What does the saying strike while the iron is hot mean? What is the meaning of the phrase "strike while the iron is hot"

Sprinkle ashes on your head

Sprinkle ashes on your head
From the Bible. Found in many places in the Old Testament (Pentateuch, Book of Job, Book of Esther, etc.). Everywhere we have in mind the ancient custom of the Jews to sprinkle ashes or earth on their heads, mourning their misfortune or that of their loved ones. Thus, the Book of Esther (chapter 4, art. I) talks about how a certain man named Mordecai, having learned that King Artaxerxes had issued a decree on the extermination of all the Jews, “torn his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes ; and he went out into the middle of the city and cried out with a great and bitter cry...”
"Vretishe" translated from Old Slavonic language means “rags” and “old, shabby clothes.”
Queen Esther did the same, having learned about this news (Book of Esther, chapter 4, v. 17): “And Queen Esther ran to the Lord, overwhelmed with mortal grief, and, taking off the clothes of her glory, put on clothes of sorrow and lamentation, and, instead of valuable colors, she sprinkled ashes and dust on her head...”
Used: as an allegory for extreme grief, sadness or disappointment, to regret one’s wrong actions.
Analogue of another famous expression- “tearing out your hair.”

encyclopedic Dictionary winged words and expressions. - M.: “Locked-Press”. Vadim Serov. 2003.

See what “Sprinkle ashes on your head” is in other dictionaries:

sprinkle ashes on one's head- book. indulge in extreme grief on the occasion of any loss or disaster. The expression goes back to the Bible, which describes the custom of Jews to sprinkle ashes or earth on their heads during mourning or about some misfortune. This custom was... Phraseology Guide

See Sprinkle ashes on your head (HEAD) ...

Sprinkle ashes on your head- SPREAD YOUR HEAD (HEAD) WITH ASH. SPREAD YOUR HEAD (HEAD) WITH ASH. Book Indulge in deep grief (usually over a bereavement). And the people are dying! Is it really possible to live like this? We discuss the situation of the people, and scourge, scourge ourselves endlessly, sprinkle... ... Phrasebook Russian literary language

Book 1. Indulge in grief over misfortune, bereavement. 2. Repentantly admitting your guilt and mistakes, promising to improve. FSRY, 347. /i> Goes back to the Bible. BMS 1998, 110 ... Big dictionary Russian sayings

The expression originated from the Bible, which talks about ancient custom Jews sprinkle ashes or earth on their heads, mourning the misfortune of themselves or loved ones (Job, 2, 12; Esther, 4, 1). Used in the meaning: to deeply grieve over some... ... Dictionary of popular words and expressions

Sprinkle ashes on the head- wing. sl. The expression originated from the Bible, which talks about the ancient custom of Jews to sprinkle ashes or earth on their heads, mourning the misfortune of themselves or loved ones (Job, 2, 12; Esther, 4, 1). Used to mean: deeply grieve over... ... Universal additional practical Dictionary I. Mostitsky

Sprinkle ashes on the head (foreign language) as a sign of sadness, sorrow (mourn). Wed. To make my present confession complete, that is, to once again sprinkle ashes on my whitened head, I must repent of three more... hobbies... N. Makarov. Confession. 2,… … Michelson's Large Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary (original spelling)

sprinkle ashes on the head- Sprinkle pe/plom chapter (head), book. Indulge in extreme grief, sadness on the occasion of some event. loss, disaster, etc. (originally: a Hebrew rite symbolizing general mourning) ... Dictionary of many expressions

1) sprinkle with ivy, bald spots; owls 1. transfer (what and what). Pour in a little something. Sparrows immediately appeared: they sprinkled cereals on the boat; they ate and flew away. I. Goncharov, Frigate “Pallada” [Pavel] carefully sprinkled salt on a piece of bread. M.... ... Small academic dictionary

- (foreign) a sign of sadness, grief (mourn) Wed. To make my present confession complete, i.e. Having once again sprinkled ashes on my whitened head, I must repent of three more... hobbies... N. Makarov. Confession. 2, 4. Wed. I sprinkled ashes on the head, From... ... Michelson's Large Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary

As is known, some stable phrases contain information about various folk traditions that were performed or are being performed to this day. These include the expression “sprinkling ashes on your head.” In this article we will look at what it means, how it appeared, where, when and why it is used in speech and whether it is possible to find synonymous phrases for it.

