Russian is one of the most beautiful and richest languages in the world. Over the long history of its formation, it has undergone many transformations, changes and has been saturated with various vocabulary that help to make the conversation more clear and understandable, or figurative and tortuous, and sentences elegant.
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One of these vocabulary phrases in the sentences of the Russian language is rightfully considered to be considered in the article. These are proverbs and sayings carefully collected over the centuries by our ancestors. They make the dialogue between people richer, more beautiful, similar to the literary language.
It is insanely interesting to find the meanings of certain types of phraseological units. You can spend your whole life studying this direction in Russian. Let's try to answer such a question, how and when it is appropriate to use phraseological units in a conversation.
What is phraseology
Phraseologism is a stable phrase, which in most cases has its own meaning in a sentence only in the established, generally accepted form, and nothing more. For example, “run away, sparkling with your heels”, you cannot pronounce it like, “run away with sparkling heels” or say “cherish like the pupil of the eye”, instead of “cherish like the apple of the eye”.
But there are exceptions, when changing the order of words in some types of phraseological units is often considered normal. That is, a number of phrases do not change their meaning when the words are rearranged. Thus, “beat the buckets” and “beat the buckets” or “carry water in a sieve” and “carry water in a sieve” are phraseological units that do not change due to rearrangement of words in them.
The history of the birth of proverbs
Many words of the Russian language are outdated and have lost their true meaning, but they are still present in stable expressions.
Consider an example like "Nick down"(remember something very well). If you think about the meaning of this phrase, it seems quite cruel, but in fact the history of this expression is hidden for centuries. Many centuries ago, illiterate people carried tablets with them, on which, in order to remember upcoming events or necessary facts, they made notches. That is, to chop on the nose used to be literally synonymous with the word “write down”.
Or phraseology "lead by the nose"(deception is very skillful, so that the victim does not notice it at all). Why did they start talking like that? Everything is simple. Did you not pay attention to how huge camels dutifully wander after their master without even trying to escape or somehow lean? The reason for this is far from animal humility, but a ring threaded through the nose, to which a rope is tied, which is in the hands of the owner of the beast. Therefore, the expression "lead by the nose" has acquired its meaning.
And also an interesting story with phraseology "hang nose". Now the full version of the proverb is rarely used, which sounds like “hang your nose on a fifth”. Strange as it may seem, but this phrase originates from musical professionalism, or rather, from violinists. When a person plays the violin, he clamps his head on the instrument so that his nose almost touches the top string, which is called the fifth.
General meaning of set phrases
Most groups of phraseological units in the Russian language have something in common. Therefore, if you look closely, you can notice a pattern in the use, for example, of one or another part of the human body in phraseological usage. Let's try to understand this issue in more detail and understand the meaning of some proverbs. So.
Nose in phraseological units
On the human face, the nose has the function of an organ of smell, that is, the perception of smells. In stable phrases called phraseological units, this part of the body is a symbol of something not far away, located at a very small distance from a person. Here are some variations use of nose meanings in proverbs:
Interesting fact. The nose is considered a symbol of something very close, not only in proverbs. Take, for example, at least a fairy tale about Kolobok. How did the cunning fox get its prey to come dangerously close? That's right, she asked Kolobok to come closer and sit on her nose.
Perhaps these values are due to the fact that on the human face the nose protrudes most of all, but at the same time it is still close to the rest of the face.
Mouth and lips
Mostly mouth in proverbs has the same functions as on the human face - talking and eating. Lips, in turn, often express emotions and desires, which is quite natural, because, from the point of view of psychology, it is this part of the human face that is most involved in human facial expressions. By the way, there are not so many groups of set expressions in which lips are used.
- Dial water in your mouth - sharply shut up;
- Pout lips - take offense;
- The lip is not a fool - a person knows how to choose the best or has inflated desires;
- Porridge in the mouth - a person speaks indistinctly;
- Do not take it in your mouth - very tasteless, unpleasant food;
- There was no poppy dew in the mouth - the person is hungry;
- The mouth is full of trouble - a lot of work, a person is very busy;
- Open your mouth - very surprised.
