- Wolf ticket (wolf passport)
In the 19th century, the name of a document that blocked access to public service, educational institution etc. Today, phraseological units are used to mean a sharply negative characteristic of someone’s work.
The origin of this turnover is usually explained by the fact that the person who received such a document was not allowed to live in one place for more than 2-3 days and had to wander like a wolf.
In addition, in many combinations, wolf means “abnormal, inhuman, bestial,” which strengthens the contrast between the holder of the wolf card and other “normal” people. - Lies like a gray gelding
There are several options for the origin of phraseological units.
1. The word gelding comes from the Mongolian morin "horse". In historical monuments, the horse siv and gelding siv are very typical; the adjective sivy “light gray, gray-haired” shows the old age of the animal. The verb to lie had a different meaning in the past - “to talk nonsense, talk idle talk; chatter.” The gray gelding here is gray from long work a stallion, and figuratively - a man who is already talking from old age and talking annoying nonsense.
2. Gelding is a stallion, gray is old. The expression is explained by the usual boasting of old people about their strength, as if still preserved, like that of the young.
3. The turnover is associated with the attitude towards the gray horse as a stupid creature. Russian peasants avoided, for example, laying the first furrow on a gray gelding, because he was “lying” - he was wrong, laying it incorrectly. - Give oak- die
The phrase is associated with the verb zudubet - “to cool down, lose sensitivity, become hard.” An oak coffin has always been a sign of special honor for the deceased. Peter I introduced a tax on oak coffins as a luxury item. - Alive, smoking room!
The origin of the expression is associated with the game "Smoking Room", popular in the 18th century in Russia at gatherings on winter evenings. The players sat in a circle and passed a burning torch to each other, saying “Alive, alive, Smoking Room, not dead, thin legs, short soul...”. The loser was the one whose torch went out and began to smoke or smoke. Later this game was replaced by "Burn, burn clearly so that it does not go out." - Nick down
In the old days, almost the entire population in Russian villages was illiterate. To record the bread handed over to the landowner, the work performed, etc., so-called tags were used - wooden sticks up to a fathom long (2 meters), on which notches were made with a knife. The tags were split into two parts so that the marks were on both: one remained with the employer, the other with the performer. The calculation was made based on the number of notches. Hence the expression “notch on the nose,” meaning: remember well, take into account for the future. - Play spillikins
In the old days, the game of “spillikins” was common in Rus'. It consisted of using a small hook to pull out, without touching the others, one from another pile all the spillikins - all kinds of small toy things: hatchets, glasses, baskets, barrels. This is how not only children, but also adults spent time on long winter evenings.
Over time, the expression “playing spillikins” began to mean an empty pastime. - Latem cabbage soup to slurp
Lapti - woven shoes made of bast (the subcortical layer of linden trees), covering only the sole of the foot - in Rus' were the only affordable footwear for poor peasants, and shchi - a type of cabbage soup - was their simplest and favorite food. Depending on the wealth of the family and the time of year, cabbage soup could be either green, that is, with sorrel, or sour - made from sauerkraut, with meat, or lean - without meat, which was eaten during fasting or in cases of extreme poverty.
About a person who could not earn enough to buy boots and more refined food, they said that he “slurps on cabbage soup,” that is, he lives in terrible poverty and ignorance. - Fawn
The word “fawn” comes from the German phrase “Ich liebe sie” (I love you). Seeing insincerity in the frequent repetition of this “lebezi”, Russian people wittily formed from these German words Russian word“to fawn” means to curry favor, to flatter someone, to achieve someone’s favor or favor with flattery. - Fishing in troubled waters
Stunning has long been one of the prohibited methods of catching fish, especially during spawning. There is a well-known fable by the ancient Greek poet Aesop about a fisherman who muddied the water around his nets, driving blinded fish into them. Then the expression went beyond fishing and acquired a broader meaning - to take advantage of an unclear situation.
There is also a well-known proverb: “Before you catch a fish, you [need] to muddy the waters,” that is, “deliberately create confusion for profit.” - Small fry
The expression came from peasant everyday life. In the Russian northern lands, a plow is a peasant community of 3 to 60 households. And small fry called a very poor community, and then its poor inhabitants. Later, officials occupying a low position in the government structure also began to be called small fry. - The thief's hat is on fire
The expression goes back to an old joke about how a thief was found in the market.
After futile attempts to find the thief, people turned to the sorcerer for help; he shouted loudly: “Look! The thief’s hat is on fire!” And suddenly everyone saw how a man grabbed his hat. So the thief was discovered and convicted. - Lather your head
In the old days, a tsarist soldier served indefinitely - until death or complete disability. Since 1793, a 25-year term was introduced military service. The landowner had the right to give his serfs as soldiers for misconduct. Since recruits (recruits) had their hair shaved off and were referred to as “shaved”, “shaved their forehead”, “soaped their head”, the expression “I’ll soap my head” became synonymous with threat in the mouths of the rulers. IN figurative meaning“soap your head” means: to give a severe reprimand, to strongly scold. - Neither fish nor fowl
In Western and Central Europe of the 16th century, a new movement appeared in Christianity - Protestantism (lat. “to protest, object”). Protestants, unlike Catholics, opposed the Pope, denied holy angels and monasticism, arguing that each person himself can turn to God. Their rituals were simple and inexpensive. There was a bitter struggle between Catholics and Protestants. Some of them, in accordance with Christian commandments, ate modest meat, others preferred lean fish. If a person did not join any movement, then he was contemptuously called “neither fish nor fowl.” Over time, they began to talk about a person who does not have a clearly defined position in life, who is not capable of active, independent actions. - There is no place to put samples- disapprovingly about a depraved woman.
An expression based on a comparison with a golden thing passing from one owner to another. Each new owner demanded that the product be checked by a jeweler and tested. When the product had been in many hands, there was no longer any room left for testing. - If we don't wash, we'll just ride
Before the invention of electricity, a heavy cast iron iron was heated over a fire and, until it cooled down, they ironed clothes with it. But this process was difficult and required a certain skill, so the linen was often “rolled”. To do this, washed and almost dried laundry was fixed on a special rolling pin - a round piece of wood similar to the one used to roll out dough nowadays. Then, using a ruble - a curved corrugated board with a handle - the rolling pin, along with the laundry wound onto it, was rolled along a wide flat board. At the same time, the fabric was stretched and straightened. Professional laundresses knew that well-rolled linen has a fresher appearance, even if the washing was not entirely successful.
This is how the expression “by washing, by rolling” appeared, that is, to achieve results in more than one way. - Break a leg- wishing good luck in something.
The expression was originally used as a “spell” designed to deceive evil spirits (this expression was used to admonish those going on a hunt; it was believed that with a direct wish for good luck one could “jinx” the prey).
Answer "To hell!" should have further protected the hunter. To hell - this is not an expletive like “Go to hell!”, but a request to go to hell and tell him about it (so that the hunter does not get any fluff or feather). Then the unclean one will do the opposite, and what is needed will happen: the hunter will return “with down and feathers,” that is, with prey. - Let's beat swords into ploughshares
The expression goes back to Old Testament, which says that “the time will come when the nations will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks: nation will not lift up sword against nation, and they will no longer learn to fight.”
In the Old Church Slavonic language, “ploughshare” is a tool for cultivating land, something like a plow. The dream of establishing universal peace is figuratively expressed in the sculpture of the Soviet sculptor E.V. Vuchetich, depicting a blacksmith forging a sword into a plow, which is installed in front of the UN building in New York. - Goof
Prosak is a drum with teeth in a machine, with the help of which wool was carded. Getting into trouble meant being maimed and losing an arm. To get into trouble is to get into trouble, into an awkward position. - Knock you down
Confuse, confuse.
