Old Russian words. Sayings, sayings... old Russian expressions...

One Russian folk song says:

He brought three pockets:
The first pocket is with pies,
The second pocket is with nuts...

It would seem, what kind of nonsense: what does it mean to “bring a pocket”?
Old dictionaries indicate that once in Rus' the word “ pocket" meant a sack or bag that was attached to the outside of clothing.

Such pockets were sometimes hung on horse saddles; if necessary, they were not closed, but “ held(opened) wider».
These days speaking "hold your pocket wider" we want to mock someone's excessive demands.

Tobacco case

In expression case tobacco Both words are clear, but why does their combination mean “very bad”, “hopeless”? You can understand this by looking into history. Let's do this together.

It turns out that the expression case tobacco came from the Volga barge haulers. When wading shallow bays or small tributaries of the Volga, barge haulers tied their tobacco pouches to their necks so that they would not get wet. When the water was so high that it came up to the neck and the tobacco became wet, the barge haulers considered the transition impossible, and their situation in these cases was very bad, hopeless.

Smoke rocker

Smoke from the rocker - how is it? Could the smoke be connected to the yoke on which buckets of water are carried? What does this expression mean?

Many years ago, poor people in Rus' built so-called smoke huts without chimneys. Smoke from the mouth of the stove poured directly into the hut and came out either through the “volokovogo” window or through the open doors in the vestibule. They say: “to love warmth and to endure smoke,” “and a kurna hut and a stove for warmth.” Over time, smoke began to be removed through pipes above the roof. Depending on the weather, the smoke comes either as a “column” - straight up, or as a “drag” - spreading downwards, or as a “yoke” - coming out in clouds and rolling over in an arc. By the way the smoke rises, they tell fortunes about a bucket or bad weather, rain or wind. They say: smoke pillar, rocker - about every human hustle and bustle, a crowded quarrel with a dump and bustle, where you can’t make out anything, where “there is such soda that the dust is a column, the smoke is a yoke - either from the dragging, or from the dancing.”

My soul has sunk into my heels

When a person is very frightened, he can develop an unusually high running speed. The ancient Greeks were the first to notice this feature.
Describing in his “Illiad” how the enemies were frightened by the hero Hector, who suddenly appeared on the battlefield, Homer uses the following phrase: “Everyone trembled, and everyone’s courage ran away…”
Since then the expression “my soul has sunk into my heels” we use it when we talk about a person who was afraid or very afraid of something.

Let's start with the fact that there is no word Easter cakes not in Russian. Easter cakes will produce Easter cakes, and Easter cakes will produce Easter cakes. In fact, they should not be sent to the middle of nowhere, but to the middle of nowhere. Then justice will prevail, and we will be able to begin to explain this truly Russian turnover.
Kuliga and kulizhki were very famous and very common words in the North of Russia. When the coniferous forest “weakens,” clearings and clearings appear there. Grass, flowers and berries instantly begin to grow on them. These forest islands were called kuligami. Since pagan times, sacrifices have been made on the folds: the priests slaughtered deer, sheep, heifers, stallions, everyone ate their fill, and got drunk.
When Christianity came to Rus' and it began to crowd out paganism, a peasant came to the camp, built a hut, began to sow rye and barley, and entire village cooperatives appeared. When life became more crowded, children and nephews left the old people, and sometimes so far away that they stopped reaching news, they lived like in the middle of nowhere .

Under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the following order existed: requests, complaints or petitions addressed to the Tsar were placed in a special box nailed to a pole near the palace in the village of Kolomenskoye near Moscow.

In those days, all documents were written on paper rolled up in the form of a scroll. These scrolls were long, and therefore the box was long, or, as they said then, long.

Petitioners who put their petition in the box had to wait a long time for an answer, bow at the feet of the boyars and clerks, bring them gifts and bribes in order to receive an answer to their complaint. The red tape and bribes involved were common. That is why such bad fame survived for many years long box. This expression means: shamelessly delaying the matter.

First of all, let us remind you that this is what they say about purchasing something that is cheap, but at the same time completely worthwhile, necessary, and good. It turns out that the word angrily can it be used in a “good” meaning? Having delved into the dictionaries, we find out: before this word really meant “dear”, “good”. What kind of pun then comes out: “Cheap, but... expensive”? But it can be expensive not only in price (especially if you remember that the word angry has a common root with the word heart).

Some linguists claim that this expression arose as a contrast to the proverb: expensive, but cute - cheap, but rotten. It happens that And cheap and cheerful.

From the pre-revolutionary courts, many caustic expressions came into our speech. Using them, we don’t even think about how they came about.
You can often hear the expression “ the case burned out", that is, someone achieved their goal. Behind these words is the previous blatant disgrace that was happening in the judicial system. Previously, the process could stop due to the fact that documents collected by the investigation disappeared. In this case, the guilty could not be punished, and the innocent could not be acquitted.
A similar situation is described in Gogol’s story, where two friends quarreled.

A pig that belonged to Ivan Ivanovich runs into the courtroom and eats a complaint filed by its owner's former friend, Ivan Nikiforovich. Of course, this is just a funny fantasy. But in reality, papers often burned, and not always by accident. Then the defendant, who wanted to stop or delay the process, remained very pleased and said to himself: “Well, my case has burned out!”
So -" the case burned out"carries a reminder of those times when justice was administered not by judges, but by bribes.

In the bag

Several centuries ago, when mail in its current form did not exist, all messages were delivered by messengers on horseback. There were a lot of robbers roaming along the roads back then, and a bag with a package could attract the attention of robbers. Therefore, important papers, or, as they used to be called, affairs, sewn under the lining of a hat or cap. This is where the expression came from - “ it's in the bag” and means that everything is fine, everything is in order. About the successful completion or outcome of something.

Onion grief

When a person cries, it means something has happened to him. But the reason why tears well up in the eyes is not in all cases associated with some kind of misfortune. When you peel or cut onions, tears flow. And the reason for this is “ onion grief».

This saying is also known in other countries, only there it is slightly modified. The Germans, for example, use the phrase “onion tears.” People shed these tears over trifles.

Expression "onion grief" also means minor troubles that you shouldn’t be too sad about.

Deaf grouse

An experienced hunter carefully approaches a black grouse sitting carefree on a branch. The bird, not suspecting anything, is busy bursting into its intricate singing: flowing, clicking and skittering fills everything around. The black grouse will never hear the hunter creep up to an acceptable distance and unload his double-barreled shotgun.
It has long been noticed that the current black grouse temporarily loses its hearing. Hence the name of one of the black grouse breeds – wood grouse.

Expression "deaf grouse" refers to gaping, sleepy people who don’t notice anything around them. Although by nature these birds are very sensitive and attentive.

Agree that sometimes we see situations where a person responsible for some event can run back and forth saying: “there is no highlight of the program!” In this case, everyone understands that even he is a little to blame for this. Having returned home from a concert, we can say that the highlight of the program is a folk singer or other outstanding personality who was on stage.

In a word, highlight of the program is a unique number or performance that can arouse genuine interest among the public. It is known that this phraseological unit has been interpreted in many languages, but it has reached our time unchanged.

