When we want to say that a person judges others by his own actions, we say that he measures everyone with his arshin. The meaning of this expression lies in the well-known historical fact, which explains why it is arshin, and not foot, sazhen or span. What is so special about this old Russian measure?
There are two judgments - mine and wrong
The phrase "measure on your arshin" meaning until 1918 had a very concrete meaning. The wooden ruler, seller and buyer participated in the measurement process with arshins.
Now that this measure has long ceased to be part of the general metric system, it is difficult to find a reason that prompted comparing a person with a piece of wood.
If they say that someone is used to measuring everything on their arshin, then the meaning given to these words is neglected. So they judge who does not want to listen to someone else's opinion, evaluates life situations from the height of their bell tower, seeks to give events a color of their own perception. No matter how obvious the arguments of the opponents are, this man takes his own arshin from his bosom, and it is impossible to convince him that he is wrong.
"He believed carelessly for female affection / And measured his own / Arshin’s pride / Human honor and conscience ..." - Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov correctly described the selfishness of his hero, using personal perception in relation to everyone around him.
Eastern elbow: how did it differ from Russian
Until the beginning of the 16th century, arshin was a curiosity for an ordinary Russian person, and this interesting foreign word sounded exclusively in merchant slang. Thin fabrics brought from Persia, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan, painted with shiny thread, could not be measured on the Russian elbow, but a word from the Turkic dialect “arshin” (in fact, the same elbow) had to go to court.
However, people did not learn to pronounce a foreign word right away, because there was nothing to it. Traders still cut off simple cuts of canvas and chintz, measuring the size from their own elbow joint to the tips of their fingers. Another thing is the expensive silk of the east. Here the merchant surprised the buyer with an unprecedented wooden device, which he used with dexterity. The first rulers were carved, with a lot of decorations, but, as we will see later, they didn’t help as a measure.
Arshin for sale, Arshin for shopping
It is easy to imagine what was happening in the shops of red goods, when each of the merchants in textiles acquired their own arshin, the length of which was not regulated by any standards.
A measure was cut out in villages where the master’s hand was the only sample, and honest orders were few ... Each shopkeeper who was interested in selling less and getting more, the benefit was in such a line that every tenth arshin went into favor of the institution.
"Every merchant measured on his arshin" - the meaning of this expression was manifested in the dissatisfaction of customers. How honest buyers and deceived buyers learned to restore justice - we will talk further.
Your elbow closer
The state dealt a real blow to the pocket of shopkeepers when an official value was established behind a running measure of length. The expression "measure on your arshin" has acquired a new shade, since now anyone could buy a cloth, lace or other accessories, requiring the clerks to use their own line. Neither the owner of the shop nor the clerks had any right to prevent this. It only remained for them, groaning, to make sure that the purchasing arshin was not much longer than their own.
It has become the norm for a simple person or wholesale purchasers, when entering a merchant’s shop, to get an ordinary smoothly measured measure or a ruled piece divided from the bosom from the bosom - the main thing is that both of them should be 71 cm. This merchants accustomed to volatile trading conditions The fact was met with tense, but endured.
By the will of the king
The collapse of the great arshin self-will came closer to 1648, when by decree of Alexei Romanov, tired of the pilgrimages of deceived people, it was decided to legalize the arshin measure. Special, clearly measured arshins began to be produced in the form of branded iron products or wooden, but with mandatory iron brackets on both sides of the segment, on which stamps were also affixed. The cost of the state cut about 16 points was set at 60 kopecks. The price was not small at that time and obliged regular monitoring of trading establishments to check the availability of the state line.
Some historians are inclined to believe that the famous merchant rebellion of the designated year occurred precisely because of disagreement with such "cool" measures. Merchants strongly demanded the ability to continue to measure on their arshin. The meaning of the phrase, however, was so popular with the people that a return to such absurdity became impossible.
From folk wisdom
To summarize, let’s say that arshin alignment with the human character is not new. The lexical meaning of the expression “measure on one’s arshin”, that is, to transfer one’s own vision to the situation or to others, disregarding their opinion, tangibly echoes other Russian sayings. For instance:
- "Equalize by one comb" - means the maximum depersonalization of human or other factors, relative to the situation.
- “Everyone strives in his own way” - this proverb has two meanings, one of which is to adjust the situation to a position convenient to itself, regardless of the opinions of others.
And what is noteworthy: even after several centuries, the meaning of the lexical meaning "measure on your arshin" has not been lost, although it is used less and less.