The article talks about what a bastard is, what this room in the barn serves for, and considers the alleged origin of the word.
Tongue
Probably, developed oral speech is one of the aspects that played a crucial role in the evolution of man and the development of human society as a whole. Indeed, without him it would be impossible to cooperate, communicate and just interact. Almost all living things in the process of evolution have developed certain communication skills. Of course, they are far from being as perfect as the spoken language of a person, and some of them may seem frankly strange, but they are.
And over time, in any human language new words gradually arise or old ones become obsolete. This process is natural, and it is found in absolutely all languages and dialects. For example, in Russian not so long ago there were a lot of words that are now partially obsolete and practically out of use, you can meet them in old books, sayings or other historical materials. And one of those words is "gimmick." So what is gravy and what is it for? This we will understand.
Definition
First, consider the origin of this word. There is no consensus on this. For example, Dahl believed that it has oriental roots, while similar words with the same meaning are found in a number of other Slavic languages. So what is a gimmick?
Susek is a special fenced place in a barn or other storage which serves for storage of grain, vegetables, flour or some other loose materials. In the case of flour, it is made from boards closely fitted to each other to prevent spillage of supplies.
Depending on what they plan to store in the gantry, its design may include an inclined floor or ventilation elements. This is usually done when storing potatoes and other vegetables, so that the lower layers do not rot under the weight of supplies and lack of air. So now we know what a bastard is.
The Importance of Cereals
Surely, while reading this article, many have already remembered various proverbs, sayings, and simply folk tales, where there is a gimmick. And this is no accident. This clearly reflects how important this fixed wooden chest was for our ancestors, since it most often stored grain or flour. And grain, in turn, from ancient times and around the world was highly valued and remained a supporting culture, which was cultivated by farmers. So, probably, the barn in the barn was the most important part of this store.
Wheat, rye and barley were and remain the most important crops. Especially those varieties that have a high (by the standards of plants) protein content, which, apparently, in ancient times became the reason for the popularity of cereals among ancient people and the beginning of their systematic cultivation. Not so long ago, the whole diet of people could be only bread and bakery products, and flour was valued most highly in comparison with other products.
"... scraped through the gophers"
Probably, most often, when mentioning this word, everyone remembers the tale "Kolobok", where the old woman blinded the hero from the fact that she was able to scoop out of susek. Thus, it was additionally shown to readers that the old man and the old woman lead a very poor lifestyle.
There are many proverbs and sayings associated with this word, for example:
- Full of susek, rich man.
- Not the bread on the field, but the bread in the gut.
And this is not a complete list of them. So now we know what a bastard is.
Also, depending on the regions, there are other words synonymous with this facility for storing supplies. For example, spotted, lock, sucre.