What does the expression reach the handle mean? Why does Pushkin do everything for everyone and where did the expression “get to the point” come from?

The expression “reach the pen,” as is known, means to completely descend, to lose human appearance. Indeed, reaching the handle means sinking to some low level. The dictionary of phraseological units offers the following interpretation: If you get to the point of losing everything, you will fall to the bottom of the social or moral ladder.

How did this expression come about? Here are the versions...

At the same time, the mysterious “handle” in the aphorism is just a part of an ordinary bakery product - kalach. Kalachis have been baked in Rus' since ancient times, both in cities and villages. Information about the sale of bread products to townspeople is also contained in Novgorod sources. The takeaway baked goods were made from unleavened dough in the shape of a castle with a round handle.

The townspeople loved to buy kalachi from merchants and eat them right on the street, holding them by a special part - the handle, which was the crosspiece of the kalach. For reasons of hygiene, the pen itself was not eaten, but was given to the poor or thrown to be eaten by dogs. This is where the expression came from: to reach the handle.

A man who did not hesitate to eat a handle from someone else’s kalach put himself on a par with street dogs.

But for some reason I am more inclined to this version:

The expression “get to the point” means to reach the lowest degree of trust in you from society. The expression “get to the point” is associated with reality pre-revolutionary Russia. After the agrarian reforms, many peasants went to the cities to earn money. Some people, torn from their usual village environment, sank in the difficult conditions of the urban way of life, sharply replenishing their specific social group“tramps”, similar to the homeless people we know. No one wanted to hire tramps who did not have any industrial skills, who usually drank heavily, for jobs that required even basic skills; they even tried not to allow them into the territory of warehouses or factories (theft, a high risk of injury for people in a state of constant hangover).

Gradually arose extreme specific form the use of the labor of completely degraded tramps: in a number of technically very simple industries, the drive of the simplest machine was brought out through the wall of some small handicraft factory. In the mornings, a crowd of tramps gathered in front of the factory gates, a foreman came out, selected “candidates”, brought them to the wall, attached a HANDLE to a drive sticking out of the wall and assigned a job to the tramps: turn the handle one by one, continuously until the end of the working day, that is, perform the simplest mechanical drive function.

Nowadays, “getting to the bottom” is when you have sank to nowhere else. homeless people and just people who don’t want to live normal life who have sunk to the very bottom...

And here is another version:

In ancient times, if you owed money, for example, to a feudal lord, then he could send people and confiscate things from you for this amount, they could take everything, leaving only door handles, and when they took everything from you and only the handle remained, then this meant “Get to pens "

A certain circle of people have their own system, which we periodically observe in public places.

We use such phrases every day in speech, without thinking at all about their original meaning and origin. Why is the latest warning from China? Who is this silent sap? And why should a successful business burn out?
There is a historical or linguistic explanation for everything. Behind each phrase there is either a significant event, or realities of the past, or an obsolete meaning of the word. So.

Reach the handle

IN Ancient Rus' The rolls were baked in the shape of a castle with a round bow. Townspeople often bought rolls and ate them right on the street, holding them by this bow or handle. For reasons of hygiene, the pen itself was not eaten, but was given to the poor or thrown to be eaten by dogs. According to one version, about those who did not disdain to eat it, they said: they got to the point. And today the expression “reach the pen” means to completely descend, to lose human appearance.

bosom friend

The ancient expression “to pour on the Adam’s apple” meant “to get drunk”, “to drink alcohol.” From here the phraseological unit “bosom friend” was formed, which today is used to denote a very close friend.

Add the first number

In the old days, schoolchildren were often flogged, often without any fault of the person being punished. If the mentor showed special zeal, and the student suffered especially hard, he could be freed from further vices in the current month, until the first day of the next month. This is how the expression “pour in the first number” arose.

Goof

Prosak used to be called a special machine for weaving ropes and ropes. It had a complex design and twisted the strands so tightly that getting clothes, hair, or beard into it could cost a person his life. Exactly from similar cases The expression “to get into trouble” originated, which today means to be in an awkward position.

