Winged phrases. common expressions
Do we all know about the expressions we use all the time? Sometimes too little. But behind each of them is a whole story, sometimes fascinating, and sometimes tragic.
Ivan who does not remember family
Fugitives from tsarist hard labor, serfs who fled from the landowner, soldiers who could not bear the burden of recruitment, sectarians and other "passportless vagabonds", falling into the hands of the police, carefully concealed their name and origin. To all questions they answered that they were called "Ivans", and they did not remember "their kinship" (that is, their origin).
Black on white
Until the middle of the 14th century, books in Russia were written on parchment, which was made from the skin of young lambs, calves, and kids. The skin in the process of processing acquired a white color. Since the 12th century, a mixture of ferrous sulphate with an ink nut has been used as ink. A solution of such ink dried on the surface with a clearly visible layer. The labor-intensive process of production and the high spiritual significance of books at that time created a high exclusive authority for everything that is written in black and white.
And there is a hole in the old woman
Original Russian folk expression. "Prorukha" in some regions of Russia is called an unfortunate mistake, a mistake, and this saying, as it were, confirms that even the most experienced and skillful person can have oversights.
Pound water in a mortar
Now only aliens, probably, have not heard sectarian arguments about the miraculous properties of water. How she allegedly remembers information, crystallizes into amazing stars and polygons - all the Japanese told and the film was shown. Our people have not gone far from the Japanese: since ancient pagan times they whispered water, in anticipation of further miracles. With a minus sign - if you talk bad, purely positive - if you wish good. But suddenly someone blurted out something over the source? Especially when he slipped or dropped the jug. But water remembers everything! And priests with shamans invented a way to remove unnecessary information from liquids. To do this, the water was pushed and ground for a long time and persistently in a vessel hollowed out of a tree trunk. And after several days of torment, it was already possible to whisper all sorts of spells and change the charmed drink into skins or embroidered belts there. But, apparently, this low-budget potion did not always work. Therefore, gradually the expression became a symbol of a completely useless occupation.
a fool
The character of the European medieval theater, the jester wore a striped suit, a cap with donkey ears, and in his hand he held a rattle - a stick with a bull bladder filled with peas tied to it. (By the way, the expression "striped jester" recorded in Dahl's dictionary came from the mentioned two-color suit.)
The performances of the jester in public always began with the sound of this rattle, and during the performance he even beat the other characters and the audience. Returning to the peas: Russian buffoons decorated themselves with pea straw, and on Maslenitsa a straw jester of a pea was taken through the streets.
pull the gimp
What is a gimp and why should it be pulled? This is a copper, silver or gold thread used in gold embroidery for embroidering patterns on clothes and carpets. Such a thin thread was made by drawing - repeatedly rolling and drawing through ever smaller holes. Pulling the gimp was a very painstaking task, requiring a lot of time and patience. In our language, the expression to pull the gimp is fixed in its figurative meaning - to do something long, tedious, the result of which is not immediately visible.
Sharing the skin of an unkilled bear
It is noteworthy that back in the 30s of the 20th century it was customary in Russia to say: “Sell the skin of an unkilled bear.” This version of the expression seems closer to the original source, and more logical, because there is no benefit from the “divided” skin, it is valued only when it remains intact. The original source is the fable "The Bear and Two Comrades" by the French poet and fabulist Jean La Fontaine (1621-1695).
Ate the dog
Few people know that initially this expression originally had a pronounced ironic character. The full saying sounds like this: he ate the dog, and choked on his tail. So they said about a man who did a difficult job, but stumbled over a trifle.
The idiom ate the dog is currently used as a characteristic of a person who has a wealth of experience in any business.
Scream all over Ivanovskaya
In the old days, the square in the Kremlin, where the bell tower of Ivan the Great stands, was called Ivanovskaya. On this square, clerks announced decrees, orders and other documents relating to the inhabitants of Moscow and all the peoples of Russia. So that everyone could hear well, the clerk read very loudly, shouted all over Ivanovskaya.
Take rubbish out of the hut
Again, a case of so-called witchcraft. It is not clear to us now - where to put this same rubbish then, to save up in the house or something? And before it was customary to burn it in a furnace. Firstly, garbage trucks had not yet been invented, and secondly, magical influence was one of the main methods of suggestion after brute force. And a connoisseur of subtle magical matters, according to legend, could, moving his nose over the garbage, find out all the ins and outs of his owners. Well, to harm by itself, and to bury it in the cemetery, which is generally fraught with terrible consequences. Gradually, people stopped believing in these passions, but they continue to express themselves about rubbish - there is nothing, they say, to make their secrets public.
Cause time and fun hour
In the 17th century, falconry was the most popular entertainment, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich himself was a passionate admirer of this leisure: he went to it almost every day, except only for the winter months, and even issued a decree on compiling a collection of rules for falconry.
By decree of the tsar in 1656, a guide to fun was even compiled and it was called "The Book of the Commander: a new code and arrangement of the rank of the falconer's way."
In "Uryadnik" hunting was praised in every possible way, contributing to overcoming various adversities and sorrows, which was prescribed to be done often and at any time. However, Alexei Mikhailovich decided that the too obvious preference for hunting-fun harms state affairs, and made a handwritten postscript at the end of the preface. It said: "... don't (don't) forget the military system: it's time for business and an hour for fun."
Where Makar does not drive calves
One of the versions of the origin of this saying is as follows: Peter I was on a working trip to Ryazan land and communicated with the people in an "informal setting". It so happened that all the men he met on the way called themselves Makars. The king was very surprised at first, and then said: "From now on, all of you will be Makars!" Allegedly, since then, "Makar" has become a collective image of the Russian peasant and all peasants (not only Ryazan) began to be called Makars.
Good riddance
In one of Ivan Aksakov's poems, one can read about the road, which is "straight, like an arrow, with a wide smooth surface that the tablecloth lay down." So in Russia they saw off on a long journey, and they did not put any bad meaning into them. This initial meaning of the phraseological unit is present in the Explanatory Dictionary of Ozhegov. But it is also said there that in the modern language the expression has the opposite meaning: "An expression of indifference to someone's departure, departure, as well as a wish to get out, anywhere." An excellent example of how ironically stable etiquette forms are rethought in the language!
dance from the stove
To dance from the stove means to act according to an approved plan once and for all, without using any of your knowledge and ingenuity. This expression became famous thanks to the 19th century Russian writer Vasily Sleptsov and his book The Good Man. This is the story of Sergei Terebenev, who returned to Russia after a long absence. The return awakened childhood memories in him, the most vivid of which are dance lessons.
Here, he stands by the stove, legs in third position. Parents, yard servants are nearby and watch his progress. The teacher gives the command: "One, two, three." Seryozha begins to make the first “pas”, but suddenly he loses time, his legs tangle.
Oh, what are you, brother! - Father says reproachfully. “Well, go about five to the stove, start over.”
Find out all the ins and outs
In principle, the phrase is not something that has lost its meaning, but has lost its sinister connection with its source. And it originated not just anywhere, but in a torture chamber. When the suspect came across strong and morally stable, and did not admit to his deed, the executioner said: “You won’t tell the real truth, you’ll tell the inside story.” After that, it was possible to say goodbye to the nails. There were other variants of torture, no less painful. Apparently, they were quite effective, because the expression was preserved, only people hastened to forget about its scary true meaning.
Nick down
With this expression, on the contrary - it somehow gives self-mutilation and aggression. The unfortunate schoolboy, in front of whose nose the formidable finger of the teacher sways, probably imagines how the ax is brought over the protruding part of his face. In fact, the nose is a small wooden plank. Illiterate peasants made notches on it so as not to forget some important matter, or scratched drawings explaining the essence of this matter.
play spillikins
In the village, this game captured entire families. The main thing is that it did not require any investment. He took straws, poured a bunch and with a stick you take out one at a time so that the others do not disturb. Kind of like Tetris in reverse. Then this occupation required the same money. Brisk entrepreneurs began to produce sets of sticks and special hooks for pulling. And later, the sets began to be made up of tiny figures: teapots, ladders, horses. Even the royal family had such a toy. And it is not clear after that how this expression became synonymous with a stupid, useless activity. What about fine motor skills?
Hot spot
The expression "hot spot" is found in the Orthodox prayer for the dead ("... in a place of hotness, in a place of rest ..."). So in the texts in the Church Slavonic language is called paradise.
The meaning of this expression was ironically rethought by the raznochintsy-democratic intelligentsia of the times of Alexander Pushkin. The language game consisted in the fact that our climate does not allow growing grapes, therefore in Russia intoxicating drinks were produced mainly from cereals (beer, vodka). In other words, green means a drunken place.
Seven Fridays in a week
In the old days, Friday was a market day, on which it was customary to fulfill various trade obligations. On Friday, the goods were received, and the money for it was agreed to be given on the next market day (on Friday of the next week). Those who broke such promises were said to have seven Fridays a week.
But this is not the only explanation! Friday was previously considered a free day from work, therefore, a loafer was characterized by a similar phrase, for whom every day is a day off.
Write with a pitchfork on the water
There are two interpretations, one "more serious" than the other. Firstly, mermaids were called pitchforks in Russia. It is not clear where the river maidens would be able to write from, but, having seen their predictions inscribed on the water, one could be sure that everything would come true.
Also, the pitchfork was a tool of the Magi, and only after that a mundane agricultural tool. Three tips meant the essence of the god Triglav, and there were both large pitchforks, like a staff, and small ones - bone, the size of a palm. And with these things, the priests, tired of whispering, cast spells on the water. Perhaps she was even pushed beforehand. But what's the point? All the same, they forgot about their labors, and they only scoff at the written pitchfork.
cut off hunk
The full proverb sounds like this: "You can't stick a cut piece back." Daughter issued to foreign lands; a son separated and living his own home; a recruit whose forehead was shaved - all these are cut off chunks, it’s no wonder to see each other, but you won’t heal with one family.
There is another important point: in the old days, bread, which personified a prosperous life, was by no means cut, but only broken by hand (hence the word chunk). So the phrase "cut off slice" is a real historical oxymoron.
Not at ease
This saying arose from a misunderstanding. "Not at ease" is a mistranslation of the French "ne pas dans son assiette". The word assiette ("state, position") has been confused with its homonym - "plate". It was no coincidence that Griboyedov chose this proverb for the triumph of "a mixture of French and Nizhny Novgorod" in his work "Woe from Wit". “My dear, you are not at ease,” Famusov says to Chatsky. And we can only laugh!
Goal like a falcon
"Goal like a falcon", we say about extreme poverty. But this proverb has nothing to do with birds. Although ornithologists say that falcons really lose their feathers during molting and become almost naked!
"Falcon" in the old days in Russia was called a ram, a tool made of iron or wood in the form of a cylinder. It was hung on chains and swung, thus breaking through the walls and gates of the enemy's fortresses. The surface of this weapon was even and smooth, simply speaking, bare.
The word "falcon" in those days was used to refer to cylindrical tools: iron scrap, a pestle for grinding grain in a mortar, etc. Sokolov was actively used in Russia until the advent of firearms at the end of the 15th century.
Raven count
This is how the bumpkin appears, who, while the black birds are pecking at garden crops, counts the thieves, instead of grabbing hold of the drain. But the fact is that the raven was considered a sinister bird. Since these birds do not disdain carrion, a clear formula of superstition has developed among the people: people + raven \u003d dead. So, for example, if a raven sat on the roof of a house and croaked, then someone in the house would die. And if the winged devil sat on a church cross, then expect trouble for the whole village. So people looked with fear in their souls - where the arrogant birds settled there. With the adoption of Christianity, fear diminished. A raven, for example, fed the prophet Elijah in the desert. So, again, great - an empty lesson - counting croaking signs!
shabby look
This expression appeared under Peter I and was associated with the name of the merchant Zatrapeznikov, whose Yaroslavl linen manufactory produced both silk and wool, which were in no way inferior in quality to the products of foreign factories. In addition, the manufactory also made very, very cheap striped hemp fabric - motley, "shabby" (rough to the touch), which went to mattresses, bloomers, sundresses, women's headscarves, work dressing gowns and shirts.
And if for rich people such a dressing gown was home clothes, then for the poor, things from shabby clothes were considered “going out” clothes. The shabby appearance spoke of the low social status of a person.
COMMON EXPRESSIONS
Where did the expressions "reach the handle", "scapegoat", "pour on the first number" and others come from? We use such phrases every day in speech, not at all thinking about their original meaning and origin. Why is the last warning Chinese? Who is the quiet guy? And why should a successful business fail? Everything has a historical or linguistic explanation. Behind each turn there is either a significant event, or the realities of the past, or the meaning of the word that has gone out of use.
My home is my castle
From English: My house is my castle. The expression belongs to an English lawyer of the 17th century. Eduard Kok (1552-1634). It is found in his comments on British law, which were published (1628-1644) under the title "Establishment of English law." The meaning of the expression: my home is the place on earth where I can and should feel completely safe.
Get to the handle.
In ancient Russia, kalachi was baked in the shape of a castle with a round bow. Citizens often bought kalachi and ate them right on the street, holding this bow, or handle. For reasons of hygiene, the pen itself was not used for food, but was given to the poor or thrown to be eaten by dogs. According to one version, they said about those who did not disdain to eat it: it reached the handle. And today the expression “to reach the handle” means to completely sink, to lose human appearance.
Bosom friend.
The old expression "pour over the Adam's apple" meant "get drunk", "drink alcohol." Hence the phraseological unit “bosom friend” was formed, which today is used to refer to a very close friend. Pour in the first number. In the old days, schoolchildren were often flogged, often without any fault of the punished. If the mentor showed particular zeal, and the student got hit especially hard, he could be released from further vices in the current month, up to the first day of the next month. This is how the expression "pour on the first number" arose.
Goof.
Prosak used to be a special machine for weaving ropes and ropes. It had a complex structure and twisted strands so strongly that getting clothes, hair, beard into it could cost a person life. It was from such cases that the expression “get into a mess” came about, which today means to be in an awkward position.
Last Chinese warning.
In the 1950s and 1960s, American aircraft often violated Chinese airspace for the purpose of reconnaissance. The Chinese authorities recorded every violation and each time sent a “warning” to the United States through diplomatic channels, although no real action followed, and such warnings were counted by the hundreds. This policy has given rise to the expression "the last Chinese warning", meaning threats without consequences.
Hang dogs.
When a person is blamed, accused of something, you can hear the expression: "They hang dogs on him." At first glance, this phrase is absolutely illogical. However, it is not associated with an animal at all, but with a different meaning of the word "dog" - burdock, thorn - now almost never used.
Silent sap.
The word sape means "hoe" in French. In the 16-19 centuries, the term "sapa" meant a way to open a trench, ditch or tunnel to approach the fortifications. Gunpowder bombs were sometimes planted in the tunnels to the castle walls, and the specialists trained to do this were called sappers. And from the covert digging of tunnels came the expression "sneaky glanders", which today is used to denote cautious and inconspicuous actions.
Big boss.
The most experienced and strong hauler, walking in the strap first, was called a bump. This has evolved into the expression "big shot" to refer to an important person.
The case burned out.
Previously, if a court case disappeared, then a person could not be legally charged. Cases often burned down: either from a fire in the wooden buildings of the courts, or from deliberate arson for a bribe. In such cases, the defendants said: "The case 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, but it sounded like ‘to take French leave’ (“leave in French”). It appeared during the Seven Years' War in the 18th century as a mockery of French soldiers who arbitrarily left the location of the unit. Then the French copied this expression, but in relation to the British, and in this form it was fixed in the Russian language.
Blue blood.
The Spanish royal family and nobility prided themselves on the fact 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 in the pale skin of the upper class, and therefore they called themselves sangre azul, which means "blue blood". Hence, this expression for the designation of the aristocracy penetrated into many European languages, including Russian.
And I understand.
The source of the expression “And it’s clear to a hedgehog” is Mayakovsky’s poem (“It’s clear even to a hedgehog - / This Petya was a bourgeois”). It became widespread first in the Strugatsky story "The Land of Crimson Clouds", and then in Soviet boarding schools for gifted children. They recruited teenagers who had two years left to study (grades A, B, C, D, E) or one year (grades E, F, I). The students of the one-year stream were called “hedgehogs”. When they came to the boarding school, two-year students were already ahead of them in a non-standard program, so at the beginning of the school year, the expression "no brainer" was very relevant.
The highlight of the program.
The opening of the Eiffel Tower, which looked like a nail, was timed to coincide with the 1889 World Exhibition in Paris, which caused a sensation. Since then, the expression "highlight of the program" has entered the language.
Not by washing, so by skating.
In the old days, village women, after washing, “rolled” the laundry with the help of a special rolling pin. Well-rolled linen turned out to be wrung out, ironed and clean, even if the washing was not of very high quality.
Newspaper duck.
“One scientist, having bought 20 ducks, immediately ordered to cut one of them into small pieces, with which he fed the rest of the birds. A few minutes later, he did the same with the other duck, and so on, until there was one left, which, in this way, devoured 19 of her friends. This note was published in the newspaper by the Belgian humorist Cornelissen to mock the gullibility of the public. Since then, according to one version, false news is called "newspaper ducks."
Seven Fridays in a week.
Previously, Friday was a free day from work, and, as a result, a market day. On Friday, when they received the goods, they promised to give back the money due for it on the next market day. Since then, to refer to people who do not keep their promises, they say: "He has seven Fridays in the week."
Scapegoat.
According to the Hebrew rite, on the day of the absolution of sins, the high priest put his hands on the goat's head and thereby laid on him the sins of the whole people. Then the goat was taken to the Judean desert and released. This is where the expression “scapegoat” comes from.
FIFTH COLUMN
Here is an example of another "creeping" word that arose and went around the whole world literally before the eyes of your older contemporaries. If someone had said these words in 1935, everyone would have understood them as "column number five", and nothing more. And a year later, in any country, they already meant: "enemy agents behind enemy lines", "spy organizations in a country fighting for freedom." How did it happen? In 1936, a deadly struggle was going on in Spain between the people and counter-revolutionary generals led by Franco. The "Francoists" advanced on the defending Madrid in four columns. But at the same time they boasted: the "fifth column" - many of their agents, traitors who sympathize with them work for the Republicans in the rear, in the capital itself. Since then, the words "fifth column" have received a new meaning in all languages of the world, hated by every honest person.
HAND OF NEMESIS
The Greeks called Nemesis the goddess of revenge and punishing, punishing harsh justice. She was depicted as a winged woman with a bridle and a sword in her hands, as an omnipresent deity and punishing, executing. In modern languages, the word "Nemesis" replaces the words "just retribution"; by "the hand of Nemesis" is meant the power and authority of the state court.
