What does the mysterious expression "carrot"zagovhenie? This question can stump even a person who knows Russian very well. In order to understand the meaning of this speech turn, it is necessary to look into the past. So where did he come from, in what situations is he used?
The expression "carrot sting": the origin
First you need to understand what is"Conspiracy." This will allow to penetrate into the meaning of the phrase "carrot". So, this word comes from the verb "govote", which means "to fast." It means the day before the beginning of fasting - the period when a certain food (meat, fish, dairy products) is under the strictest prohibition.
In ancient times, people belonged to religious traditionswith much more respect than today. Of course, the posts are strictly observed. “Conspiracy” is the day when it was possible to afford meat, milk and similar skim products for the last time before prolonged abstinence. It is not surprising that on this day it was decided to roll up a luxurious feast. Immediately after the "zagoveniya" forbidden food was expelled from the diet.
What does the carrot?
All of the above does not explain the meaning.mysterious phrase "carrot zagovhenie." To solve it, it is necessary to call on the help figurative thinking. Obviously, the carrot is a product that can be safely eaten during the days of fasting. In other words, she is fast; even the harsh monastic statutes did not object to her.
Whereas the word "zagovhenie" is associated withfatty foods, which on certain days are strongly ordered to completely eliminate religious traditions from the diet. Consequently, "carrot" is a figure of speech in which incompatible concepts are combined. Other examples of such concepts are “sweet pain”, “living corpse”.
The meaning of expression
Our ancestors liked to use the phrase "wait untilcarrot of filing ”, which means that we are talking about an event that may never happen. It is used when promising a long wait. And the term of this expectation is impossible to predict. There is a high probability that the long-awaited moment will not come at all, as the funny expression warns.
Why precisely carrot, and not turnip, beet orcabbage? Unfortunately, the linguists did not manage to find the answer to this question, although some efforts were made in this direction. Perhaps it happened because the phraseological units associated with other vegetables already existed. For example, "it is easier than the soared turnip", "to chop up in cabbage".
Similar sayings
So, the above is about what"Carrot". The meaning of a phraseological unit is no longer an enigma. Other sayings that have a similar meaning will help to fix it in memory and expand vocabulary. Fortunately, the Russian language is rich in such turns of speech.
Speaking of a future event that maynot happen, people can use the saying "when the cancer on the mountain whistles." Obviously, the arthropod is not able to put claws in its mouth and produce a sharp sound. Consequently, this phrase is embedded in the same meaning as in the case when the “carrot sauce” is mentioned. The meaning of the phraseologism "before the second coming" also hints at a long and possibly unsuccessful expectation.
It is impossible not to remember the beautiful phrase “beforeGreek calends. " This expression is borrowed from the Latin language. Ancient Romans called days of calendars when tax collectors came to them. Traditionally this happened on the first day of the month. Whereas for the Greeks, the first day of the month did not matter much. Consequently, the expression “before the Greek calends” has the same meaning as the speech “before the carrot of the filing.”
What else do you need to know?
As mentioned above, the word "spell"formed from the verb "govat" (fast, keep fast). It is interesting that not all people pronounce it correctly. We must not forget that when pronouncing the word “zagovhenie” the emphasis must be placed on the first syllable, all other options are incorrect.
What simple synonyms are replaced by the expression? "Infinitely", "long" - words that can be used in this case.