs from a proverb in that it is devoid of a generalizing instructive meaning. IN Everyday life We often use sayings and do not even think about where they came from. Everyone has probably heard such phrases as "Seven Fridays in the week" or "Put your teeth on the shelf", these are sayings.
Sources Sources: Dal VI Proverbs of the Russian people Zimin VI Proverbs and sayings of the Russian people. Zhigulev A. M. Russian proverbs and sayings. Uvarov N. V. Encyclopedia of folk wisdom. Proverbs, sayings, aphorisms, idioms, comparisons, set phrases found in the Russian living language in the second half of the XX - early XXI centuries.
A proverb is a genre of folklore, an aphoristically concise, figurative, grammatically and logically complete saying with an instructive meaning in a rhythmically organized form. The term "proverb" is Russian. He says that these sayings are used in live colloquial speech. The proverb most clearly manifests itself common features folklore: the collectivity of creativity, since it is created by many, many people; traditional, i.e. stability, since the text of a proverb, as a rule, rarely changes; oral, since the proverb is more than other genres associated with oral, colloquial speech. In a short and concise form, the proverb conveys the result of long and careful observations of life. The proverb contains advice or teaching and has a clear moral aspect. Proverbs not only help to get to know life better, not only give generalizations of its phenomena, but often explain them. A proverb often contains advice or a lesson. “Work is in vain when there is no order”, “What are the guests, such is the feast”, “You will go for unkindness, you will come across trouble.”
It is difficult to say from what time proverbs originate - short oral sayings endowed with a special meaning. It can be assumed that their origin is rooted in ancient times, during paganism or at the time of the emergence of human speech. Perhaps the first proverbs were depicted on the walls, in the form of pictures - after all, even then a person needed to transfer his observations and conclusions. For people who are not literate, proverbs, along with sayings, fairy tales, parables, have become a kind of form of preserving and transmitting their observations, their life experience to subsequent generations. They have firmly entered the vocabulary of a person, due to the fact that they easily fall into memory, that they color speech, making it expressive and figurative, due to their brevity, accuracy of presentation. Since proverbs originated in a simple folk speech, then they reflected the various stages folk life. Proverbs were born from observations of reality, based on folk experience, connection of folklore with the work and life of the people. Proverbs and sayings reflect the life of the people of the era when this proverb was created.
Proverbs and sayings on the subject.
| Wealth - Poverty. | Flaws. Failure. Gaffes. |
| Sometimes it happens. | About the impossible, the unacceptable. |
| Time. Watch. | Sadness. Yearning. Woe. |
| Divnoe. Unknown. | The truth is false. |
| Good and evil. | Causes. Consequences. Accidents. |
| Friendship. Foe. | Word. Language. Speech. Silence |
| Life wisdom. | Work. Mastery. Experience. |
| Knowledge. Teaching. | Daring. Agility. Talent. |
| Love. Not love. | Mind. Stupidity. |
| A lot - a little. | Human. signs of a quirk |
Proverbs and sayings have come down to us from ancient times. These are short, simple, but rich in thought sayings.
They were formed by the people even before the charter appeared in Rus'. A people who can neither read nor write, how would they create their own oral school. In their best proverbs, the people passed on from fathers to sons, from grandfathers to grandchildren their cherished rules of life, taught children the mind to reason.
That is why the wisdom of the people is contained in proverbs, that is why the people's views on life are reflected in them.
Old proverbs live in our mother tongue and today: both in conversation and in books. Proverbs decorate our speech, make it lively, witty. Russian writers and poets loved to listen to people speak and wrote down proverbs and sayings.
My day in proverbs and sayings.
In the morning the sun rises, it calls everyone to get up.
Washing.
I bought soap to wash the stigma.
You won't spoil the porridge with butter.
Go to school.
Postpone idleness, but do not postpone business. An unlearned person is like an ax not sharpened.
A large piece and the mouth rejoices.
Homework.
Where on horseback, where on foot, and where on all fours. Tyap yes blunder - the ship will not come out.
