We often find outdated words in classical literature. Footnotes and explanations are often provided for them, since these words are not used in modern language, and many may not know their meanings.
Examples of obsolete words:
inda - even
lanita - cheeks
saryn - rabble, crowd
week - week
lazy - lazy
Obsolete words include archaisms and historicisms. These are words that are rarely used in real life. modern speech or even found only in the literary works of writers of past centuries. We will classify outdated words as passive vocabulary of the modern Russian language.
Archaisms are characterized by the fact that, as a rule, they have synonyms in modern speech.
Examples of archaisms:
hand - palm,
neck - neck;
belts - shoulders,
sail - sail,
piit - poet,
fisherman - fisherman,
lips - lips.
Historicisms, as you can guess from the name of these words, are associated with a certain era in the history of the country and are the names of those objects that have already disappeared, and the word, as a reminder to descendants, remained in the literature, archival documents or periodicals of those years.
I will give these examples of outdated words - historicisms:
kulak - a wealthy peasant in the 20-30s of the last century;
workers' faculty - workers' faculty;
worker's faculty, workers' faculty - workers' faculty students.
Among the historicisms there are many ancient names monetary units, measures of length and weight, names of objects and clothing, etc., for example:
club, pood, verst, arshin, ten-kopeck piece, student, barge hauler, policeman, coachman, tavern, etc.
Obsolete words mean those words that, due to a time period, have fallen out of previously habitual active use, but in the passive dictionary they have been preserved and, to a greater extent, remain understandable to native speakers.
Among obsolete words, there are two types: archaisms and historicisms.
For example, lanits - cheeks in Old Russian. Hand - palm. Down - down, below. Eyes - eyes. Chelo - forehead. Or an archaic appeal - dear sir :-). Virgo is a girl. There is such a word - tuck in - tuck in / shirt /. Get excited - hang out with someone. This is folk speech, I heard the last two words from my grandmother / Smolensk region /.
To what has already been written by other authors, I can add that even currently used words can be considered obsolete if old times they were used in different meanings than in the current ones. Such words are called semantic archaisms.
Archaisms.
Otrok is a teenage boy.
Otrokovitsa is a teenage girl.
Astrologer - astrologer.
Actor - actor.
A creature is a living being.
The shame is a spectacle.
Vulgar - ordinary.
Domovina is a coffin.
Zolotar is a jeweler.
To hope - to hope.
Dark - blind.
Crown - wreath.
Supper - dinner.
Vitia is a speaker.
This one is this one.
Rest - fall asleep.
City - city.
Arab is a black man.
Innocent - innocent.
Lamb - lamb.
The husband is a mature man.
Scoundrel - not fit for military service.
Whorehouse is a brothel.
Abode - monastery.
Historicisms.
Educational program, Berkovets, carriage, rattler, stagecoach, serf, oktyabrnok, pioneer, bast shoe, inquisition, posadnik, Komsomol, torch, archer.
The works of the classics of the 18th and 19th centuries are full of outdated words. The meaning is not always clear.
The poet Pushkin has blueberries. An obsolete word. That means a nun.
Pay at his place. The word appears in the conversation of old villagers. A bed for sleeping on the stove.
The obsolete word used today is now.
OBSOLETE words, or ARCHAISMS, denote objects, phenomena and concepts that have not disappeared from our modern life, but continue to exist in it, but under a different name. That is, they are denoted by modern words.
There are a lot of archaisms known. And they are listed in dictionaries.
Here in front of me is Ozhegov’s dictionary. I open the page at random and immediately come across outdated words: lanita- cheek; bastweed- peasant; word dealer used in the meaning reseller And horse trader.
I close the dictionary. What can I remember myself?
This is not difficult to do if you recall some expressions and phrases of our famous classic writers. For example, A, P, Chekhov has the following appeal: WISE secretary! That is wise.
From a poem by A.S. Everyone knows the lines of Pushkin’s Prophet:
I think that it is not worth translating the highlighted outdated words into a modern language, because we all know them from the school curriculum.
Here are a few more outdated words: full - captivity; shelom - helmet; pawn - infantryman; tuga - melancholy, sadness; right hand - right hand; guard - watchman; finger - finger; existing - existing; thief - thief, robber, etc.