This saying arose as a mockery and mockery of the numerous tourists who, in the 19th century, traveled in huge crowds to so-called foreign places, and they did it so quickly that they did not even manage to enjoy the natural beauty and color. But later they praised everything they “saw” so much that everyone was amazed.

Also in 1928, the great writer Maxim Gorky also used this expression in one of his speeches, which further cemented it among the common people. Well, today it is often used in bohemian society, which also boasts of its knowledge of the world and numerous travels around the world.

From another source:

Ironic. Without going into details, hastily, superficially (to do something).

Compare: in a hurry; on a live thread; on a living hand; with the opposite meaning: along and across.

“For travel essays, the editors are going to send another person to the route, this must be done thoroughly, and not like a cavalry charge, galloping across Europe."

Yu. Trifonov. "Quenching Thirst"

Lies like a gray gelding

Lies like a gray gelding- this saying, which can often be heard among people, is quite difficult to interpret. Agree, it is difficult to explain why exactly the gelding, which is a representative of the animal world, was awarded such a title. And if we take into account the fact that the suit is being specified - gray gelding, then there are even more questions. Many who study this phenomenon say that everything is connected with an error that occurred in the memory of our people. After all, this is simply not explained by any other facts.
The well-known linguist Dahl said that for many years the word “ lies" , used today, could come from the word "rushing" as a result of incorrect pronunciation by one of the speakers. Initially, the gray gelding boasts enormous strength and endurance.
But we should not forget that gray gelding is not significantly different from bay or gray horses, which also boast endurance and intelligence. It follows from this that the masses could hardly simply exclude them from the phraseology and single out the gray gelding.

Today you can find another quite interesting interpretation. It is believed that this phraseological unit first arose from memories of a man named Sievens-Mehring, who had the reputation of a blatant liar. There were bad rumors about him, so many said - lies like Sievens-Mehring . Perhaps, after many years of using this option, the one we often use today has been established.
There are other opinions that completely refute previous versions. It is said that there are other interpretations of it, such as “lazy as a gray gelding” and others. Take, for example, the well-known Gogol hero Khlestakov, who often uses the expression “ stupid as a gray gelding" This also includes the concept of “bullshit,” which means nonsense and complete nonsense. In a word, phraseology has still not been able to give a clear interpretation of the expression “ lies like crazy gelding”, but this does not prevent us from using it in daily communication.

Getting into trouble

manual leak

Nowadays rope, twine, ropes are made in factories, but not so long ago it was a handicraft industry. Entire villages were engaged in it.
There were poles with hooks on the streets, from which ropes stretched to wooden wheels. They were rotated by horses running in circles. All these devices of rope craftsmen were called.
It was necessary to be careful not to get caught in the tourniquet tightly coiled in the hole. If the tip of a jacket or shirt gets caught in the weave, goodbye clothes! The prosak will shred it, tear it up, and sometimes mutilate the person himself.

V.I. Dal explains: “The gap is the space from the spinning wheel to the sleigh, where the twine twists and turns..; if you get in there with the end of your clothes or your hair, it will twist you and you won’t be able to get out; that’s where the saying comes from.”

That's where the dog is buried!

As the story goes, the experienced Austrian warrior Sigismund Altensteig had a favorite dog that accompanied him on all his military campaigns. It so happened that fate threw Sigismund to the Dutch lands, where he found himself in a very dangerous situation. But the devoted four-legged friend quickly came to the rescue and saved the owner, sacrificing his life. To pay tribute to the dog, Altensteig arranged a solemn funeral and decorated the grave with a monument immortalizing the dog's heroic deed.
But after a couple of centuries, finding the monument became very difficult; only a few local residents could help tourists find it.

That’s when the expression “ That's where the dog is buried!", meaning "to find out the truth", "to find what you are looking for."

There is another version of the origin of this phrase. Before the final naval battle between the Persian and Greek fleets, the Greeks loaded all the children, old men and women into transport ships and sent them away from the battle site.
The devoted dog of Xanthippus, son of Arifron, swam to catch up with the ship and, having met his owner, died of exhaustion. Xanthippus, amazed by the dog’s act, erected a monument to his pet, which became the personification of devotion and courage.

Some linguists believe that the proverb was invented by treasure hunters who fear evil spirits that guard treasures. To hide their true goals, they said “black dog” and dog, which meant evil spirits and treasure, respectively. Based on this assumption, under the phrase “ That's where the dog is buried” meant “This is where the treasure is buried.”

Free will

Perhaps to some this expression seems complete nonsense: like “ oil oil" But don’t rush to conclusions, but rather listen.

Many years ago, the ancient Russian appanage princes wrote in their agreements with each other: “And the boyars, and the boyars’ children and servants, and the peasants free will…»

For a free person, the will was thus a right, a privilege, it meant freedom of action and deeds, it allowed you to live on earth as long as you lived and go wherever you wanted. Only free people enjoyed this freedom, which in those days were considered to be sons with fathers, brothers with brothers, nephews with uncles, and so on.

And there were also serfs and slaves who forever belonged to the masters. They could be pawned as an item, sold and even killed without trial.

Simoni: the will of the wave, the path of the walker;

Dahl: free will - heaven for the saved, field for the mad, swamp for the devil.

To be born in a shirt

In one of the poems of the Russian poet Koltsov there are the lines:

Oh, on a miserable day,
At a mediocre hour
I'm without a shirt
Born...

To uninitiated people, the last two lines may seem very strange. One might think that the lyrical hero regrets that in the womb he did not have time to put on a shirt, or, to put it in a language that everyone understands, a shirt.

Once upon a time, a shirt was called not only an element of clothing, but also various films. The thin membrane located under the eggshell could also bear this name.

Sometimes it happens that the baby's head, when it is born, may be covered with a film that soon falls off. According to ancient beliefs, a child born with such a film will be happy in life. And the French even came up with a special name for it - “ hat of happiness».

Nowadays, the thought that a little film on a newborn's head will make him lucky makes him smile. However, in a figurative sense, we often use this expression when we talk about people who are lucky in something. Now the phrase is used only as a saying, and the folk sign has long since sunk into oblivion.

By the way, not only in the Russian language there is such a proverb. Europeans also use similar expressions, for example, “ born in a cap" The English have another phrase that has the same meaning: “to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth.” But it came from a different custom. The fact is that in Foggy Albion it is customary to give spoons made of silver to newborns for good luck.

They don’t go to someone else’s monastery with their own rules

Once upon a time, the routine of the entire monastic life was determined monastic statutes. One monastery was guided by one charter, another by another. Moreover: in the old days, some monasteries had their own judicial statutes and had the right to independently judge their people in all their sins and transgressions.

Expression: " They don’t go to someone else’s monastery with their own rules“This is used in a figurative sense to mean one must obey established rules, customs in society, at home, and not establish one’s own.

Stoeros balbeshka

This is what they say about a stupid, stupid person.
“Excuse me, why did I say such a stupid, absurd thing to you, it jumped out of my mouth, I don’t know, I’m a fool, a stupid idiot” (Yu. Bondarev).

Artist of the burnt theater

About a person whose real abilities or capabilities do not correspond to their perceived level.

