The Russian language is so mobile and flexible that it allows you to use many special speech techniques: proverbs, sayings, metaphors and much more. Separately, I would like to talk about what a phraseological unit is.
Phraseologisms are phrases whose meaning can embellish speech and give it a special emotional connotation. The phraseological phrase is indivisible in meaning, that is, it has general meaning all the words included in it. Each word separately does not carry such an information load. It is better to consider examples with an explanation of phraseological units.
The horse didn't lie
Ordinary speech would be dry and less emotional if there were no special lexical units in it - phraseological units. For example, you could say, “I felt really angry.” Or you can say it this way: “I was as angry as a dog.” The listener has completely different associative images in his mind. Image angry dog the brain perceives instantly, at the level of a reflex. Life experience accumulated in the subconscious takes its toll.
Or this example of a phrase: “I have not yet started doing the intended work.” It sounds much better: “I haven’t had a horse lying around yet.” For a foreigner to understand this is a real headache! What kind of horse and why didn’t he lie down? And a Russian person instantly grasps the essence of the speaker’s problem.
Phraseologism “one foot here - the other - there” very often used in speech. It is literally impossible for a person's feet to be in different places at the same time! But it means that the speaker is already on the way and is rushing very quickly and is about to arrive at the right place.
Interesting observation. Phraseological phrases sometimes reduce the severity of perception of a negative action and enhance the positive.
Whose authorship?
Many people think about origin of set expressions. Phraseologisms have no authors. Or so, the authors are the people. In the process of life and accumulation of experience, people apply their knowledge, transforming it into new forms.
The origin of bright figures of speech is also associated with literary and historical facts. Everyone has an idea about the exploits of Hercules, and in particular, about one of them - how quickly the strong man was able to clear the stables of King Augeas. The hero showed resourcefulness and quickly dealt with an extremely difficult task. He accomplished the seemingly impossible! So it was customary for the people to say: “I’ll go clean up the Augean stables...” Or: “What a great fellow, he cleaned the Augean stables!”
In addition to the “lying horse”, an interesting phrase is about "buried dog". Example: “So this is where the dog is buried!” This means that a solution has finally been found to a problem or issue that has been nagging for a long time. The topic of the origin of popular expressions with this animal is very popular. There are stories of dogs whose graves served as a kind of memory for their owners (they were lost, and then found).
In Russian speech, everyone who deserves punishment is “poured on the first day.” This came from a school where students were caned. The punishment was effective and the student behaved well until the start of the next month of school (until the 1st).
Let's go through phraseological units
Introducing a small list of figures of speech for reference. They are most often used in relation to specific person:
Phraseologisms in sentences
There is also many other catchphrases. It's interesting to look at examples.
- It's time to wash your hands of it. This sentence means that the time has come to step away from the problem, to indicate your non-involvement in it.
- In life, he liked to “go with the flow.” The hero is passive and lived according to the will of circumstances, without resisting them in any way.
- My worries are a dime a dozen. There is a lot to do.
- Relatives came to visit - “the seventh water on jelly.” Here the degree of relationship is very blurred, there is no way to figure out who belongs to whom and by whom.
- I got married according to the principle “don’t drink water off your face.” This is a sad story, here is an attempt to love inner world person, implying that not everything is in order with his appearance.
- See you “after the rain on Thursday.” This sentence has the meaning: we will never see each other, and it also shows a disdainful attitude towards the person.
- In his stories he liked to “build up the atmosphere.” Here we are talking about a person who clearly exaggerates the complexity and horror of events in his narratives, heating up the situation.
- We left home “without a sip.” The meaning of the phraseological unit: I had to return without earnings, profit or any other result previously planned.
The given examples show how vividly, briefly and succinctly phraseological units can characterize some situations. They also add nuances of sound and semantic accents to speech. Origin may not matter. Moreover, the lexical meaning of phraseological units is integral and is perceived as short signal associative series stored in human memory.
About labor
Let's talk about phraseological units that mention job or profession. People have written a lot of sayings, fables and other lexical forms about work. Let us give examples of phraseological units and their meanings.
Phraseologisms for children
Work and acquaintance with phraseological units starts already at school. Children are taught to understand set expressions and be able to explain them. Junior schoolchildren In native speech lessons they practice constructing statements using phraseological units. In this way, they enrich their vocabulary and vocabulary knowledge. The children learn to explain phraseological units in one in a short word or a related phrase.