MAKE A HAND
Why sign different papers? Or rather, why are they "signed", and not put on them any badge? Because the handwriting and signature of each person is very peculiar: no two people have exactly the same handwriting. It is always possible to find out whether a signature on a document is genuine or a fake. Oddly enough, but the fingerprints of people are also completely different. You will not find two people in whom the pattern of thin lines on the fingers would be exactly the same. That is why a fingerprint on wax or just on paper has long been considered an equivalent replacement for a signature: it is impossible to fake it. In the old days, when an illiterate person left a fingerprint on a document instead of a signature, it was called "to put a hand on it." The fragments of the clerical language so strongly influenced the people's speech that there are still statements ending with the words: "To this" (further signature). This is a clear remnant of the obligatory formula of the old clerical work: "I put my hand to this petition." Little by little, the meaning of these words expanded even more: "to put a hand" began to mean, in general, participation in some business, work. They began to ironically call "assault" even a fight, beatings: it seems like one "signed" on the body and face of the other. All these different meanings mingled and created our expression "to lend a hand"; it means: to be an accomplice of some event.
HANDS OFF!
When in 1878 the Austro-Hungarian Empire by force, contrary to all justice, seized the Serbian regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, this "daytime robbery" did not please other European powers, including England, despite the fact that England itself was just preparing in exactly the same way. what to do with the Transvaal, a small republic in southern Africa. But she did not want to allow the strengthening of Austria-Hungary. And now the British Prime Minister Gladstone, speaking in Parliament, uttered for the first time in history the harsh words that sounded like an order: "Hands off Bosnia and Herzegovina!" The words sounded stern, but Austria paid no attention to them: the governments of the two capitalist countries quickly came to an agreement. However, Gladstone's phrase survived him. When, in 1918, the bosses of England led a crusade against Soviet Russia, they heard an angry "Hands off!" already from their own English workers. These words were addressed more than once to the imperialists. In the mouths of the peoples, they sound like a stern warning: you have to reckon with them, whether you like it or not, to all the predators of the modern world.
CORNUCOPIA
Again a phrase bequeathed to us by the ancient world. The father of the gods Zeus, after his birth, was hidden in a secret place, in a grotto, where the sacred goat Amalfeya fed him with her milk. It was not in vain: the father of Zeus, the titan Kronos, wanted to destroy his son and heir, to devour him, as he had already devoured his other children. Grateful Zeus, becoming the main god, raised Amalthea to heaven; there and now everyone can see it between the constellations. And to his tutors, the nymphs, he gave one of the goat's horns: from this horn everything that the nymphs needed arose poured and poured. This very horn, having become a symbol of an inexhaustible source of treasures, was nicknamed the cornucopia. The expression "as from a cornucopia" means: with extraordinary generosity, in great numbers.
DISASSEMBLE BY BONES
The fate of some well-known phrases is truly amazing and unexpected! "Disassemble the bones" or "wash the bones" means: evil gossip about someone, list the shortcomings of a person. But once in the ancient countries of Central Asia, human bones were "disassembled" after the solemn burning of the body of the deceased on a funeral pyre. This was done reverently, with great care. The collected bones were washed with wine and milk or fragrant oils, carefully put into urns and buried, all the time, as usual, praising the good deeds of the deceased and the best features of his character. That was the custom. Like all customs, probably, it was often performed formally, only for show: then the reverence of "dismantling" and "washing the bones" turned into something directly opposite. This is how the ironic expression used today developed. 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 his lifetime this person was a sinner and a curse lies on him - to come out of the grave at night in the form of a ghoul, vampire, ghoul and destroy people. Thus, the rite of washing the bones was needed to make sure that there was no such spell.
And who are the judges?
Quote from A. S. Griboedov's comedy "Woe from Wit" (1824), d.2, yavl.5, Chatsky's words: And who are the judges? - For the antiquity of years to a free life, their enmity is irreconcilable, Judgments are drawn from the forgotten newspapers of the times of Ochakov and the conquest of the Crimea.
Balzac age
The expression arose after the publication of the novel by the French writer Honore de Balzac (1799-1850) "The Thirty-Year-Old Woman" (1831); used as a characteristic of women aged 30-40 years.
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): Rock gives kingdoms to slaves, delivers triumphs to captives. However, such a lucky man is rarer than a white crow.,
Borzoi puppies to take
Originated from a comedy by N.V. Gogol "The Inspector General", d.1, yavl.1, the words of Lyapin-Tyapkin: "Sins are different. I tell everyone openly that I take bribes, but why bribes? Greyhound puppies. This is a completely different matter."
Throw a stone
The expression "to throw a stone" at someone in the sense of "accusing" arose from the Gospel (John, 8, 7); Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees, who, tempting him, brought to him a woman convicted of adultery: "He that is without sin among you, first cast a stone at her" (in ancient Judea there was a penalty - to stone).
Paper endures everything (Paper does not blush)
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" - "The letter does not blush", that is, in writing you can express such thoughts that are embarrassed to express orally.
To be or not to be - that is the question
The beginning of Hamlet's monologue in Shakespeare's tragedy of the same name, translated by N.A. Field (1837).
You can’t harness a horse and a quivering doe into one cart
Quote from the poem by A.S. Pushkin "Poltava" (1829).
Back to our sheep
With these words, in the farce "Lawyer Pierre Patlen" (c. 1470), the first of a cycle of anonymous farces about the lawyer Patlen, the judge interrupts the speech of a rich clothier. Having initiated a case against the shepherd who stole the sheep from him, the clothier, forgetting about his lawsuit, showers reproaches on the shepherd's defender, Patlen's lawyer, who did not pay him for six cubits of cloth.
Wolf in sheep's clothing
The expression originated from the Gospel: "Take care of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inside they are ravenous wolves."
In borrowed plumes
It arose from the fable of I.A. Krylov "Crow" (1825). Time is money
Aphorism from the work of the American scientist and politician Franklin (1706-1790) "Advice to a young merchant" (1748). I carry everything with me
The expression originated from ancient Greek tradition. When the Persian king Cyrus occupied the city of Priene in Ionia, the inhabitants left it, taking with them the most valuable of their property. Only Biant, one of the "seven wise men", a native of Priene, left empty-handed. In response to the bewildered questions of his fellow citizens, he answered, referring to spiritual values: "I carry everything that is mine with me." This expression is often used in Cicero's Latin formulation: Omnia mea mecum porto.
Everything flows, everything changes
This expression, which defines the constant variability of all things, expounds the essence of the teachings of the Greek philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus (c. 530-470 BC)
Was there a boy, maybe there was no boy?
In 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 a hole. Klim gives Boris the end of his gymnasium belt, but, feeling that he is being pulled into the water, he releases the belt from his hands. Children are drowning. When the search for the drowned begins, Klima is struck by "someone's serious incredulous question: - Was there a boy, maybe there wasn't a boy." The last phrase has become winged as a figurative expression of extreme doubt about anything.
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, into the future, old - back, into the past. The expression "two-faced Janus" or simply "Janus", which arose from here, means: a two-faced person. The work of helping the drowning is the work of the drowning 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, posted 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 imposing a tax on public latrines, Vespasian brought the first money received from this tax to his nose and asked if they smelled. To the negative answer of Titus, Vespasian said: "And yet they are from urine."
Draconian measures
This is the name given to exorbitantly harsh laws named after the Dragon, the first legislator of the Athenian Republic (VII century BC). Among the punishments determined by its laws, a prominent place was allegedly occupied by the death penalty, which punished, for example, such an offense as stealing 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, the American graphic artist Richard Outcault placed 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 child in a yellow shirt, to whom various amusing statements were attributed. Soon another newspaper - "New York Journal" - began to print a series of similar drawings. A dispute arose between the two papers over the title 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 the two competing newspapers "yellow press". Since then, the expression has become catchy.
finest hour
An expression by Stefan Zweig (1881-1942) from the preface to his collection of historical short stories "Humanity's Star Clock" (1927). Zweig explains that he called historical moments star hours "because, like eternal stars, they always shine in the night of oblivion and decay."
Knowledge is power
An expression of the English philosopher Francis Bacon in Moral and Political Essays (1597).
Golden mean
An expression from the 2nd book of the odes of the Roman poet Horace: "aurea mediocritas".
And boring, and sad, and there is no one to give a hand
Quote from M. Yu. Lermontov's poem "Both boring and sad" (1840).
And you Brute?
In Shakespeare's tragedy "Julius Caesar" (d.3, yavl.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. Mark Junius Brutus, whom Caesar considered his supporter, became the head of a conspiracy against him and was one of the participants in his assassination in 44 BC.
There is life in the old dog yet.
Quote from N. V. Gogol's story "Taras Bulba" (1842), ch. 9: "There is still gunpowder in the powder flasks? Hasn't the Cossack strength weakened? Are the Cossacks bending?" - "There is still, father, gunpowder in the powder flasks. The Cossack strength has not weakened yet; the Cossacks are not bending yet!"
Life is a struggle
The expression goes back to ancient authors. Euripides in the tragedy "The Petitioners": "Our life is a struggle." In the letters of Seneca: "To live is to fight." Voltaire in the tragedy "Fanaticism, or the Prophet Mohammed" puts into the mouth of Mohammed the phrase: "Life is a struggle"
Exaggerate - what is it? The word is certainly interesting, but so far its lexical meaning is not clear to everyone. Let's find out. To exaggerate means to focus on a particular moment, thereby distorting the general idea of a phenomenon, event or object as a whole. Exaggerate individual facts to the detriment of objectivity. Try to pay attention to one of the facets of the described situation, distracting the interlocutor from the perception of the full picture. Exaggerated presentation of information or ...
Ambition is a wonderful thing. A person not burdened with ambition is doomed to a miserable existence in poverty, or even worse. By poverty, I mean the ordinary level of income of people living in the territory of the former USSR. What is this word and what does it mean? Ambition - the desire to achieve one's goal, increased requirements for the standard of living, the desire for success, the desire to fulfill oneself, to achieve what one has planned, no matter what. Here…
Russification of the English-language abbreviation (joking) Every more or less permanent inhabitant of the Internet has come across the word many times, or rather the abbreviation IMHO - on forums, blogs, online computer games, in contact and other social networks. Surprisingly, not everyone is familiar with the meaning of this phrase. What does she mean? As mentioned above, IMHO is an abbreviation. It has its roots in the depths of the foreign Internet, where a long time ago ...
Sometimes, we hear the word "context" or even the phrase "in context" in conversation. What does this mean? First, let's look at the definition. Context is a fragment of speech that includes information that allows you to interpret further words and sentences, taking into account the reference to some information previously voiced (in the same initial fragment of speech). Complicated? Let's try to understand the meaning of this word with examples. Examples: Yesterday: - Sergey ...
And Vaska listens and eats
Quote from the fable by I. A. Krylov (1769–1844) “The Cat and the Cook” (1813). It is used when it comes to a person who is deaf to reproaches and, despite any exhortations, continues to do his job.
And you, friends, no matter how you sit down,
You're not good at being musicians
Quote from I. A. Krylov's fable "Quartet" (1811). It is used in relation to a poorly functioning team, in which things are not going well because there is no unity, harmony, professionalism, competence, an accurate understanding of each of his own and common tasks.
And the casket just opened
Quote from I. A. Krylov's fable "Casket" (1808). A certain "mechanic sage" tried to open the chest and was looking for a special secret of his castle. But since there was no secret, he did not find it and “left behind the casket.”
And how to open it, did not guess,
And the casket just opened.
This phrase is used when talking about some business, an issue in the resolution of which it was not necessary to look for a complex solution, since there is a simple one.
And he, rebellious, asks for a storm,
As if there is peace in the storms!
Quote from the poem by M. Yu. Lermontov (1814-1841) "Sail" (1841).
And who are the judges?
Quote from the comedy by A. S. Griboedov (1795–1829) “Woe from Wit” (1824), words by Chatsky:
And who are the judges? - For the antiquity of years
To a free life their enmity is irreconcilable,
Judgments draw from forgotten newspapers
Ochakov times and the conquest of the Crimea.
The phrase is used to emphasize contempt for the opinions of authorities who are no better than those they are trying to teach, blame, criticize, etc.
And happiness was so possible
So close!
Quote from the novel in verse "Eugene Onegin" by A. S. Pushkin (1799–1837), ch. 8 (1832).
Administrative delight
Words from the novel by F. M. Dostoevsky (1821-1881) "Demons" (1871). An ironic expression meaning the rapture of power.
Hey Moska! know she's strong
What barks at an elephant
Quote from I. A. Krylov's fable "Elephant and Pug" (1808). It is used when it comes to someone's senseless attacks on someone who is obviously superior to his "opponent" (critic, detractor, aggressor, etc.).
Alexander the Macedonian hero, but why break the chairs?
A quote from the comedy by N. V. Gogol (1809–1852) “The Inspector General” (1836), Gorodnichiy’s words about the teacher: “He is a learned head - this can be seen, and he picked up the darkness, but only explains with such fervor that he does not remember himself. I listened to him once: well, for now I was talking about the Assyrians and Babylonians - still nothing, but how I got to Alexander the Great, I can’t tell you what happened to him. I thought it was a fire, by God! He ran away from the pulpit and, that he had the strength, to grab the chair on the floor. It is, of course, Alexander the Macedonian hero, but why break the chairs? The phrase is used when someone goes beyond the measure.
Afanasy Ivanovich and Pulcheria Ivanovna
The heroes of N.V. Gogol's story "Old World Landowners" (1835), elderly spouses, kind and naive inhabitants, leading a calm, measured, serene life, limited by purely economic concerns. Their names have become household names for people of this type.
Oh my god! What will Princess Marya Aleksevna say
A quote from A. S. Griboyedov's comedy "Woe from Wit" (1824), the words of Famusov, with which the play ends. Used to denote cowardly dependence on walking, sanctimonious morality.
Ah, evil tongues are worse than a gun
Quote from A. S. Griboedov's comedy "Woe from Wit" (1824), words by Molchalin.
B
Ba! familiar faces
Quote from A. S. Griboyedov’s comedy “Woe from Wit” (1824), Famusov’s words:
Ba! familiar faces!
Daughter, Sofia Pavlovna! shame!
Shameless! where! with whom!
Give or take, she
Like her mother, the dead wife.
I used to be with the better half
A little apart - somewhere with a man!
The phrase is used to express surprise at an unexpected meeting with someone.
Grandma said in two
So they say that it is not known whether it will come true. The expression is formed by truncation of the proverb "Grandmother said in two: either rain or snow, either it will or not."
Bazarov. Bazarovshchina
By the name of Bazarov, the hero of the famous novel by I. S. Turgenev (1818–1883) "Fathers and Sons" (1862). Bazarov is a representative of a part of the Russian raznochinstvo students of the 60s. XIX century, which at that time was fond of Western European materialistic philosophy in its simplified, primitive interpretation.
Hence “Bazarovism” is a collective name, meaning all the extremes of this kind of worldview, namely, passion for the natural sciences, gross materialism, emphasized pragmatism of behavior, rejection of traditional art and generally accepted rules of behavior.
The madness of the brave is the wisdom of life!
To the madness of the brave we sing a song
Quote from The Song of the Falcon (1898) by M. Gorky (1868–1936).
Beat the thumbs
The expression is used in the meaning: to spend time idly, to engage in trifles, to mess around. Baklusha - a piece of wood processed for dressing various items (spoons, cups, etc.). In handicraft production, beat the bucks - chip off chocks from a log for the manufacture of wooden handicrafts. The figurative meaning is explained by the fact that the production of baklush was considered by the people to be an easy task that did not require effort and skill.
beat with a forehead
The word "chelo" in Old Russian means "forehead". In ancient Russia, the "brow", that is, the forehead, beat on the floor, falling before the nobles and kings in prostration. This was called "bowing with great custom" and expressed the utmost degree of respect. From here came the expression “to beat with a forehead” in the meaning: to apply to the authorities with a request, to intercede. In written requests - “petitions” - they wrote: “And for this, your little serf Ivashko beats you with his forehead ...” Even later, the words “beat with his forehead” began to simply mean: “greet”.
Bet
Means: to argue about something. A pledge in Russia was called a pledge, as well as a bet, a dispute on a win or the bet itself. To fight meant "to bet, to argue."
Blessed is he who believes, he is warm in the world!
Quote from the comedy by A. S. Griboyedov "Woe from the mind" (1824), Chatsky's words. The expression is used to refer to overly, unreasonably gullible people or those who are too deceived by their iridescent plans and hopes.
Shoe a flea
The expression became winged after the appearance of the story by N. S. Leskov (1831–1895) “Lefty” (1881), which was created on the basis of a folk joke: "The British made a flea out of steel, and our Tula people shod it and sent it back to them." It is used in the meaning: to show extraordinary invention in some business, skill, fine craftsmanship.
Petrel
After the appearance in print of "The Song of the Petrel" (1901) M. Gorky in literature, the petrel became a symbol of the coming revolutionary storm.
There was a case near Poltava
This expression is the first line of a poem by I. E. Molchanov (1809–1881), published in the 40s–50s of the 19th century. and became a popular song. So they jokingly or boastfully talk about some incident.
You can be a good person
And think about the beauty of nails
Quote from the novel in verse "Eugene Onegin" (1831) by A. S. Pushkin. Cited as a response to accusations of being overly concerned about one's appearance.
AT
You can't go anywhere in the carriage of the past
Quote from M. Gorky's play "At the Bottom" (1902), lyrics by Satin. Instead of "nowhere", "far" is often quoted.
To Moscow, to Moscow, to Moscow!
In the play Three Sisters (1901) by A.P. Chekhov (1860–1904), this phrase is repeated with longing by the sisters, suffocating in the mud of provincial life, but not having the will to get out of it. This phrase is used as a characteristic of fruitless dreams.
In some kingdom, not in our state
The traditional beginning of many Russian folk tales. Used in the meaning: somewhere, no one knows where.
There is no truth at the feet
Now used as a playful invitation to sit down. There are several possible origins for this phrase:
- according to the first version, the combination is due to the fact that in the XV-XVIII centuries. in Russia, debtors were severely punished, beaten with iron rods on their bare legs, seeking the repayment of the debt, that is, “truth”, but such a punishment could not force those who had no money to return the debt;
- according to the second version, the expression arose due to the fact that the landowner, having discovered the loss of something, gathered the peasants and forced them to stand until the culprit was named;
- the third version reveals the connection of the expression with pravez (cruel punishment for non-payment of debts). If the debtor fled from the right by flight, they said that there was no truth at the feet, that is, it was impossible to knock out the debt; with the abolition of the rule, the meaning of the saying has changed.
You can't harness it to one cart
Horse and quivering doe
Quote from A. S. Pushkin's poem "Poltava" (1829).
Everything should be beautiful in a person: face, clothes, soul, and thoughts.
Quote from A.P. Chekhov's play "Uncle Vanya" (1897); these words are pronounced by Dr. Astrov. Often only the first half of the phrase is quoted.
Great, powerful, truthful and free Russian language
Quote from a poem in prose by I. S. Turgenev "Russian language" (1882).
Ruler of thoughts
An expression from A. S. Pushkin's poem "To the Sea" (1825), in which the poet called Napoleon and Byron "rulers of thoughts". In literary speech, it is applied to great people whose activities had a strong influence on the minds of their contemporaries.