“Death is the same for everyone, it is the same for everyone, and no one is given freedom from it. And while she, death, lies in wait for you in an unknown place, with inevitable torment, and the fear of it exists in you, you are not a hero or a god, just an artist from a burnt theater, amusing himself and his flogged listeners.”

(V. Astafiev).

This idiom (stable phrase) is intended to evaluate non-professionals. A couple of centuries ago, the profession of a theater actor was, to put it mildly, unprestigious.

Hence the disdain evident in the phrase: firstly, an actor, and secondly, without a theater. In other words, the circus left, but the clowns remained.
Because the burned theater is not the theater that was destroyed by the flames of the fire, but the one that went bankrupt due to the inept performance of the actors.

Appetite comes with eating

About the increase in someone's needs as they are satisfied.

The expression came into use after it was used by the French writer F. Rabelais (1494-1553) in his novel “Gargantua and Pantagruel” (1532).

Guardian angel

According to religious beliefs, a creature that is the patron of man.

“He prayed every time until he felt as if someone’s fresh touch on his forehead; this, he thought then, is the guardian angel who accepts me” (I. Turgenev).

About a person who shows constant attention and care to someone.

Beat with your forehead

Ancient antiquity emanates from this original Russian expression. And it came from Moscow palace customs. It used to be that the boyars closest to the Tsar gathered in the “front” of the Kremlin Palace early in the morning and in the afternoon at Vespers. When they saw the king, they began to bow, touching their foreheads to the floor. And others did it with such zeal that even the tapping could be heard: please, sir, appreciate our love and zeal.

The legend is fresh, but hard to believe.
As he was famous for, whose neck bent more often;
How not in war, but in peace they took it head on -
They hit the floor without regret!

A. Griboyedov, “Woe from Wit”

Thus, beat with one's forehead means first of all " bow”, well, its second meaning is “to ask for something”, “to complain”, “to thank”.

“Oriental splendor reigned at the Court of our kings, who, following the Asian custom, forced the ambassadors to speak in no other way than on their knees and prostrate themselves on the ground before the throne, from which came the then-used expression: I hit with my forehead.”

The evidence given for the existence of prostration dates back no earlier than the 16th century, since Ivan the Terrible was the first to accept the permanent title of “tsar” in Moscow in 1547. It turns out that the history of the phrase “beat with the forehead” began twice. At first they “beat with their foreheads” in the literal sense, admitting their guilt, and with the introduction of Christianity - worshiping the Lord God. Then they “beat with their foreheads” in words, complaining, thanking and greeting, and finally they introduced the custom of bowing to the ground of the sovereign at court, which was also called “beating with their foreheads.”

Then, in the first case, the expression did not mean “bow to the ground,” but “bow from the waist,” in the form when, asking for forgiveness in local disputes, the offender, standing on the bottom step of the porch, bowed to his ruler from the waist. The strong one stood on the top step. The bow from the waist was thus accompanied by petitions and the banging of the forehead on the steps.

To rake in the heat with someone else's hands

This means: using the results of someone else's work.

What kind of heat are we talking about?

Heat is burning coals. And, by the way, raking them out of the oven was not an easy task for the housewife: it would have been simpler and easier for her to do it “with someone else’s hands.”

Among the common people there is also a rougher version:

“Ride someone else’s dick to heaven.”

Beat your head

To be lazy is to be idle.

What is it thumbs up ? Surely a word should have its own meaning?

Yes, sure. When in Rus' they slurped cabbage soup and ate porridge with wooden spoons, tens of thousands of artisans they were kicking ass , that is, they chopped logs of linden wood into blanks for the master spooner. This work was considered trivial and was usually performed by an apprentice. That is why she became a model not of action, but of idleness.

Of course, everything is learned by comparison, and this work seemed easy only against the backdrop of hard peasant labor.

And not everyone will succeed now beat your thumbs .

Know by heart

The meaning of these words is known to children as well as adults. Know by heart - means, for example, to learn a poem perfectly, to solidify a role, and generally to have an excellent understanding of something.

And there was a time when know by heart , check by heart taken almost literally. This saying arose from the custom of testing the authenticity of gold coins, rings and other items made of precious metal. You bite the coin with your teeth, and if there is no dent left on it, then it is genuine, not counterfeit. Otherwise, you could have gotten a fake one: hollow inside or filled with cheap metal.

The same custom gave rise to another vivid figurative expression: figure out a person , that is, to thoroughly know his advantages, disadvantages, intentions.

Wash dirty linen in public

Usually this expression is used with negation: “ Don't wash dirty linen in public!».

Its figurative meaning, I hope, is known to everyone: quarrels, squabbles occurring between close people, or secrets of a narrow circle of people should not be disclosed.

But this is the true meaning phraseology Let's try to explain now, although it won't be easy. This expression is associated with evil spirits and, by the way, there are a lot of them in the Russian language. According to ancient beliefs, dirty laundry must be burned in the oven so that it does not fall into the hands of evil people. The so-called healer “bends” or “attitudes” used to be very common. A diversion could serve, for example, as a bundle thrown at a crossroads to “protect” against illness. Coal or stove ash was usually wrapped in such a bundle - a cookie .

It was especially popular among healers, because it was in the oven that they burned dirty laundry from the hut, which contained hair and other items necessary for witchcraft. It is no coincidence that the ban on washing dirty linen in public has come into use in the Russian language.

Written on the water with a pitchfork

The expression “Writing on water with a pitchfork” comes from Slavic mythology.

Today it means an unlikely, doubtful and hardly possible event. In Slavic mythology, pitchforks were the name of mythical creatures living in bodies of water. According to legend, they could predict fate by writing it on the water. To this day, “forks” in some Russian dialects mean “circles.”
During fortune telling, pebbles were thrown into the river and the future was predicted based on the shape of the circles formed on the surface, their intersections and sizes. And since these predictions are not accurate and rarely come true, they began to talk about an unlikely event.

In not so long ago, gypsies with bears walked around the villages and staged various performances. They led the bears on a leash tied to a ring threaded through the nose. Such a ring made it possible to keep bears in obedience and perform the necessary tricks. During the performances, the gypsies performed various tricks, cleverly deceiving the audience.

Over time, the expression came to be used in a broader sense - “to mislead someone.”

Goal like a falcon

In the old days, battering guns called “falcon” were used to take besieged cities. It was an iron-bound log or cast-iron beam fastened on chains. Swinging it, they hit the walls and destroyed them.

The figurative expression “goal as a falcon” means “poor to the last extreme, nowhere to get money, even if you bang your head against the wall.”

Keep me away

The expression “Beware of me” came to us from ancient times.
From ancient times to this day we say “Keep away from me”, “Keep away from me”, “Keep away from me”. Chur is the ancient name of the keeper of the house, the hearth (Chur - Shchur - Ancestor).

It is fire, mental and physical, that gives people warmth, light, comfort and goodness in every sense, and is the main custodian of family wealth and family happiness.

Currency:

Altyn
From Tatar Alty - six - an ancient Russian monetary unit.
Altyn - from the 17th century. - a coin consisting of six Moscow money.
Altyn - 3 kopecks (6 money).
Five-alty ruble - 15 kopecks (30 money).

Dime
- Russian ten-kopeck coin, issued since 1701.
Two hryvnia - 20 kopecks

Grosh
- a small copper coin in denomination of 2 kopecks, minted in Russia in the 17th century.
4 kopecks is two pennies.