Latest Chinese warning

In the 1950s-1960s American planes often violated Chinese airspace for reconnaissance purposes. The Chinese authorities recorded every violation and each time sent a “warning” to the United States through diplomatic channels, although no real action they were not followed, and such warnings numbered in the hundreds. This policy has given rise to the expression “China's final warning,” meaning threats without consequences.

Hanging dogs

When a person is reproached or accused of something, you can hear the expression: “They hang dogs on him.” At first glance, this phrase is completely illogical. However, it is not associated with an animal at all, but with another meaning of the word “dog” - burdock, thorn - now almost not used.

Quietly

The word sape means "hoe" in French. In the 16th-19th centuries, the term “sapa” was used to denote a method of digging a trench, ditch or tunnel to approach fortifications. Gunpowder bombs were sometimes placed in tunnels to castle walls, and specialists trained to do this were called sappers. And from secretive digging of mines came the expression “slyly,” which today is used to denote careful and unnoticed actions.

Big boss

The most experienced and strong barge hauler, walking first in the strap, was called a cone. This evolved into the expression "big shot" to refer to an important person.

The case burned out

Previously, if a court case disappeared, the person could not be legally charged. Cases often burned down: either from fire in wooden court buildings, or from deliberate arson for a bribe. In such cases, the accused said: “The case has burned out.” Today this expression is used when we talk about the successful completion of a major undertaking.

Leave in English

When someone leaves without saying goodbye, we use the expression “left in English.” Although in the original this idiom was invented by the British themselves, and it sounded like ‘to take French leave’ (“to leave in French”). It appeared during the Seven Years' War in the 18th century as a mockery of French soldiers who left their unit without permission. At the same time, the French copied this expression, but in relation to the British, and in this form it became entrenched in the Russian language.

Blue blood

Spanish The Royal Family and the nobility were proud that, unlike common people, they trace their ancestry back to the West Goths and never mixed with the Moors who entered Spain from Africa. Unlike the dark-skinned commoners, the upper class had blue veins on their pale skin, and so they called themselves sangre azul, which means “blue blood.” From here this expression for denoting aristocracy penetrated into many European languages, including Russian.

And it's a no brainer

The source of the expression “It’s a no brainer” is a poem by Mayakovsky (“It’s even a no brainer - / This Petya was a bourgeois”). It became widespread first in the Strugatskys’ story “The Country of Crimson Clouds”, and then in Soviet boarding schools for gifted children. They recruited teenagers who had two years left to study (classes A, B, C, D, D) or one year (classes E, F, I). The students of the one-year stream were called “hedgehogs.” When they came to the boarding school, the two-year students were already ahead of them in the non-standard program, so at the beginning school year The expression “no brainer” was very relevant.

Washing the bones

Among Orthodox Greeks, as well as some Slavic peoples there was a custom of secondary burial - the bones of the deceased were removed, washed with water and wine and put back. If the corpse was found undecayed and swollen, this meant that during life this person was a sinner and he was cursed to come out of his grave at night in the form of a ghoul, a vampire, a ghoul and destroy people. Thus, the ritual of washing the bones was necessary to ensure that there was no such spell.

The highlight of the program

The opening of a nail-like object was timed to coincide with the 1889 World Exhibition in Paris. Eiffel Tower, which created a sensation. Since then, the expression “highlight of the program” has entered the language.

If we don't wash, we'll just ride

In old times village women After washing, they “rolled” the laundry using a special rolling pin. Well-rolled laundry turned out to be wrung out, ironed and clean, even if the wash was not of very high quality.

Newspaper duck

“One scientist, having bought 20 ducks, immediately ordered one of them to be cut into small pieces, which he fed to the rest of the birds. A few minutes later he did the same with another duck, and so on, until one remained, which thus devoured 19 of its friends.” This note was published in the newspaper by the Belgian humorist Cornelissen to mock the gullibility of the public. Since then, according to one version, false news has been called “newspaper ducks.”

Seven Fridays a week

Previously, Friday was a day off from work, and, as a result, a market day. On Friday, when they received the goods, they promised to give the money due for it on the next market day. Since then, to refer to people who do not fulfill their promises, they say: “He has seven Fridays in a week.”