Phraseologisms are simple enough to understand and remember, according to the age of children junior school. Let's look at examples:
- shut your mouth (shut up);
- keep your mouth shut (keep a secret);
- not to believe your ears (to be surprised by what you hear);
- nod off (fall asleep);
- lead by the nose (deceive);
- fly headlong (run quickly) and others.
Use of phraseological units in primary school promotes their development “feelings of language”, inherent in the Russian person. Forms imaginative thinking, the speed of creating thought forms. Aphorisms are compiled from pictures or work is done with texts.
In Russian language lessons, students complete written assignments in which they replace phraseological units with one word (insert the missing word).
On lessons literary reading learn to compare images fairy-tale heroes with phraseological turns. For example, Emelya – “laying down and not blowing his head”.
When studying mathematics, they analyze stable phrases: “square head”, “two inches from the pot” and others.
In various fields of activity, areas of knowledge, life situations phraseological units are applicable. The main thing is to understand their meaning! A true connoisseur of the Russian language must use idioms in his speech both for his own pleasure (he will create a picture) and for the “cunning word”.
Phraseologisms
Phraseologisms are stable combinations of words, figures of speech such as: “knuckle down”, “hang your nose”, “ask a headache”... A figure of speech, which is called a phraseological unit, is indivisible in meaning, that is, its meaning does not consist of the meanings of its constituent words. It only works as a single unit, a lexical unit.
Phraseologisms are popular expressions that do not have an author.
The meaning of phraseological units is to give an emotional coloring to an expression and enhance its meaning.
Many phraseological units can be easily replaced with one word:
headlong - quickly,
close at hand - close.
Often a direct expression turns into a figurative one, expanding the shades of its meaning.
Bursting at the seams - from the tailor's speech it acquired a broader meaning - to fall into decay.
Confuse - from the speech of railway workers it has passed into general use in the sense of causing confusion.
Examples of phraseological units and their meanings
to beat the knuckles - to mess around
To overeat henbane - to go berserk (applies to people who do stupid things
After the rain on Thursday - never
Anika the warrior - a braggart, brave only in words, far from danger
Give a head wash (bath) - soap your neck, head - strongly scold
A white crow is a person who stands out sharply from environment one or another quality
Living like a Biryuk means being gloomy and not communicating with anyone.
Throw down the gauntlet - challenge someone to an argument, competition (although no one throws down the gloves)
Wolf in sheep's clothing - evil people pretending to be kind, hiding under the guise of meekness
Having your head in the clouds - blissfully dreaming, fantasizing about who knows what
The soul sank to the ground - a man who was afraid, afraid
Don't spare your belly - sacrifice your life
Notch it on the nose - remember it firmly
Making a molehill out of a molehill - turning a small fact into a whole event
On a silver platter - get what you want with honor, without much effort
At the edge of the earth - somewhere very far away
In seventh heaven - to be in complete delight, in a state of supreme bliss
You can’t see anything - it’s so dark that you can’t see the paths, paths
To rush headlong - to act recklessly, with desperate determination
Eat a pound of salt - get to know each other well
Good riddance - go away, we can do without you
Roll up your sleeves - work hard, diligently
Phraseologisms with the word “WATER”
A storm in a teacup - big worries over an insignificant reason
It is written with a pitchfork on the water - it is not yet known how it will be, the outcome is not clear, by analogy: “grandmother said in two”
You can't spill water - great friends, about strong friendship
Carrying water in a sieve means wasting time, doing useless things. Similarly: pounding water in a mortar.
He took water into his mouth - he remains silent and does not want to answer
Carry water (on someone) - burden him with hard work, taking advantage of his flexible nature
Output to clean water- expose dark deeds, catch a lie
Get away with it - remain unpunished, without bad consequences
Money is like water - meaning the ease with which it is spent
Blowing on water after being burned by milk means being too careful, remembering past mistakes
How he looked into the water - as if he knew in advance, foresaw, accurately predicted events
How he sank into the water - disappeared, disappeared without a trace, disappeared without a trace
Like being submerged in water - sad, sad
Like water through your fingers - the one who easily escapes persecution
Like two drops of water - very similar, indistinguishable
If you don’t know the ford, don’t go into the water - a warning not to take hasty actions
Like a fish in water - to feel confident, to navigate very well, to understand something well,
Like water off a duck's back - a person doesn't care about anything
A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then - a lot of time has passed
Carrying water in a sieve is a waste of time
The seventh water on jelly is a very distant relationship
Hiding loose ends - hiding traces of a crime
Quieter than water, lower than the grass - behave modestly, unnoticed
Pounding water in a mortar is a useless task.
