We often hear and repeat various kinds of words, the true meaning of which we can only guess. Today we offer a closer look at the term "meanie." This ridiculous and at the same time sad in its sense word has a very interesting etymology; its history begins approximately when mankind came up with the concept of property. True, in those days it sounded a little different.
Origin
Alas, at the moment the very first, basic roots of the term "meanie" are lost. This word was often used in the Russian Empire, then, together with the common people, it moved to the Soviet space and survived to this day. Of course, now we do not use it so often in our speech. Many young people do not even know its meaning.
The word “stingy”, in turn, comes from “dope”, and a little lower, after we consider the meaning of this term, everything will immediately become clear. It should not be overlooked that, in addition to the suffix, consonant with the "fool", there is also clearly audible "stinginess". This is the whole salt of the word. A meanie is a meanman who is stupid in his mean beliefs.
Interpretation
So, the meanie is a person who is extremely jealous of his property. Simply put, we are dealing with a greedy who does not want to give back a part of what she owns. And even if there will be a lot of things unnecessary for him in the possessions of a mean person, he will never share either with his neighbor or with his distant. In the old days, the mean-spirited people showed themselves as food-hungry people. In the literal sense of the word, they did not share food with anyone, sometimes they overeat themselves, so that only anyone but them gets nothing. Later, this type of relationship migrated to the financial and domestic sphere.
Modern meanie
This is, one might say, a new term that even has a relatively clear date of birth - the 20s of the twentieth century. Capitalism began to develop, brokers, businessmen, business owners and officials appeared. All these people began to possess significant material wealth, and some of them shared with others, while others remained mean-spirited. This continues to this day. Not all modern millionaires are volunteers. Among them there are even those who keep their immediate relatives in poverty.
But the funny thing is that the meanie is a person who can deprive himself! You have probably seen people who save on everything, although they can afford to live even a little better. They wear old clothes until they are rubbed into holes, do not wash sheets, so as not to consume powder and electricity, buy spoiled products at discounts and never allow themselves to spend money on entertainment.