"To reach the pen" - a short meaning and origin of phraseological units with examples? Why does Pushkin do everything for everyone and where did the expression come from? To reach the pen? To reach the pen? History of expression

There are several versions of the origin of this famous idiom. On the one hand, Bulgakov's hero mentioned this phrase Nikanor Ivanovich Bosoy in the novel The Master and Margarita: “Before his sleep, Nikanor Ivanovich did not know the works of the poet Pushkin at all, but he knew him very well and uttered phrases like:“ Will Pushkin pay for the apartment? “Or“ So, did Pushkin unscrew the light on the stairs? ”,“ So, Pushkin will buy oil? ”. But, most likely, this phrase arose even before the writing of the novel, and Bulgakov simply included an idiom popular in Soviet times into the work. The fact is that in 1937 the USSR widely celebrated the centenary of the death of the great poet. It was then that Pushkin became "our all", monuments to him appeared in almost all cities, in many and several, and his portraits were now hung in public places. Some experts believe that this is what contributed to the popularization of the expression: in any controversial situation, one could easily point to the image of Alexander Sergeevich and ask if the opponent would like to shift his responsibilities, for example, to Pushkin.

Run in a hurry

Popykh in Russia was a kind of underwear, something like pantaloons. If people are running around in their underwear, it means that something out of the ordinary has happened - for example, a fire in the house, or some other misfortune. In such cases, people forget about decency and run away in what they were, in a hurry and fuss. Hence the expression "to run in a hurry" - to be in a hurry.

To hell on little streets

Kulichkas in Russia were called forest glades or islands in a swamp. The people believed that evil spirits liked to settle there. And since such places are often located deep in the forest, far from human dwellings, "the devil on the kulichi" began to mean: very far away.

Give good

The letter "D" was called good in the pre-revolutionary alphabet. In the set of signals in the fleet of those times, the flag corresponding to this letter meant: "yes, I allow." It was from here that the expression "give the go-ahead" and later the derivative "approve" came from.

Places not so distant

Before the revolution in Russia, there were two categories of links. The first one is “to remote places of Siberia”, for malicious violators of the law. The second “to not so distant places of Siberia” is a milder punishment. For some reason, it was the second type of exile that turned from an official term into a kind of synonym for the words "prison" and "colony".

Reach the handle

In Russia, rolls were often baked in the shape of a castle with a round bow. The shackle was needed for reasons of hygiene: rolls are a popular street food, and there was nowhere to wash your hands on the street. Therefore, a person, eating a roll, held him by the handle, which was then given either to dogs or to beggars (it was not customary to throw away the remnants of food). It is about those who did not disdain to finish eating the shackles, and they began to say "got to the handle." It means - completely sink.

Every dog \u200b\u200bhas his day

In the days of medieval Russia, the townspeople settled together, based on their occupation: there were streets of butchers, potters, sewing masters. They lived quite apart, but for the holidays, which each street had its own, people from the surrounding areas were also invited. Each invitee knew: today he is visiting, but soon there will be a holiday on his street.

Inside out

The collar is a luxurious embroidered collar, which the nobles during the time of Ivan the Terrible wore as one of the signs of dignity. If the boyar fell into disgrace, he was subjected to shameful punishment: he was put on a thin mare with his back forward, in clothes turned inside out, that is, the collar was turned over. Since then, this expression began to mean something done wrong, on the contrary.

Hang dogs

"Hanging all the dogs" now means to blame, to blame, sometimes even undeservedly. In fact, animals have nothing to do with this saying. Dogs were called burdock inflorescences, that is, thorns. Which, indeed, you can "hang" on someone.

Go to the light

An expression associated with the tradition of hospitality - in small towns of pre-revolutionary Russia there was a custom to invite guests by putting a tall candle in the window. If from the street you can see a light burning on the windowsill, it means that the owners of the house will be glad to see guests. Now this expression means “to come to visit without an invitation,” and then it was the candle fire that served as an invitation.

Bring to the handle who what... Simple. Express. Put someone or something in an extremely difficult, hopeless situation. - I just want to say about them, about these same sons of bitches who brought our livestock breeding to the handle (V. Ovechkin. Guests in the Snitches).

Phraseological dictionary of the Russian literary language. - M .: Astrel, AST... A.I. Fedorov. 2008.