I repeat that there are a lot of archaisms, both native Russian, Old Church Slavonic, and borrowed.
Within of this project It is simply impossible to list them.
There are a lot of obsolete words (this is the name for words that were previously used quite actively, but now are rarely or not used at all in the meanings in which they used to be) in the Russian language. Because the process of obsolescence is constant. Such words are sometimes even divided into obsolete and obsolete.
Here are some of them:
Screen. Archaism. Many people are now thinking about screenshots, which are called screenshots for short. But it turns out that this was what small chests and stacks used to be called. For example, if Dostoevsky lived not in the 190th century, but earlier, he would have called the old woman’s casket (packing), from which Raskolnikov pulled out money and jewelry, a screen. Hide from the word.
Chernitsa. Archaism. And that was the name of the nuns. By the color of their clothes.
Belenkaya. Historicism. This substantivized adjective once meant a banknote with a face value of 25 rubles.
Zlachny. Archaic meaning. This word had the now outdated meaning of rich, fertile. From the word cereal.
Aspid - poisonous snake, yell - plow, namale - soap, ahead of time - in advance, nabolshiy - eldest, spring - well, finger - finger, clean up - dress up, hustochka - handkerchief, nikoli - never, odnova - once.
Obsolete words are divided into historicisms and archaisms; we will give examples of both.
Historicisms:
district, boyar, volost, king, clerk, altyn.
Archaisms:
belly is life,
mirror - mirror,
hand - palm.
eye - eye,
cold - cold.
Read about the differences between these two groups of obsolete words here.
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 outdated words that have passed from the modern language 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 titles, classes, positions, professions are historicisms. old Russia: tsar, boyar, equerry, 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 different features: 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, transfer the national and cultural traditions of the Russian people.
DICTIONARY OF OBSOLETE WORDS
From the publisher
Corvee - free forced labor dependent peasant, “Ivan Petrovich was forced to abolish corvee and establish a master who worked 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 – common name foreign gold coins in pre-Petrine “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 - 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 obstacle, 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 - home printing 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 is laying out a deck of cards according to 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 in ancient mythology, depicted as a winged “Above the gate there was a sign depicting a portly boy with a bow and arrows. 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- church service among Christians, performed 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"
Altar - the main sublime East End 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 - a gospel parable about the disobedient prodigal son, which“They depicted the story of the prodigal son. »
left home, squandered his share of the inheritance, and after wanderings returned with repentance to 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 the 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, and we are beyond 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 they didn’t 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 his own plan, established a legal neighborhood, 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).
Guardian council-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 Caucasian type - a cloth caftan at the waist with ruching at the back. ". he saw his neighbor, sitting proudly on horseback, wearing a checkman lined with fox fur, "
IV. Conclusion
“Dictionary of Obsolete 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.
It doesn’t matter what faith you are, what social status you have,
sexual orientation and food preferences,
You will definitely need a dictionary of outdated words.
Abiye - immediately, since, when.
Aki - as, since, like, as if, as if.
Even - if, although, when.
Barber - barber, hairdresser.
To be vigilant is to take care; be on guard, vigilant.
Fluency is speed.
Take care - be careful.
Incessantly - unconditionally, undoubtedly, incessantly.
Shameless - shameless.
Blagoy - kind, good.
Bo - for, because.
Blockhead - statue, idol, block of wood.
Will - if, if, when, if.
Shafts are waves.
Suddenly - again, again.
Guilt is a reason, a reason.
Vlasno - exactly, actually.
Wave is wool.
In vain - in vain.
In vain - in vain, in vain.
I will take it out - always, at all times, incessantly.
Greater - greater, higher.
Gehenna is hell.
Grief is upward.
Actors are actors.
Dennitsa - morning dawn.
Gum, right hand - right, right hand.
Ten - ten times.
Divyy - wild.
Today - now, now, today.
To suffice is to be sufficient.
Dominates - follows, should, must, decently.
Dondezhe - until then.
When - when.
Hedgehog - which.
Eliko - how much.
Epancha - cloak, blanket.
Eating is food.
Nature is nature.
Lives - it happens.
Belly - life, property.