The power of darkness
The expression, which became a figurative definition of ignorance, cultural backwardness, became winged after the appearance of the drama by L. N. Tolstoy (1828–1910) “The power of darkness, or the Claw got stuck - the whole bird is abyss” (1886).
In all of you, Darling, you are good attire
Quote from the poem by I. F. Bogdanovich (1743-1803) "Darling" (1778):
In all you, Darling, outfits are good:
In the image of which queen are you dressed,
Are you sitting like a shepherdess near the hut,
In all you are a wonder of the world.
This line is better known thanks to A. S. Pushkin, who used it as an epigraph to his story "The Young Lady-Peasant Woman" from the "Tales of Belkin" cycle. It is used jokingly ironically as a ready-made compliment in response to women's requests to evaluate a new dress, hairstyle, etc.
All over Ivanovo
The expression "in all Ivanovo (shouting, yelling)" is used in the meaning: very loudly, with all your might. Ivanovskaya is the name of the square in the Moscow Kremlin where the Ivan the Great Bell Tower stands. There are several versions of the origin of this expression:
- on Ivanovskaya Square, sometimes royal decrees were read aloud, in a loud voice (throughout Ivanovskaya Square). Hence the figurative meaning of the expression;
- clerks were also sometimes punished on Ivanovskaya Square. They were mercilessly beaten with whips and batogs, which made them shout throughout Ivanovskaya Square.
troublemaker
This is the title of the novel (1940) by L. V. Solovyov (1898–1962) about Khoja Nasreddin, the hero of folk jokes among Azerbaijanis, Tajiks, Armenians, peoples of the North Caucasus, Persians and Turks. The expression "troublemaker" has become winged as a figurative description of people who rebel against indifference, bureaucracy, and various manifestations of social injustice.
The Volga flows into the Caspian Sea.
Horses eat oats and hay
Quote from A.P. Chekhov's story "Teacher of Literature" (1894). These phrases are repeated in a dying delirium by the teacher of history and geography, Ippolit Ippolitovich, who all his life expressed only well-known, indisputable truths. Used in the meaning: well-known banal statements.
In borrowed plumes
The expression arose from the fable of I. A. Krylov "The Crow" (1825). The crow, poking her tail with peacock feathers, went for a walk, confident that she was Pavam's sister and that everyone would look at her. But the Pavs plucked the Crow so that not even her own feathers were left on her. The crow rushed to her, but they did not recognize her. “Crow in peacock feathers” - they talk about a person who appropriates other people's dignity, unsuccessfully tries to play a high, unusual role for him and therefore falls into a comic position.
Get into a mess
The expression is used in the sense: to be in an unpleasant, awkward or disadvantageous position due to one's oversight or ignorance. The adverb "into a mess" was formed as a result of the merger of elements in the combination "into a mess." Prosak is a spinning mill, a rope loom, on which ropes were twisted in the old days. It was a complex network of ropes that stretched from the spinning wheel to the sled, where they were twisted. The camp was usually located on the street and occupied a significant space. For a spinner to get his clothes, hair or beard into a slip, that is, into a rope camp, meant, at best, to get seriously injured and tear his clothes, and at worst, to lose his life.
Vralman
The protagonist of the comedy D. I. Fonvizin (1744 / 1745‑1792) “Undergrowth” (1782), an ignorant German, a former coachman, one of the teachers of the landowner’s son, undersized Mitrofanushka. His surname, made up of the Russian "liar" and the German "Mann" (man), which fully characterizes him, has become a household name for a braggart and a liar.
Seriously and for a long time
Expression of V. I. Lenin (1870–1924) from a report at the IX All-Russian Congress of Soviets. About the new economic policy, V. I. Lenin said: “... we are pursuing this policy in earnest and for a long time, but, of course, as it has already been correctly noted, not forever.”
Everything will pass like smoke from white apple trees
Quote from a poem by S. A. Yesenin (1895–1925) “I don’t regret, I don’t call, I don’t cry ...” (1922):
I do not regret, do not call, do not cry,
Everything will pass like smoke from white apple trees.
Withering gold embraced,
I won't be young anymore.
Quoted as a consolation, as advice to take life calmly, philosophically, because everything passes - both good and bad.
Everything is mixed up in the Oblonsky house
Quote from Leo Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina (1875): “Everything was mixed up in the Oblonskys' house. The wife found out that her husband was in connection with a French governess who was in their house, and announced to her husband that she could not live with him in the same house ... The wife did not leave her rooms, her husband was not at home for the third day. The children ran all over the house like they were lost; the Englishwoman quarreled with the housekeeper and wrote a note to a friend, asking her to find a new place for her; the cook left the yard yesterday, during dinner; the black cook and the coachman asked for a calculation. The quotation is used as a figurative definition of confusion, confusion.
All is well, beautiful marquise
Quote from a poem (1936) by A. I. Bezymensky (1898–1973) “Everything is fine” (French folk song). The Marquise, who has been away for fifteen days, calls her estate on the phone and asks one of the servants: “Well, how are things going with you?” He answers:
It's all right, beautiful marquise,
Things are going and life is easy
No sad surprise
Except for a trifle!So... that's nonsense...
Empty business...
Your mare is dead!
All is well, all is well.
The coachman to the Marquise's question: "How did this death happen?" - answers:
With a mare that:
Empty business!
She burned down with the stable!
But otherwise, beautiful Marchioness,
All is well, all is well.
But for the rest,
beautiful marquise,
All is well, all is well!
All this would be funny
Whenever it was so sad
Quote from the poem by M. Yu. Lermontov “A. O. Smirnova "(1840):
Without you I want to tell you a lot
With you, I want to listen to you ...
What to do? .. Speech inexperienced
I can't occupy your mind...
All this would be funny
When would not be so sad.
It is used as a commentary on an outwardly tragicomic, funny, but essentially very serious, disturbing situation.
Take rubbish out of the hut
It is used in the meaning: to disclose troubles, quarrels concerning only a narrow circle of people. The expression is usually used in a negative way, as a call not to disclose the details of such quarrels (no need to take dirty linen out of the hut). It is associated with the ancient custom not to take garbage out of the hut, but to burn it (for example, in a furnace), since an evil person allegedly could send trouble on the owner of the hut by uttering special words over the garbage.
G
Galloping through Europe
This is the title of the travel essays of the poet A. A. Zharov (1904-1984), reflecting the fleeting impressions he made from his trip to Western Europe (1928). The title is explained by the fact that Zharov and his companions, the poets I. Utkin and A. Bezymensky, had to greatly reduce their stay in Czechoslovakia and Austria at the request of the police.
M. Gorky in his article "On the Benefits of Literacy" (1928) used Zharov's expression "gallop across Europe", but already at the address of some authors of frivolous essays on life abroad, informing readers of incorrect information. The expression is used as a definition of surface observations in general.
Hamburg account
In 1928 A collection of literary-critical articles, notes and essays by V. Shklovsky (1893-1984) was published under the title "Hamburg Account". The meaning of this name is explained in a brief program article that opens the collection: “The Hamburg account is an extremely important concept. All wrestlers, when wrestling, cheat and lie down on the shoulder blades at the order of the entrepreneur. Once a year wrestlers gather in a Hamburg tavern. They fight behind closed doors and curtained windows. Long, ugly and hard. Here the true classes of wrestlers are established, so as not to cheat. The Hamburg account is necessary in literature.” In conclusion, the article mentions the names of several well-known modern writers who, in the author's opinion, do not stand up to the Hamburg account. Subsequently, Shklovsky recognized this article as "bullying" and incorrect. But the expression "Hamburg account" at the same time became winged, initially in the literary environment, as a definition of the evaluation of any work of literature or art without discounts and concessions, and then became more widespread and began to be used in the evaluation of certain social phenomena.
Hero of our time
The title of the novel by M. Yu. Lermontov (1840), possibly inspired by N. M. Karamzin's Knight of Our Time. Allegorically: a person whose thoughts and deeds most fully express the spirit of modernity. The expression is used in a positive sense or ironically, according to the personality of the person to whom it is applied.
The hero is not my novel
Chatsky
But Skalozub? Here's a sight!
For the army stands a mountain,
And the straightness of the camp,
Face and voice - a hero ...
Sofia
Not my novel.
The expression is used in the sense: not to my taste.
Burn people's hearts with the verb
Quote from A. S. Pushkin's poem "Prophet" (1828).
Used in the meaning: ardently, passionately preach, teach.
Eye, speed, onslaught
Aphorism of the great Russian commander A. V. Suvorov. With these words, in his "Science of Victory" (written in 1796, first edition 1806), he defined the "three martial arts."
The stupid penguin timidly hides a fat body in the rocks.
Quote from "The Song of the Petrel" (1901) by M. Gorky.
Rotten liberalism
The expression of M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin (1826–1889) from the satirical essay (1875) “Lord Molchaliny” (from the cycle “In the Environment of Moderation and Accuracy”), which has become synonymous with unscrupulousness, conciliation, connivance.
Hunger is not an aunt
So they say about a strong hunger, forcing you to do something. These words are part of a detailed expression written back in the 17th century: hunger is not an aunt; deeds.
Woe from Wit
The title of the comedy by A. S. Griboyedov.
D
Was it a boy?
In one of the episodes of M. Gorky's novel "The Life of Klim Samgin" (1927), the boy Klim is skating with other children. Boris Varavka and Varya Somova fall into a hole. Klim gives Boris the end of his gymnasium belt, but, feeling that he is being pulled into the water, he releases the belt from his hands. Children are drowning. When the search for the drowned begins, Klima is struck by “someone’s serious incredulous question: “Was there a boy, maybe there wasn’t a boy?” The last phrase became winged, as a figurative expression of extreme doubt about anything.
Yes, only things are still there
Quote from the fable of I. A. Krylov "Swan, Pike and Cancer" (1814). It is used in the meaning: the matter does not move, it stands still, and fruitless conversations take place around it.
Nice lady in every way
An expression from N. V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" (1842): "Whatever name you think of, it will certainly be found in some corner of our state - the good is great - someone who wears it, and will certainly be angry ... and therefore let us call the lady to whom the guest came, as she legally acquired, for, as if, she spared nothing in order to become amiable to the last degree, although, of course, what a nimble agility of a female character crept through the courtesy! and although sometimes in every pleasant word she stuck out, wow, what a pin ... "
give oak
Used to mean "to die". There are two versions of the origin of this expression:
- The turnover arose on Russian soil and is associated with the verb zadubet - "to cool down, lose sensitivity, become hard."
- The expression originated in the south of Russia. It can be assumed that the dead were buried under the oak.
twenty two misfortunes
So in the play by A.P. Chekhov "The Cherry Orchard" (1903) they call the clerk Epikhodov, with whom some kind of comic trouble happens every day. The expression is applied to the unfortunate, with whom some kind of misfortune constantly occurs.
Noble Nest
The title of the novel by I. S. Turgenev (1859), which has become synonymous with a noble estate. This expression was used by Turgenev even earlier, in the story "My neighbor Radilov" (1847).
Things of bygone days
Traditions of antiquity deep
A quote from A. S. Pushkin's poem "Ruslan and Lyudmila" (1820), which is a close translation of the poems of one of Ossian's poems, created by the English writer James MacPherson (1736-1796) and attributed to this legendary ancient Celtic bard. Allegorically about old and unreliable events that few people remember.
In the bag
When they say "it's in the bag", it means: everything is in order, everything ended successfully. The origin of this expression is sometimes explained by the fact that during the time of Ivan the Terrible, some court cases were decided by lot, and the lot was drawn from the judge's hat. There is another explanation for the origin of the expression. Some researchers argue that clerks and clerks (they were the ones who dealt with all kinds of litigation), solving court cases, used their hats to receive bribes, and if the amount of the bribe suited the clerk, then "it was in the hat."
The work of helping the drowning is the work of the drowning themselves
In the satirical novel by I. Ilf (1897-1937) and E. Petrov (1902-1942) "The Twelve Chairs" (1927), a poster with such an absurd slogan, posted in the club at the evening of the Water Rescue Society, is mentioned. This slogan began to be used, sometimes in a slightly modified version, as a playful aphorism about self-help.
Cause time and fun hour
In 1656, on the orders of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (1629–1676), the “Book called the constable: a new code and arrangement of the order of the falconer's way” was compiled, that is, a collection of rules for falconry, a favorite pastime of that time. At the end of the preface, Alexei Mikhailovich made a handwritten postscript: “A book adjunct or his own; this parable of the soul and body; do not forget truth and judgment and merciful love and the military system: there is time for business and an hour for fun. The words of the postscript have become an expression that is often not interpreted quite correctly, meaning the word “time” is the greater part, and the word “hour” is the smaller part, as a result of which the expression itself is changed: “time for business, and hour for fun”. But the king did not even think about giving only an hour out of a whole time for fun. These words express the idea that everything has its time - both business and fun.
Demyanov's ear
The expression is used in the meaning: forced excessive treats against the desire of the treated; anything at all strongly suggested. It arose from the fable of I. A. Krylov "Demyan's ear" (1813). Neighbor Demyan regaled neighbor Fok's ear so much that he,
No matter how much he loved the ear, but from such a misfortune,
Grabbed in an armful
Sash and hat
Hurry home without memory -
And from that time on, not a foot to Demyan.
Derzhimorda
The character of N. V. Gogol's comedy "The Inspector General" (1836), a rude police officer who, according to Gorodnichiy, "puts lanterns under everyone's eyes for order, both the right and the guilty." His surname entered the literary speech in the meaning: rude, blindly fulfilling orders from above, the guardian of order.
Catch up and overtake
The expression arose from the article by V.I. Lenin "The impending catastrophe and how to deal with it" (1917). In this article, V. I. Lenin wrote: “The revolution did what in a few months Russia, in its own way, political line up with the advanced countries. But this is not enough. War is inexorable, it raises the question with merciless sharpness: either die or catch up with the advanced countries and overtake them as well. economically". The same slogan is “catch up and overtake America!” was re-introduced in the 1960s. First Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU N. S. Khrushchev (1894-1971). Quoted as a call to win a competition (usually economic) with someone. It is used both literally and ironically.
Dr. Aibolit
The hero of the fairy tale by K. I. Chukovsky (1882–1969) “Aibolit” (1929). The name of the “good doctor” Aibolit began to be used (at first by children) as a playfully affectionate name for a doctor.
Domostroy
Domostroy is a monument of Russian literature of the 16th century, which is a set of everyday rules and morals. These rules, set out in more than sixty chapters, were based on a well-established worldview that had developed under the influence of the church. “Domostroy” teaches “how to believe”, “how to honor the king”, “how to live with wives and children and household members”, normalizes home life and household. The ideal of any household, according to Domostroy, is hoarding, which should help to acquire wealth, which is achievable only if the head of the family has autocracy. The husband, according to Domostroy, is the head of the family, the master of the wife, and Domostroy specifies in detail in which cases he should beat his wife, etc. woman's position.
Tear like Sidorov's goat
It is used in the meaning: to flog, to beat someone strongly, cruelly and ruthlessly. The name Sidor was often associated with the idea of an evil or quarrelsome person, and the goat, according to popular beliefs, is an animal with a harmful character.
Darling
The heroine of the story of the same name by A.P. Chekhov (1899), an ingenuous woman who changes her interests and views as her lovers change, through whose eyes she looks at life. The image of Chekhov's "darling" is also characterized by people who change their beliefs and views depending on who is currently influencing them.
Breathe incense
So they say about a thin, weak, sickly-looking person who does not have long to live. The expression is based on the religious symbolism of the word "incense". In the church, incense is censed (they shake the vessel in which the smoking incense is located). This rite is performed, in particular, before the dead or dying.
E
There is life in the old dog yet
Quote from N.V. Gogol's story "Taras Bulba" (1842). Allegorically about the ability to accomplish a lot more; about good health, well-being or the great potential of a person capable of many significant things, although those around him no longer expect this from him.
There is something to despair
Quote from A. S. Griboyedov's comedy "Woe from Wit" (1824). Chatsky, interrupting Repetilov's lies, tells him:
Listen, lie, but know the measure;
There is something to despair.
There is rapture in battle
And the dark abyss on the edge
Quote from the dramatic scene of A. S. Pushkin "Feast during the Plague" (1832), song of the chairman of the feast. Used as a formula to justify excessively risky behavior.
F
Alive Smoking Room
An expression from a folk children's song performed when playing the "Smoking Room". The players sit in a circle and pass each other a burning splinter with the refrain: “The Smoking Room is alive, alive, the legs are thin, the soul is short.” The one in whose hands the splinter goes out leaves the circle. This is where the expression “Kurilka is alive” came from, used as a playful exclamation when referring to the ongoing activities of insignificant people, as well as the continuous activities of someone in difficult conditions.
living water
In Russian folk tales - magical water that revives the dead, giving heroic strength.
Live and let others live
The first line of the poem by G. R. Derzhavin (1743–1816) “On the birth of Empress Gremislava” (1798):
Live and let others live
But not at the expense of the other;
Always be happy with your
Don't touch anyone else's
Here is the rule, the path is straight
For the happiness of everyone and everyone.
Derzhavin is the author of this poetic formula, but not of the very idea embedded in it, which has long existed as a proverb in different languages. In Russia, its French version was also widely known - "Vivons et laissons vivre les autres". The authorship of this idea is unknown. But in any case, its Russian translation became an aphorism thanks to G. R. Derzhavin.
By Tsarina Gremislava, the poet means the Russian Empress Catherine the Great. According to legend, the expression "live and let others live" was her favorite proverb.
Allegorically: a call to be attentive to the interests of other people, to seek a compromise with them, a certain formula of coexistence that suits everyone.
Living Dead
The expression became widespread after the appearance of the drama "The Living Corpse" (1911) by L. N. Tolstoy, whose hero, Fedya Protasov, feigning suicide, hides from his wife and people of his circle and lives among the dregs of society, being in his own eyes a "living corpse" . Now the expression "living corpse" is used in the meaning: a person who has fallen, morally devastated, and also in general anything that has become dead, has outlived itself.
3
Out of reach
The expression belongs to Admiral F. V. Dubasov (1845–1912), known for the brutal suppression of the Moscow armed uprising. In his "victorious" report to Nicholas II of December 22, 1905, Dubasov wrote: the most irreconcilable and embittered fighters ... I cannot recognize the rebellious movement as completely suppressed.
For distant lands.
Far Far Away [Thirtieth] Kingdom
An expression often found in Russian folk tales in the meaning: far, in an unknown distance.
Forget and fall asleep!
Quote from the poem by M. Yu. Lermontov “I go out alone on the road”:
I don't expect anything from life
And I do not feel sorry for the past at all;
I'm looking for freedom and peace!
I would like to forget and fall asleep!
shabby look
This expression appeared under Peter I (1672-1725). Zatrapeznikov is the surname of a merchant whose factory produced very coarse and low-quality fabric. Since then, they have been talking about a sloppyly dressed person.
