Who among us does not know what phraseological units are? Almost everyone knows, because all of us use them in our speech. And what is the meaning of the “seventh water on kissel” phraseologism?
We will try to answer this question in this article.
Phraseology is a science that is engaged in the study of stable phrases, frozen in language and implying one particular concept.
There are a lot of such expressions: “to make eyes” (to entice someone), “the sky with a game” (severe tests), “to bite the tongue” (to shut up) and so on.
Most of the phraseological units today are common expressions that people use in their everyday speech.
Современная фразеология изучает большое the number of such frozen phrases. Among them are the ancient phrases (“apple of discord”, “hercules work”, “white crow”), biblical (“stumbling block”, “beating of babies”, “not from this world”), Western European (“on a wide leg” , "Back to our sheep", "devil's advocate", "and yet it turns"), Russian ("hack to death", "clumsy work", "versta Kolomna", "bear service", "red line" ).
The frozen “seventh water on the kissel” studied by us, which means this expression, also belongs to the group of Russian idioms, we will consider in more detail.
First of all, it is necessary to consider the history of the origin of this phrase.
This expression refers to a very distant relative: for example, your fourth cousin or second cousin uncle. You can not even accurately determine the degree of kinship with this person.
The meaning of the phrase "The Seventh Water on Kissel" is rooted in Russian history.
Today there are three main theories of its origin:
Hypothesis the first. Unsuitable water
In Russia, kissel was very much loved, he replaced manythe drinks. However, when he was overdone, a liquid was separated from him, which was not at all like the original drink. This liquid was called the “last water of jelly”.
The second hypothesis. Starch Kissel
Когда Петр Великий приказал крестьянам сажать the potato, then the potato starch used to make jelly. In this case, the water that remained from the technology of preparation, and was called "water jelly."
Hypothesis the third. Kissel on oats
Another technology of cooking jelly offered insisting it on oats. From the grains poured water. The seventh change of water and received the name of the "seventh water on the jelly."
In the domestic literature, the expression “The Seventh Water on Kissel” is quite common. The meaning of a phraseological unit is often not described, but it is understandable to native Russian speakers.
The existence of this expression in the works of Russianliterature suggests that it was already actively used in the 18th and 19th centuries. This statement is found in the novel “Oblomov” by I. Goncharov, in the text of F. Dostoevsky’s novel “Uncle's Dream” and in many others.
By the way, sometimes the meaning of the phraseologism “The Seventh Water on a Kissel” may imply another phrase. A different numeral is used - not the seventh, but the tenth water on the jelly.
However, this means the same thing, since the given numeral is used not specifically, but generically-symbolically.
The expression itself suggests somedismissive attitude. “The seventh water on a kissel” (the meaning of the idiom is clear to us) is an appeal to distant relatives, with whom you do not really want to know. These people are not particularly needed, so they have already become strangers, the relationship with them is an extra burden.
In general, this expression is used when you do not want to communicate with relatives.
Therefore, no one is pleased when they call himsuch a phrase. It is better to be a complete stranger than to hear such an offensive name. Apparently, this indicates that the second cousins and sisters do not consider themselves more relatives.
We examined the meaning of the phraseologism “The Seventh Water on Kissel”, this frozen expression is not very clear to foreigners, but for those for whom the Russian language is native, it is clearer than clear.