Phraseologisms with the word “NOS”
It is interesting that in phraseological units the word nose practically does not reveal its main meaning. The nose is an organ of smell, but in stable phrases the nose is associated primarily with the idea of something small and short. Remember the fairy tale about Kolobok? When the Fox needed Kolobok to come within her reach and get closer, she asks him to sit on her nose. However, the word nose does not always refer to the organ of smell. It also has other meanings. To mutter under one's breath - to grumble, grumpily, mutter indistinctly.
Lead by the nose - this phrase came to us from Central Asia. Visitors are often surprised how small children manage to cope with huge camels. The animal obediently follows the child leading him by the rope. The fact is that the rope is threaded through a ring located in the camel's nose. Here you want it, you don’t want it, but you have to obey! Rings were also put into the noses of bulls to make their disposition more docile. If a person deceives someone or does not fulfill his promise, then he is also said to be “led by the nose.”
To turn one's nose up means to be unjustifiably proud of something, to boast.
Notch on the nose - Notch on the nose means: remember firmly, once and for all. It seems to many that this was said not without cruelty: it is not very pleasant if you are offered to make a notch on your own face. Unnecessary fear. The word nose here does not mean the organ of smell at all, but just a memorial tablet, a tag for notes. In ancient times, illiterate people always carried such tablets with them and made all kinds of notes on them with notches and cuts. These tags were called noses.
Nodding off means falling asleep.
Curious Varvara's nose was torn off at the market - don't interfere in someone else's business.
On the nose - this is how they talk about something that is about to happen.
Don't poke your nose into someone else's business - in this way they want to show that a person is overly, inappropriately curious, interfering in what he shouldn't.
Nose to nose - on the contrary, close.
Keep your nose in the wind - in the glorious times of the sailing fleet, movement on the sea was completely dependent on the direction of the wind and the weather. No wind, calm - and the sails drooped, more like a rag. A nasty wind blows into the bow of the ship - you have to think not about sailing, but about dropping all the anchors, that is, “standing at anchor” and removing all the sails so that the air flow does not throw the ship ashore. To go out to sea, a fair wind was required, which inflated the sails and directed the ship forward into the sea. The vocabulary of sailors associated with this received imagery and entered our literary language. Now “keeping your nose to the wind” - in a figurative sense, means adapting to any circumstances. “Drop anchor”, “become anchored” - stop in motion, settle somewhere; “Sitting by the sea and waiting for the weather” is an inactive expectation of change; “Full sail” – moving towards the intended goal full swing, quickly as possible; Wishing someone a “fair wind” means wishing them good luck.
Hanging his nose or Hanging his nose - if suddenly a person is depressed or just sad, it happens about him that they say that he seems to be “hanging his nose,” and they can also add: “by a fifth.” Quinta, translated from Latin, means “fifth.” Musicians, or more precisely, violinists, call this the first string of a violin (the highest one). When playing, the violinist usually supports his instrument with his chin and his nose almost touches this string closest to him. The expression “hanging your nose on a fifth,” perfected among musicians, entered fiction.
I was left with my nose - without what I was counting on.
Right under your nose - close.
To show your nose is to tease someone by putting your thumb to your nose and waving your other finger.
With a gulkin's nose - very little (a gulkin is a dove, a dove has a small beak).
To poke your nose into other people's affairs is to be interested in other people's affairs.
To leave with your nose - the roots of the expression “to leave with your nose” are lost in the distant past. In the old days, bribery was very common in Rus'. Neither in institutions nor in court was it possible to achieve a positive decision without an offering, a gift. Of course, these gifts, hidden by the petitioner somewhere under the floor, were not called the word “bribe.” They were politely called "bring" or "nose". If the manager, judge or clerk took the “nose”, then one could be sure that the case would be resolved favorably. In case of refusal (and this could happen if the gift seemed small to the official or the offering from the opposite party had already been accepted), the petitioner went home with his “nose”. In this case, there was no hope for success. Since then, the words “to go away with your nose” have come to mean “to suffer defeat, fail, lose, stumble, without achieving anything.