See what "Bring to the handle" is in other dictionaries:

    Pens - get a working coupon for the Cosmetics Gallery discount on Akademika or buy cheap pens with free shipping on sale in the Cosmetics Gallery

    bring to the handle - torment, irritate, anger, lime, rape, dirty the Dictionary of Russian synonyms ... Synonym dictionary

    Bring / Bring to handle - whom. Simple. Bring someone l., That l. into an extremely difficult, hopeless situation. F 1, 165; Mokienko 2003, 99; Glukhov 1988, 35 ...

    up to the handle - see the handle; in zn. adv. To an extremely difficult, hopeless situation. Get to the handle. Bring someone l. up to the handle ... Dictionary of many expressions

    Simple. Prejudice. Bring yourself to unpleasant consequences: to a difficult, hopeless situation. The chairman is kindly with me. It is necessary, he says. Help. Well, we must and must. I’ll pile up the carts and load them into the city. I drove and drove and reached the handle. ... ... Phraseological dictionary of the Russian literary language

    A PEN - Virgin's pen. Kar. Medicinal herb (gastric remedy). SRGK 5, 586. Gold pen. Zharg. angle., Simple. A clever swindler, a swindler. Mokienko 2003, 99. Give something with warm hands. Volog. Willingly, with pleasure, to give to someone. what l. SVG 6 ... A large dictionary of Russian sayings

    Zugunder - In Wiktionary there is an article "zugunder" ... Wikipedia

    screw up - hound, lime, bring to the handle Dictionary of Russian synonyms ... Synonym dictionary

    lime - get, shake, waste, let down, torture, ruin, fray nerves, waste, swallow, throw to the wind, drive out of the light, bring to the grave, squeeze out of the light, drive into a coffin, put in a grave, drive out of the light, squeeze from light, drive into ... Synonym dictionary

    rape - take on board, squeeze, throw on the brigade, discard, discard, otryuchit, (protrude, (p (r) o) feel) hair, cook, shampoo, wash the wings, wrinkle, put on the chorus, procrastinate, ride on skis, skip, stretch out in a codend, ... ... Synonym dictionary

    screw up - DOWNLOAD, 1 l. units h. usually not used, zish; Sov., whom. Hedge, lime, bring to the handle. From grymz ... Dictionary of Russian argo

Books

  • Holy Week, Mikirtumova Christina. Did I assume my boss was crazy? Yes, definitely. Did I expect his psychosis to touch me, the humble chief accountant? No, I never dreamed. But what if one evening the rooftop was blown away ...

At first glance, it sounds rather strange to "reach the handle". What is difficult here, but why and why someone comes to it, few people think, we are just dealing with a well-established expression, the meaning of which is known to everyone,

There are several options for the history of the origin of this expression.

One of them is associated with the so-called "handle" of the roll. Kalachi have been very popular in Russia for a long time. The shape of this flour product assumes a jumper handle, for which it is convenient to hold it while eating. Either for sanitary and hygienic reasons, or because of the obvious excess of the product, this very pen was given to the beggars or to animals in general. It is clear that those who did not hesitate to eat the remnants of someone else's food were at the extreme level of poverty, and they talked about such "got to the handle", that is, to the very handle of the roll.

The second option is also associated with the very bottom of society. There is a version that such people could be entrusted with hard work with a penny payment, requiring neither experience nor knowledge, which consisted in setting in motion mechanisms using the strength of the muscles and was reduced to twisting or moving the handle of mechanisms, approximately like the rotation of millstones with the help of the draft force of animals.

It also does not do without the "Arabic trace" in the interpretation of the origin of the expression. Some linguists do not rule out the connection with the Arabic word. "rukka", denoting a difficult life situation, which was later transformed into a "pen" with the use of the diminutive suffix.

As always, when considering the history of the origin of established phraseological units, almost incredible options arise, but with the same beggarly negative context, for example, "to reach the handle" - the hand of the beggar, "to reach the handle" in the sense of the handle of the coffin (in my opinion, the most implausible version is the very doubtful widespread use of handles on coffins at that time).

Regardless of the origin, this expression always has a meaning, speaking about the plight of the person who has reached the handle, his falling into the lowest strata of society, is used, as a rule, to characterize a degraded person.

However, modern linguistic metamorphoses and not the best knowledge of the native language lead to further semantic transformation of expression. I have repeatedly heard the use of phraseological units in the meaning of an extreme degree of inadequate state. And here the "pen" itself appears as an insignificant element, it would be enough just the word "reached." But in any case, the meaning of the expression remains, which speaks of a negative, extremely undesirable state of affairs or state.


We use these phrases every day in speech, without thinking at all about their original meaning and origin. Why do they fly "like plywood" and even over Paris? Who is “Silent Sapa”? And actually, why does a successful business necessarily “have to burn out”? There is a historical or linguistic explanation for everything. Behind each turn there is either a significant event, or the realities of the past, or an obsolete meaning of the word ...