Scapegoat

According to the ancient Jewish rite, on the day of remission of sins, the high priest placed his hands on the head of the goat and thereby laid the sins of the entire people on it. The goat was then taken into the Judean desert and released. This is where the expression “scapegoat” comes from.

) - to a hopeless, extreme situation, to complete despair (Explanatory Dictionary, 1935-1940, for the word “handle”).

The expression is not listed in earlier dictionaries:

Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language (1863-1866);

The book "Proverbs and sayings of the Russian people" (1853).

There are several versions of the origin of this expression:

The portal gramma.ru offers the following version origin of the expression:

“After the agrarian reforms*, many peasants went to the cities to earn money. Some people, torn from their usual rural environment, fell into the difficult conditions of the urban way of life, sharply joining the specific social group of “tramps”, similar to the homeless people we know. Tramps who did not own any industrial profession, usually heavy drinkers, no one wanted to hire them for work that required even basic skills, they even tried not to allow them into the territory of warehouses or factories (theft, high risk of injury in people in a state of constant hangover). Gradually, an extremely specific form of use arose the labor of completely degraded tramps: in a number of technically very simple productions, the drive of the simplest machine was brought out through the wall of some small handicraft factory. In the mornings, a crowd of tramps gathered in front of the factory gates, a foreman came out, selected “candidates”, brought them to the wall, he attached the handle to a drive sticking out of the wall and assigned the tramps a job: to turn the handle one at a time, continuously until the end of the working day, that is, to perform the simplest mechanical function of the drive. Hence the meaning of the expression “to reach the handle”, that is, to descend to the utmost low level, to the position of working cattle, stupidly turning the drive outside the factory walls. The pay was very poor, 4-5 times lower than the daily earnings of the average worker - 25-30 kopecks per day. However, taking into account the price level in pre-revolutionary Russia, this money was enough for tramps to buy one day’s modest food, both for a drink and for a snack. In any case, the usual “dose” of vodka was within their means: a “charka” (120 grams) cost 10-12 kopecks in the tavern, a “shkalik” (60 grams) cost 5-8 kopecks. Food: a pound (409 grams) of cheap second-rate sausage cost 5-7 kopecks, a pound of bread - 3-5 kopecks."

* land reform of 1861.

The portal vokrugsveta.ru offers a different version origin of the expression:

"... the mysterious “handle” in the aphorism is just a part of an ordinary bakery product - kalach. Kalachis have been baked in Russia since ancient times, both in cities and villages. Information about the sale of bread products to townspeople is contained in Novgorod sources. Take-away baked goods made from unleavened dough in the shape of a castle with a round bow. The townspeople loved to buy rolls from merchants and eat them right on the street, holding them by a special part - the handle, which was the bridge of the roll. For reasons of hygiene, the handle itself was not eaten, but given away it was thrown to the beggars or thrown to the dogs. This is where the expression came from: to reach the pen. A person who did not disdain to eat a pen from someone else’s roll put himself on a par with street dogs."

The history of the origin of phraseological units.
There are several versions of the origin of the phraseological unit “get to the handle”:
Version 1 (most likely). In Ancient Rus', rolls were baked in the shape of a castle with a round bow. The townspeople bought these rolls and most often ate them on the street, holding on to this bow (another way it can be called a handle). Of course, for reasons of hygiene, the townspeople did not eat the bow itself, but gave it to the beggars or threw it to the dogs. About those who did not disdain to eat the bow, they said: “reached the handle.”

Version 2. In ancient times, there was an unskilled and low-paid job: turning the handle of some machine with a muscular drive. And, except for completely degraded homeless people, no one took this job. They said about them: “I got to the point.”

Version 3. The Arabic word "ruqqa" means "extremely difficult situation." Usually the doubling of consonants is not maintained in Russian, but here it was retained due to the fact that one “k” was disguised as a “ch”, which made the word look like a diminutive form.

Version 4. To stretch out one's hand for alms = to reach the handle.

Version 5. Reaching the handle is the same as reaching the coffin board (since the coffin has handles on the sides).

There are no reliable sources about the origin of phraseological units. But still, most people adhere to the first version.