They live - they happen.
Jealous - envious.
The gap is a shame.
Legal - illegal.
Here - here.
Zelo - very.
Green - huge, strong, great.
Zenitsa - eye, pupil.
Evil deeds are atrocities.
Hydra - hydra.
Also - what, who, which.
Inde - somewhere, somewhere else, ever.
Art is experience.
Executor - preacher.
Execution is punishment, retribution.
The Cartagineans are the inhabitants of Carthage.
Which one, which one, which one - which one, which one, which one.
Koliko - how much, how.
Kolo - wheel, circle.
Concha - true, certainly, of course, very much.
Inert - slow, unhurried, motionless.
Krasik is handsome.
Red - beautiful, wonderful, decorated.
Cres<т>tsy - crossroads.
Kruzhalo is a tavern, a drinking house.
A lazy person is a lazy person, a couch potato.
Deprivation - excess.
Lovitva - hunting.
Loskiy - smooth, shiny.
Lzya - it’s possible.
To flatter - to deceive, to seduce.
Metaphrase is an arrangement, an allegory.
Multi-species - diverse.
Wet - It's possible.
Mraz - frost.
Me - me.
Nan - at him.
The boss is the founder, the initiator.
No - no.
Below - and not, not at all, also not.
To coerce - to force.
Obesity - gluttony, gluttony.
Abundance - wealth, treasures.
The image is resentment, insult, dissatisfaction.
Ov, ova, ovo - this, this, this; that, that, that.
Right hand - right.
One-person - the same, unchangeable, the same.
This one is the one.
Cool - trouble, resentment, insult, shame, annoyance.
From here - from here.
From now on.
To get rid of - to suffer, to lose, to lose.
Weaning - removal.
Oshuyu is on the left.
Sinus - bay.
Packy - again, again.
More than that.
Percy - chest.
Fingers - fingers.
Finger - ashes, dust.
Flesh is the body.
Habit is a habit.
A disgrace is a spectacle, a performance.
Full is enough.
Polk - stage.
More gently - because.
Breed - origin (noble).
After - after.
Pottage - flattery, servility.
Right - fair, true.
Charm is deception, temptation, deceit.
To abhor - to prohibit.
The butt is an example.
Attribute - dedicate.
Providence - destiny, care, thought.
Contrary - opposite, on the contrary.
Coolness - pleasure, pleasure.
Five - five times.
To please is to care.
To blush is to blush, to be ashamed.
Decide - say, utter.
A freedman is a freedman.
In other words, that is.
Dignified - worthy, decent, appropriate.
The caretakers are spectators.
One hundred times.
Path is a road, a way.
Bitch is dead.
Stoolchak - stoolchak, toilet seat.
Obstinate - obstinate.
Stud is a shame.
Also - then, later.
Ti - for you.
Current - flow.
To hurry is to be timid, fearful.
Three times, three times - three times.
Thorough - generous, diligent, caring.
Ubo - because, since, therefore.
Oud - sexual organ (male)
Convenient - capable.
Charter - order, custom.
Phrasis is a phrase, expression.
Praiseworthy - worthy of praise.
Frail - weak, frail.
Chernets is a monk.
Chin - order.
Loins - hips, lower back, waist.
Reader - reader.
Honorable - respected, revered.
Alienated - alienated.
Shipok, spike - rose, pink.
Edition - publication.
Ephesians are the inhabitants of Ephesus.
South - what, which.
Even - what, which.
Language - people, tribe.
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. Great amount 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 fall into passive use lexicon 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 this word with the 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 time. 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. It is considered a lexical-semantic archaism ambiguous word, obsolete 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 with 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.
View obsolete, rare and forgotten words you can in ours.
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One Russian folk song says:
He brought three pockets:
The first pocket is with pies,
The second pocket is with nuts...
It would seem, what kind of nonsense: what does it mean to “bring a pocket”?
Old dictionaries indicate that once in Rus' the word “ pocket" meant a sack or bag that was attached to the outside of clothing.
Such pockets were sometimes hung on horse saddles; if necessary, they were not closed, but “ held(opened) wider».
These days speaking "hold your pocket wider" we want to mock someone's excessive demands.