“Sprinkle ashes on your head”: the meaning of phraseology

The interpretation of the expression is to grieve greatly because of a misfortune that has happened, the loss of something valuable. This is what it means to “sprinkle ashes on your head.” This expression conveys deep sorrow at loss or misfortune. For example, if some great sorrow occurred, be it death loved one or other major loss.

Set expressions should not be taken literally. To understand their meaning, it is necessary to consider the etymology of the phrase. With its help, the expression acquires meaning and becomes understandable.

The history of the origin of this phraseological unit

To find out where this stable phrase came from in our speech, you need to open the Bible. In it we will learn about unusual tradition Jews, which they committed upon the death or other great misfortune of their loved ones, as well as upon own troubles. At such moments, they sprinkled ashes or earth on their heads. Such a ritual showed their grief and despair. It was iconic and contained deep meaning.

Now, after familiarizing ourselves with the etymology of the expression “sprinkle ashes on your head,” the meaning of the phraseological unit seems to us quite clear and explainable.

Synonyms of a set phrase

The phraseological unit we are considering can be replaced with various verbs and expressions. For example, use the following words and combinations instead: grieve, grieve, yearn, become despondent. Or you can replace it with another stable expression: “tear your clothes.” Its meaning is the same as the phrase “sprinkle ashes on your head.” The meaning of the phraseological unit also expresses the extreme degree of despair and sorrow. Moreover, its origin is also connected with folk tradition. Only it no longer belongs to the Jews, but to the ancient Greeks and Slavs. It was also borrowed by some other nations. As a sign of grief, they tore their clothes.

Oddly enough, such an archaic tradition is still observed by some peoples. It is also worth noting that they tore not only clothes, but also hair. It expressed complete despair. It is no coincidence that there is such an expression as “pulling your hair out.” It is also a synonymous phraseological unit for the phrase we are considering.

Use of expression

Hardly in modern times colloquial speech we can hear the phrase “sprinkle ashes on your head.” The meaning of a phraseological unit, even if it is known to someone, few will dare to use such a phrase. It can embellish their speech and can just as easily put the other person in an awkward position. Rather, this phraseological unit should be used in the media and fiction.

Journalists and writers love to insert various stable phrases into their works. In this way they enliven their works, making the language brighter and the descriptions deeper. As an example, we can cite an excerpt from the story by writer Yuri Nagibin “Rise and Go.” “And the fact that after my father’s arrest I was deprived of my Sunday ruble was more of a ritual gesture, like sprinkling ashes on the head, than a necessity.” As we see, the writer used the expression we are considering in his story. In this way, he was able to show readers that the gesture was ritual, that is, although it was not justified, it was obligatory, like the tradition of sprinkling ashes on the head, like the ancient Jews.

Conclusion

Having examined this expression, we learned its meaning, history of origin, selected synonyms for it and found out the scope of its application.

Ash Wednesday

Meaning Celebrated Date In 2017 Traditions Associated with

Ash Wednesday
Sprinkling ashes on the head. (Yu. Falat. “Ash Wednesday” 1881.)
first day of Lent
Christians of the Western tradition
Ash Wednesday[d]

sprinkling the heads of believers with blessed ashes
the beginning of Lent
Ash Wednesday at Wikimedia Commons

Applying the sign of the cross on the forehead with ashes

Karl Spitzweg. "Ash Wednesday"

Ash Wednesday(lat. Dies Cinerum) - the day of the beginning of Lent in the Latin rite of the Catholic, Anglican and some Lutheran churches. Celebrated 46 calendar days (1.5 months) before Easter. In Catholicism, strict fasting is prescribed on this day. In Orthodoxy it corresponds to Clean Monday.

Meaning

The Gospel reading for this day is a fragment from the Sermon on the Mount on almsgiving and fasting (Matt. 6:1-6, Matt. 6:16-18). The liturgical color is purple.

At Catholic masses on this day, a special ritual is performed of sprinkling the heads of believers with blessed ashes (sometimes instead of sprinkling ashes on the head, the sign of the cross is applied to the forehead with ashes). This rite marks the contrition and repentance that is required of Christians during Lent. During the ritual, the priest says to each believer, “Repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:14), or “Dust you are, and to dust you will return” (Genesis 3:19). The ashes, according to tradition, are obtained from the burning of branches preserved from the last Palm Sunday.

Ash Wednesday is preceded by the so-called Fat Tuesday, which is the last day of the carnival period, a time of festivities and entertainment before Lent (Mardi Gras).