Ears
Ears appear in proverbs as organs of hearing, but also they have one feature- they are quite difficult to see without using foreign objects with a mirror surface, and, of course, this meaning of the symbol could not be ignored.
Teeth in proverbs
Teeth in set phrases are used mostly as a defense against something. And also in proverbs, teeth symbolize a smile and laughter.
- Armed to the teeth - a dangerous opponent, which is very difficult to defeat because of his good training;
- To give a tooth - to laugh or make fun of someone;
- Bare teeth - it is unpleasant to laugh, mock;
- Try it on the tooth - get to know better, study well;
- Show teeth - show readiness for enmity and hostility;
- Sharpen / have a tooth - dislike, have a dislike for someone.
Thus, we can conclude that phraseological units are phrases that make a conversation richer and more varied. They decorate our speech and help to express and define the emotions that seethe in us like a waterfall. So, having such a wealth of language, do we have the right to use slang words that make our speech less pleasant, and our soul more callous? One can only hope that everyone can find the answer to this question for themselves.
Winged expressions help to express thoughts more accurately, give speech a more emotional coloring. They allow in a few short but precise words to express more emotions and convey a personal attitude to what is happening.
1 sly
Initially, this expression meant to secretly dig a mine or a secret tunnel. The word "zappa" (translated from Italian) means "digging shovel".
Borrowed into French, the word turned into the French "sap" and received the meaning of "earthworks, trenches and undermining", the word "sapper" also arose from this word.
In Russian, the word "sapa" and the expression "quiet glanders" meant work that is carried out with extreme caution, without noise, in order to get close to the enemy unnoticed, in complete secrecy.
After widespread use, the expression acquired the meaning: carefully, in deep secrecy and slowly (for example, “So he drags all the food from the kitchen on the sly!”).
2 Can't see anything
According to one version, the word "zga" comes from the name of a part of the horse harness - a ring in the upper part of the arc, into which a rein was inserted so as not to dangle. When the coachman needed to unharness the horse, and it was so dark that this little ring (zgi) could not be seen, they said that "you can't see it at all."
According to another version, the word "zga" comes from the Old Russian "sytga" - "road, path, path." In this case, the meaning of the expression is interpreted - "so dark that you can not even see the road, the path." Today, the expression “nothing is visible”, “nothing can be seen” means “nothing is visible”, “impenetrable darkness”.
A blind man leads a blind man, but both of them cannot see. (last)
“Darkness hangs over the earth: you can’t see it ...” (Anton Chekhov, “Mirror”)
3 dance from the stove
The expression "to dance from the stove" first appeared in the novel of the 19th century Russian writer Vasily Sleptsov "The Good Man". The book was published in 1871. There is an episode in it when the main character Seryozha Terebenev recalls how he was taught to dance, but the “pas” required from the dance teacher did not work out for him. There is a phrase in the book:
- Oh, what are you, brother! - Father says reproachfully. - Well, go back to the stove, start over.
Vasily Alekseevich Sleptsov. 1870
In Russian, this expression began to be used, speaking of people whose habit of acting according to a hardened scenario replaces knowledge. A person can perform certain actions only “from the stove”, from the very beginning, from the most simple and familiar action:
“When he (the architect) was ordered to plan, he usually drew the hall and the hotel first; just as in the old days, college girls could only dance from the stove, so his artistic idea could only come and develop from the hall to the living room. (Anton Chekhov, "My Life").
4 shabby look
During the time of Tsar Peter I, Ivan Zatrapeznikov lived - an entrepreneur who received the Yaroslavl textile manufactory from the emperor. The factory produced a cloth called “striped”, or “striped”, popularly called “mess”, “mess” - a coarse and low-quality cloth made from hemp (hemp fiber).
Clothes were sewn from shabby clothes mainly by poor people who could not buy something better for themselves. And the appearance of such poor people was appropriate. Since then, if a person is dressed sloppily, they say about him that he has a shabby appearance:
“The hay girls were poorly fed, dressed in shabby clothes and given little sleep, exhausting them with almost continuous work.” (Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, "Poshekhonskaya antiquity")
5 Sharpen laces
To sharpen folly means to idle talk, to engage in useless chatter. Lassy (balusters) are chiseled curly columns of railings at the porch.