Tobacco case
In expression case tobacco Both words are clear, but why does their combination mean “very bad”, “hopeless”? You can understand this by looking into history. Let's do this together.
It turns out that the expression case tobacco came from the Volga barge haulers. When wading shallow bays or small tributaries of the Volga, barge haulers tied their tobacco pouches to their necks so that they would not get wet. When the water was so high that it came up to the neck and the tobacco became wet, the barge haulers considered the transition impossible, and their situation in these cases was very bad, hopeless.
Smoke rocker
Smoke from the rocker - how is it? Could the smoke be connected to the yoke on which buckets of water are carried? What does this expression mean?
Many years ago, poor people in Rus' built so-called smoke huts without chimneys. Smoke from the mouth of the stove poured straight into the hut and came out either through the “volokovogo” window or through open doors in the canopy. They say: “to love warmth and to endure smoke,” “and a kurna hut and a stove for warmth.” Over time, smoke began to be removed through pipes above the roof. Depending on the weather, the smoke comes either as a “column” - straight up, or as a “drag” - spreading downwards, or as a “yoke” - coming out in clouds and rolling over in an arc. By the way the smoke rises, they tell fortunes about a bucket or bad weather, rain or wind. They say: smoke pillar, rocker - about every human hustle and bustle, a crowded quarrel with a dump and bustle, where you can’t make out anything, where “there is such soda that the dust is a column, the smoke is a yoke - either from the dragging, or from the dancing.”
My soul has sunk into my heels
When a person is very frightened, he can develop an unusually high running speed. The ancient Greeks were the first to notice this feature.
Describing in his “Illiad” how the enemies were frightened by the hero Hector, who suddenly appeared on the battlefield, Homer uses the following phrase: “Everyone trembled, and everyone’s courage ran away…”
Since then the expression “my soul has sunk into my heels” we use it when we talk about a person who was afraid or very afraid of something.
Let's start with the fact that there is no word Easter cakes not in Russian. Easter cakes will produce Easter cakes, and Easter cakes will produce Easter cakes. In fact, they should not be sent to the middle of nowhere, but to the middle of nowhere. Then justice will prevail, and we will be able to begin to explain this truly Russian turnover.
Kuliga and kulizhki were very famous and very common words in the North of Russia. When coniferous forest“weaken”, clearings and clearings appear there. Grass, flowers and berries instantly begin to grow on them. These forest islands were called kuligami. Since pagan times, sacrifices have been made on the folds: the priests slaughtered deer, sheep, heifers, stallions, everyone ate their fill, and got drunk.
When Christianity came to Rus' and it began to crowd out paganism, a peasant came to the camp, built a hut, began to sow rye and barley, and entire village cooperatives appeared. When life became more crowded, children and nephews left the old people, and sometimes so far away that they stopped reaching news, they lived like in the middle of nowhere
.
Under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the following order existed: requests, complaints or petitions addressed to the Tsar were placed in a special box nailed to a pole near the palace in the village of Kolomenskoye near Moscow.
In those days, all documents were written on paper rolled up in the form of a scroll. These scrolls were long, and therefore the box was long, or, as they said then, long.
Petitioners who put their petition in the box had to wait a long time for an answer, bow at the feet of the boyars and clerks, bring them gifts and bribes in order to receive an answer to their complaint. The red tape and bribes involved were common. That's why there's such a bad reputation long years survived long box. This expression means: shamelessly delaying the matter.
First of all, let us remind you that this is what they say about purchasing something that is cheap, but at the same time completely worthwhile, necessary, and good. It turns out that the word angrily can it be used in a “good” meaning? Having delved into the dictionaries, we find out: before this word really meant “dear”, “good”. What kind of pun then comes out: “Cheap, but... expensive”? But it can be expensive not only in price (especially if you remember that the word angry has a common root with the word heart).
Some linguists claim that this expression arose as a contrast to the proverb: expensive, but cute - cheap, but rotten. It happens that And cheap and cheerful.
From the pre-revolutionary courts, many caustic expressions came into our speech. Using them, we don’t even think about how they came about.