Boring day until evening, if there is nothing to do.
Eat breakfast yourself, share lunch with a friend, and give dinner to the enemy.
The morning is wiser than the evening.
Fairy tales by proverbs
Two friends.
Once upon a time there were two friends, Sasha and Katya. They signed up for the ski section. Sasha skated better than Katya. Now it's time for the competition. The coach showed the girls the route to run on and wished them good luck. Sasha and Katya were in the lead, but then Sasha's ski broke. Katya laughed and ran away. The girls running behind helped Sasha get to the finish line. They were late, but did not leave a man in trouble. After this incident, Sasha did not become friends with Katya - their friendship broke up.
Friendship is like glass, if you break it, you can't put it together.
As it comes around, so it will respond.
Once upon a time there was a boy, Petya. The boy was angry, he did not like cats, if he sees a kitten, he immediately takes and throws a stone at him.
I saw this good wizard and decided to turn Petya into a kitten. So Petya the boy became Petya the kitten.
Petya wanders hungry, looking for something to eat, suddenly some boy runs out and throws Petya with his foot. Kitten Petya felt hurt and offended, and he said to himself that he would never hurt kittens again. After all, as it comes around, it will respond. The wizard heard this and turned the kitten Petya back into a boy.
Now Petya never offends animals and does not allow others.
Close together, but boring apart.
A brother and sister lived. They had many toys. They constantly quarreled over them. And they decided to share the toys. Divided, and everyone began to play in his corner.
But the soldiers had no one to protect, because the dolls were in the other corner.
And there was no one to feed the dolls: there were no soldiers nearby!
The brother and sister sat, thought and decided: “Together it’s crowded, but it’s boring apart!”
I constantly meet similar content in my friend feed and various communities. "Where did it come from ...", "10 signs that ...." and so on. It probably raises the rating. I also want a rating, so I join:Put it on the back burner.Actually not in "long", but in "debt". After the Time of Troubles, during the time of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the peasants were just beginning to emerge from poverty and ruin. Many got into debts, paying off which meant being left without food. Their main creditors - boyars and noblemen - often forgave these debts out of philanthropic motives. Even a special procedure has arisen: its essence is not to destroy the "writing" (debt receipt), because it is a document, and documents in Rus' have been treated with reverence since ancient times, but to put it in a special wooden box in which it will remain lie down for ages. In our time, archaeologists often find similar "long boxes" that greatly enrich our knowledge of the past. One of the most famous "long boxes" was found in Moscow, on the site of the burnt-out tower of the Slashchev boyars.
Don't get into your sleigh.In pre-Petrine times, Maslenitsa was often celebrated on estates festivities with sled racing. Famous triplets! The master personally managed the organization of the holiday, who distributed whom to put in which sleigh. It was considered a great shame not to fulfill the will of the master and to confuse which sleigh to sit on. The community condemned the disobedient, which could even lead to sad consequences. Since then, the warning "do not sit in your own sleigh" began to be spoken to those who think a lot about themselves and are looking for places that are not worthy.
A woman with a cart is easier for a mare.In Rus', since ancient times, the paternal law was honored: a man is the head of the family, and a woman is submissive to her husband. Women were engaged in domestic work, completely relying in external affairs on their protector and patron - her husband. However, during the time of Alexei Mikhailovich to ancient Rus' joined the vast territories of Little Russia, now called Ukraine. There people for a long time lived outside the influence of paternal piety, which was actively destroyed by the Poles and Tatars. It got to the point that the Little Russian men allowed the "zhinki" to run things, which was expressed in the fact that they went, for example, to the fair. Remember the famous "Sorochenskaya fair"? Naturally, when the reunification took place, piety began to return to the Little Russian land. When a man, after being “under the heel” for a long time, began to “rule” himself, including the wagon, they said “it’s easier for a mare”, that is, in fact, “it’s easier” - it’s not so shameful that a woman was driving her.