At first, “sharpening balusters” meant having an elegant, whimsical, ornate (like balusters) conversation. However, there were few craftsmen to conduct such a conversation, and over time, the expression began to mean empty chatter:
“They used to sit in a circle, some on a bench, some simply on the ground, each with some business, a spinning wheel, a comb or bobbins, and they would go and go to sharpen their laces and babble about a different, experienced time.” (Dmitry Grigorovich, Village).
6 Lying like a gray gelding
To lie like a gray gelding means to speak fables without being embarrassed at all. In the 19th century, an officer, a German named von Sievers-Mehring, served in one of the regiments of the Russian army. He liked to tell the officers funny stories and fables. The expression "lies like Sievers-Mering" was understandable only to his colleagues. However, they began to use it throughout Russia, completely forgetting about the origins. Sayings appeared among the people: “lazy as a gray gelding”, “stupid as a gray gelding”, although the horse breed has nothing to do with this.
7 Bullshit
According to one version, the expression "bullshit" comes from "lying like a gray gelding" (in fact, these two phrases are synonymous)
There is also a version that the expression "bullshit" came from the name of one scientist - Brad Steve Cobile, who once wrote a very stupid article. His name, consonant with the words "bullshit" correlated with scientific nonsense.
According to another version, "bullshit" is an expression denoting a stupid statement or thought; appeared due to the beliefs of the Slavs that the gray horse (gray with an admixture of a different color) was the most stupid animal. There was a sign according to which if a gray mare is dreamed, then in reality the dreamer will be deceived.
8 Androns ride
"Androns are coming" means nonsense, nonsense, nonsense, complete nonsense.
In Russian, this phrase is used in response to someone who tells a lie, inappropriately puts on airs and boasts about himself. In the 1840s, on the territory of almost all of Russia, andretz (andron) meant a wagon, various kinds of carts.
“And you don’t have to scold my house! “Do I scold you?.. Cross yourself, Petrovnushka, the androns are coming!” (Pavel Zarubin, "The Dark and Bright Sides of Russian Life")
9 Biryuk live
Mikhail Golubovich in the movie Biryuk. 1977
The expression "to live with a biryuk" means to be a hermit and a closed person. In the southern regions of Russia, a wolf is called a biryuk. The wolf has long been considered a predatory animal dangerous for the economy. The peasants perfectly studied his habits and habits and often remembered them when speaking about a person. “Oh, and you have grown old, little brother! Dunyashka said regretfully. “Some kind of gray has become like a biryuk.” (Mikhail Sholokhov, Quiet Flows the Don)
10 to play with spillikins
Spillikins are various small household items that were used during the ancient game. Its meaning was to pull out one toy after another from a pile of toys with fingers or a special hook, without touching or scattering the rest. The one who moved the adjacent spillikin passes the move to the next player. The game continues until the whole pile is taken apart. By the beginning of the 20th century, spillikins became one of the most popular games in the country and were very common not only among children, but also among adults.
In a figurative sense, the expression "playing spillikins" means to engage in trifles, nonsense, leaving aside the main and important:
“After all, I came to the workshop to work, and not to sit back and play spillikins.” (Mikhail Novorussky "Notes of the Schlisselburger")
11 Pies with kittens
In Rus', they never ate cats, except in severe famine. During long sieges of cities, their inhabitants, having exhausted all food supplies, people used domestic animals for food, and cats and cats were the last to go.
Thus, this expression means a catastrophic state of affairs. Usually the proverb is shortened and they say: “These are the pies”, in other words, “these are the things”.