You can often hear the expression “ the case burned out", that is, someone achieved their goal. Behind these words is the previous blatant disgrace that was happening in the judicial system. Previously, the process could stop due to the fact that documents collected by the investigation disappeared. In this case, the guilty could not be punished, and the innocent could not be acquitted.
A similar situation is described in Gogol’s story, where two friends quarreled.
A pig that belonged to Ivan Ivanovich runs into the courtroom and eats the complaint filed ex-friend her owner Ivan Nikiforovich. Of course, this is just a funny fantasy. But in reality, papers often burned, and not always by accident. Then the defendant, who wanted to stop or delay the process, remained very pleased and said to himself: “Well, my case has burned out!”
So -" the case burned out"carries a reminder of those times when justice was administered not by judges, but by bribes.
In the bag
Several centuries ago, when mail in its current form did not exist, all messages were delivered by messengers on horseback. There were a lot of robbers roaming along the roads back then, and a bag with a package could attract the attention of robbers. Therefore, important papers, or, as they used to be called, affairs, sewn under the lining of a hat or cap. This is where the expression came from - “ it's in the bag” and means that everything is fine, everything is in order. About the successful completion or outcome of something.
Onion grief
When a person cries, it means something has happened to him. But the reason why tears well up in the eyes is not in all cases associated with some kind of misfortune. When you peel or cut onions, tears flow. And the reason for this is “ onion grief».
This saying is also known in other countries, only there it is slightly modified. The Germans, for example, use the phrase “onion tears.” People shed these tears over trifles.
Expression "onion grief" also means minor troubles that you shouldn’t be too sad about.
Deaf grouse
An experienced hunter carefully approaches a black grouse sitting carefree on a branch. The bird, not suspecting anything, is busy bursting into its intricate singing: flowing, clicking and skittering fills everything around. The black grouse will never hear the hunter creep up to an acceptable distance and unload his double-barreled shotgun.
It has long been noticed that the current black grouse temporarily loses its hearing. Hence the name of one of the black grouse breeds – wood grouse.
Expression "deaf grouse" refers to gaping, sleepy people who don’t notice anything around them. Although by nature these birds are very sensitive and attentive.
Agree that sometimes we see situations where a person responsible for some event can run back and forth saying: “there is no highlight of the program!” In this case, everyone understands that even he is a little to blame for this. Having returned home from a concert, we can say that the highlight of the program is a folk singer or other outstanding personality who was on stage.
In a word, highlight of the program is a unique number or performance that can arouse genuine interest among the public. It is known that this phraseological unit has been interpreted in many languages, but it has survived unchanged to this day.
This saying arose as a mockery and mockery of the numerous tourists who, in the 19th century, traveled in huge crowds to so-called foreign places, and they did it so quickly that they did not even manage to enjoy natural beauty and color. But later they praised everything they “saw” so much that everyone was amazed.
Also in 1928, the great writer Maxim Gorky also used this expression in one of his speeches, which further cemented it among the common people. Well, today it is often used in bohemian society, which also boasts of its knowledge of the world and numerous travels around the world.
From another source:
Ironic. Without going into details, hastily, superficially (to do something).
Compare: on a quick fix; on a live thread; on a living hand; with the opposite meaning: along and across.
“For travel essays, the editors are going to send another person to the route, this must be done thoroughly, and not like a cavalry charge, galloping across Europe."
Yu. Trifonov. "Quenching Thirst"
Lies like a gray gelding
Lies like a gray gelding- this saying, which can often be heard among people, is quite difficult to interpret. Agree, it is difficult to explain why exactly the gelding, which is a representative of the animal world, was awarded such a title. And if we take into account the fact that the suit is being specified - gray gelding, then there are even more questions. Many who study this phenomenon say that everything is connected with an error that occurred in the memory of our people. After all, this is simply not explained by any other facts.
The well-known linguist Dahl said that for many years the word “ lies"
, used today, could come from the word "rushing" as a result of incorrect pronunciation by one of the speakers. Initially, the gray gelding boasts enormous strength and endurance.
But we should not forget that gray gelding is not significantly different from bay or gray horses, which also boast endurance and intelligence. It follows from this that the masses could hardly simply exclude them from the phraseology and single out the gray gelding.
