Do we understand Russian proverbs about laziness correctly?

The secondary school curriculum contains a poem in the prose of Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev “Russian Language”. There is such a line there: “O great, mighty, truthful and free Russian language.” Something in this proposal seemed to our people, weighed down by universal literacy, close, and he took it into service, though slightly curtailed. So there was a saying: "The great and mighty Russian language." Basically, this phrase is pronounced in an ironic context: in the event that someone made a mistake in pronouncing a word, in constructing a sentence, and so on. And it becomes clear to everyone what this is about. That is, the poetic line turned into a proverb - a kind of speech revolution with a humorous subtext. But if we conclude at the end, for example: “The great and mighty Russian language, therefore we need to use it skillfully”, then we will get a proverb.

Proverbs and sayings - a bridge in past centuries

In all languages, without exception, there are proverbs and sayings: about laziness, about work, about skills, about observation, in general, about everything that happens to us and the world around us. They evolved over many generations and through millennia bring us the wisdom of their ancestors. From them you can understand how our great-grandfathers related to this or that phenomenon.

For example, laziness is familiar to all of us without exception. Some fight with her, and sometimes successfully, others succumb to her - and also reach certain heights in this matter. Of course, the traces of this struggle could not but be reflected in folklore. As a result, numerous sayings about laziness appeared. Some of them are well known to everyone, but do we understand them correctly? Let's get it right.

Sayings about laziness and labor

We all know the saying: “Horses die from work.” In the original full version, in the form of a proverb, it looked like this: “Horses die from work, and people get stronger.” It is easy to see that the meaning of the saying and proverb is the opposite.

The proverb says that you don’t need to work, because the occupation is hard and ungrateful, even such hardy animals like horses can’t stand it. The proverb explains that it is necessary to work, because a person (unlike an animal that is unable to understand the meaning and significance of labor) from this becomes healthier and stronger.

Let's look at some sayings about laziness. For example: "Someone else's work is a little trouble." Although laziness is not explicitly mentioned here, it is implied: when someone else works, we can rest and not know the hassle. Right? No not like this. Here we are talking about something else: if you need to replace a comrade in work, then you should not be afraid to overwork, because this is a good thing, and you do not need to perceive it as additional chores and burden.

Old meanings of familiar expressions

There are other sayings about laziness. “Beat the buck”, for example. We use this phrase in the sense of "being lazy, doing nothing." And initially the meaning of this saying was different.

Baklusha is a preparation for a wooden spoon. She was an ordinary chock, chipped from a log. Such work did not require much skill, therefore, it was entrusted to the assistants by masters - apprentices. And this simple occupation was called "to beat the back door." Consequently, the saying does not mean idleness, but about simple work.

Since we are recalling sayings about laziness here, how not to voice: “Work is not a wolf - it won’t run away into the forest”. That is, there is no need to rush, the work will wait when we get together - then we will do it. But if we finish this phrase as our ancestors came up with it, we get the following: “Work is not a wolf - it won’t run away into the forest, so it’s necessary to do it, cursed,”. That is, the opposite conclusion is drawn - pull not pull, but the matter will not go anywhere anyway, so it’s better to deal with it without delay.

So what is the conclusion from what has been said? The wisdom of the people says: do not be lazy - this is a sin. We need to work ourselves and our neighbor to help - and then everything will be fine with us.