Work is not a wolf - it will not run away into the forest.At first, the only way to serve the master for the peasant was to work in the field - on arable land. Over time, the so-called "yard yard" stood out, specially engaged only in lordly hunting. There were a lot of things to do here, and these things required experience and knowledge, unlike the primitive peasant labor. One of the most favorite types of hunting was wolf baiting. The wolf was caught in advance and assigned to the backyard of the estate so that the hounds could smell it properly. Before the hunt itself, the wolf was released, and the lordly hunt could take his trail right from the estate. The wolf ran into the forest Fresh air and licking the gallop brought a blush to the cheeks of the master's daughters and led to good mood The owner and his guests. Naturally, the honor to catch or kill a wolf went only to noble hunters, while the gentry, after the wolf ran away, remained out of work, in the wings. Her work with the release of the wolf ended. Therefore, they began to say to the peasants: do not sit, they say, work - your work will not run away into the forest, you are far from the specialists-housekeepers, know your business!
You can't even pull a fish out of a pond without difficulty.This proverb is the most perplexing. What kind of work is meant - after all, fishing today is considered pleasure and relaxation? The answer lies in the history of Russia between Peter the Great and Nicholas II. Then foreigners hated Russia, feared it and tried in every possible way to harm it no less than now. Therefore, the peasants lived in poverty, their diet was poor, and the fish from the pond was a good addition to it. But what to do - after all, the pond on the estates belonged to the master, who himself often liked to get wet in it? The following custom gradually developed: the peasants were allowed to fish in the pond after they had fully worked out the corvée. Work in the corvee was quite easy and not burdensome, but still - work. And so it has been since then: work hard first, do a common thing, and then catch a fish for yourself!
Dog in the manger.As it is not surprising, but not at all in the hay, but in the "Seine". This proverb came from the famous French river, its history is the same as famous story about bistro. When the Baikal Cossacks entered Paris in 1913, they faced the question of fodder (food) for the horses. They began to ask the locals - where, they say, hay. The locals did not know the word "hay", but they knew the name of their river very well. The Cossacks showed it to her. When the Cossacks drove up to one of the bridges on the river, they were met by a furious dog, a local parisian legend who did not let anyone cross the bridge. The Cossacks did not want to kill the animal faithful to their instincts, but somehow they had to get through. Then they reported to their officer, who was a nobleman who was fluent in French- he settled the issue with the owner of the dog, and at the same time figured out what was meant by the word "Sena". And the Cossacks for a long time later remembered this dog, the only one of all the French who showed at least some resistance to the Russians, and thereby won their respect. We also remember it, but we don’t know the origins of this memory, meaning vulgar village hay, and not the name of the French river conquered by our ancestors.
White. White mushroom, white light.The word "white" has always implied a bright beginning, distinguished by the "breed" from its surroundings. Such an attitude was formed quite recently, already at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, before the so-called "Russian revolutions". At this time, city teachers and the intelligentsia began to arrive in the villages. As a rule, they were all kinds of nihilists, socialists, populists. They came not just like that, but to preach their teachings that were harmful to the Russian heart. Naturally, the peasants received them with distrust, and often with open hostility. In the soul of the Russian people, the ideal of the holiness of tsarist power was preserved. Sometimes the peasants even raised riots, which the authorities had to strictly pacify, because a riot is a riot, a serious disobedience, no matter how good the goals are. However, what is left in people's brains is that " White mushroom- the king of mushrooms "because White color strongly associated with the monarchy. Then the fighters for the people and the fatherland began to call themselves White ...
Who in Rus' live well.From the course school literature we know that this expression was invented by Nekrasov - this is how he called his famous poem. However, the name itself is a polemical response to the ancient folk saying- "It's good to live in Rus'!" Nekrasov, as it were, clarifies who exactly feels good, implying that others, they say, feel bad. Thus, he drives a wedge between the various estates that have lived in harmony and virtue since ancient times. So we lived well in Rus' until Nekrasov came and people like him!