Smart language. Zaum
Terms created by the poet and theorist of futurism A. E. Kruchenykh. In the “Declaration of the word as such” (1913), the essence of “transration” is defined as follows: “Thought and speech do not keep pace with the experience of the inspired, therefore the artist is free to express himself not only in a general language ... but also in a personal ... without a specific meaning ... transrational. On the basis of this far-fetched false theory, futurist poets created words devoid of any subject-semantic meaning, wrote, for example, such verses: “Serzha melepet hailed ok rizum melev alik.” Therefore, the terms "abstruse", "abstruse language" began to be used in the sense: a language that is incomprehensible to the broad masses, in general, is nonsense.
Hello, young, unfamiliar tribe!
Quote from A. S. Pushkin's poem "I visited again / That corner of the earth ..." (1835):
hello tribe.
Young, unfamiliar! not me
I will see your mighty late age,
When you outgrow my friends
And you will cover their old head
From the eyes of a passerby...
It is used as a playfully solemn greeting addressed to young people, young colleagues.
green grapes
The expression came into wide circulation after the appearance of the fable by I. A. Krylov “The Fox and the Grapes” (1808). The fox, who cannot reach the high-hanging clusters of grapes, says:
Looks like he's good
Yes, green - there are no mature berries,
You'll get the hang of it right away.
It is used to denote an imaginary contempt for what is impossible to achieve.
Hot spot
An expression from the Orthodox prayer for the dead ("... in a place of greenery, in a place of rest ..."). So in the texts in the Church Slavonic language is called paradise. The figurative meaning of this expression is “a fun place” or “a satisfying place” (such a place in old Russia could be a tavern). Over time, this expression acquired a negative connotation - a place where they indulge in revelry, debauchery.
And
And the smoke of the fatherland is sweet and pleasant to us
Quote from A. S. Griboyedov's comedy "Woe from Wit" (1824), words of Chatsky, who returned from a trip. Recalling old Muscovites with sarcasm, he says:
I am destined to see them again!
You will get tired of living with them, and in whom can you not find spots?
When you wander, you return home,
And the smoke of the fatherland is sweet and pleasant to us.
Griboedov's last phrase is not a completely accurate quote from G. R. Derzhavin's poem "Harp" (1798):
We have good news about our side:
Fatherland and smoke are sweet and pleasant to us.
Derzhavin's phrase entered into wide circulation, of course, as a quotation from Griboyedov's comedy. Allegorically about love, attachment to one's fatherland, when even the smallest signs of one's own, native cause joy, tenderness.
And live in a hurry and feel in a hurry
Quote from a poem by P. A. Vyazemsky (1792–1878) “The First Snow” (1822). Taken by A. S. Pushkin as an epigraph to the 1st chapter of "Eugene Onegin". Allegorically: 1. About a person who, although in a hurry, cannot bring anything to the end. 2. About the one who seeks to take as much as possible from life, to enjoy everything, without particularly thinking about the price that will have to be paid for it.
And boring, and sad, and there is no one to give a hand
Quote from M. Yu. Lermontov's poem "Both boring and sad" (1840):
And boring, and sad, and there is no one to give a hand
In a moment of heartbreak...
Wish! What is the use of wanting in vain and forever?
And the years pass - all the best years ...
Allegorically about loneliness, the absence of loved ones.
And fight again!
Rest only in our dreams
Quote from the poem by A. A. Blok (1880-1921) "On the Kulikovo field" (1909). Allegorically about the determination to fight further to achieve the goal.
And the one who walks through life with a song,
He never disappears anywhere
Chorus of the popular march from the film "Merry Fellows" (1934), lyrics by V. I. Lebedev-Kumach (1898–1949), music by I. O. Dunayevsky (1900–1955).
Ivan Ivanovich and Ivan Nikiforov
Characters of "The Tale of how Ivan Ivanovich quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich" (1834) by N. V. Gogol. The names of these two inhabitants of Mirgorod have become common nouns for people who are constantly quarreling with each other, a synonym for squabbles and gossip.
Ivan Nepomniachtchi
AT in tsarist Russia, the captured runaway convicts, hiding their past, concealed their real name and surname, called themselves Ivans and said that they did not remember their relationship; in the police they were recorded as "not remembering kinship", hence their nickname "Ivan Nepomniachtchi".
I'm going to you
Prince Svyatoslav, starting the war, announced to the enemy in advance: "I want to go to you." N. M. Karamzin (1766–1826), transmitting a chronicle legend, cites Svyatoslav’s phrase in the form: “I’m coming at you!” Winged phrase received in the editorial: "I'm going to you." Used in the meaning: I intend to enter into a confrontation, dispute, dispute, etc.
A spark will ignite a flame
A quote from a poem by the Decembrist poet A. I. Odoevsky (1802–1839), written in Siberia in response to a poetic message by A. S. Pushkin (1826), addressed to the Decembrists exiled to hard labor (“In the depths of Siberian ores / Keep proud patience …”).
Allegorically about faith in success, the victory of one's business, despite its difficult beginning.
For the love of art
An expression from the vaudeville by D. T. Lensky (1805–1860) “Lev Gurych Sinichkin” (1839). One of the vaudeville characters, Count Zefirov, is dragging along pretty actresses, playing a patron of the local troupe. His favorite expression, which he repeats every minute: "For the love of art."
It is used in the meaning: out of love for the very cause, occupation, without any selfish goals.
From a beautiful distance
An expression from N. V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" (1842): "Rus! Russia! I see you from my wonderful, beautiful far away, I see you” (almost the entire 1st volume of “Dead Souls” was written by Gogol abroad). It is cited as a playfully ironic designation of a place where a person is free from ordinary worries, difficulties, problems.
A hut on chicken legs
In Russian folk tales, Baba Yaga lives in such a hut. This figurative name comes from those wooden log cabins, which in the old days, in order to protect them from decay, were placed on stumps with chopped roots.
Zest
The expression arose from a folk proverb: "Kvass is not expensive, the zest in kvass is expensive." It became winged after the appearance of the drama by L. N. Tolstoy "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 say? There was no raisin - you know, is there a raisin in kvass? - there was no game in our life. And I had to forget. And you won’t forget without a game ... ”It is used in the meaning: something that gives a special taste, attractiveness to something (a dish, a story, a person, etc.).
To
Kazan orphan
This is the name of a person who pretends to be unhappy, offended, helpless in order to arouse the sympathy of compassionate people. This expression in the time of Ivan the Terrible (1530–1584) jokingly they called the Tatar princes who, after the conquest of Kazan, converted to Christianity and sought honors at the royal court. In their petitions, they often referred to themselves as orphans. Another option is also possible: after the conquest of Kazan, many beggars appeared who pretended to be victims of the war and said that their parents died during the siege of Kazan.
Like a squirrel in a wheel
An expression from the fable of I. A. Krylov "Squirrel" (1833):
Look at another businessman:
Busy, rushing about, everyone marvels at him:
It seems to be torn from the skin,
Yes, but everything is not moving forward,
Like a squirrel in a wheel.
The expression is used in the meaning: to constantly fuss, to bother without visible results.
No matter what happens
The words of the teacher Belikov from the story of A.P. Chekhov "The Man in the Case" (1898). Quoted as a definition of cowardice, alarmism.
How did you get to this life?
Quote from a poem N. A. Nekrasova (1821–1878) "Poor and elegant" (1861):
Let's call her and ask her:
"How did you come to such a life? .."
It is used to express bewilderment, regret about the troubles that have befallen a person.
As under each leaf
Both the table and the house were ready
Quote from the fable "Dragonfly and Ant" (1808) by I. A. Krylov. The expression is given to characterize easily, easily achieved material security.
Like water off a duck's back
Because of the fatty lubrication of plumage, water rolls off the goose easily. This observation led to the appearance of this expression. It is used to refer to a person who is indifferent to everything, nothing at all.
How beautiful, how fresh the roses were...
This line is from a poem by I. P. Myatlev (1796-1844) "Roses". It is used when sadly remembering something joyful, bright, but long gone.
Capital to acquire and innocence to keep
An expression popularized by M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin (“Letters to Aunty” (1882), “Little Things in Life” (1887), “Mon Repos Shelter” (1879), etc.). It is used in the meaning: to satisfy one's selfish interests, while trying to maintain the reputation of an unmercenary person, an altruist.
Karamazovshchina
A word that came into wide use after the publication of F. M. Dostoevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov (1879–1880). This word denotes an extreme degree of moral irresponsibility and cynicism (“everything is allowed”), which are the essence of the worldview and morals of the main characters.
Karataev.
Karataevshchina
Platon Karataev is one of the heroes of Leo Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace" (1865–1869). His humility and mild-mannered attitude to every manifestation of evil (“non-resistance to evil”) expresses, according to Tolstoy, the essence of the Russian peasantry, genuine folk wisdom.
Kisey young lady [girl]
Apparently, for the first time in literary speech, this expression came from the novel by N. G. Pomyalovsky (1835–1863) “Petty Bourgeois Happiness” (1861). Used in the meaning: cutesy, pampered girl, with a limited outlook.
wedge wedge kick out
Denotes "to get rid of something (bad, heavy), acting as if it does not exist, or resorting to exactly what caused it." The expression is associated with chopping firewood, in which logs are split by driving a wedge into a slot made with an ax. If the wedge gets stuck in the wood without splitting it, then it can be knocked out (and at the same time split the log) only with a second, thicker wedge.
Kolomna verst
So called long and thin people. In the 17th century, by order of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, on the “pillar” road (that is, the road with milestones) between Moscow and the royal summer residence in the village of Kolomenskoye, distance measurements were re-measured and “versts” were installed - especially high milestones, from which and this expression went.
Who lives well in Russia
The title of the poem by N. A. Nekrasov, the first chapter of which was published in 1866. Seven peasants, arguing about
Who has fun
Freely in Russia, -
they decide not to return home until they find an answer to this question, and they go around Russia in search of someone “who will live well in Russia.” Quoted as a playfully ironic commentary on all kinds of sociological research, polls, their results, etc.
Kondrashka had enough
So they say in case someone suddenly died, died (about an apoplexy, paralysis). There are several versions of the origin of the turnover:
- phraseologism goes back to the name of Kondraty Bulavin, the leader of the popular uprising on the Don in 1707;
- Kondrashka is a euphemistic name for death, serious illness, paralysis, characteristic of popular superstition.
Ends in the water
The expression is associated with the name of Ivan the Terrible. Repressions against the population under this king sometimes took on such a scale that even Ivan himself was embarrassed. In such cases, in order to hide the true scale of the executions, people who died from torture were secretly thrown into the river. To hide the ends in the water means to cover up the traces of the crime.
The horse didn't roll
It is used in the sense: nothing has been done yet, before the start of the matter is still far away. The origin of the turnover is connected with the habit of horses to wallow before being allowed to put on a collar or saddle, which delayed the work.
box
The character of N. V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" (1842): "... one of those mothers, small landowners who cry for crop failures, losses ... and meanwhile they are gaining a little money in colorful bags placed in drawers of chests of drawers. All the coins are taken into one bag, fifty dollars into another, and quarters into the third, although it seems as if there is nothing in the chest of drawers except linen, night blouses, cotton hanks, and a torn coat, which then turns into a dress, if the old one will somehow burn out during the baking of holiday cakes with all sorts of spinners, or it will be worn out by itself. But the dress will not burn and will not be worn out by itself; the old woman is thrifty, and the cloak is destined to lie torn open for a long time, and then, according to the spiritual will, go to the niece of her great-sister, along with all sorts of other rubbish. Korobochka's name has become synonymous with a person living in petty interests, a petty scopid.
Blood with milk
So they say about a ruddy, healthy person. An expression from Russian folklore, where folk ideas about the beauty of color are combined: red like blood and white like milk. In Russia, a white face and a blush on the cheeks have long been considered a sign of beauty, which was evidence of good health.
The cuckoo praises the rooster
Because he praises the cuckoo
Quote from I. A. Krylov's fable "The Cuckoo and the Rooster" (1841):
Why, without fear of sin,
Does the cuckoo praise the rooster?
Because he praises the cuckoo.
L
Unusual lightness in thoughts
The words of the boasted Khlestakov in N.V. Gogol's comedy The Inspector General (1836): “However, there are many of my works: The Marriage of Figaro, Robert the Devil, Norma. I don't even remember the names; And all by chance: I didn’t want to write, but the theater management says: “Please, brother, write something.” I think to myself: “Perhaps, if you please, brother!” And then in one evening, it seems, he wrote everything, he amazed everyone. I have an extraordinary lightness in my thoughts.
Climb on the rampage
It means: in rage and blindness, go contrary to common sense to obvious death, "run into" trouble. "Rozhnoy" in the old Russian language (and now in local dialects) was called a pointed stake. When hunting a bear, the daredevils, going at it, put up a sharp stake in front of them. Ran into trouble, the bear died. Of the same origin and the expression "shove against the pricks" or, conversely, "you can't trample against the pricks." Hence the “no gouges” in the sense: there is nothing.
Extra people.
Extra person
From the "Diary of a Superfluous Man" (1850) by I. S. Turgenev. The image of the “superfluous person” was very popular in Russian literature of the 19th century. as a type of nobleman who, in the current socio-political conditions, does not find a place for himself in life, cannot fulfill himself and suffers from this, languishes with inactivity. The very interpretation of the "superfluous person" - namely, as a completely definite social type - served for many authors of those years as a form of indirect, non-political protest against the conditions of life that had developed in Russia.
Usually the expression is used in relation to people who are somewhat similar to these heroes of Russian classical literature.
Beam of light in the dark realm
The title of an article (1860) by N. A. Dobrolyubov (1836–1861) dedicated to A. N. Ostrovsky’s (1823–1886) drama The Thunderstorm. Dobrolyubov considers the suicide of the heroine of the drama, Katerina, as a protest against the arbitrariness and tyranny of the "dark kingdom". This protest is passive, but testifies to the fact that the oppressed masses are already awakening to the consciousness of their natural rights, that the time for slavish obedience is passing. Therefore, Dobrolyubov called Katerina "a ray of light in a dark kingdom." Allegorically: a gratifying, bright phenomenon (a kind, pleasant person) in some difficult, depressing situation.
Better less is better
The title of the article (1923) by V. I. Lenin. The phrase is a symbol of the priority of quality over quantity.
Love for all ages
Quote from the poem "Eugene Onegin" (1831) by A. S. Pushkin. It is used as a playfully ironic comment about the ardent, youthful feelings of an elderly person.
Cannibal Ellochka
“William Shakespeare's dictionary is estimated by researchers to be 12,000 words. The vocabulary of a negro from the cannibalistic tribe "Mumbo Yumbo" is 300 words.
Ellochka Shchukina easily and freely managed thirty.
This is how chapter XXII, part II, “Cannibal Ellochka” begins in the novel “The Twelve Chairs” (1928) by Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov.
In the lexicon of the bourgeois Ellochka, such words as “famous”, “gloom”, “horror”, “lad”, “taxo”, etc., serve to express all her miserable feelings and thoughts. Her name has become a household name for people who fill their meager speech with fictitious catchphrases and vulgarisms.
Lasy to sharpen
The expression "to sharpen lyas" means "to talk nonsense, to engage in frivolous, pointless conversation." The expression comes from a simple old work - the manufacture of balusters: chiseled posts for railings. Lasy - presumably the same as balusters, balusters. A baluster was a turner who made balusters (in a figurative sense - a joker, a joker, a joker). The baluster craft was considered fun and easy, not requiring special concentration and giving the master the opportunity to sing, joke, chat with others.
M
Manilov. Manilovshchina
Manilov is one of the heroes of N.V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" (1842), a landowner, sugary-sweet in dealing with his family and guests, a sentimental, fruitless dreamer.
Disservice
The expression arose from the fable of I. A. Krylov "The Hermit and the Bear" (1808). It is used in the meaning: an inept, awkward service that brings harm, trouble instead of help.
Dead Souls
The title of a poem by N. V. Gogol, whose main character Chichikov, with a speculative purpose, buys "dead souls" from the landowners, who, according to documents, were listed alive before the next census. The expression has become winged in the meaning: people who are fictitiously listed somewhere, as well as people who are “dead in spirit”.
Petty-bourgeois happiness
The title of the story (1861) by N. G. Pomyalovsky. Used in the meaning: life without high goals, aspirations, filled with petty, everyday worries, acquisitiveness, etc.
A million torments
The words of Chatsky in the comedy by A. S. Griboyedov "Woe from Wit" (1824):
Yes, no urine: a million torments
Breasts from a friendly vice,
Feet from shuffling, ears from exclamations,
And more than a head from all sorts of trifles.
The expression became popular thanks to the widely known article “A Million of Torments” (1872) by the writer Ivan Goncharov (1812–1891), who rethought in it Griboedov's expression in the spirit of his time - spiritual, moral torment.
It is used jokingly and ironically: in relation to all kinds of nervous, long, various troubles, as well as to heavy thoughts, doubts about any important matter.
Bypass us more than all sorrows
And the lord's anger, and the lord's love
Quote from A. S. Griboedov's comedy "Woe from Wit", the words of the maid Lisa. Allegorically: it is better to stay away from the special attention of people on whom you depend, because from their love to their hatred is one step.
Mitrofan
The protagonist of the comedy "Undergrowth" (1782) by D. I. Fonvizin is a silly landowner's son, a spoiled undergrowth, a lazy person, incapable of learning. His name has become a household name for people of this type.
I don't like your gift
The road is your love
An expression from the Russian folk song "On the pavement street":
Ah, my dear is good,
Chernobrov, soul, handsome,
Brought me a present
Dear gift,
Gold ring from hand.
I don't care about your gift
The road is your love.
I don't want to wear a ring
I want to love my friend.
The meaning of the expression: it is not the cost and sophistication of the gift that are important, but the feelings that it is intended to express.
My universities
The title of an autobiographical story (1923) by M. Gorky; He calls universities the school of life he passed through.
The expression is often used with the replacement of the word "my" with another appropriate for the occasion.
To the young everywhere at we are dear
Quote from “Songs about the Motherland” in the film “Circus” (1936), text by V.I. Lebedev‑Kumach, music by I.O. Dunaevsky. It is used both literally and ironically, according to the situation.
Milk rivers and kissel banks
An expression from a Russian folk tale. It is used as a figurative definition of a carefree, free life.
Molchalin. Silence
Molchalin is the protagonist in A. S. Griboyedov’s comedy “Woe from Wit” (1824), a type of careerist, obsequious and modest in front of his superiors; he defines his virtues in two words: "moderation and accuracy." His name and the word "silence" that arose from him became synonymous with careerism, subservience.
Moscow ... how much in this sound
Merged for the Russian heart!
How much resonated in it!
Quote from the novel in verse "Eugene Onegin" (1831) by A. S. Pushkin. Expresses admiration for the capital of Russia, the historical, national features of Moscow, its appearance.
