Our life is difficult, and caution is by no means unnecessary now in the stone jungle. But sometimes the question arises of how best to give someone advice, while teaching him some lesson. It seems to us that the phrase “keep the powder dry” is quite suitable for these purposes. As you might guess, the focus of our attention is the meaning of phraseology “keep powder dry”, its meaning and history.
Origin
There was such a historical figure - Oliver Cromwell. His fame is huge, but now we are not interested in it, but in the fact that Cromwell is the author of the winged expression that we are considering.
Once upon a time, when times in the world were even more turbulent than now, there was unrest in stiff England. If the reader wants an accurate date and description of events, then the courtyard was in the 17th century, and the unrest was called the English bourgeois revolution. Yes, oddly enough, but the meaning of phraseology “keep the powder dry” has deep historical roots.
It is known for certain that in the situation of the emergence of winged expression three actors took part: the river, the army of Cromwell and the main character himself. Otherwise, the details vary.
When his army crossed the river, he advised his soldiers, as a man of deep faith, to hope in God, but keep the powder dry.
Now the reader knows the history of the expression. It is time to highlight the meaning of phraseology "keep the powder dry."
Meaning
We think that the interpretation of this speech revolution will not cause any difficulties. As can be understood from the context, he directly advises not to relax never and under any circumstances, always be on the lookout.
Moreover, the advice, which is "mounted" in phraseology, is universal and suitable for both military and peacetime. One way or another, a man fights for life even when he is not actually fighting directly with anyone.
Pupils, students, workers and even millionaires may wish to keep the powder dry, because anything can happen in life.
Here is such a multifaceted and inexhaustible meaning of phraseology “to keep gunpowder dry”.
Synonyms
Do not think that the British gave us something unique, and in Russian culture there is no analogue to the expression of Oliver Cromwell. He will certainly be found, for example: “Hope in God, but don’t betray yourself.”
Even an inexperienced reader will see in the last sentence an involuntary roll call with a diamond of the thoughts of the British commander, and not in vain, because the meaning is almost the same.
Another Latin wisdom should be recognized as a synonym for the considered stable phrase: “If you want peace, get ready for war”. And our language can also offer another analogue of the expression in question: "Get ready for the worst, and God will send the best."
We considered the expression “keep the powder dry”: the meaning of phraseology, a synonym for expression and its history - all this was shown to the reader in all its glory. Several analogs of a stable phrase have been proposed.
Morality
In this case, it is not difficult to understand: a stable phrase insists that a person never loses his vigilance and, no matter how successful the circumstances are, does not cease to bear personal responsibility for what is happening to him.
Amazingly, the language contains a lot of informative and interesting. Somewhere behind one phrase there is a great historical event or a great historical figure, somewhere from one small phrase you can extract a whole philosophy, a separate life program. And sometimes, as in our case, both at the same time.