Today you can find another quite interesting interpretation. It is believed that this phraseological unit first arose from memories of a man named Sievens-Mehring, who had the reputation of a blatant liar. There were bad rumors about him, so many said - lies like Sievens-Mehring
. Perhaps, after many years of using this option, the one we often use today has been established.
There are other opinions that completely refute previous versions. It is said that there are other interpretations of it, such as “lazy as a gray gelding” and others. Take, for example, the well-known Gogol hero Khlestakov, who often uses the expression “ stupid as a gray gelding" This also includes the concept of “bullshit,” which means nonsense and complete nonsense. In a word, phraseology has still not been able to give a clear interpretation of the expression “ lies like crazy gelding”, but this does not prevent us from using it in daily communication.
Getting into trouble
manual leak
Nowadays rope, twine, ropes are made in factories, but not so long ago it was a handicraft industry. Entire villages were engaged in it.
There were poles with hooks on the streets, from which ropes stretched to wooden wheels. They were rotated by horses running in circles. All these devices of rope craftsmen were called.
It was necessary to be careful not to get caught in the tourniquet tightly coiled in the hole. If the tip of a jacket or shirt gets caught in the weave, goodbye clothes! The prosak will shred it, tear it up, and sometimes mutilate the person himself.
V.I. Dal explains: “The gap is the space from the spinning wheel to the sleigh, where the twine twists and turns..; if you get in there with the end of your clothes or your hair, it will twist you and you won’t be able to get out; that’s where the saying comes from.”
That's where the dog is buried!
As the story goes, the experienced Austrian warrior Sigismund Altensteig had a favorite dog that accompanied him on all his military campaigns. It so happened that fate threw Sigismund to the Dutch lands, where he found himself in a very dangerous situation. But devoted four-legged friend quickly came to the rescue and saved the owner, sacrificing his life. To pay tribute to the dog, Altensteig arranged a solemn funeral and decorated the grave with a monument immortalizing heroic deed dogs.
But after a couple of centuries it became very difficult to find the monument, only a few local residents could help tourists find him.
That’s when the expression “ That's where the dog is buried!", meaning "to find out the truth", "to find what you are looking for."
There is another version of the origin of this phrase. Before the final naval battle Between the Persian and Greek fleets, the Greeks loaded all the children, old people and women into transport ships and sent them away from the battle site.
The devoted dog of Xanthippus, son of Arifron, swam to catch up with the ship and, having met his owner, died of exhaustion. Xanthippus, amazed by the dog’s act, erected a monument to his pet, which became the personification of devotion and courage.
Some linguists believe that the proverb was invented by treasure hunters who fear evil spirits that guard treasures. To hide their true goals, they said "black dog" and dog, which meant respectively evil spirits and treasure. Based on this assumption, under the phrase “ That's where the dog is buried” meant “This is where the treasure is buried.”
Free will
Perhaps to some this expression seems complete nonsense: like “ oil oil" But don’t rush to conclusions, but rather listen.
Many years ago, the ancient Russian appanage princes wrote in their agreements with each other: “And the boyars, and the boyars’ children and servants, and the peasants free will…»
For a free person, the will was thus a right, a privilege, it meant freedom of action and deeds, it allowed you to live on earth as long as you lived and go wherever you wanted. Only free people enjoyed this freedom, which in those days were considered to be sons with fathers, brothers with brothers, nephews with uncles, and so on.
And there were also serfs and slaves who forever belonged to the masters. They could be pawned as an item, sold and even killed without trial.
Simoni: the will of the wave, the path of the walker;
Dahl: free will - heaven for the saved, field for the mad, swamp for the devil.
To be born in a shirt
In one of the poems of the Russian poet Koltsov there are the lines:
Oh, on a miserable day,
At a mediocre hour
I'm without a shirt
Born...
To uninitiated people, the last two lines may seem very strange. One might think that the lyrical hero regrets that in the womb he did not have time to put on a shirt, or, to put it in a language that everyone understands, a shirt.
Once upon a time, a shirt was called not only an element of clothing, but also various films. The thin membrane located under the eggshell could also bear this name.
Sometimes it happens that the baby's head, when it is born, may be covered with a film that soon falls off. According to ancient beliefs, a child born with such a film will be happy in life. And the French even came up with a special name for it - “ hat of happiness».