Pantalik is a distorted version of Pantelik, a mountain in Attica (Greece) with a stalactite cave and grottoes in which it was easy to get lost. - Straw Widow
Among the Russians, Germans and a number of other peoples, a bundle of straw served as a symbol of a concluded agreement: marriage or purchase and sale. To break the straw meant to break the contract, to separate. There was also a custom of making the newlyweds’ bed on sheaves of rye. Wedding wreaths were also woven from straw flowers. A wreath (from the Sanskrit word “vene” - “bundle”, meaning a bundle of hair) was a symbol of marriage.
If the husband left somewhere for a long time, they said that the woman was left with nothing but straw, which is how the expression “straw widow” appeared. - Dance from the stove
The expression became popular thanks to the novel by the 19th century Russian writer V.A. Sleptsova " Good man». Main character novel "Non-Servant Nobleman" Sergei Terebenev returns to Russia after long wanderings around Europe. He remembers how he was taught to dance as a child. Seryozha started all his movements from the stove, and if he made a mistake, the teacher told him: “Well, go to the stove, start over.” Terebenev realized that his life circle had closed: he started from the village, then Moscow, Europe, and, having reached the edge, he again returned to the village, to the stove. - Grated kalach
In Rus', kalach is wheat bread in the shape of a castle with a bow. Grated kalach was baked from hard kalach dough, which was kneaded and grated for a long time. This is where the proverb “Don’t grate, don’t crush, don’t make kalach” came from, which in a figurative sense means: “troubles teach a person.” And the words “grated kalach” have become popular - this is what they say about an experienced person who has seen a lot, who has “rubbed between people” a lot. - Pull the gimp
Gimp is a very thin, flattened, twisted gold or silver wire used for embroidery. Making gimp consists of pulling it out. This work, done manually, is tedious, monotonous and time-consuming. Therefore, the expression “pull the gimp” (or “spread the gimp”) in a figurative sense began to mean: to do something monotonous, tedious, causing an annoying loss of time. - In the middle of nowhere
In ancient times, clearings in dense forests were called kuligs. The pagans considered them bewitched. Later, people settled deep into the forest, looked for swarms, and settled there with their whole family. This is where the expression comes from: in the middle of nowhere, that is, very far away. - Too
In Slavic mythology, Chur or Shchur is an ancestor, ancestor, god hearth and home- brownie.
Initially, “chur” meant: limit, border.
Hence the exclamation: “chur,” meaning a prohibition to touch something, to cross some line, beyond some limit (in spells against “ evil spirits", in games, etc.), a requirement to comply with some condition, agreement.
From the word “too much” the word “too much” was born, meaning: to go beyond “too much”, to go beyond the limit. “Too much” means too much, too much, too much. - Sherochka with a masherochka
Until the 18th century, women were educated at home. In 1764, the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens was opened in St. Petersburg at the Resurrection Smolny Convent. The daughters of nobles studied there from the ages of 6 to 18. The subjects of study were the law of God, French, arithmetic, drawing, history, geography, literature, dancing, music, different kinds home economics, as well as items of "secular circulation". The usual address of college girls to each other was the French ma chere. From these French words came the Russian words “sherochka” and “masherochka”, which are currently used to name a couple consisting of two women. - Walk trump
IN ancient Rus' Boyars, unlike commoners, sewed a collar embroidered with silver, gold and pearls, which was called a trump card, to the collar of their ceremonial caftan. The trump card stuck out impressively, giving the boyars a proud posture. Walking as a trump means walking is important, but trumping means showing off something.
Contemporaries of A.S. Pushkin, reading his works, perceived all the details of the text. And we, readers of the 21st century, are already missing out on a lot, not understanding, but guessing approximately. Indeed, what is a frock coat, a tavern, a tavern, a dressing gown? Who are the coachman, the yard boy, and your excellency? In each story of Pushkin's cycle there are words that are incomprehensible and unclear in their meaning. But they all designate some objects, phenomena, concepts, positions, titles of a past life. These words have fallen out of modern use. Therefore they specific meaning remains unclear and incomprehensible to the modern reader. This explains the choice of the topic of my research, dedicated to obsolete, departed modern language words in Belkin's Tales.
The life of a language is clearly manifested in constant changes in the composition of words and their meanings. And the very history of the people and the state is imprinted in the fate of individual words. The vocabulary of the Russian language contains many words that are rarely used in real speech, but are known to us from classical literary works, history books and stories about the past.
Obsolete words can be divided into two groups: 1) historicisms; 2) archaisms.
Historicisms (from the Greek historia - a story about past events) are words denoting the names of such objects and phenomena that ceased to exist as a result of the development of society. Many words that name objects of a bygone way of life, old culture, things and phenomena associated with the economy of the past, old socio-political relations have become historicisms. Thus, there are many historicisms among words related to military themes: chain mail, arquebus, visor, redoubt. Many words denoting ranks, classes, positions, and professions of old Russia are historicisms: tsar, boyar, equestrian, footman, steward, zemstvo, serf, landowner, constable, ofenya, farrier, tinker, sawyer, lamplighter, barge hauler; phenomena of patriarchal life: corvée, quitrent, cuts, procurement; types of production activities: manufactory, horse-drawn carriage; types of disappeared technologies: tinning, mead making.
Archaisms (from the Greek archaios - ancient) are words that have fallen out of use due to their replacement with new ones, for example: cheeks - cheeks, loins - lower back, right hand - right hand, tuga - sadness, verses - poems, ramen - shoulders. All of them have synonyms in modern Russian.
Archaisms may differ from the modern synonymous word in different ways: a different lexical meaning (guest - merchant, belly - life), a different grammatical design (perform - perform, at the ball - at the ball), a different morphemic composition (friendship - friendship, fisherman - fisherman ), other phonetic features (Gishpansky - Spanish, mirror - mirror). Some words are completely outdated, but have modern synonyms: so that - so that, destruction - destruction, harm, hope - hope and firmly believe. Archaisms and historicisms are used in fiction to recreate the historical situation in the country and convey the national and cultural traditions of the Russian people.
DICTIONARY OF OBSOLETE WORDS
From the publisher
Corvee is free forced labor of a dependent peasant, “Ivan Petrovich was forced to abolish corvee and establish a master who works with his own equipment on the farm. moderate quitrent"
Quirk is an annual collection of money and food from serfs by landowners.
The housekeeper is a servant in the landowner's house, who was entrusted with the keys to the “he entrusted the management of the village to his old housekeeper, who acquired his storage of food supplies. trust in the art of storytelling. »
Second major - military rank of the 8th class in 1741-1797. “His late father, Second Major Pyotr Ivanovich Belkin, was married to the girl Pelageya Gavrilovna from the Trafilin family. »
"Shot"
A banker is a player holding a bank in card games. “The officer went out, saying that he was ready to answer for the offense, as Mr. Banker pleases.”
“The game continued for several more minutes; but feeling that the owner was
Vacancy - an unfilled position; job title. There was no time for the game, we fell behind one by one and scattered to our apartments, talking about the imminent vacancy. »
Galun is a gold braid or silver (ribbon) that was sewn on “Silvio stood up and took out of the cardboard a red cap with a gold tassel, like a uniform. galloon"
“Throw the bank” (special). - reception of a card game. “He refused for a long time, because he almost never played; Finally he ordered the cards to be brought, poured fifty chervonets onto the table and sat down to throw. »
Hussar - a military man from light cavalry units who wore a Hungarian uniform. “He once served in the hussars, and even happily.”
A footman is a servant for masters, as well as in a restaurant, hotel, etc. “The footman led me into the count’s office, and he himself went to report on me. »
A riding arena is a platform or special building for training horses and the life of an army officer is known. In the morning training, playpen; lunch at horse riding lessons. a regimental commander or in a Jewish tavern; in the evening punch and cards.