Reach the handle ...

In Ancient Russia, rolls were baked in the shape of a castle with a round bow. The townspeople often bought rolls and ate them right on the street, holding this bow or handle. For reasons of hygiene, the pen itself was not consumed, but given to the beggars or thrown to be eaten by dogs.

According to one of the versions, about those who did not disdain to eat it, they said: "I got to the handle." And today the expression "to reach the handle" means to completely sink, to lose a human appearance.

Bosom friend

The ancient expression "pour over the Adam's apple" meant "to get drunk", "to drink alcohol". Hence the phraseological unit "bosom friend" was formed, which is used today to refer to a very close friend.

Pour in on the first number

In the old days, schoolchildren were often flogged, often without any fault of the person being punished. If the mentor showed special zeal, and the disciple was hit especially hard, he could be freed from further vice in the current month, until the first day of the next month. This is how the expression "pour in the first number" arose.

Goof

Prosak used to be the name of a special machine for weaving ropes and cords. It had a complex structure and twisted the strands so strongly that getting into it clothes, hair, beard could cost a person his life. It was from such cases that the expression “get screwed” came from, which today means to be in an awkward position.

The last Chinese warning

In the 1950s and 1960s, American aircraft frequently violated Chinese airspace for reconnaissance purposes. The Chinese authorities recorded every violation and each time sent a "warning" to the United States through diplomatic channels, although no real action was followed, and hundreds of such warnings were counted.
This policy has led to the emergence of the expression "last Chinese warning", meaning threats without consequences.

Hang dogs

When a person is blamed, accused of something, you can hear the expression: "They hang dogs on him." At first glance, this phrase is completely illogical. However, it is not connected with an animal at all, but with another meaning of the word "dog" - burdock, thorn - now almost never used.

Silently

The word "sape" in French means "hoe". In the 16-19 centuries, the term "glanders" was used to denote a method of opening a trench, ditch or tunnel to approach the fortifications.
Gunpowder bombs were sometimes placed in the trenches to the walls of castles, and specialists trained to do this were called sappers. And from the secretive digging of tunnels came the expression "sly glanders", which today is used to denote careful and inconspicuous actions.

Big boss

The most experienced and strongest barge haule, walking in the strap first, was called a bump. This has morphed into the expression "big shot" to refer to an important person.

The case burned out

Previously, if a court case disappeared, then the person could not be legally charged. Cases often burned out: either from a fire in wooden court buildings, or from deliberate arson in exchange for a bribe. In such cases, the defendants said: "The case is burned out." Today this expression is used when we talk about the successful completion of a major undertaking.

Leave in english

When someone leaves without saying goodbye, we use the expression “left in English”. Although in the original this idiom was invented by the British themselves, but it sounded like ‘to take French leave’.

It appeared during the Seven Years War in the 18th century in a mockery of the French soldiers who voluntarily left the location of the unit. Then the French copied this expression, but in relation to the British, and in this form it was fixed in the Russian language.

Blue blood

The Spanish royal family and nobility were proud that, unlike the common people, they trace their ancestry to the West Goths and never mixed with the Moors who penetrated into Spain from Africa.

Unlike the dark-skinned commoners, blue veins stood out on the pale skin of the upper class, and therefore they called themselves sangre azul, which means "blue blood." Hence, this expression to denote aristocracy penetrated into many European languages, including Russian.

And a no brainer

Expressions "And a no-brainer" - a poem by Mayakovsky ("It's clear even a hedgehog - / This Petya was a bourgeois"). It became widespread, first in the Strugatskys' story "The Land of Crimson Clouds", and then in Soviet boarding schools for gifted children.

They recruited adolescents who had two years left to study (grades A, B, C, D, E) or one year (grades E, F, I). The students of the one-year stream were called “hedgehogs”. When they came to the boarding school, biennial students were already ahead of them in a non-standard program, so at the beginning of the school year the expression “no brainer” was very relevant.

Wash the bones

The Orthodox Greeks, as well as some Slavic peoples, had a custom of secondary burial - the bones of the deceased were seized, washed with water and wine and put back. If the corpse was found undisturbed and swollen, this meant that during his lifetime this person was a sinner and the curse lies on him - to leave the grave at night in the form of a ghoul, vampire, ghoul and destroy people. Thus, the rite of washing the bones was needed to make sure that there was no such spell.

Do not wash, so by rolling

In the old days, village women, after washing, “rolled” the linen with a special rolling pin. Well-rolled laundry turned out to be wrung out, ironed and clean, even if the wash was not very good.