Wipe your nose - if you manage to surpass someone, they say that you wiped your nose.
To bury your nose is to immerse yourself completely in some activity.
Well-fed, drunk and with tobacco on his nose - means a satisfied and satisfied person with everything.
Phraseologisms with the word “MOUTH, LIPS”
The word mouth is included in a number of phraseological units, the meanings of which are associated with the process of speaking. Food enters the human body through the mouth - a number of stable expressions one way or another indicate this function of the mouth. There are not many phraseological units with the word lip.
You can't put it in your mouth - they say if the food is cooked tasteless.
Lip is not a fool - they say about a person who knows how to choose the best.
Silencing someone means preventing them from speaking.
Porridge in the mouth - a person speaks slurred.
There was no poppy dew in the mouth - this means that the person has not eaten for a long time and needs to be fed urgently.
The milk on the lips has not dried - they say if they want to show that someone is still young and inexperienced.
Taking water into your mouth means silencing yourself.
To pout your lips means to be offended.
To open your mouth is to freeze in amazement at something that has captured your imagination.
Your mouth is full of trouble - they say when there are so many things to do that you don’t have time to cope with them.
A wide open mouth is a sign of surprise.
Phraseologisms with the word “HAND”
To be at hand - to be available, to be in close proximity
Warm your hands - take advantage of the position
To hold in hands - not to give free rein, to hold in strict obedience
As if taken off by hand, it quickly disappeared, passed
Carry in your arms - provide special affection, attention, appreciate, pamper
Working hard - working hard
Turning up your arm means accidentally being nearby
To fall under the hot hand is to run into trouble Bad mood
The hand does not rise - it is in no way possible to perform the action due to an internal prohibition
Hand in hand - holding hands, together, together
Hand washes hand - people connected by common interests protect each other
I can't get my hands on it - I just don't have the energy or time to do anything.
Hands itch - about a great desire to do something
Just a stone's throw away - very close, very close
Grasp with both hands - agree with pleasure with some proposal
To rake in the heat with someone else's hands - to enjoy the fruits of someone else's work
Golden hands - about someone who skillfully, skillfully does everything, copes with any job
Phraseologisms with the word “HEAD”
Wind in the head is an unreliable person.
It slipped my mind - I forgot.
My head is spinning - there are too many things to do, responsibilities, information.
Giving your head to be cut off means promising.
Out of the blue - unexpected.
To fool one's head is to deceive, to divert from the essence of the matter.
Don't lose your head - be responsible for your actions.
Examine from head to toe - everything, carefully, carefully.
Headlong - risky.
If they don't pat you on the head, they'll scold you.
From a sore head to a healthy one - blame someone else.
Upside down - the opposite.
To rack your brains over a task is to think hard.
Headlong - very quickly.
Phraseologisms with the word "EAR"
The word ear is included in phraseological units that are somehow related to hearing. Harsh words primarily affect the ears. In many established expressions, the word ears does not mean the organ of hearing, but only its outer part. I wonder if you can see your ears? Using a mirror in this case is not allowed!
Keep your eyes open - a person is tensely waiting for danger. Vostry is an old form of the word acute.
Prick up your ears - listen carefully. A dog's ears are pointed and the dog erects its ears when listening. This is where the phraseological unit arose.
You can't see your ears - they say about a person who will never get what he wants.
To plunge head over heels into something - they say to a person if he is completely absorbed in some activity. You can be deeply in debt – if there are a lot of debts.
Blushed to the ears - they say when a person is very embarrassed.
Loose ears - this is what they say about a person who listens to someone too trustingly.
Listening with all your ears means listening carefully.
Listen with half an ear or listen out of the corner of your ear - listen without much attention.
Ears wither - it’s extremely disgusting to listen to anything.
It hurts the ears - they say when something is unpleasant to listen to.
Phraseologisms with the word “TOOTH”
With the word tooth in Russian there is quite a large number of stable expressions. Among them there is a noticeable group of phraseological units in which teeth act as a kind of weapon of defense or attack, threat. The word tooth is also used in phraseological units denoting various deplorable human conditions.