Punter - in gambling card games: playing against the bank, i.e. “If the punter happened to be shortchanged, then he immediately paid them extra by making large bets; one who bets in a gambling card game. enough, or wrote down too much. »
Lieutenant - an officer rank higher than a second lieutenant and lower than a non-commissioned officer - an officer - a junior command rank in tsarist army staff captain. Russia, in some modern foreign armies; person holding this title.
This (this, this) place. - this, this, this. “With these words he hurriedly left”
Excellency - titles of princes and counts (from places: yours, his, hers, theirs) “Oh,” I noted, “in that case, I bet that your excellency will not hit the map even at twenty paces: the pistol requires daily exercise .
Frock coat and frock coat - long men's double-breasted clothing at the waist with a turn-down "he walked forever, in a worn black frock coat"
or a stand-up collar.
Chervonets is the general name for foreign gold coins in pre-Petrine era “For a long time he refused, because he almost never played; finally ordered
Rus'. to hand over the cards, poured fifty chervonets onto the table and sat down to throw. »
Chandal - candlestick “The officer, inflamed by the wine, the game and the laughter of his comrades, considered himself severely offended and, in a rage, grabbed a copper chandelier from the table and threw it at Silvio, who barely managed to dodge the blow. »
Eterist - in the second half of the 18th and early 19th centuries: a member of the secret Greek “It is said that Silvius, during the indignation of Alexander Ypsilant, a revolutionary organization that fought for the liberation of the country from led a detachment of Eterists and was killed in battle under Turkish oppression. Skulyanami. »
"Blizzard"
Boston is a card game. “neighbors constantly went to him to eat, drink, and play Boston for five kopecks with his wife”
Versta - an ancient Russian measure “The coachman decided to travel along the river, which was supposed to shorten our route to a length of 1.06 km. " three miles. »
Red tape - delaying a case or decision, any question. “What was holding him back? Shyness, inseparable from true love, pride or the coquetry of cunning red tape?
Maid - servant to the mistress. “Three men and a maid supported the bride and were only busy
The police captain is the chief of police in the district. “After lunch, land surveyor Shmit appeared in a mustache and spurs and the police captain’s son appeared. »
Kibitka is a covered road carriage. “I turned around, left the church without any obstacles, rushed into the wagon and shouted: “Get off!”
Cornet is the lowest officer rank. “The first person he came to, the retired forty-year-old cornet Dravin, agreed willingly.”
The porch is a covered area in front of the entrance to the church. “The church was open, several sleighs stood outside the fence; people were walking around the porch. »
Signet - homemade seal on a ring or keychain. “Having sealed both letters with a Tula signet, on which were depicted
Signet - a small seal on a ring, a keychain with initials, or two flaming hearts with a decent inscription, she (Marya Gavrilovna)
some other sign. Used to seal letters, threw herself on the bed just before dawn and dozed off. »
sealing wax or wax and served as an indication of the sender.
Ensign is the most junior officer rank. “The subject she chose was a poor army ensign who was on leave in his village.”
Ulan - in the armies of some countries, a soldier, a light cavalry officer, “a boy of about sixteen who recently joined the lancers. »
wielding a spear or saber.
Shlafor - housecoat. “The old people woke up and went into the living room. , Praskovya Petrovna in a dressing gown with cotton wool. »
Grand Patience - laying out a deck of cards certain rules. “The old lady was sitting alone in the living room one day, playing grand solitaire.”
A cap is a pointed-shaped headdress, which in the old days was worn by men “Gavrila Gavrilovich in a cap and flannel jacket”
worn at home and often worn at night. ; sleeping cap.
"Undertaker"
Cupid is the god of love and ancient mythology, depicted as a winged “Above the gate was a sign depicting a burly boy with a bow and arrow. Cupid with an overturned torch in his hand. »
Announce - to notify by ringing a church service. “No one noticed, the guests continued the thread, and were already announcing Vespers when they got up from the table.
Over the knee boots - boots with a wide top. ". the leg bones beat in the big boots, like pestles in mortars. »
Brigadier - in the Russian army of the 18th century. : military rank 5th class (according to the Table of “Tryukhina, brigadier and sergeant Kurilkin vaguely introduced themselves by rank); person who had this rank. his imagination."
The guard is a policeman who carried out guard duty in the booth. “Of the Russian officials there was one watchman”
Vespers is a Christian church service held in the afternoon. ". the guests continued to drink and were already announcing Vespers.”
Gaer is a common jester in folk games, clowning around and making faces in “Is the undertaker a gaer at Christmas time?”
Christmas time;
A ten-kopeck coin is a ten-kopeck coin. “The undertaker gave him a ten-kopeck piece for vodka, got dressed quickly, took a cab and went to Razgulay. »
Drogi - a cart for transporting the dead. “The last belongings of the undertaker Adrian Prokhorov were thrown into the funeral cart”
Kaftan - an old men's long-brimmed outerwear “I will not describe the Russian caftan of Adrian Prokhorov”
Icon, icon case, icon case (from Greek - box, ark) - a special decorated cabinet “Soon order was established; ark with images, cabinet with
(often folded) or glazed shelf for icons. dishes, a table, a sofa and a bed occupied certain corners in the back room.”
A mantle is a wide, long garment in the form of a cloak." "The kitchen and living room housed the owner's wares: coffins of all colors and all sizes, as well as wardrobes with mourning ribbons, mantles and torches. »
To preach the gospel - to end, to stop preaching the gospel. “You feasted with the German all day, came back drunk, fell into bed, and slept until this hour, when they announced mass.”
Contractor is a person who is obligated under a contract to perform certain work. “But Tryukhina was dying on Razgulay, and Prokhorov was afraid that her heir, despite his promise, would not be too lazy to send for him so far away and would not make a deal with the nearest contractor. »
To rest - 1. To sleep, to fall asleep; “You deigned to sleep, and we didn’t want to wake you.”
2. Transfer. Rest.
Svetlitsa - a bright living room; front room in the house; small “The girls went to their little room. "
bright room at the top of the house.
The ax is an ancient bladed weapon - a large ax with a semicircular blade, and “Yurko again began to walk around her with an ax and in armor with a long homespun handle. »
Sermyaga is a coarse homespun undyed cloth: a caftan is made from this cloth. “Yurko began to walk around her again with an ax and in homespun armor. »
Chukhonets was the name given to Finns and Estonians until 1917. “Of the Russian officials there was one watchman, the Chukhonian Yurko, who knew how
To acquire the special favor of the owner.”
"The Station Agent"
The altar is the main elevated eastern part of the church, fenced off “He hastily entered the church: the priest was leaving the altar. »
iconostasis.
Altar - in ancient times among many peoples: a place on which sacrifices were burned and in front of which rituals associated with sacrifice were performed. Used figuratively and in comparison.
An assignation is a paper banknote issued in Russia from 1769 to “. he took them out and unwrapped several five and ten ruble
1849 , in the official language - before the introduction of credit cards; one ruble of crumpled banknotes"
in silver was equal to 3 1/3 rubles in banknotes.
The Prodigal Son is a gospel parable about the rebellious prodigal son who “They depicted the story of the prodigal son. »
he left home, squandered his share of the inheritance, after wanderings he returned with repentance to his father’s house and was forgiven.
High Nobility - according to the Table of Ranks, the title of civil ranks with “Early in the morning he came to his anteroom and asked to report to his eighth to sixth grade, as well as officers from captain to colonel, and to High Nobility”
“Taking off his wet, shaggy hat, letting go of his shawl and pulling off his overcoat,
The visiting hussar, a soldier of the highest cavalry, appeared as a young, slender hussar with a black mustache.”
