How rarely do we think about the origin of thator another word. But many of them, even such simple and familiar, have an interesting history and even a legend of their origin. An excellent example is the sharomyzhnik. Let's get acquainted with this word closer.
Meaning of the word "sharomyzhnik"
Sharomyzhnik (with an emphasis on "s") is a colloquial word used in a condemning, contemptuous context. Its other forms: sharomyga, sharomyzhka, sheramymizhnik.
Sharomyzhnik is:
- The one who likes to profit at someone else's expense.
- A person who is worthless to deceive someone is something to steal.
- Dodger, crook, thief, deceiver.
- A person who is not engaged in a serious business, a job, who has a suspicious income, on whom it is dangerous to rely.
- The jester, the group's “amicator,” but at the same time a rather “slippery” character.
Synonyms for words
Sharomyzhnik is a concept that has a lot of synonyms:
- scammer;
- miser;
- got out;
- burning out;
- the goose is fingered;
- dodger;
- swindler;
- don't put a finger in your mouth;
- cheater;
- Mazurik;
- walker;
- hlyust;
- cunning
- purge beast;
- net;
- swindler;
- grip;
- beetle;
- rogue;
- schemer;
- an idler;
- hunted;
- prostrate;
- slacker;
- loach;
- shtukar
- strekulist and so on.
Word story legend
Surely someone of the readers is familiar with the legendthe origin of the word "sharomyzhnik". She relates us to the events of 1812 - the Patriotic War with the army of Napoleon. According to the narrators, we owe the appearance of this word to the captive French soldiers. For years, the Russian government did not allow the poor fellow to their original homeland, but also for the means of prisoners of war was also stingy. The French were imprisoned in terrible conditions - in unheated barracks without basic amenities, they walked in old frayed uniforms. Prisoners died of cold, hunger, disease.
Many warders tried to do something.for their unfortunate wards - they were simply released to beg for alms from the residents of the surrounding villages. Of course, ordinary Russian people were wary of yesterday’s invaders, and they had no desire to help hungry ragged people. Many drove them away, after christening them as sharomizhnikami - loafer, idlers, scampers.
Why this particular word? Trying to soften the locals, the soldiers turned to them: "My friend" (French. Cher ami - sounds like sher ami).This is how the legend of the origin of the word "sharomyzhnik" appeared. Linguists call this phenomenon - the desire to find and explain the connection between phrases similar in sound in different languages - folk or amateur etymology. And now we will introduce you to the true story of the word.
Sharomyzhnik: the origin of the word
First, note that the word "sharomyzhnik" was inRussian speech long before World War II. The most correct version is that it is derived from the word "charm", which means "for nothing", "for free." In its favor, says that there were such slang stable phrases like "on the ball", "sharma-darma", "ball-free" and others, which corresponded to "for free", "free", "at the expense of another."
Sharomyga, sharomyzhnik are words derived from"charms" in the same way as a bastard or prostrate. Therefore, it is possible to quite reasonably assert that this expletive word is originally Russian, and not borrowed from the French language.
There is another, similar version - the noun "sharomyzhnik" was formed from the connection of two verbs common in the slang - "fumble" and "poke".
Where did the trash and shantrap come from?
Continuing the topic, we will unmask the legends related to the origin of two more expletives - trash and shantrap.
The origin of the word "trash" is again associated withthe retreat of the once valiant and formidable army of Napoleon. Legend says that we owe his appearance to the horses of the defeated French. The sight of these emaciated and bare animals was so pitiful and unsightly that "cheval" (fr. cheval - "horse") has come to denote everything trashy, nasty, unpleasant.
But the true origin of the word - originallySlavic. Schwal is a tailor, a sweater. Why is such a dismissive attitude towards a respected profession? It's simple. Schwal descended from the word Russian and Ukrainian language "shushval", which means a piece of cloth, a shred, and a rag, tears, rags. It is precisely because of the latter values that the insignificant and trashy have become called trash.
According to legend, the origin of shantrapa is also quitecurious. It is no secret that many of the captured French became tutors, personal teachers in wealthy Russian families. So one soldier was fortunate enough to become the manager of a children's choir. Not knowing Russian, he rejected children who did not have the proper vocal abilities with a short "Chantera pas!" ("shantera na" - "will not sing"). To mean it has become - worthless, nothingness.
In fact, the word even before 1812 existed in many dialects:
- Smolensk - “a poor and the bad luck”;
- Ustyuzhsky - "nothing";
- Cherepovets, Voronezh - "rubbish", etc.
We decided that sharomyzhnik - this is originallyRussian word that has no relation to the captured soldiers of the Napoleonic army. But, you see, the legend of its origin is also interesting and curious.
