Phraseology "carrots and chimes": meaning, origin

What does the enigmatic expression "carrot chime" mean? This question can confound even a person who knows Russian well. In order to understand the significance of this speech turnover, it is necessary to look into the past. So where did it come from, in what situations is it used?

The expression "carrot chime": the origin

To begin with, it is worth investigating what a "warning" is. This will allow us to penetrate into the meaning of the expression "carrokino zagovenie." So, this word comes from the verb "govet," which has the meaning of "fasting." It denotes the day before the start of the fast, a period when certain foods (meat, fish, dairy products) are under strict prohibition.

In the old days people treated religious traditions with much greater respect than in our days. Of course, the posts were strictly observed. "Heading" is the day when you could afford meat, milk and similar scallops for the last time before prolonged abstinence. It is not surprising that on this day it was customary to roll up a luxurious feast. Immediately after the "warning", the prohibited food was expelled from the ration.

What does the carrot have to do with it?

All of the above does not yet explain the meaning of the mysterious phrase "carrot chime". To solve it, it is necessary to call to the aid of figurative thinking. It is obvious that carrots are a product that can be safely eaten during fasting days. In other words, it is lean, even the harsh monastic regulations did not object to it.

While the word "chicken" is associated with fatty foods, which on certain days are strongly urged to completely exclude religious traditions from the diet. Consequently, the "carrot-chinned" 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 until the carrot leaves", which means that this is an event that may never happen. It is used when they promise a long wait. And the term of this expectation can not be predicted. There is a high probability that the long-awaited moment will not come at all, as the joking expression warns.

Why carrots, not turnips, beets or cabbage? Unfortunately, linguists have not been able to find an answer to this question, although some efforts have been made in this direction. Perhaps, it happened because the phraseological units associated with other vegetables already existed. For example, "easier to steam turnip", "cut into cabbage."

Similar Sayings

So, the above is told about what a "carrot-smoking" is. The meaning of phraseology is no longer a mystery. To fix it in memory and expand the vocabulary will help other sayings of similar importance. Fortunately, the Russian language is rich in such phrases of speech.

Talking about the future event, which may not happen at all, people can use the saying "when the cancer on the mountain whistles." Obviously, the arthropod can not put claws in the mouth and produce a sharp sound. Consequently, this phrase is invested the same meaning as in the case when the "carrot chase" is mentioned. The meaning of phraseology "before the second coming" also hints at a long and, possibly, ineffectual expectation.

It is impossible not to remember the beautiful phrase "before the Greek Kalends." This expression is borrowed from the Latin language. Kalendam ancient Romans called the days when they were tax collectors. Traditionally, this happened on the first day of the month. While for the Greeks the first day of the month did not have much significance. Consequently, the expression "before the Greek calends" has the same meaning as the speech turnover "up to the carrots of the heading".

What else do you need to know?

As already mentioned above, the word "chimney" was formed from the verb "govet" (fasting, holding fasting). It is interesting that not all people pronounce it correctly. We must not forget that when pronouncing the word "warning", stress must be made on the first syllable, all other variants are incorrect.

What simple synonyms does the expression replace? "Infinitely", "long" - words that can be used in this case.