Drozhki - a light, two-seater, four-wheeled open carriage with short "Suddenly a smart droshky raced in front of him"
drogues instead of springs.
Deacon - a clergyman in Orthodox Church; the church reader, the sexton extinguished the candles. »
acolyte; He also taught literacy.
An assessor is an elected representative in court to work in some “Yes, but there are few travelers: unless the assessor turns around, he has no time for another institution. dead. »
A tavern is a drinking establishment of one of the lowest categories for sale and “It used to be that he comes from the tavern, and we follow him. »
drinking alcoholic beverages.
A cap is a pointed or oval-shaped headdress. “An old man in a cap and dressing gown lets a young man go”
Lackey is a servant in a house, restaurant, hotel.
The front end of a cart, sleigh, cart; the coachman's seat in the front "the servant jumped onto the beam. »
The porch is a covered area in front of the entrance to the church. “Approaching the church, he saw that the people were already leaving, but Dunya was not there
Neither in the fence, nor on the porch. »
Passengers are a carriage with horses that change at post stations. "traveled on crossroads"
Podorozhnaya - a document giving the right to use post horses; “In five minutes - the bell! and the courier throws him a travel certificate. your travel table. »
To rest - 1. To sleep, to fall asleep; “The military footman, cleaning his boot on the last, announced that the master
2. Transfer. Rest. rests and that he doesn’t receive anyone before eleven o’clock. »
Postmaster - manager of a post office. “the caretaker asked the S*** postmaster to leave for two months”
Passes are the cost of travel on post horses. ". paid runs for two horses. »
Captain - senior chief officer rank in the cavalry “He soon learned that Captain Minsky was in St. Petersburg and lived in
Demutov tavern. »
Skufya, skufiya - 1. A youthful, monochromatic (black, purple, Minsky came out to you in a robe, in a red skufiya. “What do you need purple, etc.) hat for Orthodox priests, monks. 2. Do you need a round?” he asked.
cap, skullcap, skull cap, headdress.
A caretaker is the head of an institution. “The weather is unbearable, the road is bad, the driver is stubborn and the horses are not moving - and the caretaker is to blame. »
Frock coat (frock coat) - a long men's double-breasted garment with a standing "and his long green frock coat with three medals"
collar
Taurus – a young bull “the cook kills a well-fed calf”
A tavern is a hotel with a restaurant. “He soon learned that Captain Minsky was in St. Petersburg and lived in
Demutov tavern. »
Non-commissioned officer is a junior command rank in the Tsarist Army of Russia. “I stayed in the Izmailovsky regiment, in the house of a retired non-commissioned officer. »
Courier - in the old army: a military or government courier for “In five minutes - the bell!” and the courier rushes him to deliver important, mostly secret documents. your travel table. »
The kingdom of heaven is a rhetorical wish for the deceased to have a happy fate in “It happened (the kingdom of heaven to him!) comes from a tavern, but we are for the afterlife. him: “Grandfather, grandfather! nuts!” - and he gives us nuts. »
Rank - a rank assigned to civil servants and military personnel according to the Table “I was in a minor rank, rode on carriages and paid rank passes associated with the provision of certain class rights and for two horses. »
benefits.
Dressing gown and shlafo - dressing gown. “An old man in a cap and dressing gown lets a young man go”
SLAFROK or dressing gown m. German. robe, sleeping clothes. Most often it serves as home clothing for nobles.
COAT - originally a “sleeping robe” (from German), and then the same as a robe. Although people did not go out and visit in dressing gowns, they could look very elegant, sewn for show
Coachman - coachman, driver of postal and pit horses. “The weather is unbearable, the road is bad, + the stubborn horses won’t carry -
and the caretaker is to blame. »
"Peasant Young Lady"
Blancmange - jelly made from milk with almonds and sugar. “Well, we left the table. and we sat for three hours, and the dinner was delicious: the blancmange cake was blue and striped. »
Burners - Russian folk game, in which the one standing in front caught others “So we left the table and went into the garden to play burners, and the participants ran away from him one by one in pairs. the young master appeared here. »
House servants - servants at a manor's house, courtyard; courtyard people (in contrast to “Ivan Petrovich Berestov went out for a ride on horseback, for all the peasants who lived in the village and were engaged in farming). case, taking with him a pair of three greyhounds, a stirrup and several
Dvorovoy - related to the yard, belonging to the yard. yard boys with rattles. »
Drozhki - a light, two-seater, four-wheeled open carriage with short "Muromsky asked Berestov for a droshky, because he admitted that the drozhki had springs instead of springs. Because of the injury, he was able to get home in the evening. »
Jockey - a horse race rider; servant on horseback rides. “His grooms were dressed as jockeys.”
Zoil is a picky, unkind, unfair critic; evil “He was furious and called his zoil a bear and a provincial. »
detractor
Valet - the master's household servant, footman. “That’s right,” Alex answered,
I am the young master's valet. »
Chinese - thick fabric, originally silk, made in China, “(Lisa) sent to buy at the market a thick cloth, blue then cotton, produced in Russia for sundresses and men's Chinese and copper buttons"
shirts , usually blue, less often red. Used in peasant life
Kniksen and Kniks - accepted in the bourgeois-noble environment for girls and “Unfortunately, instead of Lisa, old Miss Jackson came out, whitewashed, the girls bowed with a curtsey as a sign of gratitude, greeting; drawn out, with downcast eyes and a small curtsey. »
curtsy.
Livery - uniform for footmen, doormen, coachmen, decorated with “Old Berestov walked onto the porch with the help of two livery braids and sewing. lackeys of Muromsky. »
Livery – 1. Adj. to livery, which was livery. 2. Dressed in livery.
Madame - name married woman, appended to the surname; “Her agility and minute-by-minute pranks delighted her father and brought him into his mistress. Usually used in relation to a French woman, and in reference to the despair of her Madame Miss Jackson. »
– and to a Russian woman from privileged strata.
Miss is an unmarried woman in England. Her agility and minute orders delighted her father and drove her Madame Miss Jackson into despair.”
Confidant - about a woman who was especially trusted and “There she changed her clothes, absentmindedly answering questions with the eager favor of someone; darling, lover. confidante, and appeared in the living room.”
To make up - to make up, to draw with antimony, that is, popular since ancient times “Liza, his dark-skinned Lisa, was whitened up to her ears, made up more than ever with a cosmetic product made on the basis of antimony, by Miss Jackson herself. »
giving it a special shine.
Okolotok - 1. Surrounding area, surrounding villages. 2. Resident of the district, “He built a house according to own plan, established a legal neighborhood, the surrounding area. factory, established income and began to consider himself the smartest person
3. The area of the city under the jurisdiction of the local police officer. all over the area"
4. Medical center (usually attached to a military unit).
The Guardianship Council is an institution in Russia in charge of guardianship affairs, “. the first of the landowners of his province thought of mortgaging the educational institutions and some credit transactions related to the estate in the Board of Trustees.”
pledges of estates, etc.
Plis – cotton velvet. Among the nobility it was used for “On weekdays he wears a corduroy jacket, on holidays he puts on a home suit, merchants and rich peasants sew from it an elegant frock coat from homemade cloth.”