To be in the teeth is to impose, to bother.
Armed to the teeth - they say about a person who is dangerous to attack, because he can give a worthy rebuff.
Talking with your teeth is a distraction.
Tit for tat - abusive (tendency to abuse), unyielding, “as it comes back, so it will respond.”
A tooth doesn't touch a tooth - they say if someone is frozen from extreme cold or from trembling, excitement, or fear.
To give a tooth is to mock, to ridicule someone.
To eat with a tooth - to drive, to squeeze.
To bare your teeth is to mock.
Eating teeth means gaining experience.
Scratching your teeth means talking nonsense, nonsense.
Try it on the tooth - find out, try it directly.
Something is too tough for someone - it’s difficult to bite off, it’s beyond your strength, beyond your abilities.
There is nothing to put on the tooth - they say when there is nothing to eat.
Not even a blow - absolutely nothing (not knowing, not understanding, etc.).
To look someone in the mouth is to find out everything about a person.
To raise a tooth is to mock.
Showing your teeth means demonstrating your evil nature, your desire to quarrel, to threaten someone.
Putting your teeth on a shelf means starving when there is no food left in the house.
Speak through teeth - barely open your mouth, reluctantly.
Grit your teeth - do not lose heart, do not despair, start the fight.
To sharpen or have a grudge against someone is to be angry, to strive to cause harm.
Phraseologisms with the word “CHEST, BACK”
The words chest and back are included in oppositely colored phraseological units. However, there are also positively colored phraseological units with the word back.
To stand up or stand with your chest for something - to rise to defense, to defend steadfastly.
Riding on someone's back means achieving your goals by using someone to your advantage.
They bend their back - to work, or to bow.
Hunch your back - work.
To ride on someone's back is to use someone for some of your own purposes.
To do something behind someone’s back - so that he doesn’t see, doesn’t know, secretly from someone.
Place your hands behind your back - cross them at the back.
On your own back (to experience, to learn something) - from your own bitter experience, as a result of troubles, difficulties, adversities that you yourself had to endure.
A knife in the back or a stab in the back is a treacherous, treasonous act, a blow.
Turn your back - leave, leave to the mercy of fate, stop communicating with someone.
To pave the way with one's chest means to achieve a good position in life; he achieves everything through hard work and overcomes all the difficulties that befall him.
Hiding behind someone else's back means shifting your responsibilities or responsibilities onto someone else.
To work without straightening your back is diligent, diligent, hard and hard. They can be used to praise a roughly working person.
Straighten your back - gain self-confidence, cheer up.
Show your back - leave, run away.
To stand behind someone's back is to secretly, secretly lead someone.
Phraseologisms with the word “LANGUAGE”
Language is another word often found in phraseological units, since language is extremely important for a person, it is with it that the idea of the ability to speak and communicate is associated. The idea of speaking (or, conversely, silence) can be traced in one way or another in many phraseological units with the word language.
Running with your tongue out is very fast.
Keep your mouth shut - remain silent, do not say too much; be careful in your statements.
Long tongue - they say if a person is a talker and likes to tell other people's secrets.
How a cow licked it with its tongue - about something that quickly and without a trace disappeared.
Find a common language - achieve mutual understanding.
Step on the tongue - silence.
Hanging your tongue on your shoulder means you are very tired.
To get on the tongue is to become the subject of gossip.
Bite your tongue - shut up, refrain from speaking.
Loosen the tongue - encourage someone to talk; give someone the opportunity to speak.
To loosen one's tongue - without restraining oneself, losing control over oneself, blurting out, saying unnecessary things.
A peck on your tongue is an angry wish to an angry chatterbox.
To pull your tongue is to say something that is not entirely appropriate to the situation.
To shorten the tongue - to make someone silent, to prevent insolence from speaking, unnecessary things.
Scratching your tongue (scratching your tongue) means talking in vain, chattering, idle talk.
To scratch one's tongue is to gossip, slander.
The devil pulled his tongue - an unnecessary word escapes the tongue.
A tongue without bones - they say if a person is talkative.
Your tongue is slurred—you can’t say anything clearly.
The tongue is stuck to the larynx - suddenly become silent, stop speaking.
Swallow your tongue - shut up, stop talking (about someone’s reluctance to talk).