The meaning of phraseological units.
First, let's look at the meaning of the words included in this phraseological unit.
Get there:
1. Reach some place
2. Reach some level, limit, degree
3. When performing any action, come to a result
4. Reach an extreme degree of manifestation of something
5. Achieve complete readiness (about what is being cooked or baked)
6. Achieve a high position or position
Pen:
1. Part of an object by which it is held or grasped by hand
2. A part of machines or devices that serves to set them in motion by rotation
3. Part of a chair or sofa, on which one rests one’s elbow when sitting
4. Writing utensils
5. Diminutive form of the word “hand”
Well, now let’s move directly to the phraseological unit itself.
- sink to an extremely low level, to the position of working cattle, sink to the very bottom of society.
An example of using phraseological units:
But, also, the phraseological unit “get to the point” can be used in some other meaning.
- deteriorate in highest degree, become insolent, lose a sense of proportion.
Usage example: Well, you've already reached the point, bourgeois, go to the bakery by car!
As you have already noticed, you can convey the meaning of a phraseological unit by using only the word “reached”.

Phraseologism as a phrase.
– a simple, verbal, syntactically constrained phrase associated the magic of submission. The main word “to reach” has tied to itself dependent word"to the handle" with a spell to what?
Reach (what?) to the handle
Reached (what?) to the end
You will reach (what?) the handle
I'll reach (what?) the handle
Let's get (to what?) to the handle
The magic that connects these two words is called control magic. This is proven by the fact that the dependent word is located with the main word in the form of an indirect case and by the fact that when the main word changes, the dependent word remains unchanged. Another sure sign that we are dealing with the magic of control is the pretext before.

Use of phraseological units.
Nowadays the phraseology “get to the point” is used quite rarely. Most often we hear another phraseological unit, which is a synonym, “sank below the plinth.” And even if the phraseology “get to the point” is used, it is only in Everyday life, more often by older people.
A phraseological unit that can be used as an antonym: “from rags to riches.”
Here are some examples of the use of the phraseological unit “get to the point” in fiction:

1. All this was understandable, but it was also clear that he couldn’t stand another months-long binge like the one in Paris, when he got to the point.(W. Styron. “And set the house on fire”).

2. I'm not afraid to get to the point:
Having destroyed a series of problems,
Funny babbling granddaughter
Playing with a butterfly in the garden

WITH a cheerful gift miracle worker
Colors the leaves of days:
Mistress of the rainbow and the sun,
Princess of Soap Bubbles. (Boris Zucker)

3. - It's over. So I got to the point!(Vera Inber “Got to the point”)

Karelia Ferrari, 2nd year student at Argemona School, Crannog House

Reach the handle...

In Ancient Rus', rolls were baked in the shape of a castle with a round bow. Townspeople often bought rolls and ate them right on the street, holding them by this bow or handle. For reasons of hygiene, the pen itself was not eaten, but was given to the poor or thrown to be eaten by dogs.

According to one version, about those who did not disdain to eat it, they said: “reached the handle.” And today the expression “reach the pen” means to completely descend, to lose human appearance.

bosom friend

The ancient expression “to pour on the Adam’s apple” meant “to get drunk”, “to drink alcohol.” From here the phraseological unit “bosom friend” was formed, which today is used to denote a very close friend.

Add the first number

In the old days, schoolchildren were often flogged, often without any fault of the person being punished. If the mentor showed special zeal, and the student suffered especially hard, he could be freed from further vices in the current month, until the first day of the next month. This is how the expression “pour in the first number” arose.

Goof

Prosak used to be called a special machine for weaving ropes and ropes. It had a complex design and twisted the strands so tightly that getting clothes, hair, or beard into it could cost a person his life. It was from such cases that the expression “get into trouble” came about, which today means to be in an awkward position.

Latest Chinese warning

In the 1950s and 1960s, American aircraft often violated Chinese airspace for reconnaissance purposes. The Chinese authorities recorded every violation and each time sent a “warning” to the United States through diplomatic channels, although no real action followed them, and such warnings were counted in the hundreds.
This policy has given rise to the expression “China's final warning,” meaning threats without consequences.

Hanging dogs

When a person is reproached or accused of something, you can hear the expression: “They hang dogs on him.” At first glance, this phrase is completely illogical. However, it is not associated with an animal at all, but with another meaning of the word “dog” - burdock, thorn - now almost never used.