Money (denga)
- a small copper coin of 1/2 kopeck, minted in Russia from 1849 to 1867.

Gold ruble
- monetary unit of Russia from 1897 to 1914. The gold content of the ruble was 0.774 g of pure gold.

Kopeck money
Kopek
- Russian monetary unit, from the 16th century. minted from silver, gold, copper. The name “kopeck” comes from the image on the reverse of the coin of a horseman with a spear.

Kopek
- since 1704, Russian copper small change, 1/100th of a ruble.

Poltina
Half a ruble
- Russian coin, 1/2 share of a ruble (50 kopecks). Since 1654, fifty kopecks have been minted from copper, since 1701 - from silver.

Polushka - 1/4 kopeck
Half a half - 1/8 kopeck.
The half-polushka (polpolushka) was minted only in 1700.
Ruble
- monetary unit of Russia. Regular minting of the silver ruble began in 1704. Copper and gold rubles were also minted. Since 1843, the ruble began to be issued in the form of a paper treasury note.

"Ancient Russian measures."
Currency:

Ruble = 2 half rubles
half = 50 kopecks
five-altyn = 15 kopecks
kryvennik = 10 kopecks
altyn = 3 kopecks
penny = 2 kopecks
2 money = 1/2 kopeck
half = 1/4 kopeck
In Ancient Rus', foreign silver coins and silver bars - hryvnias - were used.
If the product cost less than a hryvnia, it was cut in half - these halves were called TIN or Ruble.
Over time, the word TIN was not used, the word Ruble was used, but half a ruble was called half-tina, a quarter - half-half-tina.
On silver coins of 50 kopecks they wrote COIN POLE TINA.
THE ANCIENT NAME OF THE RUBLE IS TIN.

Auxiliary weights:

Pud = 40 pounds = 16.3804815 kg.
The steelyard is an ancient Russian unit of measurement of mass, which was part of the Russian system of measures and was used in the north of the Russian Empire and in Siberia. 1 steelyard = 1/16 pood or 1.022 kg.
Pound = 32 lots = 96 spools = 0.45359237 kg.
(1 kg = 2.2046 lbs).
Lot = 3 spools = 12.797 grams.
Spool = 96 shares = 4.26575417 g.
Share - the smallest old Russian unit of mass measurement
= 44.43 mg. = 0.04443 grams.

Auxiliary measures are long:

A mile is 7 versts or 7.4676 km.

Versta - 500 fathoms or 1,066.781 meters

Fathom = 1/500 verst = 3 arshins = 12 spans = 48 vershoks

Vershok = 1/48 fathoms = 1/16 arshin = 1/4 span = 1.75 inches = 4.445 cm = 44.45 mm. (Originally equal to the length of the main phalanx of the index finger).

Arshin = 1/3 fathoms = 4 spans = 16 vershok = 28 inches = 0.7112 m. On June 4, 1899, the “Regulations on Weights and Measures” arshin was legalized in Russia as the main measure of length.

Pyad = 1/12 fathoms = 1/4 arshin = 4 vershkas = 7 inches = exactly 17.78 cm. (From the old Russian word “metacarpus” - palm, hand).

Elbow is a unit of measurement of length that does not have a specific value and approximately corresponds to the distance from the elbow joint to the end of the extended middle finger.

Inch - in Russian and English systems of measures 1 inch = 10 lines (“big line”). The word inch was introduced into the Russian language by Peter I at the very beginning of the 18th century. Today, an inch is most often understood as an English inch, equal to 2.54 cm.

Foot - 12 inches = 304.8 mm.

Set expressions

You can hear it a mile away.
Seven miles is no detour for a mad dog.
Seven miles is not a suburb for my dear friend.
Versta Kolomenskaya.
Oblique fathoms in the shoulders.
Measure everyone to your own yardstick.
Swallow a yard.
Two inches from the pot.

One hundred pounds.
Seven spans in the forehead.
Small spool but precious.
Go by leaps and bounds.
Find out how much a pound is worth.
Not an inch of land (not to be given up).
A meticulous person.
Eat a peck of salt (with someone else).

Standard SI prefixes
(SI - "System International" - international system of metric units of measurement)

Multiple SI prefixes

101 m decameter dam
102 m hectometer um
103 m kilometer km
106 m megameter Mm
109 m gigameter Gm
1012 m terameter Tm
1015 m petameter PM
1018 m exameter Em
1021 m zettameter Zm
1024 m yottameter Im
SI prefixes
value name designation
10-1 g decigram dg
10-2 g centigrams g
10-3 g milligram mg
10-6 g microgram mcg
10-9 g nanogram ng
10-12 g picogram pg
10-15 g femtogram fg
10-18 g attograms ag
10-21 g zeptograms zg
10-24 g yoktogram ig

Archaisms

Archaisms are outdated names of objects and phenomena that have other, modern names

Armyak - type of clothing
vigil - wakefulness
timelessness - hard time
silent - timid
benevolence - goodwill
prosper - prosper
perishable - transitory
eloquent - pompous
indignation - rebellion
in vain - in vain
big - big
coming - coming
beef - cattle
messenger - sent
verb - word
herd - a herd of cattle.
threshing floor - a fenced plot of land on a peasant farm, intended for storing, threshing and other processing of grain grains
so that - so that
down - down, down
drogi (drogi) - a light four-wheeled open spring carriage for 1-2 people
if - if
belly - life
imprison - imprison
mirror - mirror
zipun (half-kaftan) - in the old days - outerwear for peasants. It is a collarless caftan made from coarse homemade cloth in bright colors with seams trimmed with contrasting cords.
from ancient times - from ancient times
eminent - tall
which - which, which
katsaveyka - Russian women's folk clothing in the form of an open short jacket, lined or trimmed with fur.
horse-drawn horse - a type of urban transport
sedition - treason
kuna - monetary unit
cheeks - cheeks
extortion - bribery
kissing - kiss
catcher - hunter
lyudin - person
honeyed - flattering
bribe - reward, payment
slander - denunciation
name - name
monastery - monastery
bed - bed
barn (ovn - oven) - an outbuilding in which sheaves were dried before threshing.
this one - the one mentioned above
revenge - revenge
finger - finger
pyroscaphe - steamship
arquebus - a type of firearm
death - death
destruction - death
obstacle - obstacle
gaping - open
military - combat
this - this
seduce - remove
poet - poet
smerd - peasant
battering ram - an ancient weapon for destroying fortress walls
thief
dungeon - prison
bargaining - market, bazaar
prepare - prepare
hope - hope
mouth - lips
child - child
expect - expect
dish - food
Yakhont - ruby
Yarilo - sun
yara - spring
Yarka - a young lamb born in the spring
spring bread - spring grains are sown in spring

Archaisms in proverbs and sayings:

Beat your head
To beat the backs - initially cut the log lengthwise into several parts - the block, round them from the outside and hollow them out from the inside. Spoons and other wooden utensils were made from such scaffolds - baclush. Preparing buckeyes, in contrast to making products from them, was considered an easy, simple matter that did not require special skills.
Hence the meaning - to do nothing, to idle, to spend time idly.

