Most folk proverbs and sayings have come down to us from antiquity. In most cases, their meaning is clear to us even now, despite the past hundreds of years. One of these proverbs is "There is no smoke without fire."
Origin of the proverb
It often happens that a proverb, known to us as Russian folk wisdom, has no Russian roots at all. So with the proverb “There is no smoke without fire” or “Without fire there is no smoke.” Many sources consider the saying of the ancient author Titus Maktsii Plavt (about 250-184 BC) to be the “founder” of not only the Russian, but also foreign versions of this proverb. In his comedy Curculion, which tells of a passionate young man in love and his servant Curculion, the phrase I Flamrnafutno tstproximo was first heard, which literally means “The flame follows the smoke”.
The famous compiler of the first dictionary of the Russian language V. I. Dahl is known for writing the collection "Proverbs of the Russian people." During his many trips around the vast country, he collected folk sayings, proverbs and sayings, which then in 1853 combined into a literary work.
This collection contains the proverbs “Neither fire without smoke, nor smoke without fire” and “The flame is not without smoke”, which are related in meaning to the proverb “There is no smoke without fire”.
American version
As mentioned above, there are not only Russian, but also foreign versions of the sayings "There is no smoke without fire," "There is no smoke without fire." In the American interpretation, this expression sounds No smoke without fire or where there's smoke there's fire, which means "Where there is smoke, there is fire."
This expression was fixed in the English language earlier and has been mentioned in literature since 1546.
Proverb meaning
The main meaning of the proverb “Smoke without fire” is an illustration of cause and effect relationships. In everyday life, we often encounter situations that colorfully reflect the meaning of the proverb. For example, colleagues advise a person to undergo a serious medical examination if any symptoms appear, bearing in mind that these are the first signs of a disease. If a teenager has committed an offense, loved ones remember when he first committed the offense and what it has led now.
But more often this expression is mentioned when it comes to rumor. Every adequate sane person is wary of what people call gossip and rumor. However, folk wisdom is sure: nothing happens just like that, there is a beginning for everything.
There are many proverbs, aphorisms, which are synonymous with the proverb “No smoke without fire”. Here are some of them:
- Every joke has a bit of truth
- The smoke flared up
- From nothing rumor is not born
Often an inadvertently spoken word is surrounded by rumors, like a snowball, and no one can be convinced that this is not true. In this connection, Sergei Mikhalkov’s fable “Smoke without Fire” is recalled. This is a vivid illustration of the meaning of the proverb "No smoke without fire."
In conclusion, I want to tune in a little lyrical manner and recall another literary work, poem by Eduard Asadov, "They say there is no smoke without fire." This is another, but no less important for human relations, the meaning of the well-known turn of Russian speech.
They say: "There is no smoke without fire."
Nonsense! In your crafty phrases
There was so much smoke for me ...
But the real fire
It seems, and never was ...
Thus, the meaning of the sayings "There is no smoke without fire", "Without smoke there is no smoke" is still relevant today.