Quietly

The word “sape” means “hoe” in French. In the 16th-19th centuries, the term “sapa” was used to denote a method of digging a trench, ditch or tunnel to approach fortifications.
Gunpowder bombs were sometimes placed in tunnels to castle walls, and specialists trained to do this were called sappers. And from secretive digging of mines came the expression “slyly,” which today is used to denote careful and unnoticed actions.

Big boss

The most experienced and strong barge hauler, walking first in the strap, was called a cone. This evolved into the expression "big shot" to refer to an important person.

The case burned out

Previously, if a court case disappeared, the person could not be legally charged. Cases often burned down: either from fire in wooden court buildings, or from deliberate arson for a bribe. In such cases, the accused said: “The case has burned out.” Today this expression is used when we talk about the successful completion of a major undertaking.

Leave in English

When someone leaves without saying goodbye, we use the expression “left in English.” Although in the original this idiom was invented by the British themselves, and it sounded like ‘to take French leave’ (“to leave in French”).

It appeared during the Seven Years' War in the 18th century as a mockery of French soldiers who left their unit without permission. At the same time, the French copied this expression, but in relation to the British, and in this form it became entrenched in the Russian language.

Blue blood

The Spanish royal family and nobility were proud that, unlike the common people, they traced their ancestry to the West Goths and never mixed with the Moors who entered Spain from Africa.

Unlike the dark-skinned commoners, the upper class had blue veins on their pale skin, and so they called themselves sangre azul, which means “blue blood.” From here this expression for denoting aristocracy penetrated into many European languages, including Russian.

And it's a no brainer

Expressions “Even a no brainer” - a poem by Mayakovsky (“Even a no brainer - / This Petya was a bourgeois”). It became widespread first in the Strugatskys’ story “The Country of Crimson Clouds”, and then in Soviet boarding schools for gifted children.

They recruited teenagers who had two years left to study (classes A, B, C, D, D) or one year (classes E, F, I). Students of the one-year stream were called “hedgehogs”. When they arrived at the boarding school, the two-year students were already ahead of them in the non-standard program, so at the beginning of the school year the expression “no brainer” was very relevant.

Washing the bones

The Orthodox Greeks, as well as some Slavic peoples, had a custom of secondary burial - the bones of the deceased were removed, washed with water and wine, and put back. If the corpse was found undecayed and swollen, this meant that during life this person was a sinner and he was under a curse - to emerge from the grave at night in the form of a ghoul, vampire, ghoul and destroy people. Thus, the ritual of washing the bones was necessary to ensure that there was no such spell.

If we don't wash, we'll just ride

In the old days, village women used a special rolling pin to “roll” their laundry after washing. Well-rolled laundry turned out to be wrung out, ironed and clean, even if the wash was not of very high quality.

Newspaper duck

“One scientist, having bought 20 ducks, immediately ordered one of them to be cut into small pieces, which he fed to the rest of the birds. A few minutes later he did the same with another duck, and so on, until one remained, which thus devoured 19 of its friends.” This note was published in the newspaper by the Belgian humorist Cornelissen to mock the gullibility of the public. Since then, according to one version, false news has been called “newspaper ducks.”

Seven Fridays a week

Previously, Friday was a day off from work, and, as a result, a market day. On Friday, when they received the goods, they promised to give the money due for it on the next market day. Since then, to refer to people who do not fulfill their promises, they say: “He has seven Fridays in a week.”

Scapegoat

According to the ancient Jewish rite, on the day of remission of sins, the high priest placed his hands on the head of the goat and thereby laid the sins of the entire people on it. The goat was then taken into the Judean desert and released. This is where the expression “scapegoat” comes from.

"Freeze the stupidity"

This expression appeared thanks to gentlemen high school students. The fact is that the word “moros” translated from Greek means “stupidity”.
This is what the teachers said to the careless students when they started talking nonsense out of ignorance of the lesson: “You’re talking about the drizzle.” Then the words were rearranged - and it turned out that out of ignorance the high school students “were being stupid.”