Poltina is a silver coin equal to 50 kopecks, half a ruble. Minted with “Trofim, passing in front of Nastya, gave her small colorful bast shoes
1707 and received half a ruble from her as a reward. »
Polushka - since the 15th century, a silver coin worth half money (i.e. ¼ “I’ll sell it and squander it, and I won’t leave you a half-ruble.”
kopecks); the last silver polushkas were released into circulation in
Frock coat - long men's double-breasted clothing with a stand-up collar “On weekdays he wears a corduroy jacket, on holidays he puts on a frock coat made of homemade cloth”
The head of the table is the official who manages the table. “The neighbors agreed that he would never make the right chief executive. »
Stremyanny is a groom, a servant who takes care of his riding horse “Ivan Petrovich Berestov went out for a ride on horseback, for every master, and also a servant who accompanies the master during the hunt. case, taking with him three pairs of greyhounds, a stirrup and several yard boys with rattles. »
Tartines - a thin slice of bread spread with butter; small sandwich. “The table was set, breakfast was ready, and Miss Jackson. I cut thin tartines. »
The faucets are a wide frame made of whalebone, willow twigs or wire, “the sleeves stuck out like Madame de Pompadour’s faucets.”
worn under a skirt to add fullness; skirt on such a frame.
A courtier is a nobleman at the royal court, a courtier. “The dawn shone in the east, and the golden rows of clouds seemed to be waiting for the sun, like courtiers waiting for a sovereign. »
Chekmen - men's clothing of the Caucasian type - a cloth caftan at the waist with ruching at the back. ". he saw his neighbor, proudly sitting on horseback, wearing a checkman lined with fox fur, "
IV. Conclusion
"Dictionary outdated words"contains 108 dictionary entries, both historicisms and archaisms. It contains those words that are not currently used or are used extremely rarely in real life. literary language, also words used today, but with a different meaning from the one we give it.
The dictionary entry reveals the meaning of obsolete words, using examples from the stories of Pushkin’s cycle to show how they functioned in speech. The created dictionary, which includes both historicisms and archaisms, will help to overcome the barrier between the reader and the text, sometimes erected by outdated words that are incomprehensible or misunderstood by the reader, and to thoughtfully and meaningfully perceive the text of “Belkin’s Tales”. Some dictionary entries are accompanied by drawings that make it possible to realistically imagine the objects called by this or that word.
The remarkable poet, outstanding translator V. A. Zhukovsky wrote: “The word is not our arbitrary invention: every word that receives a place in the lexicon of a language is an event in the field of thought.”
This work will become an assistant in reading, studying, and understanding Pushkin’s cycle “Belkin’s Tales”, will broaden the reader’s horizons, help arouse interest in the history of words, and can be used in literature lessons.
Depending on the reasons why a particular word is classified as obsolete, historicisms and archaisms are distinguished.
Historicisms
- these are words that have fallen out of use because the objects and phenomena that they denoted have disappeared from life.Historicisms do not have synonyms, since this is the only designation of a disappeared concept and the object or phenomenon behind it.
Historicisms represent quite diverse thematic groups of words:
1) Names of ancient clothing: zipun, camisole, caftan, kokoshnik, zhupan, shushun, etc.;
2) Names of monetary units: altyn, penny, polushka, hryvnia, etc.;
3) Titles: boyar, nobleman, tsar, count, prince, duke, etc.;
4) Names of officials: policeman, governor, clerk, constable, etc.;
5) Names of weapons: arquebus, sixfin, unicorn (cannon), etc.;
6) Administrative names: volost, district, district, etc.
For polysemantic words, one of the meanings can become historic. For example, the word people has the following meanings:
1) Plural noun person;
2) Other persons who are strangers to anyone;
3) Persons used in any business, personnel;
4) Servant, worker in a manor house.
The word people in the first three meanings is included in the active dictionary. The fourth value of of this word is outdated, so we have semantic historicism, forming the lexeme human in the meaning of “the room in which the servants live.”
Archaisms
- these are words denoting concepts, objects, phenomena that currently exist; for various (primarily extra-linguistic) reasons, archaisms were forced out of active use by other words.Consequently, archaisms have synonyms in modern Russian, for example: sail (n.) - sail, Psyche (n.) - soul; Overseas (adj.) - foreign; Koi (pronoun) - which; This (pronoun) - this; Poeliku (union) - because, etc.
Depending on whether the entire word, the meaning of the word, the phonetic design of the word, or a separate word-forming morpheme becomes obsolete, archaisms are divided into several groups:
1) Actually lexical archaisms are words that have completely fallen out of use and become passive lexicon: lzya - it is possible; thief - thief; aki—how; piit - poet; young woman - teenager, etc.
2) Lexico-semantic archaisms are words for which one or more meanings are outdated:
Belly - “life” (not to fight on the stomach, but to fight to death); Idol - “statue”;
Scoundrels - “unfit for military service"; Haven - “port, pier”, etc.
3) Lexico-phonetic archaisms are words whose sound design (sound shell) has changed as a result of historical development, but the meaning of the word has been fully preserved:
Mirror - mirror;
Iroism - heroism;
Eighteen - eighteen;
Passport - passport;
Calm - style (poetic), etc.
A special group consists of accentological archaisms - that is, words whose emphasis has changed (from the Latin Accentum - emphasis, emphasis):
The muses of the "ka-mu" language;
Suffi "ks - su" affix; Philoso "f ~ philo "sof, etc.
4) Lexico-word-formative archaisms are words in which individual morphemes or word-formation models are outdated:
Dol - valley; Friendship - friendship; Shepherd - shepherd; Fisherman - fisherman; Phantasm - fantasy, etc.
The archaization of words is not related to their origin. The following types of fishing may become obsolete:
1) Original Russian words: laby, izgoy, lzya, endova, etc.;
2) Old Slavonicisms: glad, edin, zelo, cold, child, etc.
3) Borrowed words: satisfaction - satisfaction (about a duel); Sikurs - help; Fortecia (fortress), etc.
The role of obsolete words in the Russian language is varied. Historicisms in special scientific literature are used to most accurately describe the era. In works of fiction on historical themes, historicisms and archaisms help to recreate the flavor of the era, and are also a means of speech characterization of characters.
Examples of such use of outdated vocabulary are the novels “Razin Stepan” by A.P. Chapygina, “Peter I” A.H. Tolstoy, “Emelyan Pugachev” by V.Ya. Shishkova, “Ivan the Terrible” by V.I. Kostyleva and others.
In the text of any of these works of art You can find different types of archaisms:
I learned this: according to information from Taty Fomka, thieves were caught outside the Nikitsky Gate (Chapygin).
Archaisms can be used to create a solemn style, which is especially characteristic of the poetry of the late 18th - early XIX centuries. Examples include the works of A.N. Radishcheva, G.R. Derzhavina, V.A. Zhukovsky, A.S. Pushkina and others.
Archaisms can also be used to create comic and satirical effects: Finally, look at your own person - and there, first of all, you will meet the head, and then you will not leave the belly and other parts without a sign (S. Shch.)
Obsolete words include words that are no longer used in standard speech. To determine whether a certain word is obsolete, lexicographic analysis is used. It must show that now this word is rarely used in speech.
One type of obsolete words are historicisms, that is, designations of concepts that no longer exist. There are quite a lot of similar words among the designations of professions or social positions of a person that have ceased to be relevant, for example, odnodvorets, profos, moskatelschik, provision master, postilion, potter. A huge number of historicisms denote objects of material culture that have gone out of use - a horse-drawn horse, a torch, a britzka, bast shoes. The meaning of some words belonging to this category is known to at least some native speakers who recognize them without effort, but there are no historicisms in the active dictionary.
Archaisms are words that indicate concepts that continue to exist in the language, for which another word is now used. Instead of “so that” they say “so that”, instead of “from time immemorial” - “from time immemorial, always”, and instead of “eye” - “eye”. Some of these words are completely unrecognized by those who encounter them, and thus they fall out of the passive vocabulary. For example, few people recognize the word “in vain” as a synonym for “in vain.” At the same time, its root has been preserved in the words “vanity”, “in vain”, which are still included, at least, in the passive dictionary of the Russian language.
