Russian speech, like the language of any nation, is a living, constantly evolving instrument of human communication. Obsolete terms are replaced by modern analogues, some words change their meaning to the opposite, other lexical units remain unchanged for centuries. For example, the word "scoundrel", which once sounded completely harmless, gradually turned into an unpleasant curse.
Foreign borrowing
The meaning of the word “scoundrel” initially did not have a negative meaning. So called people of noble family, commoners. The word that came to us from the Polish language, and in the Russian language was used in relation to people of low origin.
Also, the phrase "vile people" was used to denote the urban or rural population subject to taxation. This group included merchants, small artisans, hired workers, that is, people are free, but not belonging to the noble or boyar nobility.
Speech transformation
Over time, the meaning of the word "scoundrel" has changed somewhat and has become synonymous with the definitions of "low", "base." For example, in Griboedov’s play “Woe from Wit,” Sophia addresses Molchalin, who is standing on her knees: “Well, what are you doing? No need to impersonate! ” That is, here we mean "no need to humiliate."
By the middle of the XIX century, the meaning of the word "scoundrel" is already acquiring a slight offensive color. Among the Russian liberal intelligentsia, this term is applied to people standing at a lower level of the social ladder. After the October Revolution, when the division into poor and rich, noble and commoners lost its relevance, the word finally turns into a curse. This is the name of a person convicted of unseemly acts, having low moral qualities, a traitor, a traitor.
The meaning of the word “scoundrel” by Ozhegov’s dictionary, published in 1949, already explains without reference to the original meaning. The relevant article explicitly states that the scoundrel is none other than the vile man and the villain. It is interesting that here is a variation of this word in the feminine gender marked "vernacular", that is, a woman who commits evil deeds is popularly called "podlyachka".
The legend of scoundrels and bastards
There is an alternative version that defines the meaning of the word "scoundrel". Allegedly in ancient Russia it was a custom to put criminals to execution, dousing with cold water in severe frost.
Moreover, a person tied to a pillar was doused slowly, layer by layer, until he turned into an ice statue. The executioner, who carried out the sentence, that is, added water, was called a scoundrel, and the attacker who froze as a result of such actions was called a bastard, respectively.