12 Leave unsalted slurping
In Rus' in the old days, salt was an expensive product. It had to be transported from afar off-road, taxes on salt were very high. When visiting, the host salted the food himself, with his own hand. Sometimes, expressing his respect for especially dear guests, he even added salt to the food, and sometimes those who sat at the far end of the table did not get salt at all. Hence the expression - "to leave without salty slurping":
“And the more she spoke, and the more sincerely she smiled, the stronger the confidence became in me that I would leave her without salty slurping.” (Anton Chekhov "Lights")
"The fox missed the live and went away slurping unsalted." (Alexey Tolstoy "The Fox and the Rooster")
13 Shemyakin Court
Illustration for the fairy tale "Shemyakin Court". Copper engraving, first half of the 18th century. Reproduction.
The expression "shemyakin court" is used when they want to emphasize the unfairness of any opinion, judgment or assessment. Shemyaka is a real historical person, the Galician prince Dimitri Shemyaka, famous for his cruelty, deceit and unrighteous deeds. He became famous for his tireless, stubborn struggle with the Grand Duke Vasily the Dark, his cousin, for the Moscow throne. Today, when they want to point out the partiality, unfairness of some judgment, they say: “Is this criticism? Shemyakin court of some kind.
According to aif.ru
Phraseology is one of the sections of linguistics that studies stable combinations of words. Surely each of us is familiar with the expressions “beat the buckets”, “drive by the nose”, “like a bolt from the blue”, “sleeveless”, etc. But how many of us have ever thought about where they came from our language? I bring to your attention a small selection of phraseological units with their meanings and history of origin, thanks to which you may learn something new and be able to make your speech more expressive and varied.
Let's start with such a well-known expression as "Augean stables" used to describe a very dirty place that will require a lot of effort to clean up. Phraseologism originates from the time of Ancient Greece, where King Augeus lived, who was very fond of horses, but not caring for them: the stables where the animals lived did not see cleaning for about thirty years. According to legend, Hercules (Hercules) entered the service of the king, who received an order from Avgiy to clean out the stalls. For this, the strongman used the river, the flow of which was directed to the stables, thereby getting rid of the dirt. Impressive, right?
"Alma mater"(from lat. "mother-nurse")
In ancient times, students used this phraseological phrase, describing the educational institution, which, as it were, “nourished”, “raised” and “educated” them. Nowadays it is used with a certain amount of irony.
"Achilles' heel"(weak, weak spot)
The source of this phraseological unit is ancient Greek mythology. According to legend, Thetis - the mother of Achilles - wanted to make her son invulnerable. To do this, she dipped him into the sacred river Styx, forgetting, however, about the heel by which she held the boy. Later, while fighting his enemy Paris, Achilles received an arrow in this heel and died.
"Gogol to walk"(walk around with a very important look, self-confidently)
No, this expression has nothing to do with the famous Russian writer, as it may seem at first. Gogol is a wild duck that walks along the shore with its head thrown back and protruding chest, which suggests a comparison with a person trying to show all his importance.
"Nick down"(very good to remember something)
In this expression, the word "nose" does not mean a part of the human body at all. In ancient times, this word was used to name boards on which all kinds of notes were made. People carried it with them as a reminder.
"Go away with your nose"(leave with nothing)
Another phraseological unit associated with the nose. However, he, like the previous one, has nothing to do with the organ of smell. This expression originates from Ancient Rus', where bribery was widespread. People, dealing with the authorities and hoping for a positive outcome, used "bribery" (bribery). If the judge, manager or clerk accepted this "nose", one could be sure that everything would be resolved. However, if the bribe was rejected, the petitioner left with his "nose".
"Pandora's Box"(source of troubles and misfortunes)
The ancient Greek myth says: before Prometheus stole fire from the gods, people on earth lived in joy and did not know any troubles. In response to this, Zeus sent a woman of unprecedented beauty - Pandora, to the earth, giving her a chest in which all human misfortunes were stored. Pandora, succumbing to curiosity, opened the chest and scattered them all.
"Filkin's letter"(document of no value, meaningless piece of paper)
This phraseological turn is rooted in the history of the Russian state, or rather, during the reign of Ivan IX the Terrible. Metropolitan Philip, in his messages to the sovereign, tried to convince him to soften his policy, to cancel the oprichnina. In response, Ivan the Terrible only called the Metropolitan "Filka", and all his letters - "Filkin".