Some archaisms have remained in modern Russian speech as components of phraseological units. In particular, the expression “to cherish like the apple of your eye” contains two archaisms, including “zenitsa”, which means “pupil”. This word, in contrast to the word “eye,” is unknown to the vast majority of native speakers, even educated ones.
Words leave active use and enter the passive vocabulary gradually. Among other things, the change in their status occurs due to changes in society. But the role of direct linguistic factors is also significant. An important point is the number of connections of a given word with others. A word with a rich set of systemic connections of a different nature will be noticeably slower to disappear into the passive dictionary.
Obsolete words do not have to be ancient. Relatively recently coined words can quickly fall out of use. This applies to many terms that appeared in the early Soviet era. At the same time, both originally Russian words and borrowings, such as “bataliya” (battle), “victory” (in the meaning of “victory”, but not female name), "fortecia" (victory).
Archaisms are divided into a number of categories depending on the nature of their obsolescence. The main option is actual lexical archaisms; such words are completely outdated. For example, this is “izhe”, meaning “which” or “eye”, that is, eye. A lexical-semantic archaism is a polysemantic word that is outdated in one or more meanings. For example, the word “shame” still exists, but it no longer means “spectacle.” In lexico-phonetic archaisms, the spelling and pronunciation of the word has changed, but the meaning has remained the same. "Gishpanskiy" (now Spanish) belongs to this category of archaisms. The lexical and word-formative type of archaisms contains prefixes or suffixes that make this form obsolete. For example, previously there was a variant of the verb “to fall”, but now only “to fall” is possible.
Obsolete words in modern written and spoken speech can be used for different purposes. Particularly when writing historical novels, their presence is necessary for stylization. In modern oral speech, their function may be to enhance the expressiveness of what is spoken. Archaisms are capable of giving statements both a solemn, sublime and ironic character.
You can look at outdated, rare and forgotten words in ours.
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Meanings of obsolete Russian wordsCurrency:
Altyn
From Tatar Alty - six - an ancient Russian monetary unit.
Altyn - from the 17th century. - a coin consisting of six Moscow money.
Altyn - 3 kopecks (6 money).
Five-alty ruble - 15 kopecks (30 money).
Dime
- Russian ten-kopeck coin, issued since 1701.
Two hryvnia - 20 kopecks
Grosh
- a small copper coin in denomination of 2 kopecks, minted in Russia in the 17th century.
4 kopecks is two pennies.
Money (denga)
- a small copper coin of 1/2 kopeck, minted in Russia from 1849 to 1867.
Gold ruble
- monetary unit of Russia from 1897 to 1914. The gold content of the ruble was 0.774 g of pure gold.
Kopeck money
Kopek
- Russian monetary unit, from the 16th century. minted from silver, gold, copper. The name “kopeck” comes from the image on the reverse of the coin of a horseman with a spear.
Kopek
- since 1704, Russian copper small change, 1/100th of a ruble.
Poltina
Half a ruble
- Russian coin, 1/2 share of a ruble (50 kopecks). Since 1654, fifty kopecks have been minted from copper, since 1701 - from silver.
Polushka - 1/4 kopeck
Half a half - 1/8 kopeck.
The half-polushka (polpolushka) was minted only in 1700.
Ruble
- monetary unit of Russia. Regular minting of the silver ruble began in 1704. Copper and gold rubles were also minted. Since 1843, the ruble began to be issued in the form of a paper treasury note.
"Ancient Russian measures."
Currency:
Ruble = 2 half rubles
half = 50 kopecks
five-altyn = 15 kopecks
kryvennik = 10 kopecks
altyn = 3 kopecks
penny = 2 kopecks
2 money = 1/2 kopeck
half = 1/4 kopeck
In Ancient Rus', foreign silver coins and silver bars - hryvnias - were used.
If the product cost less than a hryvnia, it was cut in half - these halves were called TIN or Ruble.
Over time, the word TIN was not used, the word Ruble was used, but half a ruble was called half-tina, a quarter - half-half-tina.
On silver coins of 50 kopecks they wrote COIN POLE TINA.
THE ANCIENT NAME OF THE RUBLE IS TIN.
Auxiliary weights:
Pud = 40 pounds = 16.3804815 kg.
Steelyard is an ancient Russian unit of measurement of mass, part of the Russian system of measures and used in the north Russian Empire and in Siberia. 1 steelyard = 1/16 pood or 1.022 kg.
Pound = 32 lots = 96 spools = 0.45359237 kg.
(1 kg = 2.2046 lbs).
Lot = 3 spools = 12.797 grams.
Spool = 96 shares = 4.26575417 g.
Share - the smallest old Russian unit of mass measurement
= 44.43 mg. = 0.04443 grams.
Auxiliary measures are long:
A mile is 7 versts or 7.4676 km.
Versta - 500 fathoms or 1,066.781 meters
Fathom = 1/500 verst = 3 arshins = 12 spans = 48 vershoks
Vershok = 1/48 fathoms = 1/16 arshin = 1/4 span = 1.75 inches = 4.445 cm = 44.45 mm. (Originally equal to the length of the main phalanx of the index finger).
Arshin = 1/3 fathoms = 4 spans = 16 vershok = 28 inches = 0.7112 m. On June 4, 1899, the “Regulations on Weights and Measures” arshin was legalized in Russia as the main measure of length.
Pyad = 1/12 fathoms = 1/4 arshin = 4 vershkas = 7 inches = exactly 17.78 cm. (From the old Russian word “metacarpus” - palm, hand).
Elbow is a unit of measurement of length that does not have a specific value and approximately corresponds to the distance from the elbow joint to the end of the extended middle finger.
Inch - in Russian and English systems of measures 1 inch = 10 lines (“big line”). The word inch was introduced into the Russian language by Peter I at the very beginning of the 18th century. Today, an inch is most often understood as an English inch, equal to 2.54 cm.
Foot - 12 inches = 304.8 mm.
Set expressions
You can hear it a mile away.
Seven miles is no detour for a mad dog.
Seven miles is not a suburb for my dear friend.
Versta Kolomenskaya.
Oblique fathoms in the shoulders.
Measure everyone to your own yardstick.
Swallow a yard.
Two inches from the pot.
One hundred pounds.
Seven spans in the forehead.
Small spool but precious.
Go by leaps and bounds.
Find out how much a pound is worth.
Not an inch of land (not to be given up).
A meticulous person.
Eat a peck of salt (with someone else).
Standard SI prefixes
(SI - "System International" - international system of metric units of measurement)
Multiple SI prefixes
101 m decameter dam
102 m hectometer um
103 m kilometer km
106 m megameter Mm
109 m gigameter Gm
1012 m terameter Tm
1015 m petameter PM
1018 m exameter Em
1021 m zettameter Zm
1024 m yottameter Im
SI prefixes
value name designation
10-1 g decigram dg
10-2 g centigrams g
10-3 g milligram mg
10-6 g microgram mcg
10-9 g nanogram ng
10-12 g picogram pg
10-15 g femtogram fg
10-18 g attograms ag
10-21 g zeptograms zg
10-24 g yoktogram ig
Archaisms
Archaisms are outdated names of objects and phenomena that have other, modern names
Armyak - type of clothing
vigil - wakefulness
timelessness - hard time
silent - timid
benevolence - goodwill
prosper - prosper
perishable - transitory
eloquent - pompous
indignation - rebellion
in vain - in vain
big - big
coming - coming
beef - cattle
messenger - sent
verb - word
herd - a herd of cattle.