We all learned a little
Something and somehow
Quote from the novel in verse "Eugene Onegin" (1831) by A. S. Pushkin. It is used when it comes to amateurism, shallow, superficial knowledge in any area.
We cannot wait for favors from nature, it is our task to take them from her
The expression belongs to the Soviet genetics biologist and 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. It is quoted ironically about the absurd, objectively harmful to the interests of mankind plans to "conquer" nature. The phrase is a symbol of consumer attitude to nature.
We plowed
Quote from the fable of I. I. Dmitriev (1760–1837) “The Fly” (1803):
A bull with a plow to rest trudged through labors,
And the fly sat on his horns,
And they met Mukha on the road.
"Where are you from, sister?" - from this was a question.
And she raised her nose
In response, she says: “Where? -
We plowed!
The quotation is used to characterize people who want to show that they took an active part in some kind of work, although in reality their role was insignificant and they ascribe to themselves other people's merits.
We were born to make a fairy tale come true
Quote from the poem by P. D. German (1894–1952) “All the Higher”, dedicated to Soviet pilots:
We were born to make a fairy tale come true
Overcome space and space.
The mind gave us steel arms - wings,
And instead of a heart, a fiery engine ...
The poem set to music gained wide popularity, and its first line became winged. It is used ironically in relation to socialist doctrines and political slogans that have discredited themselves. It is also used as a playful compliment to oneself.
H
To the grandfather's village
In A.P. Chekhov’s story “Vanka” (1886), a nine-year-old peasant boy Vanka Zhukov, brought from the village to Moscow and apprenticed to a shoemaker, writes a letter to his grandfather. “Vanka folded the sheet of paper he had written in four and put it in an envelope, bought the day before for a penny ... After thinking a little, he dipped his pen and wrote the address: “To the village of grandfather.” Then he scratched himself, thought, and added: "Konstantin Makarych." The expression "grandfather's village" is used jokingly when talking about an inaccurate address or its absence.
At the bottom
“At the Bottom” is the title of M. Gorky’s play, first staged at the Moscow Art Theater on December 18, 1902. The first edition of the play, published in Munich that same year, was entitled “At the Bottom of Life”. According to I. A. Bunin, Leonid Andreev advised Gorky to give the play the name "At the Bottom", instead of "At the Bottom of Life".
These expressions are used when talking about the lowest rung of the social ladder, about the actual "falling out" of normal life.
At the dawn of a misty youth
Quote from A. V. Koltsov's (1809–1842) poem "Separation" (1840), set to music by A. Gurilev (1803–1858) and other composers. Used in the meaning: once upon a time, a long time ago.
Cuts soles on the go
The expression originated from a Russian folk tale about thieves. The old thief agreed to take a young guy as a comrade, but with an agreement: “I’ll take ... if you steal eggs from under a wild duck, you’ll steal so much that she won’t hear, and won’t fly off the nest.” - "What a wonder!" – answered the guy. So they went together, found a duck's nest and crawled to it on their belly. While the uncle (the thief) was still sneaking up, and the guy had already picked all the eggs from the nest, so cunningly that the bird did not move a feather; Yes, not only did he pick out the eggs, he casually cut the soles of the old thief's boots out of his boots. “Well, Vanka, there is nothing to teach you, you yourself are a great master!” So they jokingly talk about a clever, roguish person, capable of fraudulent tricks.
The song helps us to build and live
Quote from the "Merry Fellows March", lyrics by V.I. Lebedev-Kumach, music by I.O. Dunaevsky from the film "Merry Fellows" (1934).
The people are silent
The tragedy of A. S. Pushkin “Boris Godunov” (1831) ends with the following scene: the boyar Masalsky, one of the murderers of the widow of Boris Godunov and her son, announces to the people: “People! Maria Godunova and her son Theodore poisoned themselves with poison. We saw their dead bodies. (The people are silent in horror.) Why are you silent? Shout: long live Tsar Dimitri Ivanovich! (The people are silent.)"
The last remark, having become a catchphrase, is used when it comes to: 1. About the uncomplaining obedience of the people to power, about the lack of desire, will, courage to defend their interests. 2. About the silence of those present during the discussion of an important issue.
Our shelf has arrived
An expression from the ancient "game" song "And we sowed millet", known in many versions. This expression, as a rule, is used in the meaning: there are more people like us (in some respect).
Doesn't dance
The expression is used in the meaning: it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out the way it should. It arose from the story of N.V. Gogol "The Enchanted Place" (1832). The old grandfather, tipsy, started dancing, “the hell went to twist his feet all over the smooth place that was near the cucumber bed. I had just reached, however, halfway and I wanted to take a walk and throw some of my own thing with my feet at the whirlwind - my legs didn’t rise, and that’s all! .. I accelerated again, reached the middle - I didn’t take it! whatever you want to do: he doesn’t take it, and he doesn’t take it! Legs like wooden steel. “Look, devilish place! you see, a satanic obsession! .. ”He set off again and began to scratch fractionally, finely, lovingly to look; to the middle - no! doesn’t dance, and it’s full!
Don't tempt me unnecessarily
Quote from a poem by E. A. Baratynsky (1800–1844) "Reassurance" (1821), set to music by M. I. Glinka (1825):
Don't tempt me unnecessarily
The return of your tenderness.
Alien to the disappointed
All the lies of the old days!
Ironically about your disbelief in someone else's promises, assurances, etc.
I didn't have to go to the yard
So in the old days they talked about that “movable property” (especially about domestic animals), the acquisition of which ended in failure (the dishes were broken, the horse fell, etc.).
This expression is associated with the belief in brownies, who, according to our distant ancestors, were in charge of all the "house and yard", were their secret masters. Then "it was not necessary to the court" meant: the brownie did not like it.
Now the expression "did not come to court" is used in the sense of "inopportunely, not to your liking."
Don't be foolish
An expression from the tragedy of A. S. Pushkin “Boris Godunov” (1831), the scene “Night. A cell in the Miracle Monastery”, the words of the chronicler Pimen:
Describe, without further ado,
All that you will witness in life.
The expression is used in the meaning: no fuss, just.
Inspiration is not for sale
But you can sell the manuscript
Quote from A. S. Pushkin's poem "The Conversation of a Bookseller with a Poet" (1825). Used in the meaning: the commercial interest of the artist does not contradict the freedom of his creativity.
Not salty slurping
The origin of this expression is due to the fact that salt in Russia was an expensive and hard-to-find product. The owner always salted the food: the one whom he loved and respected - more, and the humble visitor sometimes did not get salt at all. Today, "not salty slurping" means "being deceived in one's expectations, not having achieved what one wanted, having met with a bad reception."
I don't want to study, I want to get married
The words of Mitrofanushka from the comedy "Undergrowth" (1782) by D. I. Fonvizin: "The hour of my will has come: I don't want to study, I want to get married." Quoted as an ironic commentary on the moods of idle, lazy, narrow-minded teenagers who are only interested in entertainment.
Sky in diamonds
An expression from A.P. Chekhov's play "Uncle Vanya" (1897). Sonya, comforting the tired, exhausted uncle Vanya, 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 be drowned in mercy, which will fill the whole world with itself, and our life will become quiet, gentle, sweet, like a caress.
The phrase is usually used jokingly ironically as a symbol of unattainable harmony, peace, happiness, fulfillment of desires.
Break a leg
This expression was originally used as a "spell" designed to deceive evil spirits. So they admonished those who went hunting; it was believed that a direct wish for good luck could "jinx" the prey. Rude response: "To hell!" was supposed to further secure the hunter.
No one will embrace the immensity
Aphorism from "The Fruits of Thoughts" (1854) by Kozma Prutkov.
Nothing is new [not forever] under the moon
From the poem "Experienced Solomon's Wisdom, or Selected Thoughts from Ecclesiastes" (1797) by N. M. Karamzin:
Nothing new under the sun
What is, was, will be forever.
And before the blood flowed like a river,
And before the man cried ...
In the first line, Karamzin used a catchy Latin expression, well known in Russia both in Russian translation and in the original language: Nil novi sub luna - nothing new under the sun.
The very work of Karamzin is a poetic imitation of the famous biblical text: “What was, will be; and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. There is something about which they say: “look, this is new”, but This was already in the ages that were before us ... "
Nozdrev. Nozdrevschina
One of the heroes of N. V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" (1842): "Everyone had to meet a lot of such people. They are called broken fellows… Something open, direct, and daring is always seen in their faces. They soon get to know each other, and before you have time to look back, “you” are already telling you. Friendship will lead, it seems, forever; but it almost always happens that a friend will fight them that same evening at a friendly feast. They are always talkers, revelers, reckless people, a prominent people ... The closer someone got along with him, he was more likely to piss everyone off: spread a fable, more stupid than which it is difficult to invent, upset a wedding, a trade deal and did not at all consider himself your enemy ... Maybe they will call him hackneyed character, they will say that now Nozdryov is no longer there. Alas! those who speak thus will be unjust. Nozdryov will not be out of the world for a long time. He is everywhere between us and, perhaps, only walks in a different caftan. His name has become synonymous with an empty talker, a gossip, a petty swindler; the word "nozdrevschina" is synonymous with chatter and boasting.
O
Oh my friend, Arkady Nikolaevich, don't speak beautifully
An expression from the novel by I. S. Turgenev “Fathers and Sons” (1862): “Look,” Arkady suddenly said, “a dry maple leaf has come off and is falling to the ground; its movements are completely similar to the flight of a butterfly. Isn't it strange? The saddest and deadest is similar to the most cheerful and alive. “O my friend, Arkady Nikolaevich! exclaimed Bazarov. “I ask you one thing: do not speak beautifully.” Bazarov's phrase is characterized by excessive eloquence where simplicity, logical sobriety of judgment is required.
Oblomov. Oblomovism
Oblomov - the hero of the novel of the same name (1859) I. A. Goncharova (1812–1891), a landowner living a sleepy, lazy, inactive life filled with idle dreams. His friend Stolz, a businessman and practitioner, calls this life “Oblomovism”.
The expressions “Oblomov”, “Oblomovism”, the wingedness of which was greatly facilitated by the article by N. A. Dobrolyubov “What is Oblomovism?” (1859), have become synonymous with mental laziness, inactivity, and a passive attitude towards life.
Formed
In Leo Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina (1875), the valet encourages his master, Stepan Arkadyevich Oblonsky, who is upset by a quarrel with his wife, with this word. This word, used in the sense of "everything will be settled", which became winged after the appearance of Tolstoy's novel, was undoubtedly heard by him somewhere. He used it in one of his letters to his wife back in 1866, urging her not to worry about various everyday troubles. His wife, in a reply letter, repeated his words: "Probably, all this will work out."
ordinary story
The title of the novel (1847) by I. A. Goncharov, which shows the life path of an enthusiastic provincial dreamer who turned into a prudent careerist official in St. Petersburg. The expression "ordinary story" characterizes stereotyped everyday or psychological situations.
Window to Europe
An expression from A. S. Pushkin's poem "The Bronze Horseman" (1834):
Here the city will be founded
To spite an arrogant neighbor.
Nature here is destined for us
Cut a window to Europe
Stand with a firm foot by the sea ...
In the first note to the poem, A. S. Pushkin considered it important to respect the copyright of the expression “window on Europe” and wrote: “Algarotti said somewhere: “Petersbourg est la fenetre par laquelle la Russie regarde en Europe”, that is, “Petersburg is a window through which Russia looks to Europe.”
Grandmother left horns and legs
A not entirely accurate quote from a song by an unknown author that has appeared in songbooks since 1855:
There lived a gray goat with my grandmother,
There lived a gray goat with my grandmother,
Fuck how! that's how! gray goat!
The grandmother of the goat was very fond of ...
The goat decided to take a walk in the forest ...
Gray wolves attacked the goat ...
Gray wolves ate a goat ...
Left grandmother horns and legs.
It is used jokingly and ironically about someone who has suffered a severe defeat, failure, etc.
Ostap Bender.
Grand schemer
In the satirical novels The Twelve Chairs (1928) and The Golden Calf (1931) by Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov, the protagonist Ostap Bender, a clever rogue who commits a series of fraudulent tricks, is ironically called the Great Combinator. His name and nickname The Great Schemer is applied to people of this type.
From Romulus to the present day
Quote from the novel in verse "Eugene Onegin" (1831) by A. S. Pushkin. It is used ironically as a characteristic of a long story about something begun from afar, and also as a definition of something that has long existed (Romulus is the mythical founder of Rome).
From young nails
The expression is found in many monuments of ancient Russian literature, for example, in the “Message of Nicephorus, Metropolitan of Kyiv, led. Prince Volodimir" (XII century): "Cleanse from young nails" and in "The Tale of Uliya Murom": "Love God from young nails." Used in the meaning: from childhood, from a young age.
From joy in the goiter breath stole
Quote from I. A. Krylov's fable "The Crow and the Fox" (1808).
Where are you from, beautiful child?
A quote from A. S. Pushkin's drama "Mermaid" (1837), with these words the prince addresses the little mermaid.
The wingedness of this quote was facilitated by the opera by A. S. Dargomyzhsky (1855), written on the plot of Pushkin's drama. The quote is almost always given ironically, jokingly, as a question to someone who suddenly appeared.
Shelving
It is used in the meaning: to delay the execution of any business for an indefinite time. There are several options for the origin of phraseology:
- the expression dates back to the times of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, a box for petitions was nailed in front of his palace, these petitions were sorted out by boyars and clerks, many remained unanswered;
- the most insignificant and unhurried petitions and complaints were put aside in the long drawer of the desk in Russian offices.
Fathers and Sons
The title of the novel (1862) by I. S. Turgenev, which became in the 19th century. synonymous with the strife of two generations - the old and the young.
Oh, you are heavy, Monomakh's hat!
Quote from the tragedy of A. S. Pushkin "Boris Godunov" (1831), Boris' monologue. "Monomakh" in Greek - single combatant; a nickname attached to the names of some Byzantine emperors. In ancient Russia, this nickname was assigned to the Grand Duke Vladimir of Kyiv (beginning of the 12th century), from whom the Muscovite tsars originated. Monomakh's cap is the crown with which Moscow tsars were crowned to the kingdom, a symbol of royal power. The above quotation characterizes some difficult situation.
Wanderlust
They were overcome with anxiety,
Wanderlust
(Very painful property,
Few voluntary cross).
He left his village
Forests and fields solitude ...
And he began to wander aimlessly.
P
Wash the bones
Used in the meaning: to discuss someone in his absence. The expression goes back to the forgotten rite of reburial: three years after the death of the deceased, the deceased was removed from the grave, the bones were cleaned of decay and re-buried. This action was accompanied by memories of the deceased, an assessment of his character, deeds and deeds.
Pechorin. Pechorinstvo
The main protagonist of the novel "A Hero of Our Time" (1840) by M. Yu. Lermontov, the embodiment of a social type, characteristic, according to the author, for his time, when deep, strong people could not find a worthy way of self-realization for themselves. Critic V. G. Belinsky wrote about this hero of the post-Decembrist stagnation that he was characterized by "a contradiction between the depth of nature and the pitifulness of actions."
The name Pechorin has become a household name for the Russian romantic hero of the Byronic type, which is characterized by dissatisfaction with life, skepticism, searching for oneself in this life, suffering from misunderstanding from others and at the same time contempt for them. Hence the "pechorinism" - the desire to imitate Pechorin, "to be interesting", to play the role of a mysterious, fatal personality.
Feast in Time of Plague
The name of the dramatic scenes (1832) by A. S. Pushkin, the basis for which was a scene from the poem of the English poet John Wilson "The Plague City" (1816). Used in the meaning: a feast, a cheerful, carefree life during some kind of public disaster.
Bad is the soldier who does not think to be a general
In the work of A.F. Pogossky (1816–1874) “Soldier’s Notes” (1855), among the aphorisms modeled on proverbs, is: “The bad soldier is the one who does not think to be a general, and even worse is the one who thinks too much that will be with him." Dahl's dictionary contains a proverb: "A thin soldier who does not hope to be a general" (cf. "Every French soldier carries a marshal's baton in his satchel"). It is usually used to encourage, encourage someone in his enterprise, bold plan, idea.
Plushkin. Plushkinism
One of the heroes of N. V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" (1842), a miser landowner whose stinginess reached mania. His name has become a household name for people of this type, and the word "plushkinism" is synonymous with painful stinginess.
By pike command, by my desire [by request]
An expression from a Russian folk tale: the wonderful pike caught by Emelya was set free by him, for this she made it so that any of his desires was fulfilled, he had only to say: “At the command of the pike, according to my desire, let this and that -then". Used in the meaning: miraculously, as if by itself.
Success is never blamed
These words are attributed to Catherine II (1729–1796), who allegedly expressed herself in this way when A.V. Suvorov was brought to court martial for the assault on Turtukai in 1773, which he undertook against the orders of Field Marshal Rumyantsev.
However, the story about Suvorov's arbitrary actions and about bringing him to trial is refuted by serious researchers and belongs to the realm of anecdotes.
Algebra check harmony
An expression from the tragedy of A. S. Pushkin "Mozart and Salieri" (1832), from Salieri's monologue:
Craft
I set a footstool for art:
I have become a craftsman: fingers
Gave obedient, dry fluency
And fidelity to the ear. Dead sounds,
I tore apart the music like a corpse.
I believed harmony with algebra.
Then I already dared, tempted in science,
Indulge in the bliss of a creative dream.
It is used ironically about a hopeless attempt to judge artistic creativity, based only on the rational principle, excluding feelings.
Underground truth
Used in the meaning: the true essence of something. One of the types of torture in Ancient Russia was that the interrogated person was driven under the nails with needles, nails or wooden wedges in order to force him to tell the whole truth. The expression “to know all the ins and outs” is also connected with this.
Wait a bit,
Rest and you
Quote from M. Yu. Lermontov's poem "From Goethe" (1840):
Mountain peaks
Sleep in the darkness of the night;
quiet valleys
Full of fresh haze;
The road is not dusty
Sheets do not tremble ...
Wait a bit,
You will rest too.
Signed, so off your shoulders
Quote from A. S. Griboyedov's comedy "Woe from Wit" (1824). Famusov, in response to the words of his secretary Molchalin, that he brought business papers that require many certificates, says:
I'm afraid, sir, I'm deadly alone,
So that a multitude does not accumulate them;
Give free rein to you, it would have settled down;
And I have what's the matter, what's not the case,
My custom is this:
Signed, so off your shoulders.
This expression is applied to people who are superficially, formally related to the case.
After the rain on Thursday
It is believed that this expression is due to the fact that in the old days Thursday was dedicated to Perun, the god of thunder and lightning. Prayers were offered to him for rain, especially during a drought. People believed that he should be most willing to fulfill requests on "his" day, Thursday. And since these requests often remained unfulfilled, Christians began to be rather skeptical of this deity and, convinced of the futility of such prayers, expressed with this phrase their complete distrust of the god Perun. The expression "after the rain on Thursday" began to be applied to everything unrealizable, to that which is not known when it will be fulfilled.