The tongue is well-spoken - they say about a person who speaks freely and fluently.
Phraseologisms with the word “LITTLE”
Almost - about, almost
The spool is small but expensive - value is not determined by size
Small small smaller - one smaller than the other (about children)
The bird is small, but the nail is sharp - insignificant in position, but inspires fear or admiration for its qualities
A small dog until old age, a puppy - a small person always seems younger than his age, does not make a solid impression
You never know - 1. anything, any 2. not significant, not important 3. excitement, what if...
Little by little - slowly, little by little
Slowly - slowly
From young to old - all ages
Little by little (drink) – a little, a small portion
Play small - make a small bet (in games)
From an early age - from childhood
The smallest part is an insignificant part of something.
Correct and appropriate use of phraseological units gives speech special expressiveness, accuracy and imagery.
Is 100 years a lot or a little? Let's put it this way: it is enough for the true meaning of the word or to be forgotten over time. Now ask any teenager if he knows anything about the noun “spillies”? You will hear things like “this is some kind of nonsense”, “unnecessary things”, “bruliki” or “decorations”.
So what are “Spillikins”? This old game, which got its name from the obsolete verb “birat” - “to take, choose.”
According to its rules, participants had to take turns taking out one spillbum after another from a pile of small wooden objects (most often tableware) without touching the neighboring ones. This was usually done using a special hook or pin - the details were so small.
This has been known since the 17th century and was initially considered a pastime for the common people. But to early XIX century, everything changed: then a real spittle boom began and the love for spilts overwhelmed representatives of all classes.
IN Russian Empire There wasn’t a single family that didn’t spend their evenings doing this gambling thing: everyone, young and old, competed in the number of toys they caught on a hook.
It is known that even the family of Nicholas I was not spared this hobby: exclusive sets of ivory with precious stones, which were subsequently passed on by inheritance.
How did it happen that such a harmless and useful activity for motor skills developed into phraseology with a negative connotation? After all, we know that now “playing tricks” means “doing nonsense and wasting time.” History is silent about the reasons for the appearance of such a meaning, but, apparently, one day this pastime began to exceed the bounds of reason.
2. Time for business, time for fun
It would seem that everything is clear: you need to devote more time to work than to entertainment and all kinds of fun. But if you were now in the 17th century and invited someone to play the same spillikins after a hard day, referring to the legitimate hour “for fun,” hardly anyone would understand you. Because at that time the meaning of this saying was completely opposite, and in general it had to do with hunting. Why?
“Time for business and time for fun” - famous saying Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, under whom falconry, called fun, was given almost state importance.
Two facts eloquently speak about this: firstly, it was in charge of the Order of Secret Affairs - the most influential institution in Russia at that time, and secondly, in 1656, by order of the tsar, it was drawn up detailed guide“The Book of the Verb Uryadnik: a new code and arrangement of the rank of falconer’s way,” which described the rules and types of bird hunting.
Fortunately, the original manuscript of “The Constable” has reached us, where there is a postscript “by the hand of the Tsar’s Majesty”: “... do not forget: there is time for business and time for fun.” Did you notice the connecting conjunction “and”? It turns out that Alexey Mikhailovich meant that it is necessary to engage equally in hunting and; Moreover, at that time “hour” and “time” were synonymous and both meant “long period.”
The decline of falconry as a matter of national importance occurred during the reign of Peter I, who, unlike his father, was indifferent to it. Nevertheless, the history of the royal phrase did not end there: it entered folklore as “time for business, time for fun,” and then completely acquired a new meaning thanks to the adversative conjunction “a.” At the same time, “fun” acquired new meanings: first “entertainment event,” and then “entertainment, fun, joke.”
3. Seven Fridays a week
What do pagans and those who work five days a week have in common? Both of them always attached special significance to Friday. In pagan times, this day was dedicated to the goddess of fertility and the patroness of the feminine principle Mokoshi, due to which all women were forbidden to spin, weave and wash.
After the adoption of Christianity, this tradition was reborn on the day of Saint Paraskeva (Paraskeva - literally from the ancient Greek “Friday”), who was considered the keeper of the family and an assistant in agricultural work, like Mokosh.