threshing floor - a fenced plot of land on a peasant farm, intended for storing, threshing and other processing of grain grains
so that - so that
down - down, down
drogi (drozhgi) - a light four-wheeled open spring carriage for 1-2 people
if - if
belly - life
imprison - imprison
mirror - mirror
zipun (half-kaftan) - in the old days - outerwear for peasants. It is a collarless caftan made from coarse homemade cloth bright colors with seams finished with contrasting cords.
from ancient times - from ancient times
eminent - tall
which - which, which
katsaveyka - Russian women's folk clothing in the form of an open short jacket, lined or trimmed with fur.
horse-drawn horse - a type of urban transport
sedition - treason
kuna - monetary unit
cheeks - cheeks
extortion - bribery
kissing - kiss
catcher - hunter
lyudin - person
honeyed - flattering
bribe - reward, payment
slander - denunciation
name - name
monastery - monastery
bed - bed
barn (ovn - oven) - an outbuilding in which sheaves were dried before threshing.
this one - the one mentioned above
revenge - revenge
finger - finger
pyroscaphe - steamship
arquebus - a type of firearm
death - death
destruction - death
obstacle - obstacle
gaping - open
military - combat
this - this
seduce - remove
poet - poet
smerd - peasant
ram - ancient weapon for the destruction of fortress walls
thief
dungeon - prison
bargaining - market, bazaar
prepare - prepare
hope - hope
mouth - lips
child - child
expect - expect
dish - food
Yakhont - ruby
Yarilo - sun
yara - spring
Yarka - a young lamb born in the spring
spring bread - spring grains are sown in spring
Archaisms in proverbs and sayings:
Beat your head
To beat the backs - initially cut the log lengthwise into several parts - the block, round them from the outside and hollow them out from the inside. Spoons and other wooden utensils were made from such scaffolds - baclush. Preparing buckeyes, in contrast to making products from them, was considered an easy, simple matter that did not require special skills.
Hence the meaning - to do nothing, to idle, to spend time idly.
Here's to you, grandma, and St. George's Day!
The expression comes from the time of medieval Rus', when peasants had the right, having settled with the previous landowner, to move on to a new one.
According to the law issued by Ivan the Terrible, such a transition could occur only after the completion of agricultural work, and specifically a week before St. George’s Day (November 25, old style, when the day of the Great Martyr George, the patron saint of farmers, was celebrated) or a week later.
After the death of Ivan the Terrible, such a transition was prohibited and the peasants were secured to the land.
That’s when the expression “Here’s St. George’s Day for you, grandma,” was born as an expression of grief over changed circumstances, unexpectedly unfulfilled hopes, sudden changes for the worse.
St. George was popularly called Yegor, so at the same time the word “to cheat” arose, that is, to deceive, to deceive.
Upside down
1) somersault, over the head, upside down;
2) upside down, in complete disorder.
The word tormashki can go back to the verb to bother, i.e. “to fiddle with, turn over.” It is also assumed that tormashki comes from the dialect torma - “legs”.
According to another hypothesis, the word tormashki is related to the word brake (old tormas). Tormas used to be called iron strips under the runner of a sleigh, used to make the sleigh roll less.
The expression upside down could refer to a sled turned over on ice or snow.
There is no truth at the feet - an invitation to sit down.
There are several possible origins of this saying:
1) according to the first version, the combination is due to the fact that in the XV-XVIII centuries. in Rus', debtors were severely punished, beaten with iron rods on their bare legs, seeking repayment of the debt, i.e., “truth,” but such punishment could not force those who did not have money to repay the debt;
2) according to the second version, the combination arose due to the fact that the landowner, having discovered that something was missing, gathered the peasants and forced them to stand until the culprit was named;
3) the third version reveals a connection between the expression and pravezh (cruel punishment for non-payment of debts). If the debtor fled from the law, they said that there was no truth at his feet, that is, it was impossible to get out of the debt; With the abolition of the law, the meaning of the saying changed.
The rein (harness) has fallen under the tail - about someone who is in an unbalanced state, displays eccentricity, incomprehensible persistence.
Reins are straps for controlling a harnessed horse. The part of the horse's croup under the tail is not covered with hair. If the rein gets there, the horse, fearing tickling, may run away, break the cart, etc.
A person is compared to this behavior of a horse.
Wolf ticket (wolf passport)
In the 19th century, the name of a document that blocked access to the civil service, educational institution, etc. Today, the phraseological unit is used to mean a sharply negative characteristic of someone’s work.
The origin of this turnover is usually explained by the fact that the person who received such a document was not allowed to live in one place for more than 2-3 days and had to wander like a wolf.
In addition, in many combinations, wolf means “abnormal, inhuman, bestial,” which strengthens the contrast between the holder of the wolf card and other “normal” people.
Lies like a gray gelding
There are several options for the origin of phraseological units.
1. The word gelding comes from the Mongolian morin "horse". In historical monuments, the horse siv and gelding siv are very typical; the adjective sivy “light gray, gray-haired” shows the old age of the animal. The verb to lie had a different meaning in the past - “to talk nonsense, talk idle talk; chatter.” The gray gelding here is a stallion that has turned gray from long work, and figuratively - a man who is already talking from old age and talking annoying nonsense.
2. Gelding is a stallion, gray is old. The expression is explained by the usual boasting of old people about their strength, as if still preserved, like that of the young.
3. The turnover is associated with the attitude towards the gray horse as a stupid creature. Russian peasants avoided, for example, laying the first furrow on a gray gelding, because he was “lying” - he was wrong, laying it incorrectly.
Give oak - die
The phrase is associated with the verb zudubet - “to cool down, lose sensitivity, become hard.” An oak coffin has always been a sign of special honor for the deceased. Peter I introduced a tax on oak coffins as a luxury item.
Alive, smoking room!
The origin of the expression is associated with the game "Smoking Room", popular in the 18th century in Russia at gatherings on winter evenings. The players sat in a circle and passed a burning torch to each other, saying “Alive, alive, Smoking Room, not dead, thin legs, short soul...”. The loser was the one whose torch went out and began to smoke or smoke. Later this game was replaced by "Burn, burn clearly so that it does not go out."
Nick down
In the old days, almost the entire population in Russian villages was illiterate. To record the bread handed over to the landowner, the work performed, etc., so-called tags were used - wooden sticks up to a fathom long (2 meters), on which notches were made with a knife. The tags were split into two parts so that the marks were on both: one remained with the employer, the other with the performer. The calculation was made based on the number of notches. Hence the expression “notch on the nose,” meaning: remember well, take into account for the future.
Play spillikins
In the old days, the game of “spillikins” was common in Rus'. It consisted of using a small hook to pull out, without touching the others, one from another pile all the spillikins - all kinds of small toy things: hatchets, glasses, baskets, barrels. This is how not only children, but also adults spent time on long winter evenings.
Over time, the expression “playing spillikins” began to mean an empty pastime.
Latem cabbage soup to slurp
Lapti - woven shoes made of bast (the subcortical layer of linden trees), covering only the sole of the foot - in Rus' were the only affordable footwear for poor peasants, and shchi - a type of cabbage soup - was their simplest and favorite food. Depending on the wealth of the family and the time of year, cabbage soup could be either green, that is, with sorrel, or sour - made from sauerkraut, with meat, or lean - without meat, which was eaten during fasting or in cases of extreme poverty.
About a person who could not earn enough to buy boots and more refined food, they said that he “slurps on cabbage soup,” that is, he lives in terrible poverty and ignorance.
Fawn
The word “fawn” comes from the German phrase “Ich liebe sie” (I love you). Seeing the insincerity in the frequent repetition of this “fawn”, Russian people wittily formed from these German words the Russian word “fawn” - it means to curry favor, to flatter someone, to achieve someone’s favor or favor with flattery.