Confound
It is used in the meaning: to lead to bewilderment, to put in a difficult position. A dead end is still called a “stupid”, that is, a street or lane that does not have a through passage or passage. In rural life, a dead end was a corner on the street formed by two wicker fences - wattle fences. Thus, a dead end is something like a trap that makes it impossible to either pass or drive forward.
Despicable metal
This expression is widely popularized by I. A. Goncharov’s novel “An Ordinary Story” (1847): “You have an uncle and a friend - do you hear? and if you need service, employment and despicable metal, feel free to contact me: you will always find both, and the other, and the third.
However, the expression was in use even before Goncharov's novel. So, for example, it is found in the “Workshop and Living Room” (1842) by P. Furman and in “Travel Notes of Mr. Vedrin” (1843) by A. I. Herzen. Used in the meaning: money.
Under King Peas
An expression used in the meaning: a very long time ago, in ancient times, "when King Peas fought with mushrooms."
The habit from above is given to us:
She is a substitute for happiness
Quote from the novel in verse "Eugene Onegin" (1831) by A. S. Pushkin.
Come to the hat parsing
Denotes to come somewhere too late, when everything is already over. According to the old Russian custom, when entering a room or a church, men took off their hats and folded them at the entrance. Each meeting, gathering ended with the analysis of hats. The latecomer came to the analysis of hats, that is, to the end.
Prosessed
An expression from a poem by V. V. Mayakovsky (1893–1930) entitled “Our way of life. Prosessed" (1922). Allegorically about those who like to arrange long and useless meetings, meetings, etc.
The delay of death is like
In 1711 BC, before the Prut 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 with the necessary orders, "before the passage of time is like death irrevocably." S. M. Solovyov in "History of Russia from ancient times" (1851 –1879), quoting a letter from Peter I dated April 8 1711 according to the original, cites his words in the edition: “Before the passing of time is like an irrevocable death.” Winged words of Peter I received in a shorter form: "Procrastination is like death."
Bird troika
An expression from N. V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" (1842): "Oh, troika! bird troika, who invented you? to know that you could only be born among a lively people, in that land that does not like to joke, but spread out halfway around the world like a smooth one, and go and count miles until it fills your eyes. And not a cunning, it seems, road projectile, not captured by an iron screw, but hastily, alive with one ax and a chisel, an efficient Yaroslavl peasant equipped and assembled you. The coachman is not in German boots: a beard and mittens, and the devil knows what he sits on; but he got up and swung, and dragged on a song - the horses whirlwind, the spokes in the wheels mixed up in one smooth circle, only the road trembled, and the stopped pedestrian screamed in fright - and there she rushed, rushed, rushed! .. And you can already see in the distance, how something dusts and drills the air. Isn't it true that you too, Rus, that a brisk, unbeatable troika are rushing about? The road smokes under you, the bridges rumble, everything lags behind and is left behind. The contemplative, amazed by God's miracle, stopped: is it not lightning thrown from the sky? what does this terrifying movement mean? and what kind of unknown power lies in these horses unknown to the light? Oh, horses, horses, what horses! Are whirlwinds sitting in your manes? Does a sensitive ear burn in every vein of yours? They heard a familiar song from above, together and at once strained their copper breasts and, almost without touching the ground with their hooves, turned into only elongated lines flying through the air, and all inspired by God rushes! .. Russia, where are you rushing to? Give an answer. Doesn't give an answer. A bell is filled with a wonderful ringing; the air torn to pieces rumbles and becomes the wind; everything that is on earth flies past, and, looking sideways, step aside and give it the way other peoples and states!
bird language
This is how Professor of Astronomy at Moscow University D. M. Perevoshchikov (1788–1880) called the scientific and philosophical language of the 1820s–1840s, overloaded with terms and formulations obscuring the meaning.
Allegorically: incomprehensible professional jargon, inappropriate in everyday speech, as well as abstruse, artificial, broken language, alien to the rules and norms of the Russian language.
The bullet is a fool, the bayonet is well done
The words of the great Russian commander A. V. Suvorov (1730–1800) from the manual for combat training of troops, “The Science of Victory”, written by him in 1796.
Pull the wool over someone's eyes
The expression appeared in the 16th century. Now it is used in the sense of "creating a false impression of one's capabilities." However, the original meaning is different: during fisticuffs, dishonest fighters took with them bags of sand, which they threw into the eyes of their opponents. In 1726, this technique was banned by a special decree.
Indulge in all the hard
Large bells in Ancient Russia were called "heavy". The expression "to hit hard" meant: to hit all the bells at once. This is where the winged expression “go into all serious trouble” arose, which is used in the meaning: to stray from the right path of life, to begin to indulge uncontrollably in fun, extravagance, revelry.
There is another version, which claims that “going all out” meant “starting a lawsuit, a lawsuit; sue anyone."
Let the storm come on!
Quote from "The Song of the Petrel" (1901) by M. Gorky. Allegorically about the desire for cleansing upheavals and changes.
Ticket to life
Movie title based on the script (1931) by N. Eck (1902–1976) and A. Stolper (1907–1979). The plot of the film is that former homeless children, and now inhabitants of the children's labor commune, find their way in life, thanks to skilled educators, and become worthy members of society.
Allegorically about something that gives a person reason to hope that a full of events, an interesting, arranged life awaits him ahead.
R
broken trough
From "The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish" (1835) by A. S. Pushkin. The expression is used in the meaning: loss of a brilliant position, broken hopes.
Cut into walnut
The meaning of "scold, criticize" arose from this turnover on the basis of the older one - "to do (something) very thoroughly and well." In its original meaning, the expression appeared in the professional speech of carpenters and cabinetmakers and was due to the fact that the manufacture of walnut furniture from other types of wood required a lot of work and good knowledge of the matter.
Cheer up, shoulder!
Wave your hand!
Quote from A. V. Koltsov's poem "Mower" (1835):
Cheer up, shoulder!
Wave your hand!
Buzz, scythe,
Like a swarm of bees!
Moloney, braid,
Shine all around!
Shut up grass
Podkoshonnaya…
Ironically, about the desire to "cut off the shoulder", to act imprudently, rashly.
Reason contrary to the elements
Quote from A. S. Griboyedov’s comedy “Woe from Wit” (1824), words by Chatsky.
Used in the sense: contrary to common sense.
Spreading thought along the tree
An expression from “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”, a monument of Russian literature of the 12th century, first published in 1800: “Boyan is prophetic, if anyone wants to create a song, then it spreads with thought along the tree, a gray wolf on the ground, a shiz eagle under the clouds” , i.e.: “After all, the prophetic Boyan, if he wanted to compose a song for someone, then spread his thought along the tree, like a gray wolf on the ground, a gray eagle under the clouds.” The expression "spreading thoughts along the tree" among the commentators of the Lay received various interpretations. Some consider the word “thought” to be inconsistent with the other two members of the comparison - “rolling on the ground”, “shizy eagle under the clouds”, - offering to read “mysia”, explaining “mys” with the Pskov pronunciation of the word “mouse”; in the Pskov province, a squirrel was called a cape, even in the 19th century. Others do not consider such a replacement necessary, "not seeing the need to bring the symmetry of comparison to the utmost precision."
The word “tree” is explained by commentators as an allegorical tree of wisdom and inspiration: “to spread thoughts along the tree” - to create songs, inspired poetic creations. However, the poetic image of the "Word" "to spread the thought over the tree" entered the literary speech with a completely different meaning: to go into unnecessary details, distracting from the main idea.
Born to crawl cannot fly
Quote from the "Song of the Falcon" by M. Gorky. This poetic formula of Gorky coincides with the final maxim in the fable of I. I. Khemnitser (1745–1784) “The Man and the Cow”. The fable tells how a man, having lost his horse, saddled a cow, which “fell down under the rider ... no wonder: the cow did not learn to ride ... And therefore it should know: who was born to crawl, he can’t fly.”
Snout in fluff
An expression from the fable of I. A. Krylov "The Fox and the Marmot" (1813). The fox complains to the Groundhog that she suffers in vain and, slandered, was expelled for bribes:
- You know, I was a judge in the chicken coop,
Lost health and peace in business,
I didn’t eat a piece in the labors,
Nights did not sleep:
And I fell under anger for that;
And all by slander. Well, think for yourself:
Who in the world will be right if you listen to slander?
Should I take bribes? yes, I'm pissed off!
Well, have you seen, I will send for you,
That I was involved in this sin?
Think, remember well
- No, gossip; I often saw
That your stigma is down.
The expression is used in the meaning: to be involved in something criminal, unseemly.
With
From ship to ball
An expression from the novel in verse "Eugene Onegin" (1831) by A. S. Pushkin:
And travel to him
Like everything in the world, tired,
He returned and got
Like Chatsky, from the ship to the ball.
This expression is characterized by an unexpected, abrupt change in situations and circumstances.
With a sweet paradise and in a hut
Quote from the poem by N. M. Ibragimov (1778–1818) “Russian song” (“In the evening, the girl is beautiful ...”):
Do not look for me, rich:
You are not dear to my soul.
What do I, what are your chambers?
With a sweet paradise and in a hut!
The meaning of the expression: the main thing in family happiness is not special everyday comfort, but love, mutual understanding, agreement with a loved one.
With a learned air of a connoisseur
Quote from the novel in verse "Eugene Onegin" (1831) by A. S. Pushkin:
He had a lucky talent
No compulsion to speak
Touch everything lightly
With a learned air of a connoisseur
To remain silent in an important dispute ...
With feeling, with sense, with arrangement
Quote from A. S. Griboedov's comedy "Woe from Wit" (1824):
Don't read like a sexton
And with feeling, with sense, with arrangement.
Fresh legend, but hard to believe
Quote from A. S. Griboedov's comedy "Woe from Wit" (1824):
How to compare and see
The current century and the past century:
Fresh legend, but hard to believe.
Northern Palmyra
Palmyra is a city in Syria that arose in the 1st millennium BC. e. In ancient times, it was famous for the splendor of its buildings. Northern Palmyra is the figurative name of St. Petersburg.
Homemade truth
The expression of Ostap Bender, the protagonist of the novel by I. Ilf and E. Petrov "The Golden Calf" (1931), used by him in the meaning: deep folk wisdom (skinny - dressed in a sermyaga, peasant clothes made of coarse unpainted homespun cloth).
There is no beast stronger than a cat
Quote from I. A. Krylov's fable "Mouse and Rat" (1816).
- Neighbor, have you heard a good rumor? -
Running in, the Mouse said to the Rat:
After all, the cat, they say, fell into the claws of a lion?
It's time to relax and it's time for us!
Do not rejoice, my light, -
The Rat says to her: -
And do not hope in vain!
If it reaches their claws,
That's right, the lion will not be alive:
There is no beast stronger than a cat!
Megillah
The expression arose from a “boring” fairy tale, which is teased by children who pester with a request to tell them a fairy tale: “Shall I tell you a fairy tale about a white bull? - Tell. - You tell me, tell me, tell me a fairy tale about a white bull? - Tell. - You tell me, but I tell you how long we will have, but how long it will be! Shall I tell you a fairy tale about a white bull? and so on, until one gets tired of asking and the other answers. The expression is used in the meaning: endless repetition of the same thing.
Puffer
The protagonist of A. S. Griboyedov’s comedy “Woe from Wit” (1824), a colonel, a representative of the rough army of tsarist Russia, an ignorant and self-satisfied careerist. His name has become synonymous with a rude ignoramus, martinet.
Scandal in a noble family
Under this name, an anonymous vaudeville was staged in Moscow in 1874, the plot of which was borrowed from the German comedy Der liebe Onkel (Moskovskie Vedomosti, 1 Oct. 1874 G.). The vaudeville was published, also anonymously, in 1875 in St. Petersburg. The author of Russian vaudeville, and therefore the expression "scandal in a noble family", is N. I. Kulikov (1815–1891). This vaudeville remained in the theatrical repertoire for a long time, and its name became a catch phrase.
Skotinin
The protagonist of D. I. Fonvizin's comedy "Undergrowth" (1782), the type of ignorant and rude landowner-serf, whose surname characterizes his bestial nature. His name has become a household name for people of this type.
Miserly knight
The hero of the drama of the same name (1836) by A. S. Pushkin, a synonym for a miser, miser.
They won’t say a word in simplicity, everything is with an antics
Quote from A. S. Griboyedov’s comedy “Woe from Wit” (1824), words by Famusov.
Elephant not to be noticed
The expression arose from the fable "Curious" (1814) by I. A. Krylov. A visitor to the Kunstkamera saw small insects there, but to the question: “Have you seen an elephant?” - replies: "I did not notice the elephant." The expression “do not notice the elephant” is used in the meaning: not to notice the most important, important.
I would be glad to serve, it's sickening to serve
A quote from A. S. Griboyedov’s comedy “Woe from Wit” (1824), the words of Chatsky, who, in response to Famusov’s offer to go to serve, thus determines his attitude to the service.
Laugh, right, it's not a sin
Over everything that seems funny
Quote from N. M. Karamzin's poem "Message to Alexander Alekseevich Pleshcheev" (1796):
Who calls the muses out of boredom
And gentle graces, their companions;
Verses, prose amuses
Themselves, domestic and strangers;
Laughing from a pure heart
(Laugh, right, it’s not a sin!)
Over everything that seems funny -
The one in the world will get along with the world
And his days will not stop
With sharp iron or poison ...
Look at the root!
Aphorism (1854) by Kozma Prutkov.
Sobakevich
One of the heroes of N. V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" (1842), a type of rude landowner.
His name has become synonymous with a money-grubber, a rude person and unfriendly to everyone, as well as a retrograde.
Sun of Russian poetry
A figurative definition of the meaning of the great Russian poet A. S. Pushkin. This is an expression from a brief notice of the death of the poet, published on January 30, 1837 in No. 5 of the Literary Supplements to the Russian Invalid: “The sun of our poetry has set! Pushkin died, died in the prime of his life, in the middle of his great career!.. We have no more strength to talk about this, and there is no need to: every Russian heart knows the full price of this irretrievable loss, and every Russian heart will be torn to pieces. Pushkin! our poet! our joy, our people's glory!.. Really, we don't really have Pushkin anymore! You can't get used to this idea! January 29, 2:45 p.m. The author of this notice was considered the journalist A. A. Kraevsky, editor of Literary Additions. However, from the letter of S. N. Karamzina to her brother it is clear that in reality the author of this notice is V. F. Odoevsky.
broke!
The expression became popular after the production (1855) of the comedy by A. V. Sukhovo‑Kobylin (1817–1903) Krechinsky's Wedding. This is how the hero of the comedy Krechinsky exclaims, when all the machinations he had cunningly invented failed and the police came to arrest him.
Sleeveless (work)
So they say about carelessly, lazily, somehow done work. In ancient Russia, they wore outerwear with exorbitantly long sleeves, the unrolled ends of which fell to the knees, and even to the ground. Naturally, without lifting such sleeves, there was nothing to think about work. Close to this expression is the second, opposite in meaning and born later: “To work with your sleeves rolled up”, that is, decisively, ardently, with zeal.
Tearing off all and sundry masks
From the article "Leo Tolstoy as a Mirror of the Russian Revolution" (1908) by V. I. Lenin. Revealing “flashy contradictions” in Tolstoy’s work, he wrote: “On the one hand, the most sober realism, tearing off all and sundry masks; on the other hand, the preaching of one of the most infamous things that exists in the world, namely: religion, the desire to put in place priests from public office, priests from moral conviction, that is, the cultivation of the most refined and therefore especially disgusting priesthood.
Allegorically: accusatory moods and corresponding actions.
Pick flowers of pleasure
An expression from N. V. Gogol's comedy The Inspector General (1836), Khlestakov's words: “I love to eat. After all, you live to pluck the flowers of pleasure. Used in the meaning: selfishly, carelessly enjoy the pleasures of life, not thinking about your family or social duty.
Stand before me like a leaf before grass!
An expression from a Russian folk tale. Ivan the Fool summons his magic horse with a spell: "Sivka Burka, prophetic Kaurko, stand in front of me like a leaf in front of grass." The expression is used in the meaning: appear instantly!
take a back seat
The word was introduced into literary speech by F. M. Dostoevsky. It first appeared in his story "Double" in 1843, used in the meaning of "shut up, droop, quietly, furtively hide."
Fate plays with man
The phrase from the song “Noisy, the fire of Moscow was burning”, which is a reworking of the poem “He” (that is, Napoleon) by N. S. Sokolov (1850).
Happy is he who visited this world
In fatal moments
Quote from the poem by F. I. Tyutchev (1803-1873) "Cicero" (1836). In ed. "Tyutchev. Lyrics "(1965): "Blessed is he who visited ..."
Happy hours don't watch
Quote from A. S. Griboyedov's comedy "Woe from Wit" (1824). This expression can be associated with the words from the drama "Piccolomini" (1800) by Schiller: "Die Uhr schlagt keinem Gliicklihen" ("The clock does not strike the lucky one").
Sons of Lieutenant Schmidt
The first two chapters of the satirical novel by I. Ilf and E. Petrov "The Golden Calf" (1931) tells about clever swindlers who derive various benefits by posing as the sons of Lieutenant Schmidt, the leader of the revolutionary uprising of sailors in Sevastopol in 1905, who was shot at judgment of the royal court. The name "sons of Lieutenant Schmidt", which has become winged, is applied to crooks of this type.
Cheese forest flared up
The expression “cheese forest flared up” comes from the proverb “A damp forest caught fire because of a pine”, which means that a big trouble can arise because of a mere trifle.
A plot worthy of Aivazovsky's brush
Quote from A.P. Chekhov's play "Uncle Vanya" (1897). This phrase is pronounced by Telegin. In response to the words of the old nanny about the quarrel between Voinitsky and Serebryakov: “This morning they made a fuss, shooting is a shame,” he remarks: “Yes, a plot worthy of Aivazovsky’s brush.” Before Chekhov, this expression is already found in the journalism of the 1860s and 1870s, and in a slightly different form - “worthy of a brush” by someone - it was in use even earlier; for example, in Pushkin, in a note in Lit. gas.", 1830, we read: "The image of Sorvantsov [in Fonvizin's Conversation with Princess Khaldina] is worthy of the brush that painted the Prostakov family."
T
Table of ranks
This is the name of the list of officials of the military, civil and court departments, established by the law of Peter I (1722) on the procedure for public service in Russia. Allegorically: a comparative assessment of merits in a certain area of professional activity.
So he wrote dark and sluggish
A quote from the novel in verse "Eugene Onegin" by A. S. Pushkin (1828), a description of the poems of Vladimir Lensky:
So he wrote dark and sluggish,
(What we call romanticism,
Although there is no romanticism here
I don't see...)