Over time, only two days a year began to be set aside for the veneration of Saint Paraskeva: October 14 and 28 according to the old style. But there were also votive Fridays, when many Orthodox Christians still refused to work, which was condemned by the church. So, for example, all ancient Russian superstitions associated with this day of the week were called in Stoglav “abominable and demonic seductions”:
Yes, through the churchyard and through the village and through the volost, lying prophets - men and wives, and girls, and old women, naked and barefoot, and their hair has grown and flown, shaking and killing themselves. And they say that Saint Friday and Saint Anastasia appear to them and tell them to command the canons of the Christians. They command the peasants not to do manual work on Wednesday and Friday, not to spin their wives, not to wash their clothes, not to light stones, and others command them to do ungodly things other than the divine scriptures...
Stoglav, 1551
Obviously, these are the ones they were talking about, that they have seven Fridays a week. And now they say this about those who often change their decisions.
4. Give oak
Once, in a conversation with a friend, I heard the phrase addressed to me: “What, have you given up?” What do you think she meant? It turns out that she simply asked if everything was okay in my head and if I had gone crazy. Imagine her surprise when she learned that the true meaning of this is “to die.” Yes. And there are several versions of its origin.
According to one of them, this phrase is associated with the verb “to harden” (“to cool down, lose sensitivity, become hard”). Thus, its original meaning is “to become motionless, like an oak tree, to grow cold.” According to another, the phraseological unit may be associated with the tradition of burying the dead under an oak tree.
And the third version connects the origin of the expression with pagan rituals: according to this hypothesis, the original phrase sounded like “to give to an oak tree,” that is, to make a sacrifice to a deity. Why oak? This tree was a sacred symbol of Perun - the pagan god of thunder.
5. Sherochka with a masherochka
Sherochka, why are you so sour today, like an autumn fly?
“Falling Stars”, D. N. Mamin-Sibiryak
Do you think anyone in the 19th century would have been surprised to hear about Sherochka? No. Because at that time such an address to a woman was widespread: ma chère - “my dear” - this is what the students of the institutes for noble maidens usually called each other. From this French phrase both “sherochka” and “masherochka” appeared as derivative nouns in the Russian way.
Initially, a sherochka and a masherochka were jokingly called those same noble noblewomen who were paired due to the lack of gentlemen. And this is understandable, where did men come from in women’s educational institution? Subsequently, they began to talk about any close friends - “bosom friends”.
Did anything in the previous sentence confuse you? It is no coincidence that I put both “Sherochka and Masherochka” and “bosom friends” in the same row: in Lately these phraseological units are often used as synonyms, although it is better not to do so. Yes, they both imply friendship, but still, a bosom friend is, rather, a drinking buddy, because before “pour in the Adam’s apple” meant “drink alcohol, get drunk.” All this is not even close to intelligent girls!
6. Add the first number
In pre-revolutionary times, students were often whipped, sometimes even without reason. If someone received especially many blows, the person punished could be freed from whipping until the next month. That is why they began to say “pour in the first number.”
7. Wash the bones
Here is another phraseological unit, the origin of which gives goosebumps. And all because it is associated with the ancient ritual of re-burying the dead.
In the old days, some peoples believed that an unrepentant sinner after death could emerge from the grave in the form of a ghoul. And in order to rid him of the curse, relatives sometimes dug up the deceased and washed his remains with water, milk or wine.
Over time, this ritual sank into oblivion, and for some reason the expression “washing the bones” began to be associated with slander and gossip. Apparently, it was not for nothing that the ancient Greek politician and poet Chilo from Sparta (6th century BC) said: “Either good things are said about the dead, or nothing but the truth.”
You can learn even more interesting and unexpected things about the etymology and grammar of the Russian language from the book “The Mighty Russian”.
Every person, usually without knowing it, uses several phraseological units in his speech every day. Some of them have existed in the Russian language for several centuries.
What are phraseological units, what are they features and why are they needed? We will try to answer all these questions.
Phraseologisms are stable phrases that are used to make speech expressive, dynamic, better convey emotions, etc. Phraseologisms can be found in oral speech, in fiction, they are widely used in journalism and politics. Perhaps to the least extent they are found only in official documents and special literature.
In the Russian language, phraseological units are widespread. They are necessary so that the speaker can express his attitude to what he is expressing, show his temperament and alertness of mind. From the point of view of vocabulary, the main meaning of a phrase, which is a phraseological unit, can be conveyed in one word, but without emotional connotation.