Nowadays, the thought that a little film on a newborn's head will make him lucky makes him smile. However, in a figurative sense, we often use this expression when we talk about people who are lucky in something. Now the phrase is used only as a saying, but folk sign has long since sunk into oblivion.
By the way, not only in the Russian language there is such a proverb. Europeans also use similar expressions, for example, “ born in a cap" The English have another phrase that has the same meaning: “to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth.” But it came from a different custom. The fact is that in Foggy Albion it is customary to give spoons made of silver to newborns for good luck.
They don’t go to someone else’s monastery with their own rules
Once upon a time, the routine of the entire monastic life was determined monastic statutes. One monastery was guided by one charter, another by another. Moreover: in the old days, some monasteries had their own judicial statutes and had the right to independently judge their people in all their sins and transgressions.
Expression: " They don’t go to someone else’s monastery with their own rules» this is used in a figurative sense to mean one must obey established rules, customs in society, home, and not establish your own.
Stoeros balbeshka
This is what they say about a stupid, stupid person.
“Excuse me, why did I say such a stupid, absurd thing to you, it jumped out of my mouth, I don’t know, I’m a fool, a stupid idiot” (Yu. Bondarev).
Artist of the burnt theater
About a person whose real abilities or capabilities do not correspond to their perceived level.
“Death is the same for everyone, it is the same for everyone, and no one is given freedom from it. And while she, death, lies in wait for you in an unknown place, with inevitable torment, and the fear of it exists in you, you are not a hero or a god, just an artist from a burnt theater, amusing himself and his flogged listeners.”
(V. Astafiev).
This idiom (stable phrase) is intended to evaluate non-professionals. A couple of centuries ago, the profession of a theater actor was, to put it mildly, unprestigious.
Hence the disdain evident in the phrase: firstly, an actor, and secondly, without a theater. In other words, the circus left, but the clowns remained.
Because the burned theater is not the theater that was destroyed by the flames of the fire, but the one that went bankrupt due to the inept performance of the actors.
Appetite comes with eating
About the increase in someone's needs as they are satisfied.
The expression came into use after it was used by the French writer F. Rabelais (1494-1553) in his novel “Gargantua and Pantagruel” (1532).
Guardian angel
According to religious beliefs, a creature that is the patron of man.
“He prayed every time until he felt as if someone’s fresh touch on his forehead; this, he thought then, is the guardian angel who accepts me” (I. Turgenev).
About a person who shows constant attention and care to someone.
Beat with your forehead
Ancient antiquity emanates from this original Russian expression. And it came from Moscow palace customs. It used to be that the boyars closest to the Tsar gathered in the “front” of the Kremlin Palace early in the morning and in the afternoon at Vespers. When they saw the king, they began to bow, touching their foreheads to the floor. And others did it with such zeal that even the tapping could be heard: please, sir, appreciate our love and zeal.
The legend is fresh, but hard to believe.
As he was famous for, whose neck bent more often;
How not in war, but in peace they took it head on -
They hit the floor without regret!
A. Griboyedov, “Woe from Wit”
Thus, hit with one's forehead means first of all " bow”, well, its second meaning is “to ask for something”, “to complain”, “to thank”.
“Oriental splendor reigned at the Court of our kings, who, following the Asian custom, forced the ambassadors to speak in no other way than on their knees and prostrate themselves on the ground before the throne, from which came the then-used expression: I hit with my forehead.”
The evidence given for the existence of prostration refers no earlier than XVI century, since the first to receive the permanent title of “tsar” in Moscow was Ivan the Terrible in 1547. It turns out that the history of the phrase “beat with the forehead” began twice. At first they “beat with their foreheads” in the literal sense, admitting their guilt, and with the introduction of Christianity - worshiping the Lord God. Then they “beat with their foreheads” in words, complaining, thanking and greeting, and finally they introduced the custom of bowing to the ground of the sovereign at court, which was also called “beating with their foreheads.”
Then, in the first case, the expression did not mean “bow to the ground,” but “bow from the waist,” in the form when, asking for forgiveness in local disputes, the offender, standing on the bottom step of the porch, bowed to his ruler from the waist. The strong one stood on the top step. The bow from the waist was thus accompanied by petitions and the banging of the forehead on the steps.