Fishing in troubled waters
Stunning has long been one of the prohibited methods of catching fish, especially during spawning. There is a well-known fable by the ancient Greek poet Aesop about a fisherman who muddied the water around his nets, driving blinded fish into them. Then the expression went beyond fishing and acquired a broader meaning - to take advantage of an unclear situation.
There is also a well-known proverb: “Before you catch a fish, you [need] to muddy the waters,” that is, “deliberately create confusion for profit.”
Small fry
The expression came from peasant everyday life. In the Russian northern lands, a plow is a peasant community of 3 to 60 households. And small fry called a very poor community, and then its poor inhabitants. Later, officials occupying a low position in the government structure also began to be called small fry.
The thief's hat is on fire
The expression goes back to an old joke about how a thief was found in the market.
After futile attempts to find the thief, people turned to the sorcerer for help; he shouted loudly: “Look! The thief’s hat is on fire!” And suddenly everyone saw how a man grabbed his hat. So the thief was discovered and convicted.
Lather your head
In the old days, a tsarist soldier served indefinitely - until death or complete disability. Since 1793, a 25-year period of military service was introduced. The landowner had the right to give his serfs as soldiers for misconduct. Since recruits (recruits) had their hair shaved off and were referred to as “shaved”, “shaved their forehead”, “soaped their head”, the expression “I’ll soap my head” became synonymous with threat in the mouths of the rulers. In a figurative sense, “soap your head” means: to give a severe reprimand, to strongly scold.
Neither fish nor fowl
In Western and Central Europe of the 16th century, a new movement appeared in Christianity - Protestantism (lat. “to protest, object”). Protestants, unlike Catholics, opposed the Pope, denied holy angels and monasticism, arguing that each person himself can turn to God. Their rituals were simple and inexpensive. There was a bitter struggle between Catholics and Protestants. Some of them, in accordance with Christian commandments, ate modest meat, others preferred lean fish. If a person did not join any movement, then he was contemptuously called “neither fish nor fowl.” Over time, they began to talk about a person who does not have a clearly defined position in life, who is not capable of active, independent actions.
There is no place to put samples - disapprovingly about a depraved woman.
An expression based on a comparison with a golden thing passing from one owner to another. Each new owner demanded that the product be checked by a jeweler and tested. When the product had been in many hands, there was no longer any room left for testing.
If we don't wash, we'll just ride
Before the invention of electricity, a heavy cast iron iron was heated over a fire and, until it cooled down, they ironed clothes with it. But this process was difficult and required a certain skill, so the linen was often “rolled”. To do this, washed and almost dried laundry was fixed on a special rolling pin - a round piece of wood similar to the one used to roll out dough nowadays. Then, using a ruble - a curved corrugated board with a handle - the rolling pin, along with the laundry wound onto it, was rolled along a wide flat board. At the same time, the fabric was stretched and straightened. Professional laundresses knew that well-rolled linen has a fresher appearance, even if the washing was not entirely successful.
This is how the expression “by washing, by rolling” appeared, that is, to achieve results in more than one way.
No fluff or feather - wishing you good luck in anything.
The expression was originally used as a “spell” designed to deceive evil spirits (this expression was used to admonish those going on a hunt; it was believed that with a direct wish for good luck one could “jinx” the prey).
The answer is “To hell!” should have further protected the hunter. To hell - this is not an expletive like “Go to hell!”, but a request to go to hell and tell him about it (so that the hunter does not get any fluff or feather). Then the unclean one will do the opposite, and what is needed will happen: the hunter will return “with down and feathers,” that is, with prey.
Let's beat swords into ploughshares
The expression goes back to the Old Testament, where it is said that “the time will come when the nations will beat swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks; nation will not lift up sword against nation, and they will no longer learn to fight.”
In the Old Church Slavonic language, “ploughshare” is a tool for cultivating land, something like a plow. The dream of establishing universal peace is figuratively expressed in the sculpture of the Soviet sculptor E.V. Vuchetich, depicting a blacksmith forging a sword into a plow, which is installed in front of the UN building in New York.
Goof
Prosak is a drum with teeth in a machine, with the help of which wool was carded. Getting into trouble meant being maimed and losing an arm. To get into trouble is to get into trouble, into an awkward position.
Knock you down
Confuse, confuse.
Pantalik is a distorted version of Pantelik, a mountain in Attica (Greece) with a stalactite cave and grottoes in which it was easy to get lost.
Straw Widow
Among the Russians, Germans and a number of other peoples, a bundle of straw served as a symbol of a concluded agreement: marriage or purchase and sale. To break the straw meant to break the contract, to separate. There was also a custom of making the newlyweds’ bed on sheaves of rye. Wedding wreaths were also woven from straw flowers. A wreath (from the Sanskrit word “vene” - “bundle”, meaning a bundle of hair) was a symbol of marriage.
If the husband left somewhere for a long time, they said that the woman was left with nothing but straw, which is how the expression “straw widow” appeared.
Dance from the stove
The expression became popular thanks to the novel by the 19th century Russian writer V.A. Sleptsov "A Good Man". The main character of the novel, "non-employee nobleman" Sergei Terebenev, returns to Russia after long wanderings around Europe. He remembers how he was taught to dance as a child. Seryozha started all his movements from the stove, and if he made a mistake, the teacher told him: “Well, go to the stove, start over.” Terebenev realized that his life circle had closed: he started from the village, then Moscow, Europe, and, having reached the edge, he again returned to the village, to the stove.
Grated kalach
In Rus', kalach is wheat bread in the shape of a castle with a bow. Grated kalach was baked from hard kalach dough, which was kneaded and grated for a long time. This is where the proverb “Don’t grate, don’t crush, don’t make kalach” came from, which in a figurative sense means: “troubles teach a person.” And the words “grated kalach” have become popular - this is what they say about an experienced person who has seen a lot, who has “rubbed between people” a lot.
Pull the gimp
Gimp is a very thin, flattened, twisted gold or silver wire used for embroidery. Making gimp consists of pulling it out. This work, done manually, is tedious, monotonous and time-consuming. Therefore, the expression “pull the gimp” (or “spread the gimp”) in a figurative sense began to mean: to do something monotonous, tedious, causing an annoying loss of time.
In the middle of nowhere
In ancient times, clearings in dense forests were called kuligs. The pagans considered them bewitched. Later, people settled deep into the forest, looked for swarms, and settled there with their whole family. This is where the expression comes from: in the middle of nowhere, that is, very far away.
Too
In Slavic mythology, Chur or Shchur is the ancestor, ancestor, god of the hearth - the brownie.
Initially, “chur” meant: limit, border.
Hence the exclamation: “chur,” meaning a prohibition to touch something, to cross some line, beyond some limit (in spells against “evil spirits,” in games, etc.), a requirement to comply with some condition , agreement
From the word “too much” the word “too much” was born, meaning: to go beyond “too much”, to go beyond the limit. “Too much” means too much, too much, too much.
Sherochka with a masherochka
Until the 18th century, women were educated at home. In 1764, the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens was opened in St. Petersburg at the Resurrection Smolny Convent. The daughters of nobles studied there from the ages of 6 to 18. The subjects of study were the law of God, the French language, arithmetic, drawing, history, geography, literature, dancing, music, various types of home economics, as well as subjects of “secular manners”. The usual address of college girls to each other was the French ma chere. From these French words came the Russian words “sherochka” and “masherochka”, which are currently used to name a couple consisting of two women.
Walk trump
In ancient Rus', boyars, unlike commoners, sewed a collar embroidered with silver, gold and pearls, which was called a trump card, to the collar of their ceremonial caftan. The trump card stuck out impressively, giving the boyars a proud posture. Walking as a trump means walking is important, but trumping means showing off something.