"Cuckold"

„ To the husbands with whose wives the emperor had love affair, it was allowed to hunt in the emperor’s menagerie, where he kept many exotic animals “
The origin of this expression is very ancient.

During the reign of Emperor Komnenos Andronikos ( ancient Byzantium) there was such a rule in everyday life: those husbands with whose wives the emperor had a love affair were allowed to hunt in the emperor’s menagerie, where he kept many exotic animals. And I must say, this privilege was in great demand then. So, the gates of the houses where such families lived were decorated with deer antlers - a sign of special honor.

"The Smoking Room is Alive"

In the old days in Rus' there was such a game: everyone sat in a circle, someone lit a torch - and then it was passed around the circle from hand to hand. At the same time, everyone present sang a song: “The Smoking Room is alive, alive, alive, not dead...”.
And so on until the torch burns. The one in whose hands the torch went out lost.
Since then, this expression began to be applied to those people, and sometimes things that, it would seem, should have disappeared a long time ago, but despite everything continued to exist.

"And prove that you are not a camel"

This phrase became very popular after the publication of the next series of the zucchini “Thirteen Chairs”. There was a miniature where Mr. Director talks with Mr. Himalayan about the camel recently brought to the circus.
In the accompanying documents it was written: “We are sending a Bactrian camel and a Himalayan camel to your circus,” i.e. the surname of Pan Himalayan was written with a small letter. Fearing bureaucratic checks, Mr. Director demands a certificate from Mr. Himalayan stating that he is not actually a camel.

This so vividly ridiculed the role of the bureaucratic machine in our country that the expression very quickly spread to the people and became popular.
Now we say this when we are asked to prove obvious things.

"Out of my element"

In French, “assiet” is both a plate and a mood, a state.
They say that in early XIX century, a certain translator, while translating a French play, translated the phrase “buddy, you’re out of sorts” as “you’re out of your element.”
Alexander Sergeevich Griboedov, who was an avid theatergoer, of course, could not ignore such a brilliant blunder and put an illiterate phrase into Famusov’s mouth: “My dear! You are out of your element. You need sleep from the road.”
WITH light hand Alexander Sergeevich's crazy phrase took on meaning and took root in the Russian language for a long time.

Fly like plywood over Paris

In 1908, the famous French aviator Auguste Fanier, while making a demonstration flight over Paris, crashed into the Eiffel Tower and died.
After which the famous Menshevik Martov wrote in Iskra that “the tsarist regime is flying towards its destruction as quickly as Mr. Fanier over Paris.”
The Russian person perceived this maxim somewhat differently, changing the name of the foreign aviator to plywood. This is where the expression comes from: “fly like plywood over Paris.”

"Give the go-ahead"

In the pre-revolutionary alphabet, the letter “D” was called “good”. The flag corresponding to this letter in the code of signals of the naval fleet has the meaning “yes, I agree, I authorize.” This is what gave rise to the expression “give the go-ahead.” The expression “Customs gives the go-ahead” derived from this first appeared in the film “ White sun desert."

The highlight of the program

The opening of the nail-like Eiffel Tower was timed to coincide with the 1889 World Exhibition in Paris, which created a sensation. Since then, the expression “highlight of the program” has entered the language.

Plant the pig

The expression “to put a pig on someone” means “to cause a big nuisance.” It is curious that in German The idiomatic expression "to have a pig" means "luck". “Er hat shwein” (“he has a pig”) – he is lucky.
An episode from F. Rabelais’ book “Gargantua and Pantagruel” about the trick that Brother Jean resorted to when preparing for the battle with sausages can also be considered interesting for explaining the phrase “put a pig on the table.” Repeating the trick of the ancient Greeks during the siege of Troy (see “Gifts of the Danaans”), he ordered the construction of a huge pig and, together with the cooks, hid inside it. At the decisive moment, the cooks, led by brother Jean, jumped out of cover and put the stunned enemy to flight.

However, it should be said that these explanations cannot be considered indisputable. The possibility cannot be excluded that they were based on the invincible disgust of some eastern peoples(in particular, Tatars) to pork meat.

A Mohammedan who was “put on a pig” at a meal, that is, treated to pork in a deceptive manner, became extremely angry and almost fell ill. It is very likely that our expression came from here.