Newspaper duck

“One scientist, having bought 20 ducks, immediately ordered to chop one of them into small pieces, which he fed the rest of the birds. A few minutes later he did the same with another duck, and so on, until there was one left, which thus devoured 19 of her friends. " The Belgian comedian Cornelissen published this note in a newspaper to mock the gullibility of the public. Since then, according to one of the versions, false news is called “newspaper ducks”.

Seven Fridays a week

Previously, Friday was a free day from work, and, as a result, a bazaar day. On Friday, receiving the goods, they promised to give the money due for it on the next market day. Since then, to refer to people who do not keep promises, they say: "He has seven Fridays in the week."

Scapegoat

According to the Hebrew rite, on the day of the forgiveness of sins, the high priest put his hands on the head of a goat and thereby laid on him the sins of the entire people. Then the goat was taken to the Judean desert and released. Hence the expression "scapegoat" came from.

"Freeze nonsense"

This expression appeared thanks to the gentlemen of the gymnasium students. The fact is that the word "moros" in translation from Greek just means "stupidity".
The teachers told the negligent students when they, from ignorance of the lesson, began to talk nonsense: "You are carrying the drizzle." Then the words were rearranged - and it turned out that ignorance of the high school students "froze stupidity."

"Set the horns"

“Husbands, with whose wives the emperor had a love affair, were allowed to hunt in the emperor's menagerie, where he kept many exotic animals”
The origin of this expression is very ancient.

During the reign of the emperor Comnenus Andronicus (ancient Byzantium), the following rule was in use: those husbands with whose wives the emperor had an affair were allowed to hunt in the emperor's menagerie, where he kept many exotic animals. And I must say that this privilege was in great demand then. So, the gates of the houses where such families lived were decorated with antlers - a sign of special honor.

"Smoking-room is alive"

In the old days in Russia there was such a game: everyone sat in a circle, someone lit a torch - and then it was passed in a circle from hand to hand. At the same time, all those present sang a song: "Alive, Alive Smoking-room, alive, not dead ...".
And so while the torch is burning. The one in whose hands the torch was extinguished lost.
Since then, this expression has been applied to those people, and sometimes to things that seem to have long ago disappeared, but in spite of everything continued to exist.

"And prove that you are not a camel"

This phrase became very popular after the publication of the next series of the tavern "Thirteen Chairs". There was a miniature in which Pan Director was talking with Pan Himalayan about a camel recently brought to the circus.
The accompanying documents read: “We are sending a two-humped camel and a Himalayan camel to your circus”, i.e. the surname of Pan Himalayan was written with a small letter. Fearing bureaucratic checks, Mr. Director demands a certificate from Mr. Himalayan that he is not really a camel.

This made fun of the role of the bureaucratic machine in our country so vividly that the expression very quickly went among the people and became popular.
Now we say that when we are required to prove the obvious things.

"Not at ease"

In French “asset” is a plate, a mood, a state.
It is said that at the beginning of the 19th century, a certain translator, while making a translation of a French piece, translated the phrase "friend, you are out of sorts" as "you are not at ease."
Alexander Sergeevich Griboyedov, who was an inveterate theater-goer, of course, could not pass by such a brilliant blooper and put an illiterate phrase in Famusov's mouth: "My dear one! You are not at ease. Sleep is needed out of the way."
With the light hand of Alexander Sergeevich, the crazy phrase made sense and took root in the Russian language for a long time.

Fly like plywood over Paris

In 1908, the famous French aviator Auguste Fannier, making a demonstration flight over Paris, crashed into the Eiffel Tower and died.
After which the well-known Menshevik Martov wrote in Iskra that "the tsarist regime is flying to its death as quickly as Mr. Fanniere over Paris."
The Russian person took this maxim a little differently, changing the name of the foreign aviator to plywood. From here came the expression: "fly like plywood over Paris."

"Give the go-ahead"

In the pre-revolutionary alphabet, the letter “D” was called “good”. The flag corresponding to this letter in the naval code of signals has the meaning "yes, I agree, I agree." This is what caused the expression “to give the good”. Derived from this, the expression “Customs gives good” first appeared in the film “White Sun of the Desert”.

The highlight of the program

The opening of the nail-like Eiffel Tower was timed to coincide with the 1889 World's Fair in Paris, which caused a sensation. Since then, the expression "the nail of the program" has entered the language.