These are just some of the phraseological units of the Russian language, which have a very interesting history behind them. I hope that the above material was useful and exciting for you.
Hello, dear readers of the blog site. The Russian language is not in vain considered “great and powerful”.
It contains not only words with which you can describe the reality of what is happening, but also, the meaning of which does not correspond to the words used in them.
Such phrases (these are phraseological units) cannot be understood “on the forehead” (literally), because the words used in them sometimes create a completely ridiculous picture. For example, “make an elephant out of a fly”, “sit in a puddle”, “lead by the nose”, “like water off a duck's back”, etc. They are used only in a figurative sense and this.
What is it (examples)
Phraseologisms are set expressions(everyday used in this form), one of the features of which is that it is almost impossible to translate them into . And if you do it verbatim, you get a real abracadabra.
For example, how do you translate phrases to a foreigner:
With a goofy nose
Where do the eyes look?
Shot sparrow.
And at the same time, we, as native speakers of the Russian language, will immediately understand what is at stake.
"With a gulkin's nose" - a little, just a little bit.
"Where the eyes look" - directly, without a specific goal.
"Shot sparrow" - experienced in some matters.
This is one of the examples of phraseological units. And here is the definition given to this concept in textbooks:
“Phraseologism is an expression that is well-established in structure and composition, which used in a figurative sense and consists of two or more words.
Signs of phraseological units
Phraseologism is quite easy to recognize. These phrases have their own distinctive features:
- They include two or more words;
- Have stable compound;
- Have portable meaning;
- Have historical roots;
- Are unified member of the proposal.
And now let's take a closer look at each of these distinctive criteria of phraseological units.
These are several words that are one member of the sentence
There are no phraseological units in one word at all. Most often they consist of exactly two words, but there are many examples of longer phrases.
Here examples of such phrases with an explanation of their meaning:
"I ate the dog" - experienced, has been doing something more than once.
“You won’t spill it with water” - very friendly.
“Wait for the weather by the sea” - do nothing and hope that everything will be decided by itself.
"Seven Fridays in a week" - constantly change your plans or decisions.
“To fight like a fish on ice” - you do something, but it does not give a result.
“Well, you made a mess” - he did something that provoked a whole chain of events.
When parsing a sentence, phraseological units are not divided into parts. For example, the phrase “worked up a sweat” is a single predicate. Just like "counting the crows" or "wash your hands".
Phraseological units are stable phrases in a figurative sense
Such phrases cannot be distorted adding or removing individual words from them. AND cannot be replaced one word to another. In this way, they resemble a "house of cards" that will fall apart if one card is pulled out of it.
By the way, "House of cards" is also an example of a phraseological unit, it is used when they want to say that "something broke very easily or is about to break".
For example:
“Between heaven and earth” means to be in limbo, not knowing what to do.
And in this phrase it is impossible to replace "sky", for example, with "clouds", or "earth" with "field". The result is a completely non-colorful expression that others people won't understand.
More examples of stable phraseological units with an explanation of their meaning:
“Turn up the waters” means to come up with something strange, it’s not good to influence others.
"Slippery" - to do something poorly.
"Roll up your sleeves" - work well and quickly.
"Count the crows" - be distracted, be inattentive.
"Stay with the nose" means to be deceived.
"Getting to grips" - change your behavior or attitude towards something.
These phrases always have a figurative meaning.
As you may have noticed, all phraseological units have a figurative meaning. That is why they simply cannot be translated into another language.
For example, try to translate into English the phrase "disservice". It will sound like “bear service”, and any foreigner will literally understand that “a particular bear provides some kind of service”, and will rather decide that it is a trained bear.
But we understand perfectly well this phraseological unit, which means "Help so that it gets worse".
The same can be said about other expressions:
“Grated kalach” is a wise person who cannot be deceived.
“On the topic of the day” is something relevant that currently attracts a lot of attention.
“Sat in a galosh” - did something awkward, made a mistake.
"Losing your head" - doing unreasonable things.
"Wash the bones" - to discuss someone behind his back.
