The most interesting thing about stable expressions is their story. The native speaker knows everything else and can somehow guess if she thinks properly. Today we will consider the meaning of phraseologism “how one looked into the water”, its history and a little discussion about the basis of predictions of the future.
Origin
The topic is actually mystical, because we are talking about fortune telling. Water is not only one of the main elements on planet Earth, but also a wonderful adviser to man. Of course, this is a prediction of fate. You might, of course, think that the expression is related to the transparency of water. For example, when we swim in the sea, and the water there is clean enough, we can easily see the bottom, and so with the fate of a person: some can freely and easily see the future, relying either on their intuition or on rational knowledge. But this is not so.
The history of phraseology “as if looking into the water” and its significance goes back to pagan times, when people believed sorcerers and sorcerers, and they knew how to discern the fate of a person in water. But do not think that this was a privilege exclusively for those who owned dark art. Since ancient times, the Russian people have successfully wondered using water.
It is difficult to say how effective such methods are, because all those stories that have remained to us from our ancestors cannot be considered factual. They already contain a fair amount of myths. For history as a science, this is bad, but for us it’s good, because realism is enough for us in everyday life.
Value
Understanding the origin, it is not difficult to establish the meaning of phraseologism “as one looked into the water”: this is what they say when a person predicts the course of events. The main thing is that the phenomena that happen are not obvious, then the "prophet" will be famous for its prognostic function. By the way, if a man or woman can predict certain events in public life or in market behavior, then this ability can be completely monetized.
But usually they say that about everyday things, but not always obvious. Knowing the psychology of people and having some facts on hand, you can easily “enchant”. For example, a student who spent years of apprenticeship in idleness is unlikely to succeed in life and become a respected person. A windy subject is unlikely to be able to find a solid foundation in the form of family and children and take root in social soil, even if this happens, his nature will eventually sweep away this whole foundation. A person usually succumbs to inertia of habit. These are weak predictions that everyone can think of, but there are others.
Mystical and rational predictions
Johnny Smith, the protagonist of the "Dead Zone" Stephen King, and Sherlock Holmes, who does not need additional introduction, will help us to fully reveal the meaning of the phraseology “how it looked into the water”. What can be common between heroes from different eras? Of course, a divinatory gift. Johnny Smith has a mystical nature, Johnny just knows that something will happen, and Sherlock owes his skills to training and fantastic observation. As a result, any non-mystical prediction can be reduced to three components:
- ability to observe;
- draw conclusions based on material;
- to model and design the future based on the findings.
Perhaps that’s why Sherlock likes it so much, because he is unique. Such a level of development of analytical abilities and prognostic function is too tough for a person. If you need an illustration to the meaning of phraseologism “how you looked into the water”, you always know whom to recall and give as an example.
Mystical seers are a different kind of people. Viewers and readers like them, because the prophets give the addressee hope that the future can be controlled and it is predetermined. Nothing can be said about the latter. Someone believes that everything has long been decided by the heavenly office, and we can only fulfill the role, while others believe that man is the master of his destiny.
The ability to mystically enlighten the future cannot be explained by powerfully developed analytical abilities. There is a hypothesis that S. King reproduces in his novel that extrasensory perception is a very ancient skill of a person and it can come back to him if he receives various head injuries.
The reader is free to take any position on this issue. The main thing is for him to remember: the meaning of phraseology “as he looked into the water” comes down to predicting the future.