This custom is ancient biblical origin- in the Old Testament, sprinkling ashes on the head was a symbol of repentance and humility.

Story

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, which came into use only in the 4th century. Initially, the fast was 40 days, but then in the 8th century several more days were added to it, so that it began on Wednesday. Although there is evidence of earlier sporadic practice, Ash Wednesday traditions are sometimes associated with Gregory the Great. However, the practice of sprinkling ashes on the head appeared much later, in the 10th century. Aelfric of Abingdon, Archbishop of Canterbury in 995-1005 wrote:

We read in the books of both the Old and New Testaments that people who repented of their sins sprinkled themselves with ashes and clothed their bodies in rags. Let us do this little thing at the beginning of our Lent, sprinkle ashes on our heads to commemorate the fact that we should repent of our sins during Lent

Slavic traditions

For more on this topic, see Ash Wednesday in the Slavic Tradition.

Ash Wednesday in the popular consciousness was the boundary separating meat-eating, joyful celebrations and mummery from strict long-term fasting. In the folk tradition, Meat Empty ended: despite church regulations, the Catholic Slavs often continued meat-eating games and entertainment on this day.

Dates

Days on which Ash Wednesday falls in the coming years:

2014 - March 5
2015 - February 18
2016 - February 10
2017 - March 1
2018 - February 14
2019 - March 6
2020 - February 26
2021 - February 17
2022 - March 2
2023 - February 22

Where does the disgusting expression “I sprinkle ashes on my head” come from? And what does it mean?

From the Bible. Found in many places in the Old Testament (Pentateuch, Book of Job, Book of Esther, etc.). Everywhere we have in mind the ancient custom of the Jews to sprinkle ashes or earth on their heads, mourning their misfortune or that of their loved ones. Thus, the Book of Esther (chapter 4, v. 1) talks about how a certain man named Mordecai, having learned that King Artaxerxes had issued a decree on the extermination of all the Jews, “torn his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes ; and went out into the middle of the city, and cried out with a great and bitter cry..."
“Sackcloth” translated from Old Church Slavonic means “rags” and “old, shabby clothes.”
Queen Esther did the same, having learned about this news (Book of Esther, chapter 4, v. 17): “And Queen Esther ran to the Lord, overwhelmed with mortal grief, and, taking off the clothes of her glory, put on clothes of sorrow and lamentation, and, instead of valuable colors, she sprinkled ashes and dust on her head...”
Used as an allegory for extreme grief, sadness or disappointment, to regret one’s wrong actions.
An analogue of another well-known expression is “pulling your hair out.”

Antalya

This is the story of the Bible about the righteous Job. This one has God's man they took away everything he had and wanted to test his loyalty to God. When Job lost all his wealth, 10 children, friends, health, he sat down on the ground crying and sprinkled ashes on his head...
But since Job in this situation did not anger God, did not complain, and was not offended. He got it 10 times Furthermore what I lost

Can anyone explain in YOUR OWN WORDS what the expression “Sprinkle ashes on your head” means? Thank you in advance!

Tamara Kolykhanova

Repent. Repent for what you have done.
When Christians repent, they sprinkle ashes on their heads (they level themselves to the ground, below the plinth, they say, I am!), put on rags (rough clothes that scratch the skin until they bleed, of a very unattractive appearance - for the same purpose.).

User deleted

It depends on whose head you sprinkle ashes :-)))
In general, it seems that widows sprinkled ashes from the funeral pyre on their heads - the highest expression of grief; tearing their clothes is also good.
But for men, this resulted in tearing the shirt on the chest, and they usually sprinkle ashes on someone else’s head in order to explain how correctly you should mourn for him.

User deleted

Sprinkle ashes on your head
From the Bible. Found in many places in the Old Testament (Pentateuch, Book of Job, Book of Esther, etc.) Everywhere refers to the ancient custom of the Jews to sprinkle ashes or earth on their heads, mourning their misfortune or their loved ones. Thus, the Book of Esther (chapter 4, verse 1) talks about how a certain man named Mordecai, having learned that King Artaxerxes had issued a decree on the extermination of all the Jews, “torn his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and he went out into the middle of the city and cried out with a great and bitter cry..."
"Sackcloth" translated from the Old Church Slavonic language means "rags" and "old, shabby clothes."
Queen Esther did the same, having learned about this news (Book of Esther, chapter 4, verse 17): “And Queen Esther ran to the Lord, overwhelmed with mortal grief, and, taking off the clothes of her glory, put on clothes of sorrow and lamentation, and , instead of valuable colors, she sprinkled ashes and dust on her head... "Used as an allegory for extreme sorrow, sadness or disappointment, to regret one’s wrong actions.
An analogue of another well-known expression is “pulling your hair out.”