The history of the origin of phraseological units
Some philologists argue that all phraseological units have some historical roots. It's just that not everything managed to survive before us. But there are phrases about which it is known exactly where they came from.
For example, the expression "beat the buckets", which means "To do nothing". In the old days, small wooden blocks were called buckets, from which spoons were most often made. Making blanks was very easy, it was trusted to the most inept apprentices. And everyone around thought that they did not really work.
Or phraseological unit "like water off a duck's back", meaning that "everything is forgiven a person." This phrase was born by nature itself. Not only the goose, but also any bird, the water really quickly escapes, since their feathers have a thin layer of fat.
And here is the expression "Trishkin caftan" not so widely known, although it means "an unsuccessful attempt to solve some problem, which only leads to new problems." The phrase appeared thanks to Krylov's fable:
Trishka's caftan was torn on his elbows.
What's the point of thinking here? He took up the needle:
Cut off the sleeves in quarters
And he paid elbows. The caftan is ready again;
Only a quarter of the bare hands became.
What about this sadness?
And here is the phraseology "Monomakh's hat", which means "too much responsibility", gave us Pushkin in his drama Boris Godunov.
Examples of phraseological units and their meaning
And this is not the only example when common expressions appear in the Russian language thanks to literature. For example, a lot came to us from ancient myths and epics, and even from the Bible.
- "Apple of discord" Cause of quarrel between people. Initially, the apple was meant, because of which the ancient Greek goddesses Athena, Aphrodite and Hera quarreled, since it was written “the most beautiful” on it.
- "Trojan horse"- a hidden trap. The wooden horse in which the Greeks hid to conquer Troy.
- "Gordian knot"— a confusing, complicated situation. In memory of the real knot that King Gordius tied, and that Alexander the Great cut with his sword.
- "Augean stables"- a big mess. One of the labors of Heracles when he was ordered to clear the huge stables of King Augeas.
- - looming threat. Another story from Ancient Greece, when the courtier Damocles envied King Dionysius and wanted to take his place. And he agreed, but hung a sword on a horsehair over his head.
- "Procrustean bed"- the desire to fit something into the existing framework, while sacrificing something important. The robber Procrustes lured travelers to him and laid them on his bed. To whom she was small, he stretched out his legs. And to whom it is large, he cut them off.
- "Two-faced Janus"— and deceit. In ancient Roman mythology, there was such a God with two faces, who was in charge of all doors, entrances and exits.
- "Achilles' heel"- weakness. In honor of the ancient Greek warrior Achilles, who was dipped into the water of immortality as a child. And the only unprotected place he had left was the heel, since they held it when they lowered him into the bath.
- "Manna from Heaven" something necessary and saving. Roots must be sought in the Bible, in history, how Moses led the Jews out of Egypt. At some point, they ran out of all the food, and God sent them "manna from heaven."
- "Sisyphean Labor"- a useless exercise that will definitely not bring benefits. The ancient Greek king Sisyphus for his dissolute life was condemned to eternal torment - to roll a huge stone up the mountain, which then immediately rolled down.
- « » - a topic or person that is constantly discussed. One of the punishments in the Old Testament for apostates is “you will be a parable, a horror and a laughingstock among all peoples.” And “languages” are “peoples” in Church Slavonic.
- "Ared's eyelids"- a very long time. An extremely rare phraseological unit, which also came from the Bible, which mentions the patriarch Ared, who lived in the world in 962.
- "Homeric Laughter"- Loud laughter over some stupidity. This is how the Gods laughed in Homer's Odyssey and Iliad.
- "smoking incense"- Praise beyond measure. Another rare phraseological unit that appeared thanks to the incense of the same name, which was burned in Jerusalem temples to propitiate God.
- "Pyrrhic victory"- a victory for which one had to pay too high a price. The ancient Greek king Pyrrhus defeated the Romans, but lost too many soldiers. Even his phrase is known - "Another such victory, and we will perish."
- "Sink into the air"- be forgotten. Summer - in ancient Greek, the river in the kingdom of the dead, which was ruled by the god Hades.