Here's to you, grandma, and St. George's Day!
The expression comes from the time of medieval Rus', when peasants had the right, having settled with the previous landowner, to move on to a new one.
According to the law issued by Ivan the Terrible, such a transition could occur only after the completion of agricultural work, and specifically a week before St. George’s Day (November 25, old style, when the day of the Great Martyr George, the patron saint of farmers, was celebrated) or a week later.
After the death of Ivan the Terrible, such a transition was prohibited and the peasants were secured to the land.
That’s when the expression “Here’s St. George’s Day for you, grandma,” was born as an expression of grief over changed circumstances, unexpectedly unfulfilled hopes, sudden changes for the worse.
St. George was popularly called Yegor, so at the same time the word “to cheat” arose, that is, to deceive, to deceive.

Upside down
1) somersault, over the head, upside down;
2) upside down, in complete disorder.
The word tormashki can go back to the verb to bother, i.e. “to fiddle with, turn over.” It is also assumed that tormashki comes from the dialect torma - “legs”.
According to another hypothesis, the word tormashki is related to the word brake (old tormas). Tormas used to be called iron strips under the runner of a sleigh, used to make the sleigh roll less.
The expression upside down could refer to a sled turned over on ice or snow.

There is no truth at the feet - an invitation to sit down.
There are several possible origins of this saying:
1) according to the first version, the combination is due to the fact that in the XV-XVIII centuries. in Rus', debtors were severely punished, beaten with iron rods on their bare legs, seeking repayment of the debt, i.e., “truth,” but such punishment could not force those who did not have money to repay the debt;
2) according to the second version, the combination arose due to the fact that the landowner, having discovered that something was missing, gathered the peasants and forced them to stand until the culprit was named;
3) the third version reveals a connection between the expression and pravezh (cruel punishment for non-payment of debts). If the debtor fled from the law, they said that there was no truth at his feet, that is, it was impossible to get out of the debt; With the abolition of the law, the meaning of the saying changed.

The rein (harness) has fallen under the tail - about someone who is in an unbalanced state, displays eccentricity, incomprehensible persistence.
Reins are straps for controlling a harnessed horse. The part of the horse's croup under the tail is not covered with hair. If the rein gets there, the horse, fearing tickling, may run away, break the cart, etc.
A person is compared to this behavior of a horse.