Theater begins with a hanger
Aphorism of one of the founders of the Moscow Art Theater K. S. Stanislavsky (1863–1938). There is no such aphorism in his writings, but oral rumor ascribes it to him. A phrase close in thought to this aphorism is found in a letter from K. S. Stanislavsky to the wardrobe department of the Moscow Art Theater dated January 23, 1933. Answering “a greeting on the day of his seventieth birthday, he wrote: “Our Art Theater differs from many other theaters in that in The performance starts from the moment you enter the theater building. You are the first to meet the incoming spectators ... "
dark kingdom
This is the title of an article (1859) by N. A. Dobrolyubov, devoted to the analysis of the plays by A. N. Ostrovsky. Speaking about the various types of merchant tyranny depicted by Ostrovsky, Dobrolyubov made a generalization and showed the life of feudal Russia as a “dark kingdom”, “stinking dungeon”, “a world of dull aching pain, a world of prison, grave silence”. “Nothing sacred, nothing pure, nothing right in this dark world: the tyranny that dominates it, wild, insane, wrong, drove away any consciousness of honor and right ... And they cannot be where human dignity is thrown into dust and brazenly trampled by tyrants, freedom of the individual, faith in love and happiness, and the sacredness of honest labor.” The expression "dark kingdom", after the appearance of Dobrolyubov's article, began to denote not only the world of tyrant merchants or a dark and inert environment in general, but became a symbol of autocratic serf Russia (see Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom).
Timurovets
The hero of the story by Arkady Gaidar (pseudonym of A.P. Golikov, 1904–1941) “Timur and his team” (1940), pioneer Timur decides, together with a team of peers he has assembled, to take care of the families of soldiers who have gone to the Red Army. The story of Gaidar, who managed to see the extraordinary in everyday life, gave rise among schoolchildren to the social movement of Timurovites, equal in their behavior to the brave, active, honest and generous Timur. The hero of the story became a model for numerous young patriots who helped the Motherland during the difficult years of the Great Patriotic War.
pip on the tongue
A pip is a small, horny bump on the tip of a bird's tongue that helps them peck at food. The growth of this tubercle may be a sign of illness. Painful hard pimples can also appear on a person's tongue; they were also called pips and considered a sign of deceit. From these observations and superstitions, the incantation formula was born: “Pip on your tongue!” Its main meaning was: "You are a liar: let you have a pip on your tongue!" Now the meaning of this spell has changed somewhat. "Pip on your tongue!" - an ironic wish to someone who expressed an unkind thought, predicted an unpleasant one.
The darkness of low truths is dearer to me
The deceit that elevates us
Quote from A. S. Pushkin's poem "Hero" (1831).
At
In the middle of nowhere
The expression means: very far, somewhere in the wilderness. Kulichki is a modified dialect word kulizhki (from kuliga) meaning “forest clearings; places burned, cut down and adapted for cultivating the land, as well as islands in the swamp. Kulizhki were, as a rule, far from villages and villages, hence the meaning of the expression: “in the middle of nowhere” - very far away, no one knows where.
Terrible age, terrible hearts
Quote from the drama by A. S. Pushkin "The Miserly Knight" (1836). Sometimes it is quoted inaccurately: instead of "terrible" - "iron".
Mind, honor and conscience of our era
From the article “Political blackmail” (1917) by V. I. Lenin, in which he characterizes his party (Bolsheviks) in this way. Speaking against the Russian press of a different, non-Bolshevik orientation, calling its journalists “blackmailers” and “slanderers”, V. I. Lenin wrote: “We will stand firm in branding blackmailers. Let us be adamant in examining the slightest doubts by the court of class-conscious workers, by the court of our party, we believe in it, in it we see the mind, honor and conscience of our era ... "
Quoted ironically about a party claiming leadership, special moral qualities, special knowledge.
Mind Chamber
The word "chamber" in the Old Russian language meant a large room in a stone building. Then it began to be applied to various institutions located in such vast buildings: the Armory, the Faceted Chamber ... All sorts of meetings usually took place in the chambers, the boyars in them “think of the sovereign's Duma”. Hence the expression “mind chamber” arose, which depicted a person who was equal in mind to the whole assembly of sages. In the future, however, it acquired an ironic meaning: now they say this more often about fools than about smart people.
Moderation and prudence
With these words, in A. S. Griboyedov’s comedy “Woe from Wit” (1824), Molchalin defines his two virtues.
Humiliated and insulted
The title of the novel (1861) by F. M. Dostoevsky. The expression is used as a characteristic of people who suffer from the arbitrariness of officials, the powers that be, from difficult living conditions, etc.
A helpful fool is more dangerous than an enemy
An expression from the fable of I. A. Krylov "The Hermit and the Bear" (1808):
Although the service is dear to us in need,
But not everyone knows how to take it:
God forbid to contact the fool!
A helpful fool is more dangerous than an enemy.
Learn, learn and learn
The slogan that arose from the article by V. I. Lenin “Better less, but better” (1923): “We must by all means set ourselves the task of updating our state apparatus: firstly, to study, secondly, to study and thirdly, to study and then check that science among us does not remain a dead letter or a fashionable phrase (and this, there is nothing to hide, it happens especially often with us), so that science really enters into flesh and blood, turns into an integral element of everyday life fully and truly."
F
Famusov
The protagonist of A. S. Griboedov’s comedy “Woe from Wit” (1824), an important Moscow gentleman, holding the post of “manager in a government place”, a careerist bureaucrat, obsequious to those above him and arrogant towards his subordinates. Some commentators explained his surname as derived from the Latin word fama (rumour); others explain its origin from the English word famous (famous, famous). This name has become a household name for people of this type.
Physicists and lyricists
The expression opposing the importance of physicists-scientists working in the field of exact sciences, the importance of poets, arose from the so-titled poem by B. Slutsky, published in Literaturnaya Gazeta on October 13, 1959.
Filkin's letter
The author of this expression is considered to be Tsar Ivan IV, nicknamed the Terrible by the people for mass executions and murders. To strengthen his power, Ivan the Terrible introduced the oprichnina, which terrified all of Russia. In this regard, the Moscow Metropolitan Philip, in his numerous letters to the tsar - letters - sought to convince Grozny to dissolve the oprichnina. The obstinate Metropolitan Terrible contemptuously called Filka, and his letters - Filkin's letters. For the bold denunciations of Grozny and his guardsmen, Metropolitan Philip was imprisoned in the Tver Monastery, where Malyuta Skuratov strangled him. The expression "filkin's letter" has taken root among the people. In the beginning, they simply talked about documents that had no legal force. And now it also means "an ignorant, illiterate document."
Frenchie from Bordeaux
An expression from the comedy by A. S. Griboedov “Woe from Wit” (1824), the words of Chatsky:
In that room, an insignificant meeting:
A Frenchman from Bordeaux, puffing his chest,
Gathered around him a kind of vecha
And he said how he was equipped on the way
To Russia, to the barbarians, with fear and tears...
It was used ironically at the address of some arrogant, boastful foreigners.
X
Khlestakov, Khlestakovism
The hero of N.V. Gogol's comedy The Inspector General (1836) is a liar and a braggart. His name has become a household name; "Khlestakovism", "Khlestakovism" - shameless, boastful lies.
Walking through the torments [ordeals]
The expression goes back to the ancient belief of Christians in the walking of the souls of dead sinners through torments, or through “trials”, for forty days, when demons subject them to all kinds of tortures.
In the Soviet press, this expression became especially popular after the appearance of the trilogy of A. N. Tolstoy (1882/83‑1945) “Walking through the torments” (1920–1941) from the era of the civil war, which tells about the painful ideological searches of its heroes and the difficult trials that fell to their lot. Denotes difficult, various life trials, one after another that befell someone.
housekeeping man
The title of an essay by M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin from the cycle “Little Things in Life” (1886). In the face of the "economic peasant" Saltykov depicts the type of "honest", "reasonable" middle peasant, whose only goal in life is the creation of personal prosperity.
Although the eye sees, but the tooth is numb
Quote from I. A. Krylov's fable "The Fox and the Grapes" (1808). Already in the middle of the XIX century. this expression was considered a folk proverb and was included in collections of Russian folklore.
At least a stake on your head
So they say about a stubborn, unyielding or indifferent person. To cut a stake means to sharpen a stick (stake) with an axe. The firmness and strength of the head of a stubborn person is emphasized.
textbook gloss
An expression from V. V. Mayakovsky’s poem “Jubilee” (1924), written for the 125th anniversary of Pushkin’s birth; in this poem, referring to Pushkin, the poet says:
I love you, but alive, not a mummy,
They brought a textbook gloss.
You, I think, during your lifetime - I think - also raged.
African!
This expression characterizes the "varnishing" of reality, its embellished image.
C
Princess Nesmeyana
In a Russian folk tale, Princess Nesmeyana is the tsar's daughter, who "never smiled, never laughed, as if her heart did not rejoice at anything." It is figuratively called a quiet, shy girl.
H
What would you like?
So M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin called the newspaper Novoye Vremya, which became famous in the 70s and 80s of the 19th century. its political venality, unscrupulousness and adaptability to the political elite (the articles "In the Environment of Moderation and Accuracy", "Lord Molchalin", "All the Year Round", etc.). This is a common phrase with which lackeys turned to the gentlemen, waiting for orders.
man in a case
Title of the story (1898) by A.P. Chekhov.
The protagonist is a provincial teacher Belikov, who is afraid of any innovations, actions that are not allowed by the "bosses", as well as reality in general. Hence his favorite expression: "No matter what happens ...". And, as the author writes, Belikov “had a constant and irresistible desire to surround himself with a shell, to create for himself, so to speak, a case that would seclude him, protect him from external influences.”
As a common noun, this expression began to be used by its author himself. In a letter to his sister M. P. Chekhova, he wrote (November 19, 1899): “The November winds are blowing furiously, whistling, tearing roofs. I sleep in a cap, in shoes, under two blankets, with closed shutters - a man in a case.
Jokingly ironically: a person who is afraid of bad weather, drafts, unpleasant external influences.
Man - that sounds proud
An expression from M. Gorky's play “At the Bottom” (1902), the words of Satin: “Man! It's great! It sounds… proud! Man! You have to respect the person."
The darker the night, the brighter the stars
Quote from a poem by A. N. Maikov (1821-1897), from the cycle of the 80s of the XIX century. "From Apollodorus the Gnostic":
Don't say there's no escape
What are you exhausted in sorrows:
The darker the night, the brighter the stars...
What are you laughing at?
Laugh at yourself!
A quote from N. V. Gogol’s comedy “The Inspector General” (1836), the words of the Governor: “Look ... look how foolish the governor is ... Not only will you become a laughing stock, there will be a clicker, a paper maraca, they will insert you into a comedy. That's what's embarrassing! Chin, the title will not spare, and they will all bare their teeth and clap their hands. What are you laughing at? Laugh at yourself!"
Chichikov
The hero of N. V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" (1842), a sly careerist, sycophant, swindler and hoarder, outwardly "pretty", "decent and worthy person". His name has become a household name for people of this type.
Reading is the best teaching
What to do?
The title of a socio-political novel (1863) by N. G. Chernyshevsky (1828–1889). The novel deals with the problems of socialism, the emancipation of women, displays the types of "new people" - revolutionary figures, and expresses the dream of a happy life in a communist society.
What does the coming day have in store for me?
Quote from the novel in verse "Eugene Onegin" (1831) by A. S. Pushkin. This phrase gained wide popularity thanks to the opera by P. I. Tchaikovsky (1878) - Lensky's aria (“Where, where have you gone, my golden days of spring ...”).
What a commission, creator,
To be an adult daughter's father!
Quote from A. S. Griboyedov’s comedy “Woe from Wit” (1824), words by Famusov. (The word "commission" here means: troubles, difficulties.)
What we have, we do not store, having lost, crying
An aphorism from "The Fruits of Thoughts" (1854) by Kozma Prutkov, who repeated the name of the vaudeville (1844) by S. Solovyov.
What will pass will be nice
Quote from A. S. Pushkin's poem "If life deceives you" (1825).
What is good and what is bad
The title of a poem for children (1925) by V. V. Mayakovsky.
W
Walked into a room, got into another
Quote from A. S. Griboedov's comedy "Woe from Wit" (1824); Famusov, finding Molchalin near Sophia's room, angrily asks him: "Are you here, sir, why?" Sofya, justifying the presence of Molchalin, tells Famusov:
I will not explain your anger in any way.
He lives in the house here, a great misfortune!
Went to a room, got into another.
Shemyakin Court
The expression is used in the meaning: wrong, unfair court; arose from an old Russian satirical story about Shemyakin's court, which denounced the arbitrariness and self-interest of the feudal court. This story, dedicated to the personality of Prince Dmitry Shemyaka (died in 1453), enjoyed wide popularity; it was preserved in many manuscripts of the 17th and 18th centuries. and served as a plot for popular prints and books.
Inside out
Used in the meaning: quite the opposite, inside out. "Shivorot" in Muscovite Russia was called the embroidered collar of boyar clothes, one of the signs of dignity of a nobleman. In the days of Ivan the Terrible, the boyar, subjected to royal anger and disgrace, was often put on a skinny horse with his back forward, putting his clothes on him too inside out, topsy-turvy, that is, vice versa. In this form, the disgraced boyar was taken around the city, to the whistle and hooting of the street crowd. Now these words are also often used in connection with clothing, meaning to wear something inside out, but their meaning has become much wider. Topsy-turvy, that is, not at all like that, on the contrary, you can tell some story and, in general, act contrary to generally accepted rules.
Wide is my native land
The first line of the chorus "Songs about the Motherland" from the film "Circus" (1936), lyrics by V.I. Lebedev‑Kumach, music by I.O. Dunayevsky.
Noise, brother, noise
Quote from A. S. Griboedov's comedy "Woe from Wit" (1824), words by Repetilov.
I
I don't know any other country like this
Where does a person breathe so freely
Lines from the chorus of "Songs about the Motherland" from the film "Circus" (1936), text by V.I. Lebedev‑Kumach, music by I.O. Dunayevsky.
I'm going, I'm going, I'm not whistling
And when I get there, I won't let go
Quote from A. S. Pushkin's poem "Ruslan and Lyudmila" (1820), song III.
I erected a monument to myself not made by hands,
The folk trail will not grow to it
Quote from A. S. Pushkin's poem "Monument" (1836). The poem goes back to the ode of the Roman poet Horace, from which Pushkin took the epigraph: “Exegi monumentum” (“I erected a monument”). From Pushkin's poem arose the expression "a monument not made by hands", used in the meaning: a grateful memory of someone's deeds.
I am a king - I am a slave, I am a worm – I'm God
Quote from G. R. Derzhavin's ode "God", (1784).
The language of native aspens
An expression from an epigram (1884) by I. S. Turgenev to N. Kh. Ketcher (1809–1886), the translator of Shakespeare, whose translations are distinguished by their exceptional closeness to the original, which often harms poetry:
Here is another light of the world!
Ketcher, friend of sparkling wines;
He pereper to us Shakespeare
In the language of native aspens.
The expression is used ironically about clumsy translations from foreign languages into Russian.
Top most famous catchphrases
And who are the judges?
Quote from A. S. Griboedov's comedy "Woe from Wit" (1824), d.2, yavl.5, Chatsky's words:
And who are the judges? - For the antiquity of years
To a free life their enmity is irreconcilable,
Judgments draw from forgotten newspapers
Ochakov times and the conquest of the Crimea.
Balzac age
The expression arose after the publication of the novel by the French writer Honore de Balzac (1799-1850) "The Thirty-Year-Old Woman" (1831); used as a characteristic of women aged 30-40 years.
No rudder and no sails
Quote from M. Yu. Lermnotov's poem "Demon" (1842), part 1:
On the ocean of air
No rudder and no 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, delivers triumphs to captives.
However, such a lucky man is less likely to be a white crow.
Borzoi puppies to take
Originated from a comedy by N.V. Gogol "The Inspector General", d.1, yavl.1, the words of Lyapin-Tyapkin: "Sins are different. I tell everyone openly that I take bribes, but why bribes? Greyhound puppies. This is a completely different matter."
Throw a stone
The expression "to throw a stone" at someone in the sense of "accusing" arose from the Gospel (John, 8, 7); Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees, who, tempting him, brought to him a woman convicted of adultery: "He that is without sin among you, first cast a stone at her" (in ancient Judea there was a penalty - to stone).
Paper endures everything (Paper does not blush)
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" - "The letter does not blush", that is, in writing you can express such thoughts that are embarrassed to express orally.
To be or not to be - that is the question
The beginning of Hamlet's monologue in Shakespeare's tragedy of the same name, translated by N.A. Field (1837).
You can’t harness a horse and a quivering doe into one cart
Quote from the poem by A.S. Pushkin "Poltava" (1829).
Great, powerful, truthful and free Russian language
Quote from a poem in prose by I.S. Turgenev "Russian language" (1882).
Back to our sheep
With these words, in the farce "Lawyer Pierre Patlen" (c. 1470), the first of a cycle of anonymous farces about the lawyer Patlen, the judge interrupts the speech of a rich clothier. Having initiated a case against the shepherd who stole the sheep from him, the clothier, forgetting about his lawsuit, showers reproaches on the shepherd's defender, Patlen's lawyer, who did not pay him for six cubits of cloth.
Wolf in sheep's clothing
The expression originated from the Gospel: "Take care of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inside they are ravenous wolves."
In borrowed plumes
It arose from the fable of I.A. Krylov "Crow" (1825).
Time is money
Aphorism from the work of the American scientist and politician Franklin (1706-1790) "Advice to a young merchant" (1748).
I carry everything with me
The expression originated from ancient Greek tradition. When the Persian king Cyrus occupied the city of Priene in Ionia, the inhabitants left it, taking with them the most valuable of their property. Only Biant, one of the "seven wise men", a native of Priene, left empty-handed. In response to the bewildered questions of his fellow citizens, he answered, referring to spiritual values: "I carry everything that is mine with me." This expression is often used in Cicero's Latin formulation: Omnia mea mecum porto.
Everything flows, everything changes
This expression, which defines the constant variability of all things, expounds the essence of the teachings of the Greek philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus (c. 530-470 BC)
Was it a boy?
In 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 a hole. Klim gives Boris the end of his gymnasium belt, but, feeling that he is being pulled into the water, he releases the belt from his hands. Children are drowning. When the search for the drowned begins, Klima is struck by "someone's serious incredulous question: - Was there a boy, maybe there wasn't a boy." The last phrase has become winged as a figurative expression of extreme doubt about anything.
twenty two misfortunes
So in the play by A.P. Chekhov "The Cherry Orchard" (1903) they call the clerk Epikhodov, with whom some kind of comic trouble happens every day. The expression is applied to people with whom some kind of misfortune constantly happens.
Twenty-three years and nothing done for immortality
The words of Don Carlos from the drama by F. Schiller "Don Carlos, Infante 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, into the future, old - back, into the past. The expression "two-faced Janus" or simply "Janus", which arose from here, means: a two-faced person.
