Phraseologisms are ready-made expressions that contain the wisdom of our ancestors. They are able to convey a lot, including characterizing objects, actions, phenomena, people. With them, you can talk about someone with a few words, for example, using the expression "without a king in his head." The meaning and origin of phraseology will be considered in this article. And in our treasury of riches of the Russian language will be added one more stable expression.
The meaning of phraseology without a king in the head
For an accurate definition of this expression, we turn to authoritative sources - explanatory and phraseological dictionaries of famous linguists. Thanks to them, we learn about the etymology of a stable phrase.
The meaning of the phraseology “without a king in the head” in the collection of S. I. Ozhegov is “about who is stupid, jerked off”. There is a stylistic mark “razg.”.
In the dictionary of stable expressions by M. I. Stepanova, the meaning of phraseology “without a king in the head” is “someone without an internal moral core, without a main life goal; about a stupid, inconsistent person. " It is noted that the phrase is used in colloquial style and has a disapproving color.
In the phraseological dictionary of T.V. Rose, it is indicated that the meaning of phraseology “without a king in the head” is associated with a stupid, incongruous, uninformed person.
Based on their obtained definitions, we can draw the following conclusion. The phraseologism that we are considering characterizes a stupid and eccentric person.
The origin of the expression
The formation of phraseology is explained by the linguist T.V. Rose. Her dictionary indicates that this steady turnaround came from the proverb: “Each has his own king in his head”, in which the king is the mind and the mind, which means “without a king in the head” is “crazy”.
Such a short saying has appeared by chance. In Russia, the king for the people was the one who wisely rules his state, its inhabitants, and decides matters wisely. If the people lose their ruler, then there will be no control and chaos will begin. With the absence of the king, it is as if the mind of people is lost. So the proverb was formed, and from it - idiom.
Synonyms and Antonyms
“With greetings” they say about someone who is “without a king in his head”. The meaning is the same - a stupid person. Among the words that are close in meaning, one can also distinguish such as the incongruous, mindless, brilliant, foolish, tyrant, etc. Among the expressions are “head and two ears”, “garden head”, “copper forehead” and “booby king of heaven ".
The antonym of this expression is the phraseological unit of the "mind chamber."
Use
Phraseologisms are most often found in fiction. For example, N.V. Gogol in his work The Inspector General characterizes his hero Khlestakov as a person without a king in his head. And other writers describe their silly characters with this figurative expression.
Journalists do not neglect this phraseological unit. They, like real masters of the word, often use persistent expressions. The phraseological unit we are considering can be found in the print media, on radio and television.
In dialogues, monologues of the heroes of various films, you can also hear this phrase. Yes, and in everyday speech, it is often found.