The meaning of phraseology "The Seventh Water on Kisel": History and Modern Use

Who among us does not know what phraseological units are ?! Almost everybody knows, because all of us use them in our speech. And what is the significance of the phraseology "The Seventh Water on Kisel"?

We will try to answer this question in this article.

What is phraseology?

Phraseology is a science that deals with the study of stable word combinations that are frozen in the language and imply one specific concept.

There are a lot of such expressions: "build eyes" (lure someone), "heaven with a sheepskin" (hard tests), "bite the tongue" (silenced) and so on.

Most of the phraseological units today are commonly used expressions that people use in their everyday speech.

Modern phraseology is studying a large number of such frozen phrases. Among them there are also ancient phrases ("apple of discord", "Hercules labor", "white crow"), biblical ("stumbling block", "beating babies", "not of this world"), Western European ("on a broad foot" , "Return to our sheep", "devil's advocate", "and yet it turns"), Russians ("hack at the nose", "clumsy work", "Kolomna verst", "bear service", "red line" ).

The group of Russian phraseological units includes the frozen "seventh water on a jelly" that we are studying, what this means for this expression, and we will consider it in more detail.

First of all, it is necessary to consider the history of the origin of this phrase.

The meaning of the phraseology "The Seventh Water on Kisel": the history of origin

This expression indicates a very distant relative: for example, your four-year-old brother or second cousin uncle. You can not even accurately determine the degree of kinship with this person.

The meaning of the phrase "The Seventh Water on Kisel" is rooted in Russian history.

Today there are three main theories of its origin:

Hypothesis one. Unsuitable water

In Russia Kissel was very fond of, he replaced many drinks. However, when it was suppressed, a liquid separated from it, which did not at all resemble the original drink. This liquid was called the "last water of the jelly".

Hypothesis the second. Kissel from starch

When Peter the Great ordered the peasants to plant potatoes, the potato starch was used for the production of jelly. At the same time, water, which remained from the cooking technology, was called "water of a jelly".

Hypothesis the third. Kissel on oats

Another technology of cooking kissel suggested insisting it on oats. The seeds were drained of water. The seventh change of water and received the name "the seventh water on a jelly."

Phraseology in Russian Literature

In the domestic literature, the expression "Seventh water on a jelly" is often enough. The meaning of phraseology is often not described, but it is understandable to the speakers of the Russian language.

The existence of this expression in the works of Russian literature indicates that it was already actively used in the 18th and 19th centuries. This statement is found in Goncharov's novel Oblomov, in the text of the novel by F. Dostoyevsky under the title "Uncle's Dream" and in many others.

By the way, sometimes the meaning of the phraseology "Seventh water on a kissel" can mean another phrase. A different numeral is used - not the seventh, but the tenth water on the kissel.

However, this means the same thing, since this number is used not specifically, but generalized-symbolically.

Is it good to be the "seventh water on a kissel"?

The expression itself implies a slight disregard. "The Seventh Water on Kisel" (the meaning of phraseology is clear to us) is an appeal to distant relatives, with whom one does not really want to know. These people are not particularly needed, so they have become strangers, the relationship with them is an extra burden.

In general, this expression is used when it is not desirable to communicate with relatives.

Therefore, no one is pleased when it is called such a phrase. It is better to be a completely different person than to hear such an insulting name. Apparently, this shows that the second cousins brothers do not consider themselves more relatives.

We examined the meaning of phraseology "Seventh water on a jelly", this frozen expression is not clear to foreigners, but those for whom the Russian language is native, it is clearer than clear.