Speaking about the origin of the word "freebie", it should be noted that today there is no unequivocal opinion on this issue. And also this term has not one but several interpretations. At the same time, some of them in the dictionary are marked “obsolete”, and the other is labeled “conversational”. Below, versions regarding the meaning and origin of the word "freebie" will be examined in detail.
Deprecated Values
Before starting to study the origin of the word "freebie", it would be advisable to consider options for its interpretation, starting with outdated ones.
- The regional word used in the southern and western regions and meaning "bootleg".
- It is also a regional word that had an disapproving connotation and meanings such as “mouth, pharynx, jaws, hailo”.
- The term in glassware, which means glass blown into a bubble.
- Short and wide machine sleeve.
Modern interpretations
Both options are used in colloquial speech.
- The first of them means "easy money."
- The second in the dictionary has such notes as “disapproving”, “ironic”, “humorous” and is interpreted as “something received for free”.
Thus, in the modern sense, a freebie is a way of obtaining any benefits without the use of effort, free of charge, "on the ball."
Passion for Freebies
Psychologists have repeatedly noted the people's passion for freebies, which is explained on the basis of the theory of the hierarchy of needs, better known as the Maslow Pyramid. Its creator, Abraham Maslow, believed that in this case, man is motivated by the desire to achieve more with less money, associated with the subconscious desire to save energy.
A freebie is a powerful marketing tool that is used to increase sales. At the same time, deliberate misrepresentation is often observed , since no free distribution is initially planned.
Next will be considered the origin of the word "freebie."
Free milk
It is with its distribution that some etymologists associate the history of the word "freebie." They believe that it originates from Hebrew. It is indicated that in tsarist times in Odessa it was a custom in yeshivas (religious educational institutions) to give children freebies on Fridays for free, which in Hebrew means “milk”.
There is also a link to another tradition, ordering to distribute free milk in Odessa to poor people on Fridays. But a number of researchers refute this version, attractive for its ingenuity, citing its arguments.
Objections
Among the arguments that refute the etymology of the word “freebie” described above are the following:
- When we are talking about the Hebrew word translated as “milk”, we mean the modern language, which was not used in the Russian Empire in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was then that the word "freebie" is fixed in Russian thieves' jargon.
- There is no written evidence that in the Russian Empire there was a custom among Jews to distribute free milk on Fridays. There are no ethnographic descriptions of such a custom among representatives of various sections of Jewish society in other regions.
- Before moving from the speech of Jewish children to Russian jargon, the word had to be embedded in the spoken language of the Jews, which is Yiddish. However, there is no such token. And the existing word “choleve”, in which the stress falls on the first syllable, in Yiddish means “boot top”, which has little semantically connected with “freebie”.
- If we assume that Jewish children were still given free milk on Fridays, and after leaving the milkman they shouted an incomprehensible “freebie” to that, we still need to explain the following. How did the carriers of the Russian thieves' argo overhear this word and take it to their daily use?
Thus, based on the foregoing, it must be recognized that the origin of the word "freebie" from modern Hebrew can be considered as logically justified only by a certain circle of researchers. Its representatives are supporters of the opinion that in the 19th century Russian Jews spoke in everyday life in modern Hebrew, which has a discrepancy with historical data.
Other versions
According to some researchers, the version according to which the meaning of the word under study is associated with the meaning of "bootleg" is more acceptable. There was such a kind of work as a freebie strut. It was quite simple, but nevertheless necessary.
There is a possibility that the word "freebie" comes from the Polish noun cholewa, meaning "bootleg". In tsarist times, poor Polish gentry served or fought in Russia, who had the habit of “taking on their shafts,” that is, hiding various small objects in boots. They could be some gifts, food, everything that could be obtained for free. So the expression "for free."
There is another version of Chukchi origin. It says that the word "freebie" comes from the word "hailava", which is found in one of the dialects of the peoples inhabiting Chukotka. It denotes a woman who is distinguished by easy behavior.