Wolf ticket (wolf passport)
In the 19th century, the name of a document that blocked access to the civil service, educational institution, etc. Today, the phraseological unit is used to mean a sharply negative characteristic of someone’s work.
The origin of this turnover is usually explained by the fact that the person who received such a document was not allowed to live in one place for more than 2-3 days and had to wander like a wolf.
In addition, in many combinations, wolf means “abnormal, inhuman, bestial,” which strengthens the contrast between the holder of the wolf card and other “normal” people.
Lies like a gray gelding
There are several options for the origin of phraseological units.
1. The word gelding comes from the Mongolian morin "horse". In historical monuments, the horse siv and gelding siv are very typical; the adjective sivy “light gray, gray-haired” shows the old age of the animal. The verb to lie had a different meaning in the past - “to talk nonsense, talk idle talk; chatter.” The gray gelding here is a stallion that has turned gray from long work, and figuratively - a man who is already talking from old age and talking annoying nonsense.
2. Gelding is a stallion, gray is old. The expression is explained by the usual boasting of old people about their strength, as if still preserved, like that of the young.
3. The turnover is associated with the attitude towards the gray horse as a stupid creature. Russian peasants avoided, for example, laying the first furrow on a gray gelding, because he was “lying” - he was wrong, laying it incorrectly.
Give oak - die
The phrase is associated with the verb zudubet - “to cool down, lose sensitivity, become hard.” An oak coffin has always been a sign of special honor for the deceased. Peter I introduced a tax on oak coffins as a luxury item.
Alive, smoking room!
The origin of the expression is associated with the game "Smoking Room", popular in the 18th century in Russia at gatherings on winter evenings. The players sat in a circle and passed a burning torch to each other, saying “Alive, alive, Smoking Room, not dead, thin legs, short soul...”. The loser was the one whose torch went out and began to smoke or smoke. Later this game was replaced by "Burn, burn clearly so that it does not go out."
Nick down
In the old days, almost the entire population in Russian villages was illiterate. To record the bread handed over to the landowner, the work performed, etc., so-called tags were used - wooden sticks up to a fathom long (2 meters), on which notches were made with a knife. The tags were split into two parts so that the marks were on both: one remained with the employer, the other with the performer. The calculation was made based on the number of notches. Hence the expression “notch on the nose,” meaning: remember well, take into account for the future.
Play spillikins
In the old days, the game of “spillikins” was common in Rus'. It consisted of using a small hook to pull out, without touching the others, one from another pile all the spillikins - all kinds of small toy things: hatchets, glasses, baskets, barrels. This is how not only children, but also adults spent time on long winter evenings.
Over time, the expression “playing spillikins” began to mean an empty pastime.
Latem cabbage soup to slurp
Lapti - woven shoes made of bast (the subcortical layer of linden trees), covering only the sole of the foot - in Rus' were the only affordable footwear for poor peasants, and shchi - a type of cabbage soup - was their simplest and favorite food. Depending on the wealth of the family and the time of year, cabbage soup could be either green, that is, with sorrel, or sour - made from sauerkraut, with meat, or lean - without meat, which was eaten during fasting or in cases of extreme poverty.
About a person who could not earn enough to buy boots and more refined food, they said that he “slurps on cabbage soup,” that is, he lives in terrible poverty and ignorance.
Fawn
The word “fawn” comes from the German phrase “Ich liebe sie” (I love you). Seeing the insincerity in the frequent repetition of this “fawn”, Russian people wittily formed from these German words the Russian word “fawn” - it means to curry favor, to flatter someone, to achieve someone’s favor or favor with flattery.
Fishing in troubled waters
Stunning has long been one of the prohibited methods of catching fish, especially during spawning. There is a well-known fable by the ancient Greek poet Aesop about a fisherman who muddied the water around his nets, driving blinded fish into them. Then the expression went beyond fishing and acquired a broader meaning - to take advantage of an unclear situation.
There is also a well-known proverb: “Before you catch a fish, you [need] to muddy the waters,” that is, “deliberately create confusion for profit.”
Small fry
The expression came from peasant everyday life. In the Russian northern lands, a plow is a peasant community of 3 to 60 households. And small fry called a very poor community, and then its poor inhabitants. Later, officials occupying a low position in the government structure also began to be called small fry.
The thief's hat is on fire
The expression goes back to an old joke about how a thief was found in the market.
After futile attempts to find the thief, people turned to the sorcerer for help; he shouted loudly: “Look! The thief’s hat is on fire!” And suddenly everyone saw how a man grabbed his hat. So the thief was discovered and convicted.
Lather your head
In the old days, a tsarist soldier served indefinitely - until death or complete disability. Since 1793, a 25-year period of military service was introduced. The landowner had the right to give his serfs as soldiers for misconduct. Since recruits (recruits) had their hair shaved off and were referred to as “shaved”, “shaved their forehead”, “soaped their head”, the expression “I’ll soap my head” became synonymous with threat in the mouths of the rulers. In a figurative sense, “soap your head” means: to give a severe reprimand, to strongly scold.
Neither fish nor fowl
In Western and Central Europe of the 16th century, a new movement appeared in Christianity - Protestantism (lat. “to protest, object”). Protestants, unlike Catholics, opposed the Pope, denied holy angels and monasticism, arguing that each person himself can turn to God. Their rituals were simple and inexpensive. There was a bitter struggle between Catholics and Protestants. Some of them, in accordance with Christian commandments, ate modest meat, others preferred lean fish. If a person did not join any movement, then he was contemptuously called “neither fish nor fowl.” Over time, they began to talk about a person who does not have a clearly defined position in life, who is not capable of active, independent actions.
There is no place to put samples - disapprovingly about a depraved woman.
An expression based on a comparison with a golden thing passing from one owner to another. Each new owner demanded that the product be checked by a jeweler and tested. When the product had been in many hands, there was no longer any room left for testing.
If we don't wash, we'll ride
Before the invention of electricity, a heavy cast iron iron was heated over a fire and, until it cooled down, they ironed clothes with it. But this process was difficult and required a certain skill, so the linen was often “rolled”. To do this, washed and almost dried laundry was fixed on a special rolling pin - a round piece of wood similar to the one used to roll out dough nowadays. Then, using a ruble - a curved corrugated board with a handle - the rolling pin, along with the laundry wound onto it, was rolled along a wide flat board. At the same time, the fabric was stretched and straightened. Professional laundresses knew that well-rolled linen has a fresher appearance, even if the washing was not entirely successful.
This is how the expression “by washing, by rolling” appeared, that is, to achieve results in more than one way.
No fluff or feather - wishing you good luck in anything.
The expression was originally used as a “spell” designed to deceive evil spirits (this expression was used to admonish those going on a hunt; it was believed that with a direct wish for good luck one could “jinx” the prey).
The answer is “To hell!” should have further protected the hunter. To hell - this is not an expletive like “Go to hell!”, but a request to go to hell and tell him about it (so that the hunter does not get any fluff or feather). Then the unclean one will do the opposite, and what is needed will happen: the hunter will return “with down and feathers,” that is, with prey.
Let's beat swords into ploughshares
The expression goes back to the Old Testament, where it is said that “the time will come when the nations will beat swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks; nation will not lift up sword against nation, and they will no longer learn to fight.”
In the Old Church Slavonic language, “ploughshare” is a tool for cultivating land, something like a plow. The dream of establishing universal peace is figuratively expressed in the sculpture of the Soviet sculptor E.V. Vuchetich, depicting a blacksmith forging a sword into a plow, which is installed in front of the UN building in New York.
Goof
Prosak is a drum with teeth in a machine, with the help of which wool was carded. Getting into trouble meant being maimed and losing an arm. To get into trouble is to get into trouble, into an awkward position.
Knock you down
Confuse, confuse.
Pantalik is a distorted version of Pantelik, a mountain in Attica (Greece) with a stalactite cave and grottoes in which it was easy to get lost.
Straw Widow
Among the Russians, Germans and a number of other peoples, a bundle of straw served as a symbol of a concluded agreement: marriage or purchase and sale. To break the straw meant to break the contract, to separate. There was also a custom of making the newlyweds’ bed on sheaves of rye. Wedding wreaths were also woven from straw flowers. A wreath (from the Sanskrit word “vene” - “bundle”, meaning a bundle of hair) was a symbol of marriage.
If the husband left somewhere for a long time, they said that the woman was left with nothing but straw, which is how the expression “straw widow” appeared.
Dance from the stove
The expression became popular thanks to the novel by the 19th century Russian writer V.A. Sleptsov "A Good Man". The main character of the novel, "non-employee nobleman" Sergei Terebenev, returns to Russia after long wanderings around Europe. He remembers how he was taught to dance as a child. Seryozha started all his movements from the stove, and if he made a mistake, the teacher told him: “Well, go to the stove, start over.” Terebenev realized that his life circle had closed: he started from the village, then Moscow, Europe, and, having reached the edge, he again returned to the village, to the stove.
Grated kalach
In Rus', kalach is wheat bread in the shape of a castle with a bow. Grated kalach was baked from hard kalach dough, which was kneaded and grated for a long time. This is where the proverb “Don’t grate, don’t crush, don’t make kalach” came from, which in a figurative sense means: “troubles teach a person.” And the words “grated kalach” have become popular - this is what they say about an experienced person who has seen a lot, who has “rubbed between people” a lot.
Pull the gimp
Gimp is a very thin, flattened, twisted gold or silver wire used for embroidery. Making gimp consists of pulling it out. This work, done manually, is tedious, monotonous and time-consuming. Therefore, the expression “pull the gimp” (or “spread the gimp”) in a figurative sense began to mean: to do something monotonous, tedious, causing an annoying loss of time.
In the middle of nowhere
In ancient times, clearings in dense forests were called kuligs. The pagans considered them bewitched. Later, people settled deep into the forest, looked for swarms, and settled there with their whole family. This is where the expression comes from: in the middle of nowhere, that is, very far away.
Too
In Slavic mythology, Chur or Shchur is the ancestor, ancestor, god of the hearth - the brownie.
Initially, “chur” meant: limit, border.
Hence the exclamation: “chur,” meaning a prohibition to touch something, to cross some line, beyond some limit (in spells against “evil spirits,” in games, etc.), a requirement to comply with some condition , agreement
From the word “too much” the word “too much” was born, meaning: to go beyond “too much”, to go beyond the limit. “Too much” means too much, too much, too much.
Sherochka with a masherochka
Until the 18th century, women were educated at home. In 1764, the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens was opened in St. Petersburg at the Resurrection Smolny Convent. The daughters of nobles studied there from the ages of 6 to 18. The subjects of study were the law of God, the French language, arithmetic, drawing, history, geography, literature, dancing, music, various types of home economics, as well as subjects of “secular manners”. The usual address of college girls to each other was the French ma chere. From these French words came the Russian words “sherochka” and “masherochka”, which are currently used to name a couple consisting of two women.
Walk trump
In ancient Rus', boyars, unlike commoners, sewed a collar embroidered with silver, gold and pearls, which was called a trump card, to the collar of their ceremonial caftan. The trump card stuck out impressively, giving the boyars a proud posture. Walking as a trump means walking is important, but trumping means showing off something.

Russian language

Archaisms and historicisms - what is the difference between them?

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Cultural, economic, and social changes occur in the life of society: science develops, technology appears, life improves, and political transformations occur.

This leads to the fact that words cease to be used, become obsolete, and are replaced by new words. Let's look at some illustrative examples of what historicisms and archaisms are. Two layers of vocabulary coexist. The first is words that native speakers know and use (active vocabulary).

The other layer is words that do not sound in speech, the majority of language users do not know them, require additional explanations, or understandable names that have ceased to function in speech - passive vocabulary.

The passive dictionary includes obsolete words. They differ in the level of obsolescence and the reasons why they became so.

The difference between historicisms and archaisms

Historicisms are not used in speech; the objects and concepts that they named do not exist. Archaisms denote objects and phenomena that still exist today, but have been replaced by other phrases. The difference between the two groups is that archaisms have synonyms, this is important.