Add a pig

The expression "to put a pig on someone" means "to make a big trouble." Curiously, in German the idiomatic expression "to have a pig" means "luck". "Er khat schwein" ("he has a pig") - he is lucky.
An episode from the book by F. Rabelais "Gargantua and Pantagruel" about the trick that Brother Jean resorted to while preparing for the battle with sausages can be considered interesting for explaining the turnover "to put a pig" on. Repeating the trick of the ancient Greeks during the siege of Troy (see "Gifts of the Danians"), he ordered to build a huge pig and, together with the cooks, hid inside it. At the decisive moment, led by Brother Jean, the cooks jumped out of cover and put the stunned enemy to flight.

However, it should be said that these explanations cannot be recognized as indisputable. The possibility is not excluded that the basis for them was the invincible aversion of some eastern peoples (in particular, the Tatars) to pork meat.

The Mohammedan, who was "put a pig" on at the meal, that is, was treated to pork by a fraudulent way, came into the greatest anger and almost fell ill. It is very likely that our expression came from here.

The history of the origin of the phraseological unit.
There are several versions of the origin of the phraseological unit "to reach the handle":
Version 1 (most likely). In Ancient Russia, rolls were baked in the shape of a castle with a round bow. The townspeople bought these rolls and most often ate them on the street, holding on to just this bow (in other words, it can be called a handle). Of course, for reasons of hygiene, the townspeople did not eat the bow itself, but gave it to the beggars or threw it to the dogs. About those who did not disdain to eat the bow, they said: "got to the handle."

Version 2. In ancient times, there was an unskilled and low-paid job: turning the handle of a muscle-driven machine. And, except for the completely degraded homeless people, no one went to this job. About them and said: "I got to the handle."

Version 3. The Arabic rukka is "an extremely difficult situation." Usually, doubling of consonants in Russian is not retained, but here it was retained due to the fact that one "k" was disguised as "h", which made the word look like a form of diminutiveness.

Version 4... Reach out for begging \u003d reach the handle.

Version 5. Walking to the handle is the same as walking to the tombstone (since the coffin has handles on the sides).

There are no reliable sources about the origin of the phraseological unit. But still, most people adhere to the first version.

The meaning of the phraseological unit.
First, let's figure out the meaning of the words included in this phraseological unit.
Reach:
1. Reach a place
2. Reach a certain level, limit, degree
3. Performing any action, come to the result
4. Reach an extreme degree of manifestation of something
5. Reach full readiness (about what is being cooked or baked)
6. Achieve a high position, position
A pen:
1. Part of the object for which it is held or taken by hand
2. Detail of machines, apparatus, serving to set them in motion by rotation
3. Part of the chair, sofa, on which the elbow rests while sitting
4. Writing materials
5. The diminutive form of the word "hand"
Well, now let's move on directly to the phraseological unit itself.
- to descend to an extremely low level, to the position of working animals, to descend to the very bottom of society.
An example of the use of phraseological units:
But, also, the phraseological unit "to reach the handle" can be used in some other sense.
- to deteriorate to the highest degree, to become impudent, to lose a sense of proportion.
Usage example: Well, you have already arrived, bourgeois, to go to the bakery by car!
As you have already noticed, you can convey the meaning of a phraseological unit by using only the word "reached."

Phraseologism as a phrase.
- a simple, verb, syntactically non-free phrase, related the magic of submission... The main word "reach" tied the dependent word "to the handle" to itself with a spell to what?
To reach (to what?) To the handle
Reached (to what?) To the handle
Will you reach (to what?) To the handle
I'll get (to what?) To the handle
Let's get (to what?) To the handle
The magic that links these two words together is called magic control... This is proved by the fact that the dependent word is in the form of an indirect case with the main word and by the fact that when the main word changes, the dependent word remains unchanged. Also a sure sign that we have the magic of control is the preposition before.

The use of phraseological units.
Now the phraseological unit "to reach the pen" is used quite rarely. Most often we hear another phraseological unit, which is a synonym - "dropped below the plinth." And even if the phraseological unit “to reach the pen” is used, it is exclusively in everyday life, more often by older people.
Phraseologism that can fit under the antonym: "from rags to riches."
Here are some examples of the use of the phraseological unit "to reach the pen" in fiction:

1. All this was understandable, but it was also clear that another months-long binge like the Parisian one, when he reached the handle, he could not stand (W. Styron. "And set this house on fire").

2. I'm not afraid to get to the handle:
Destroying a series of problems,
Funny granddaughter babbling
Plays with a butterfly in the garden

With the cheerful gift of a miracle worker
Colors the leaves of the days:
Mistress of the rainbow and the sun
Bubble princess. (Boris Zucker)

3. - It's over. So I got to the handle! (Vera Inber "Reached the handle")

Karelia Ferrari, 2nd year student of Argemona School, Crannog House

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