Phraseologisms surprise with their stability: it is impossible to make changes to them without destroying their meaning. Even a simple word form destroys a phraseological unit. At the same time, the process of formation of new phraseological units is constantly taking place in the language, and obsolete ones are gradually being phased out.
The main task of these phrases is to influence the imagination of the interlocutor or reader in order to make what is said more prominent, make him empathize, and feel certain emotions.
Phraseologisms become known to native speakers with early childhood. We often perceive them under other names - sayings, catchphrases, idiomatic expressions, . They were first described by M.V. Lomonosov when drawing up a plan for a Russian language dictionary. However, serious study of Russian phraseological units began only in the middle of the twentieth century.
Most phraseological units used today have distinct historical roots. Thus, the expression “give the go-ahead” goes back to the signals of the Russian Navy. In the pre-revolutionary alphabet, the letter D was called “good”. The “go-go” signal, transmitted using the naval signal system, meant agreement, permission. Hence the meaning of the expression “give the go-ahead” - to allow, to agree.
A considerable part of phraseological units is based on the transfer of properties of one object to another. The expression “the pot is cooking,” denoting a smart person, is based on the comparison of the head with a pot: cooking means thinking.
Often the basis of a phraseological unit is part of a well-known proverb or a stable professional term. 
Philologists divide phraseological units into their own, which arose in the Russian language, and borrowed, which came through translations of foreign literature.
In the Russian language, phraseological units are found literally at every step. Examples of popular phraseological units:
- like two peas in a pod - about the striking similarity;
- just a stone's throw away - very close;
- one foot here, the other there - quickly run off on some business;
- carelessly - do the work somehow;
- to reach the handle - to lose your human appearance, to descend.
Each of us can remember many similar expressions and phrases in a few minutes - these are phraseological units.
Many phraseological units have been preserved in the Russian language since ancient times. It often happens that the reason for the formation of a phrase has long been forgotten, but the phrase itself lives on in popular speech.
Examples:
- Bosom friend - the expression was formed from the ancient phraseological unit “pour in the Adam’s apple”, i.e. drink alcohol, get drunk and denotes a person with whom you can “drink by the Adam’s apple” without fear of trouble.
- Notch on the nose - in the old days, “nose” was the name given to a wooden plate on which a worker was marked for each day he worked. Notch it on the nose - remember it firmly.
- To be lazy is to be idle. Baklushi were the name given to wooden chocks that were prepared for carving spoons by splitting them off from a birch log. This activity was considered an easy task, practically idleness.
— Chasing a long ruble means striving for easy money. In the ancient Russian state, the main monetary unit was the hryvnia - a silver ingot, which was cut into pieces - rubles. The largest of these pieces was called a long ruble, and getting it meant earning more without making any effort.
- Neither two, nor one and a half - about something vague, without a clear characteristic.
— A double-edged sword is a matter or event that can have good or bad consequences.
- Seven Fridays in a week - about a capricious, eccentric, fickle person. 
- The seventh water on jelly is a very distant relationship.
- Twenty-five again - about something boring, invariably repeated.
Phraseology is a branch of the science of language that studies stable combinations of words. Phraseologism is a stable combination of words, or a stable expression. Used to name objects, signs, actions. It is an expression that arose once, became popular and became entrenched in people's speech. The expression is endowed with figurativeness and may have figurative sense. Over time, an expression can take on a broad meaning in everyday life, partially including the original meaning or completely excluding it.
The phraseological unit as a whole has lexical meaning. The words included in a phraseological unit individually do not convey the meaning of the entire expression. Phraseologisms can be synonymous (at the end of the world, where the raven did not bring bones) and antonymous (raise to heaven - trample into the dirt). A phraseological unit in a sentence is one member of the sentence. Phraseologisms reflect a person and his activities: work (golden hands, playing the fool), relationships in society (bosom friend, putting a spoke in the wheels), personal qualities (turning up his nose, sour face), etc. Phraseologisms make a statement expressive and create imagery. Set expressions are used in works of art, in journalism, in everyday speech. Set expressions are also called idioms. There are many idioms in other languages - English, Japanese, Chinese, French.
To clearly see the use of phraseological units, refer to their list or on the page below.