To rake in the heat with someone else's hands
This means: using the results of someone else's work.
What kind of heat are we talking about?
Heat is burning coals. And, by the way, raking them out of the oven was not an easy task for the housewife: it would have been simpler and easier for her to do it “with someone else’s hands.”
Among the common people there is also a rougher version:
“Ride someone else’s dick to heaven.”
Beat your head
To be lazy is to be idle.
What is it thumbs up ? Surely a word should have its own meaning?
Yes, sure. When in Rus' they slurped cabbage soup and ate porridge with wooden spoons, tens of thousands of artisans they were kicking ass , that is, they chopped logs of linden wood into blanks for the master spooner. This work was considered trivial and was usually performed by an apprentice. That is why she became a model not of action, but of idleness.
Of course, everything is learned by comparison, and this work seemed easy only against the backdrop of hard peasant labor.
And not everyone will succeed now beat your thumbs .
Know by heart
The meaning of these words is known to children as well as adults. Know by heart - means, for example, to learn a poem perfectly, to solidify a role, and generally to have an excellent understanding of something.
And there was a time when know by heart , check by heart taken almost literally. This saying arose from the custom of testing the authenticity of gold coins, rings and other items made of precious metal. You bite the coin with your teeth, and if there is no dent left on it, then it is genuine, not counterfeit. Otherwise, you could have gotten a fake one: hollow inside or filled with cheap metal.
The same custom gave rise to another vivid figurative expression: figure out a person , that is, to thoroughly know his advantages, disadvantages, intentions.
Wash dirty linen in public
Usually this expression is used with negation: “ Don't wash dirty linen in public!».
Its figurative meaning, I hope, is known to everyone: quarrels, squabbles occurring between close people, or secrets of a narrow circle of people should not be disclosed.
But this is the true meaning phraseology Let's try to explain now, although it won't be easy. This expression is associated with evil spirits and, by the way, there are a lot of them in the Russian language. According to ancient beliefs, dirty laundry must be burned in the oven so that it does not fall into the hands of evil people. The so-called healer “bends” or “attitudes” used to be very common. A diversion could serve, for example, as a bundle thrown at a crossroads to “protect” against illness. Coal or stove ash was usually wrapped in such a bundle - a cookie .
It was especially popular among healers, because it was in the oven that they burned dirty laundry from the hut, which contained hair and other items necessary for witchcraft. It is no coincidence that the ban on washing dirty linen in public has come into use in the Russian language.
Written on the water with a pitchfork
The expression “Writing on water with a pitchfork” comes from Slavic mythology.
Today it means an unlikely, doubtful and hardly possible event. In Slavic mythology, pitchforks were called mythical creatures living in bodies of water. According to legend, they could predict fate by writing it on the water. To this day, “forks” in some Russian dialects mean “circles.”
During fortune telling, pebbles were thrown into the river and the future was predicted based on the shape of the circles formed on the surface, their intersections and sizes. And since these predictions are not accurate and rarely come true, they began to talk about an unlikely event.
In not so long ago, gypsies with bears walked around the villages and staged various performances. They led the bears on a leash tied to a ring threaded through the nose. Such a ring made it possible to keep bears in obedience and perform the necessary tricks. During the performances, the gypsies performed various tricks, cleverly deceiving the audience.
Over time, the expression began to be used in more in a broad sense- “to mislead someone.”
Goal like a falcon
In the old days, battering guns called “falcon” were used to take besieged cities. It was an iron-bound log or cast-iron beam fastened on chains. Swinging it, they hit the walls and destroyed them.
The figurative expression “goal as a falcon” means “poor to the last extreme, nowhere to get money, even if you bang your head against the wall.”
Keep me away
The expression “Beware of me” came to us from ancient times.
From ancient times to this day we say “Keep away from me”, “Keep away from me”, “Keep away from me”. Chur is ancient name house keeper, hearth and home(Chur - Shchur - Ancestor).
It is fire, mental and physical, that gives people warmth, light, comfort and goodness in every sense, and is the main custodian of family wealth and family happiness.
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