The work of helping the drowning is the work of the drowning 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, posted 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 imposing a tax on public latrines, Vespasian brought the first money received from this tax to his nose and asked if they smelled. To the negative answer of Titus, Vespasian said: "And yet they are from urine."
Domostroy
"Domostroy" is a monument of Russian literature of the 16th century, which is a set of everyday rules and morals. The husband, according to "Domostroy", is the head of the family, the master of the wife, and "Domostroy" indicates in detail in which cases he should beat his wife, etc. Hence the word "domostroy" means: a conservative way of family life, a morality that affirms the slavish position of a woman.
Draconian measures
This is the name given to exorbitantly harsh laws named after the Dragon, the first legislator of the Athenian Republic (VII century BC). Among the punishments determined by its laws, a prominent place was allegedly occupied by the death penalty, which punished, for example, such an offense as stealing 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, the American graphic artist Richard Outcault placed 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 child in a yellow shirt, to whom various amusing statements were attributed. Soon another newspaper - "New York Journal" - began to print a series of similar drawings. A dispute arose between the two papers over the title 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 the two competing newspapers "yellow press". Since then, the expression has become catchy.
finest hour
An expression by Stefan Zweig (1881-1942) from the preface to his collection of historical short stories "Humanity's Star Clock" (1927). Zweig explains that he called historical moments star hours "because, like eternal stars, they always shine in the night of oblivion and decay."
Knowledge is power
An expression of the English philosopher Francis Bacon in Moral and Political Essays (1597).
Golden mean
An expression from the 2nd book of the odes of the Roman poet Horace: "aurea mediocritas".
And boring, and sad, and there is no one to give a hand
Quote from M. Yu. Lermontov's poem "Both boring and sad" (1840).
And you Brute?
In Shakespeare's tragedy "Julius Caesar" (d.3, yavl.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. Mark Junius Brutus, whom Caesar considered his supporter, became the head of a conspiracy against him and was one of the participants in his assassination in 44 BC.
Choose the lesser of two evils
An expression found in the writings of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle "Nicomachean ethics" in the form: "The lesser of evils must be chosen." Cicero (in his work "On Duties") says: "It is necessary not only to choose the least of the evils, but also to extract from them that which can be good in them."
Make an elephant out of a fly
The expression is ancient. It is cited by the Greek writer Lucian (3rd century AD), who ends his satirical "Praise of the Fly" as follows: "But I interrupt my word - although I could say a lot more - so that someone would not think that I , according to the proverb, I make an elephant out of a fly.
Zest
The expression is used in the meaning: something that gives a special taste, attractiveness to something (dish, story, person, etc.). It arose from a folk proverb: "Kvass is not expensive, the zest in kvass is expensive"; became winged after the appearance of Leo 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 say? And without the game you won't forget..."
Capital to acquire and innocence to keep
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 the description of a special rite among the ancient Jews of laying the sins of the whole people on a live goat; on the day of the absolution, the high priest laid both hands on the head of a living goat as a sign of laying on him the sins of the Jewish people, after which the goat was driven out into the wilderness. The expression is used in the sense: a person who is constantly blamed on someone else's fault, who is responsible for others.
a swan song
The expression is used in the meaning: the last manifestation of talent. Based on the belief that swans sing before death, it arose in antiquity. 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, Leta is the river of oblivion in Hades, the underworld; the souls of the dead, upon arrival in the underworld, drank water from it and forgot their entire past life.
Flying Dutchman
Dutch legend has preserved the story of a sailor who swore in a strong storm to go around the cape that blocked his path, even if it took him an eternity. For his pride, he was doomed to forever rush on a ship on a raging sea, never touching 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 of Good Hope in 1497. In the 17th century this legend was dated to several Dutch captains, which is reflected in its name.
seize the moment
The expression, apparently, goes back to Horace ("carpe diem" - "seize the day", "take advantage of the day").
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 go
Quote from the drama by F. Schiller (1759 - 1805) "The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa" (1783). This phrase (d.3, yavl.4) is spoken by the Moor, who turned out to be unnecessary after he helped Count Fisco organize an uprising of the Republicans against the tyrant of Genoa, Doge Doria. This phrase has become a saying that characterizes 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 went through the desert to the promised land (Exodus, 16, 14-16 and 31).
Disservice
The expression arose from the fable by I. A. Krylov "The Hermit and the Bear" (1808).
Honeymoon
The idea that the happiness of the first period of marriage is quickly replaced by the bitterness of disappointment, figuratively expressed in Eastern folklore, was used by Voltaire for his philosophical novel Zadig, or Fate (1747), in the 3rd chapter of which he writes: the first month of marriage, as described in the book of Zend, is the honeymoon, and the second is the sagebrush month.
Between the hammer and the anvil
The title of a novel (1868) by Friedrich Spielhagen (1829-1911). It is used as a characteristic of the plight of someone, when dangers and troubles threaten from two sides.
Maecenas
The wealthy Roman patrician Gaius Tsilny Maecenas (between 74 and 64 - 8 BC) patronized artists and poets widely. Horace, Virgil, Propertius glorified him in their poems. Martial (40 - 102 AD) in one of his epigrams says: "There would be, Flaccus, Patrons, there would be no shortage of Maroons", that is, Virgils (Vergilius Maro). Thanks to the poems of these poets, his name became a household name for a wealthy patron of the arts and sciences.
Your gift is not dear to me, your love is dear
An expression from the Russian folk song "On the pavement street":
Ah, my dear is good,
Chernobrov soul, handsome,
Brought me a present
Dear gift,
Gold ring from hand.
I don't care about your gift,
The road is your love.
I don't want to wear a ring
I want to love my friend.
We have a road for young people 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, kissel banks
An expression from a Russian folk tale.
Silent means consent
The expression of the Pope (1294-1303) Boniface VIII 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?"
Flour Tantalum
In Greek mythology, Tantalus, the king of Phrygia (also called the king of Lydia), was a 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 always experiences unbearable pangs of thirst and hunger; he stands up to his neck in water, but the water recedes from him as soon as he bows 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. Hence the expression "Tantal's torment" arose, which means: unbearable torment due to the inability to achieve the desired goal, despite its proximity.
We are lazy and not curious
Quote from "Journey to Arzrum" (1836) by A. S. Pushkin, ch. 2.
We cannot wait for favors from nature, it is our task to take them from her
The expression belongs to the biologist-genetic breeder I. V. Michurin (1855-1935), in practice, on a large scale, who showed the ability to change the hereditary forms of organisms, adapting them to human needs.
On the seventh sky
The expression, meaning the highest degree of joy, happiness, goes back to the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BC), who in his essay "On the Sky" explains the structure of the firmament. He believed that the sky consists of seven motionless crystal spheres, on which the stars and planets are fixed. The seven heavens are mentioned in various places in the Qur'an: for example, it is said that the Qur'an itself was brought by an angel from the seventh heaven.
Our shelf has arrived
An expression from the ancient "game" song "And we sowed millet"; used in the sense: there are more people like us (in some respect).
Don't throw pearls before swine
An expression from the Gospel: "Do not give holy things to dogs and do not throw your pearls (church-glory. beads) before swine, so that they do not trample it under their feet and, turning, do not tear you to pieces" (Matt., 7, 6). Used in the meaning: do not waste words with people who cannot understand them, appreciate them.
Don't be foolish
An expression from the tragedy of A. S. Pushkin "Boris Godunov" (1831), the scene "Night. A cell in the Miracle Monastery", the 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
Mitrofanushka's words from D. I. Fonvizin's comedy "Undergrowth" (1783), d.3, yavl. 7.
Sky in diamonds
An expression from A.P. Chekhov's play "Uncle Vanya" (1897). In the 4th act, Sonya, comforting the tired Uncle Vanya, exhausted by life, says: “We will rest! the whole world, and our life will become quiet, gentle, sweet, like a caress.
Despite the faces
Bible expression. The idea of actions without partiality, without obsequiousness to superiors is expressed in many places of the Old and New Testaments (Deuteronomy, 1, 17; Matt., 22, 16; Mark, 12, 14, etc.), although in somewhat different words. It is possible that the expression "regardless of faces" is a translation of the phrase "Ohne Ansehen der Person" common in German speech, which is a quotation from Luther's translation of the Gospel (1 Peter, 1, 17).
No one will embrace the immensity
Aphorism from "The Fruits of Thoughts" by Kozma Prutkov (1854).
Nothing is new [not forever] under the moon
Quote from N. M. Karamzin's poem "Experienced Solomon's Wisdom, or Selected Thoughts from Ecclesiastes" (1797):
Nothing new under the sun
What is, was, will be forever.
And before the blood flowed like a river,
And before the 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 the milliner Marie Antoinette, Mademoiselle Bertin, were published in France, in which she said these words about the queen's old dress she had renovated (in fact, her memoirs are fake, their author is Jacques Pesche). This thought was perceived as new, too, only because it was 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 Folk Songs of Southern Scotland.
O times! oh manners!
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 dead or good or nothing
An 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 Laertes (3rd century AD): "Life, Doctrine and Opinions famous philosophers", which contains the saying of one of the "seven wise men" - Chilo (VI century BC): "Do not slander about the dead."
O 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 ingenuous religious zeal threw the brushwood she brought into the fire of the fire. However, Hus's biographers, based on eyewitness accounts of his death, deny the fact that he uttered this phrase. The ecclesiastical writer Turanius Rufinus (c. 345-410) in his continuation of Eusebius' 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, ch. 2 (1875), the valet encourages his master, Stepan Arkadevich, upset by a quarrel with his wife, with this word. This word, used in the sense of "everything will be settled", which became winged 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, urging her not to worry about various everyday troubles. His wife, in a reply letter, repeated his words: "Probably, all this will work out."
Window to Europe
An expression from A. S. Pushkin's poem "The Bronze Horseman", Introduction (1834):
On the shore of desert waves
He stood, full of great thoughts,
And looked into the distance...
And he thought:
From here we will threaten the Swede.
Here the city will be founded
To spite an arrogant neighbor.
Nature here is destined for us
Cut a window to Europe...
This expression, as Pushkin himself pointed out in the notes to the poem, goes back to the Italian writer Algarotti (1712-1764), who in his "Letters about Russia" said: "Petersburg is a window through which Russia looks to Europe."
An eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth
An expression from the Bible, the formula of the law of retribution: "A fracture for a fracture, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth: as he did damage to the human body, so it must be done to him" (Leviticus, 24, 20; about the same - Exodus, 21, 24; Deuteronomy 19:21).
Left horns and legs
A not entirely accurate quote from a song by an unknown author "The Gray Goat", which appeared in song books 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 told 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-Francois 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!
A quote from A. S. Pushkin's tragedy "Boris Godunov", the scene "The Tsar's Chambers" (1831), Boris's monologue (Monomakh in Greek is a wrestler; a nickname that was attached to the names of some Byzantine emperors. In ancient Russia, this nickname was assigned to the Grand Duke Vladimir (beginning of the 12th century), from which the Moscow tsars originated. Monomakh's cap is the crown with which the Moscow tsars were crowned to the kingdom, a symbol of royal power). The above quotation characterizes some difficult situation.
panic fear
Originated from Greek myths about Pan, the god of forests and fields. According to the myths, Pan brings sudden and unaccountable terror to people, especially to travelers in remote and secluded places, as well as to the troops who rush to flee from this. This is where the word "panic" comes from.
Feast in Time of 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 "The Plague City" (1816). Used in the meaning: a feast, a cheerful, carefree life during a public disaster.
Plato is my friend but the truth is dearer
The Greek philosopher Plato (427-347 BC) in his work "Phaedo" attributes to Socrates the words "Following me, think less about Socrates, and more about the truth." Aristotle in his work "Nicomachean Ethics", arguing with Plato and referring to him, writes: "Let friends and truth be dear to me, but duty commands me to give preference to truth." Luther (1483-1546) says: "Plato is my friend, Socrates is my friend, but the 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", formulated by Cervantes in the 2nd part, ch. 51 novels "Don Quixote" (1615).
The Fruits of Enlightenment
The title of a comedy by L. N. Tolstoy (1891).
Dancing to someone else's tune
The expression is used in the sense: to act not according to one's own will, but according to the arbitrariness of another. It goes back to the Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BC), who in the 1st book of his "History" tells: 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 flutist, seeing the fish in the sea, began to play the flute, expecting that they would come to him on land. Deceived in hope, he took the net, threw it and pulled out a lot of fish. tangled in nets, he said to them: "Stop dancing; when I played the flute, you didn't want to go out and dance." This fable is attributed to Aesop (6th century BC).
Success is never blamed
These words are attributed to Catherine II, who allegedly put it this way when A.V. Suvorov was brought to court martial for the assault on Turtukai in 1773, undertaken by him contrary to the orders of Field Marshal Rumyantsev. However, the story of Suvorov's arbitrary actions and his being put on trial is refuted by serious researchers.
Know yourself
According to the legend reported by Plato in the dialogue "Protagoras", the seven wise men of ancient Greece (Thales, Pittacus, Byant, Solon, Cleobulus, Mison and Chilo), having come together in the temple of Apollo at Delphi, wrote: "Know thyself." The idea of self-knowledge was explained and spread by Socrates. This expression is often used in the Latin form: nosce te ipsum.
After us at least 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, who 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 time of Catherine II, Prince G. A. Potemkin (1739-1791), Crimea was annexed to Russia, which was included in Novorossia. 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 way of the empress, which were entirely decorations, put up to meet her festively dressed people, driven from afar, but posing as local residents, showed grain warehouses in which bags instead of flour were stuffed with sand, drove the same herd of cattle from one place to another at night, planted parks in Kremenchug and other cities, and the planting was carried out for several days, so that the plantations died after Ekaterina's passage, etc.
The delay of death is like
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 the necessary orders, "before the passage of time is like death irrevocably." Winged words of Peter received in a shorter form: "Procrastination is like death."
Indulge in all the hard
Large bells in ancient Russia were called "heavy". The nature of the bell ringing, i.e. when and which bells should be rung was determined by the "Typicon" - a church charter, in which the expression "to hit all hard" meant: to hit all the bells at once. From here arose the expression "to go all out", which is used in the meaning: to go astray from the right path of life, to begin to indulge uncontrollably in revelry, debauchery, extravagance, etc.
spreading cranberry
The expression is used as a playful designation of absurd reports about Russia and Russians, belonging to ill-informed foreigners, in general - anything implausible, revealing complete unfamiliarity with the subject. The oral tradition considers the description of the journey through Russia by Alexandre Dumas-father (1803-1870) to be the source of this expression. Meanwhile, in the books describing his journey through Russia, there are no gross distortions in the depiction of Russian nature, Russian customs and customs. In the "Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language" ed. D. N. Ushakov, it is reported that the expression "came from a description of Russia, in which a superficial French author sat under the shade of a majestic cranberry." It can be assumed that the expression "spreading cranberry" of parodic origin originated with a Russian author who ridicules the really anecdotal descriptions of Russian life found in some poorly informed French authors.
Cheer up, shoulder! Wave your hand!
Quote from A. V. Koltsov's poem "Mower" (1835).
rare bird
This expression (lat. rara avis) in the meaning of "rare creature" is first found in the satires of Roman poets, for example, in Juvenal (mid. I century - after 127 AD): "A rare bird on earth, sort of like black Swan".
Born to crawl cannot fly
Quote from "The Song of the Falcon" by M. Gorky.
Hands off!
Expresses the requirement not to intervene in the affairs of someone or something, to preserve the integrity of something. This expression as a political slogan was first used by the English minister William Gladstone (1809-1898) in reference to Austria, which occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina in the autumn of 1878.
Snout in fluff
An expression from the fable of I. A. Krylov "The Fox and the Marmot" (1813). The fox complains to the Groundhog that she suffers in vain and, slandered, was expelled for bribes:
- You know, I was a chicken coop judge,
Lost health and peace in business,
I didn’t eat a piece in the labors,
Nights did not sleep:
And I fell under anger for that;
And all by slander. Well, think for yourself:
Who in the world will be right if you listen to slander?
Should I take bribes? yes, I'm pissed off!
Well, have you seen, I will send for you,
That I was involved in this sin?
Think, remember well...
- No, gossip; I often saw
That your stigma is down.
This expression is used in the meaning: to be involved in something criminal, unseemly.
From ship to ball
An expression from "Eugene Onegin" by A. S. Pushkin, chapter 8, stanza 13 (1832):
And travel to him
Like everything in the world, tired,
He returned and got
Like Chatsky, from the ship to the ball.
This expression is characterized by an unexpected, abrupt change in position, circumstances.
With a sweet paradise and in a hut
Quote from the poem by N. M. Ibragimov (1778-1818) "Russian Song" ("In the evening, the girl is beautiful ..."):
Do not look for me, rich:
You are not dear to my soul.
What do I, what are your chambers?
With a sweet paradise and in a 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. Griboyedov's comedy "Woe from Wit" (1824), d.2, yavl.1.
blue stocking
An 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. Originally, it meant a circle of people of both sexes who gathered at Lady Montagu's for discussions on literary and scientific topics. The soul of the conversations was the scientist Benjamin Stellingfleet (1702-1771), who, neglecting 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, this nickname was first given to a man and not a woman. The expression especially spread when Byron used it in his satire on Lady Montagu's circle "The Blues" - "Blue".
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 a poor woodcutter's children in search of the Blue Bird. According to Oak in the play, the Blue Bird is "the secret of things and happiness". "If a person finds the Blue Bird, he will know everything, see everything" (the words of the Cat).
Mixing French with Nizhny Novgorod
Quote from A. S. Griboedov's comedy "Woe from Wit".
Combine pleasant with useful
An expression from the "Art of Poetry" by Horace, who says about the poet: "The one who combines pleasant with useful is worthy of all approval."
Happy hours don't watch
Quote from A. S. Griboyedov's comedy "Woe from Wit", d.1, yavl. 4, Sophia's words.
Wash your hands
Used in the meaning: to be removed from responsibility for something. Arose from the Gospel: Pilate washed his hands in front of the crowd, giving Jesus to her 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-participation of the person washing to something, is described in the Bible (Deuteronomy, 21, 6-7).
Vulnerable point
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
Fortune - in Roman mythology, the goddess of blind chance, happiness and misfortune. She was depicted with a blindfold, 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 steering wheel indicated that fortune controls the fate of a person.
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 the morality of the Jesuits, was borrowed by them from the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679).
Man to man wolf
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 (III century BC).
What we have, we do not store, having lost, crying
The name of the vaudeville (1844) S. Solovyov
The language of native aspens
An expression from an epigram (1884) by I. S. Turgenev to N. Kh. Ketcher (1809-1886), a translator of Shakespeare; his translations are distinguished by their exceptional closeness to the original, which often harms poetry:
Here is another light of the world!
Ketcher, friend of sparkling wines;
He pereper to us Shakespeare
In the language of native aspens.
This expression is used ironically about rough translations from foreign languages into Russian.