Sprinkle ashes on your head SPREAD YOUR HEAD (HEAD) WITH ASH. SPREAD YOUR HEAD (HEAD) WITH ASH. Book Indulge in deep grief (usually over a bereavement). - And the people are dying! Is it really possible to live like this? We discuss the situation of the people - and we scourge, we scourge ourselves endlessly, we sprinkle ashes on our heads... Isn’t it better, isn’t it more noble to remain silent, just drink vodka and not talk about the word “people”?(Veresaev. During his student years). - From the biblical story about the ancient custom of Jews to sprinkle ashes or earth on their heads, mourning their misfortune or the misfortune of loved ones. Lit.: Ashukin N. S., Ashukina M. G. Winged words. - M., 1986. - P. 50.

Phraseological dictionary of the Russian literary language. - M.: Astrel, AST. A. I. Fedorov. 2008.

See what “Sprinkle the head (chapter) with ashes” in other dictionaries:

Sprinkle / sprinkle the head (head) with ashes- Book 1. Indulge in grief over misfortune, bereavement. 2. Repentantly admitting your guilt and mistakes, promising to improve. FSRY, 347. /i> Goes back to the Bible. BMS 1998, 110 ...

Sprinkle the head with ashes- See Sprinkle ashes on your head (HEAD) ... Large dictionary of Russian sayings

Sprinkle ashes on the head- The expression originated from the Bible, which tells about the ancient custom of Jews to sprinkle ashes or earth on their heads, mourning the misfortune of themselves or loved ones (Job, 2, 12; Esther, 4, 1). Used in the meaning: to deeply grieve over some... ... Dictionary of popular words and expressions

Sprinkle ashes on the head- Sprinkle ashes on the head (foreign language) as a sign of sadness, sorrow (mourn). Wed. To make my present confession complete, that is, to once again sprinkle ashes on my whitened head, I must repent of three more... hobbies... N. Makarov. Confession. 2,… … Michelson's Large Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary (original spelling)

sprinkle ashes on the head- (foreign) a sign of sadness, grief (mourn) Wed. To make my present confession complete, i.e. Having once again sprinkled ashes on my whitened head, I must repent of three more... hobbies... N. Makarov. Confession. 2, 4. Wed. I sprinkled ashes on the head, From... ... Michelson's Large Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary

to sprinkle- 1) sprinkle with spittle, bald spots; owls 1. transfer (what and what). Pour in a little something. Sparrows immediately appeared: they sprinkled cereals on the boat; they ate and flew away. I. Goncharov, Frigate “Pallada” [Pavel] carefully sprinkled salt on a piece of bread. M.... ... Small academic dictionary

to sprinkle- spit, bald and (colloquial) sing, pet, pem, pete, five; sprinkle; sprinkled; pan, a, o; St. 1. (what and what). Pour in a little something. above; scatter over which l. surfaces. P. fish food. P. crumbs for the birds. P. paths with sand. P. nut cake. P. bread... encyclopedic Dictionary

HEAD- Adam's head (chapter). 1. Jarg. corner., Alt. Joking. iron. Skull, image of a skull. BSRG, 131; F 1, 116; BTS, 29; SRGA 1.19. 2. Kostroma. Joking. About the person with big head. SRNG 1, 206. 3. Jarg. corner. Joking. About a bald man. BBI, 17. 4. Arch., Don... Large dictionary of Russian sayings

This article will talk about the expression that each of us had to listen to: “sprinkle ashes on your head.” What does this expression mean and where did this expression come to us, the meaning of which is so deep and ambiguous that it will not leave any person indifferent?

As they say, a person can turn gray in one night, so the ashes in the hair on the head symbolize seal and sorrow. This is repentance and taking all the torment on your shoulders.

History of origin

Sprinkling ashes on their heads was customary in ancient times among representatives Jewish nationality. Moreover, the described action can be found in the Bible. The book of Esther tells about Mordecai, who, as a sign of grief and despair from the grief that overtook him, sprinkled ashes on his head when he learned about the death of the Jewish people, slaughtered by order of King Artaxerxes.