- "Pandora's Box" is the source of misfortune and misfortune. In the Myths of Ancient Greece, Zeus sent a woman named Pandora to earth. And he gave her a casket, which contained all human misfortunes. She couldn't resist and opened it.
- - disorder, disorganization, turning into real chaos. In the Old Testament, people decided to build a tower that would reach up to heaven.
But the Lord was angry - he destroyed the tower and mixed languages so that people could no longer understand each other.
Brief Summary
In conclusion, I will say that phraseological units are found in any language of the world. But such a number of winged phrases, as in Russian, nowhere else.
Good luck to you! See you soon on the blog pages site
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→ Phraseological units are ...
Phraseologisms are...
Phraseologisms (from the Greek phrasis - expression, logos - teaching) - these are stable combinations of words that have become fixed as naming units: Railway , pansies or evaluation expressions: not a bastard , slipshod . Otherwise - phraseological turns . In terms of semantic volume, they are equal to a word, and in structure - to a phrase or sentence. They have a set of characteristic features:
1). are reproduced from memory as integral and mostly constant in composition: at least a dime a dozen , but not big pond;
2). have the same meaning: rub glasses - "deceive"; won't hurt a fly - "quiet";
3). in the sentence they are one member (subject, predicate, definition, etc.), due to the similarity in grammatical reference of any part of speech: not of this world (adj.); Procrustean bed (n.); to the fullest (adv.); holy fathers! (int.);
4). may have one or more values: Wolf in sheep's clothing - "hypocrite"; up to the seventh sweat - “1) to extreme exhaustion, fatigue to work, toil, etc.; 2) [with the opposite shade] until complete satisfaction, plenty”;
Phraseologisms can appear in certain combinations with other words or phrases: don't remember yourself (from what?); sharpen your skis (to u da? o t to u da?).
The general meaning (meaning of a phraseological unit) is not directly dependent on the meanings of its component words. There is no such dependence in, where obsolete and already incomprehensible words are often included; eg: ate the dog- "a specialist in his field" does not depend on the meanings of the words "dog" and "eat"; T deep water in the clouds contains a now incomprehensible obsolete grammatical form. The general metaphorical meaning is characteristic of having homonymous phrases with other meanings: play first fiddle - "to be first"; lather your head - "to scold". based on the meanings of the words that form them: fear / horror takes; beat off an attack . These include sayings, proverbs, stamps from the pages of newspapers, magazines ( do not lie - do not sell ), vivid quotes from works of fiction ("winged words"): sky in diamonds (A. Chekhov); fresh legend(A. Griboyedov).
Phraseologisms were born from songs, fairy tales, parables, proverbs of the Russian people: good fellow ; shed hot tears ; milk rivers . They reflect history: Mamai passed ; roll up your sleeves ; traditions, customs, rituals: by the teeth ; look away . Part of the turns goes back to professional speech: an hour later, a teaspoon - from medical use; get off the stage - from the speech of the artists. Many are finds of writers: does not dance (N. Gogol); everyday phenomenon (V. Korolenko). This part of phraseology refers to primordial by origin.
Phraseological units also appeared in the process of borrowing: lat. alter ego- "second me"; French Cherche la femme - “look for a woman” (written in graphical means of the Russian and non-Russian alphabets, but without translation), including tracing paper , i.e. verbatim translation ( Oh times, oh manners! < лат. Otempora,omores!). Among the borrowed are expressions from biblical texts: prodigal son ;Valaam donkey ; from ancient Greek and Roman mythology: Achilles' heel ; Procrustean bed ; quotes, "winged words": to be or not to be (W. Shaspir).
Phraseologisms marks, bright, figurative, their content affects all aspects and properties of life, the characters of people, therefore they are widely used as a pictorial tool in works of fiction (N. Gogol, L. Tolstoy, A. Chekhov, V. Shukshin, V. Belov ).
Phraseological units into other languages not translated literally - they must be replaced with a phraseological unit that is appropriate in meaning and stylistic coloring, existing in the language into which the translation is being made (cf .: talk nonsense and Ukrainian trees of government ).