The common expression "rest in a Bose" is familiar to all reading people, it is often found in classical Russian literature and in contemporary topical journalism. The meaning of this verbal circulation is quite understandable in the context in which it is usually used. And as a rule, there is no time or desire to think about its origin. But it is not without interest.
From the spiritual realms
This expression in the general circulation came from Church Slavonic vocabulary. In the speech of the clergy, "to rest in the Bose" means nothing more than to die. In a literal sense, this means "rest in eternity" or "appear before the Lord." This expression sums up the line under the life of any person who considers himself a Christian. According to the Gospel commandments, if a person "rested in the Bose" (which means he died), then he still has hope for the forgiveness of sins at the Last Judgment. This will happen after the end of this world. But care for the salvation of your soul and think about the committed sins should be before going to another world.
Erroneous use of phraseology
It so happened that the expression "rest in the Bose" to a large extent managed to lose its original meaning. They use it often, and at the same time few people think about the meaning of what was said. The most characteristic stupidity is when they say about someone at the meeting that he "rested in the Bose," which means "being proud of his previous achievements, wants nothing more to do." This is instead of saying "rested on our laurels." Agree that the meaning of what was said is slightly different from what I wanted to convey to the public. But the audience in the hall does not even feel the full anecdotality of what was said, despite the fact that the one who supposedly "rested in the Bose" is among those present at the meeting.
"Rest in Bose": the meaning of phraseology in the broad sense
Despite the frequent mistakes in the use of this verbal circulation, it is most often pronounced when it comes to demise. Moreover, we can talk about a specific person, as well as about some kind of undertaking or enterprise that ended in complete collapse. This is usually said of some kind of failed initiative, which is unpleasant to remember and it is best to put it into oblivion. Of course, this expression has a completely obvious ironic coloring, derogatory in relation to the object of memories. The expression "rest in the Bose", the meaning of which goes back to the spiritual realms, is very popular at present in the scientific and intellectual environment. They usually designate a refuted and defeated theory. No less often it is found in the vocabulary of businessmen, especially when it comes to a bankrupt commercial undertaking. A synonym for the “rest in the Bose”, today is the expression "fail," which is quite far from its Church Slavonic origin.
From Russian classics
At the mention of the expression "rest in the Bose" it is impossible not to recall the immortal novel of I. Ilf and E. Petrov, "Twelve Chairs." In one of the initial chapters of this work, the main character has the opportunity to be convinced of the lexical richness and synonymous variety of turns of the Russian language, when the drunk undertaker Bezenchuk lists various expressions indicating the death of a person. Here are some of them: “introduce yourself”, “give soul to God”, “play in a box”, “order to live long”, “give oak”, “lean back”, “spill over”, “stretch your legs” and “kick out”. Moreover, all expressions correspond with each deceased in full accordance with the place that he occupied in the social hierarchy during his lifetime. The death of the highest authorities was honored with the definition of "give oak." But it is characteristic here that none of the listed lexical turns had a semantic contradiction with the Church Slavonic expression "rest in the Bose", all of them served to indicate the death of a person.
Images and meanings of Russian literature
In ordinary life, people rarely think about the origin of many words and phrases that are used in colloquial and written speech. The expression "rest in the Bose" is far from the only borrowing in modern vocabulary from Church Slavonic antiquity. Such a lexical layer is the fundamental basis of Russian, like any other, national language culture. Words and phrases such as “messing up a little”, “spreading thought through the tree”, “fiend of hell”, “grandeur”, “feat”, “fence” and many others come from the same source as the designation of the result of human life " rest in the Bose. " Gradually, this vocabulary is supplanted from active use by modern synonyms and becomes obsolete. But, abandoning it, a person inevitably loses part of his national culture. And under no circumstances should she "rest in the Bose." Therefore, one should think about whether it is always justified to replace existing words in the language with modern turns. Especially as awkward as "roll over" instead of "extend."