Examples: ramena (shoulders), tuga (sadness), destruction (death)

Historicisms have been in use for a very long time. Words that were once popular under Soviet rule have already become forgotten - pioneer, communist, Soviet power, Politburo. Sometimes words become common vocabulary: lyceum, gymnasium, police, governor, department

It also happens that outdated words return to speech in a new understanding. For example, the word squad in Ancient Rus' it meant “princely army.” In vocabulary, its meaning is “a voluntary community of people formed for a specific purpose” - people's squad.

Historicisms - how did they appear?

Society is developing at a rapid pace, and therefore cultural values ​​are changing, some things are becoming obsolete, and new ones are appearing. Fashion moves forward and the previously popular kaftan is now just an outdated word. Such clothes are not worn, and many outdated names can be found in ancient books or historical films.

For modern people, historicisms are part of history, they can be studied for development, but there is no need to use them in speech, others will not be able to understand their meaning. Misunderstandings will arise.
To understand historicisms, consider examples and interpretation of words.

Among the reasons for the formation of historicisms: the improvement of tools, the complication of production processes, the development of culture, and political transformations.

The abolition of the dependence of the peasant on the landowner in Russia left the words: master, quitrent, corvee, tax, serf in the past. The main thing is that historicisms remain in the history of mankind and do not return to speech, therefore they do not matter. No one will wear a caftan now or there will be no corvée and serfdom.

Historicisms can be divided into groups to understand the meaning of words:

• old clothes and shoes – salop, armyak, camisole, hose, shoe, bast shoes;
• names of social life phenomena – duel, Comintern member, farm laborer, collective farmer, kulak, self-destructive;
• craft and professions of people: squire, buffoon, journeyman, water-carrier, cooper;
• monetary units – half, imperial, five-altyn;
• measures of weight and length - verst, vershok, span, pound, fathom, pud;
• titles and positions - excellency, driver, highness, mayor, hussar, orderly;
• military household items - mace, chain mail, axe, flail, aventail, squeal;
• names of administrative units – district, parish, province;
• letters of the ancient alphabet - beeches, yat, lead.

Outdated phrases can be found in a scientific style to denote phenomena in an epoch-making period, to give expressiveness to heroes and images in an artistic style.
In modern language one cannot find a synonym for historicism. What is remarkable is the fact that historicisms can date back several centuries.

Archaisms - what are they?

These are outdated names of objects and concepts that have been replaced with other words familiar to modern society. The world is changing, people are changing along with it, and the language is expanding with new concepts, and new words are being invented for the old ones.

Archaisms have taken on a new look, therefore they can be classified as synonyms of modern words, but still their use in the Russian language will be strange rather than a common occurrence. For understanding ancient objects, for an in-depth study of the culture of ancient people, archaisms and their meaning can play a role.

To figure it out, let's look at the table where the interpretations of old words are written. It is not necessary to know them, but it will be a godsend for a historian.

Archaisms are divided into groups. Sometimes it is not the whole word that becomes obsolete, but only part of it. Let's take meanings that are completely outdated: verses (verses). Some words have outdated morphemes - prejudice.
The process of formation of archaisms is uneven. Thematic groups of archaisms are different:

• person's character - word sower(chatterbox, idle talker), lover of words(scientist, expert), wordsmith(flatterer), fusser(idle talker);
• profession - jump rope(gymnast), cattle feeder(cattle breeder), warehouseman(writer), skoroposolnik(messenger, messenger);
• social relations - coverb(companion), friend(friend, companion), suvrazhnik(enemy);
• family relations - sister(sister), kindred, kindred(relative);
• objects of surrounding reality - Selina(a. dwelling, building; b. crevice), sennitsa(tent, tent);
• natural phenomena - arrow(lightning), students(cold, cold);
• things - saddle(chair, armchair), Servet(napkin), scramble(peel, skin, shell), screenshot(chest, casket), standing(stand);
• abstract concepts - literature(eloquence), cleverness(inference), laughing(mockery), commonwealth(acquaintance, friendship).

Archaisms are rarely used in literature. If the writer is literate enough and speaks not only modern, but also ancient language, then such words will add a special “zest” to the speech. The reader will ponder and delve deeper into the reading, trying to understand and unravel what the author meant. It will always be interesting and informative.

Archaisms perform this function in rhetoric, judicial debates, and fiction.

Types of archaisms

Archaisms in literature and social activities of people are usually divided into types. For a deeper understanding of the language and its historical development. No novel based on historical events can do without mentioning outdated words.

1. Semantic archaisms

Words that previously had a different meaning, but in modern language they have a new meaning. We understand the word “housing” as a kind of real estate where a person lives. But earlier the word had a different meaning: he feels so bad as if he was walking to the fifth building; (housing - floor).

2. Phonetic archaisms

They differ from modern ones in one or two letters, even the spelling may be similar, as if one letter was removed or added. It may even seem like a mistake, but it's just an outdated expression.
For example: poet - drink, fire - fire, dishonest - dishonored.

3. Derivatives

Obsolescence occurs only in part of a word and usually in a suffix. It is easy to guess the meaning for understanding, but it is more common to recognize archaisms if you already know which letters have been replaced, removed or added.

• The rubber ball bounces off the floor (rubber - rubber).
• What a wonderful pencil drawing (pencil - pencil).
• The entire audience, competing with each other, shouted out different phrases (competing - competing).
• This nervous person is simply terrible (nervous - nervous).

4. Phraseological

When we talk about this type of archaism, we understand entire sayings, flying expressions, a special ancient combination of words that was previously in use.
Examples of stable expressions include: I’ll buy myself a farm; wifey makes a nice profit from coke and juice; stuck it to whoever it should be.

5. Grammar

Such words remain in modern speech, but their gender has changed. Examples include tulle and coffee. Our coffee is masculine, but they want to make it mean. The word tulle is masculine, but sometimes it is confused and people want to make it feminine.
Examples of words: swan - was previously feminine, now has a masculine gender. Previously, poets wrote that a lonely swan floats.

The importance of obsolete words

Outdated vocabulary is valuable material for forming knowledge about the history of a people, introducing it to national origins. These are tangible threads that connect us to history. Its study makes it possible to restore information about the historical, social, and economic activities of ancestors, and to gain knowledge about the way of life of the people.

Outdated words are a means that allows you to diversify speech, add emotionality to it, and express the author’s attitude to reality.

Introduction

The vocabulary of the Russian language is constantly changing: some words that were previously used very often are now almost unheard of, while others, on the contrary, are used more and more often. Such processes in language are associated with changes in the life of the society it serves: with the advent of a new concept, a new word appears; If society no longer refers to a certain concept, then it does not refer to the word that this concept denotes.

As mentioned above, changes in the lexical composition of a language occur constantly: some words become obsolete and leave the language, others appear - borrowed or formed according to existing models. Those words that have fallen out of active use are called obsolete; new words that have just appeared in the language are called neologisms.

Historiography. There are many books enlightened on this topic, here are just a few of them: “Modern Russian Language: Lexicology” by M.I. Fomina, Golub I.B. "Stylistics of the Russian Language", electronic sources were also used to provide more complete information.