In ancient times, the Jewish people had the following custom: as a sign of grief in connection with the death of relatives and friends, they sprinkled earth or ashes on their heads. On the day of the funeral or at the moment of receiving terrible news, it was customary to express one’s feelings violently: scream loudly, cry. Perhaps the feeling of guilt consumes a person who has suffered a loss, so sprinkling ashes on the head was regarded as a final “I’m sorry.” Reluctance to part with family and friends who are leaving for damp earth, looked like a ritual of possible connection with the deceased.

Meaning

To sprinkle ashes on one's head is in other words: to grieve, grieve, cry loudly about the death of a loved one, whose loss causes two strong emotions that act alternately, in waves: sadness and grief. Grief spills out violently, it protests, rebels against the loss, demands to return everything to normal, and sadness is a feeling of humility and awareness of the grief that has overtaken. Sadness is passive, it holds a person captive for a long time, grief is like a wave hitting a rock with incredible strength, which immediately releases its prey, but completely deprives it of self-control.

The meaning of the expression “to sprinkle ashes on one’s head” is similar to the feeling of sadness. It is possible to survive this difficult period only in the presence of those people who together are able to share the bitterness of loss. The meaning of this sad event becomes deep and significant if you tell other people about it and see their reaction to what happened. The interpretation of the meaning of “sprinkling ashes on one’s head” can be extremely important; it is like a signal that a person is reacting “normally, and most importantly, correctly” to grief. What should cause anxiety is not crying and tears, but the absence of them, which indicates a lack of awareness of the fact of the loss of a loved one, which can lead to further psychological problems.

Today's day

Currently, it is not customary to vigorously or openly express your emotions about the loss of a loved one. It seems inappropriate for us to do as our ancestors did: tearing our clothes or sprinkling ashes on our heads. What people haven’t come up with, what they haven’t invented! But no one will give clear instructions on how to survive grief, what to do, what to do? As they say: life goes on and cannot be stopped, the sun rises, children are born, young people laugh. A feeling of humility and repentance take over the soul.

It is worth mentioning that the expression this kind Although it is used in a colloquial form, its semantic meaning is distorted in comparison with ancient times. When they say “sprinkle ashes on your head,” they may mean that a person takes on a deliberately unhappy appearance, puts his grief on display as one of the options in order to pity.

Conclusion

In conclusion, to summarize what has been said, I would like to note that a person’s life consists of ups and downs, happiness and grief, losses and gains. Experiencing difficult times in life, people have learned to convey in a few words the abyss of grief that everyone living on Earth will have to experience at least once in their life. No one will be able to alleviate this feeling, but it is worth knowing that suffering for a deceased loved one is a process of acceptance and awareness.

As you know, some stable phrases contain information about various folk traditions that were performed or are being performed to this day. These include the expression “sprinkling ashes on your head.” In this article we will look at what it means, how it appeared, where, when and why it is used in speech and whether it is possible to find synonymous phrases for it.

“Sprinkle ashes on your head”: the meaning of phraseology

The interpretation of the expression is to grieve greatly because of a misfortune that has happened, the loss of something valuable. This is what it means to “sprinkle ashes on your head.” This expression conveys deep sorrow at loss or misfortune. For example, if some great grief has occurred, be it the death of a loved one or another major loss.

It shouldn't be taken literally. To understand their meaning, it is necessary to consider the etymology of the phrase. With its help, the expression acquires meaning and becomes understandable.

The history of the origin of this phraseological unit

To find out where this stable phrase came from in our speech, you need to open the Bible. In it we learn about the unusual tradition of the Jews, which they performed upon the death or other great misfortune of their loved ones, as well as upon their own troubles. At such moments, they sprinkled ashes or earth on their heads. Such a ritual showed their grief and despair. It was iconic and contained deep meaning.

Now, after familiarizing ourselves with the etymology of the expression “sprinkle ashes on your head,” the meaning of the phraseological unit seems to us quite clear and explainable.

Synonyms of a set phrase

Use of expression

It is unlikely that in modern colloquial speech we can hear the phrase “sprinkle ashes on your head.” The meaning of a phraseological unit, even if it is known to someone, few will dare to use such a phrase. It can embellish their speech and can just as easily put the other person in an awkward position. Rather, this phraseological unit should be used in the media and fiction.

Conclusion

Having examined this expression, we learned its meaning, history of origin, selected synonyms for it and found out the scope of its application.