The purpose of the work is to study the use of both obsolete words and neologisms in various styles of speech. The objectives of this work are to study outdated vocabulary and new words that have different areas of use and what place they occupy in different styles of speech.

Based on the goals and objectives set, the structure of the work consists of an introduction (which indicates: goals, objectives, historiography and structure of the work), three chapters (which show the stylistic division, reasons for the appearance and signs of outdated words and neologisms, outdated vocabulary and new words , so-called neologisms, in various styles of speech), as well as a conclusion (which summarizes the work done).

Outdated words

Words that are no longer used or are used very rarely are called obsolete (for example, child, right hand, mouth, Red Army soldier, people's commissar)

From a stylistic point of view, all words in the Russian language are divided into two large groups:

stylistically neutral or commonly used (can be used in all styles of speech without limitation);

stylistically colored (they belong to one of the styles of speech: bookish: scientific, official business, journalistic - or colloquial; their use “out of style” violates the correctness and purity of speech; you need to be extremely careful in their use); for example, the word “interference” belongs to the colloquial style, and the word “expel” belongs to the book style.

Also, depending on the nature of the functioning, there are:

common vocabulary (used without any restrictions),

vocabulary of a limited scope of use.

Commonly used vocabulary includes words used (understood and used) in different linguistic areas by native speakers, regardless of their place of residence, profession, lifestyle: these are most nouns, adjectives, adverbs, verbs (blue, fire, grumble, good), numerals , pronouns, most function words.

Vocabulary of limited use includes words whose use is limited to a certain locality (Dialectisms (from the Greek diblektos “dialect, dialect”) are elements of Russian dialects (dialects), phonetic, grammatical, word-formation, lexical features found in the stream of normalized Russian literary speech.), profession (Special vocabulary is associated with the professional activities of people. It includes terms and professionalisms.), occupation or interests (Jargonisms are words used by people of certain interests, occupations, habits. For example, there are jargons of schoolchildren , students, soldiers, athletes, criminals, hippies, etc.).

Word obsolescence is a process, and different words may be at different stages of it. Those of them that have not yet gone out of active use, but are already used less frequently than before, are called obsolete (voucher).

Outdated vocabulary, in turn, is divided into historicisms and archaisms.

Historicisms are words denoting objects that have disappeared from modern life, phenomena that have become irrelevant concepts, for example: chain mail, corvee, horse tram; modern subbotnik, sunday; socialist competition, Politburo. These words fell out of use along with the objects and concepts they denoted and became passive vocabulary: we know them, but do not use them in our everyday speech. Historicisms are used in texts that talk about the past (fiction, historical research).

Historicisms are used in articles on historical topics to denote realities, in articles on current topics - to draw historical parallels, as well as in connection with the actualization of concepts and words in modern speech.

In addition to historicisms, other types of obsolete words are distinguished in our language. We use certain words in speech less and less, replacing them with others, and so they are gradually forgotten. For example, an actor was once called a performer, a comedian; they spoke not of a journey, but of a voyage, not of fingers, but of fingers, not of a forehead, but of a forehead. Such outdated words name completely modern objects, concepts that are now usually called differently. New names have replaced the old ones, and they are gradually forgotten. Obsolete words that have modern synonyms that have replaced them in the language are called archaisms.

Archaisms are fundamentally different from historicisms. If historicisms are the names of outdated objects, then archaisms are outdated names of quite ordinary objects and concepts that we constantly encounter in life.

There are several types of archaisms:

1) the word may become completely obsolete and completely fall out of use: cheeks - “cheeks”, neck - “neck”, right hand - “right hand”, shuytsa - “left hand”, in order - “so that”, peril - “destruction”;

2) one of the meanings of the word may become obsolete, while the rest continue to be used in modern language: belly - “life”, vor - “state criminal” (False Dmitry II was called the “Tushinsky thief”); over the past 10 years, the word “give” has lost its meaning “to sell”, and the word “throw away” has lost its meaning “to put on sale”;

3) in a word, 1-2 sounds and / or the place of stress may change: number - number, bibliomteka - library, mirror - mirror, cord - cord;

4) an obsolete word may differ from modern ones by a prefix and/or suffix (friendship - friendship, restoratia - restaurant, fisherman - fisherman);

5) the word may change individual grammatical forms (cf.: the title of A. S. Pushkin’s poem “Gypsies” is the modern form of gypsies) or the belonging of this word to a certain grammatical class (the words piano, hall were used as feminine nouns, and in modern in Russian these are masculine words).

As can be seen from the examples, obsolete words differ from each other in the degree of archaism: some are still found in speech, especially among poets, others are known only from the works of writers of the last century, and there are others that are completely forgotten.

The archaization of one of the meanings of a word is a very interesting phenomenon. The result of this process is the emergence of semantic, or semantic, archaisms, that is, words used in an unusual, outdated meaning for us. Knowledge of semantic archaisms helps to correctly understand the language of classical writers. And sometimes their use of words cannot but make us think seriously...

Archaisms should not be neglected either. There are cases when they return to the language and become part of the active vocabulary again. This was the case, for example, with the words soldier, officer, warrant officer, minister, adviser, which received a new life in modern Russian. In the first years of the revolution, they managed to become archaic, but then returned, acquiring a new meaning.

Archaisms, like historicisms, are necessary for verbal artists to create the flavor of antiquity when depicting antiquity.

Decembrist poets, contemporaries and friends of A.S. Pushkin, used Old Slavonic vocabulary to create civil-patriotic pathos in speech. A great interest in outdated words was a distinctive feature of their poetry. The Decembrists were able to identify a layer in the archaizing vocabulary that could be adapted to express freedom-loving ideas. Highly obsolete vocabulary can be subject to ironic rethinking and act as a means of humor and satire. The comical sound of outdated words is noted in everyday stories and satire of the 17th century, and later in epigrams, jokes, and parodies written by participants in linguistic polemics of the early 19th century. (members of the Arzamas society), who opposed the archaization of the Russian literary language.

In modern humorous and satirical poetry, outdated words are also often used as a means of creating an ironic coloring of speech.

Depending on the reasons why a particular word is classified as obsolete, historicisms and archaisms are distinguished.

Historicisms

Archaisms

The role of obsolete words in the Russian language is varied. Historicisms in special scientific literature are used to most accurately describe the era. In works of fiction on historical themes, historicisms and archaisms help to recreate the flavor of the era, and are also a means of speech characterization of characters.
Examples of such use of outdated vocabulary are the novels “Razin Stepan” by A.P. Chapygina, “Peter I” A.H. Tolstoy, “Emelyan Pugachev” by V.Ya. Shishkova, “Ivan the Terrible” by V.I. Kostyleva and others.
In the text of any of these works of art you can find various types of archaisms:
I learned this: according to information from Taty Fomka, thieves were caught outside the Nikitsky Gate (Chapygin).
Archaisms can be used to create a solemn style, which is especially characteristic of poetry of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Examples include the works of A.N. Radishcheva, G.R. Derzhavina, V.A. Zhukovsky, A.S. Pushkina and others.
Archaisms can also be used to create comic and satirical effects: Finally, look at your own person - and there, first of all, you will meet the head, and then you will not leave the belly and other parts without a sign (S. Shch.)