The expression “Hamburg account”, or “according to the Hamburg account”, is considered by linguists to be classified as phraseological units whose meaning is not equal to the sum of the meanings of words. In other words, knowledge of what is “Hamburg” and what is “score” will not shed light on the meaning of this phrase.
Context-Based Intuitive Expression
Nevertheless, the expression “Hamburg account”, or “according to the Hamburg account”, is usually intuitively clear from the context and is often equated with the phraseology “by and large”. In general, this is true, but only an intuitive understanding of phraseologism usually does not allow you to freely use it in your own speech, since the boundaries of the meaning are not quite clear, and secondly, there is always a doubt about whether it is understood correctly and what it has attitude to the city of Hamburg.
To understand the nuances of meaning and the specifics of the use of this expression will help knowledge of what is the "Hamburg account", as well as what is the history of the origin of phraseology.
Victor Shklovsky about the etymology of the expression "Hamburg account"
The origin of phraseology is closely connected with the name of the famous literary critic and critic Viktor Shklovsky. His book is called The Hamburg Account. The meaning of phraseology becomes clear after meeting with a parable told by Shklovsky and explaining the title of the book.
The parable says that professional sports wrestlers never fight honestly, their task is to make an order. They must lose (lie on the shoulder blades) when the entrepreneur tells them. This scam is for making money. However, every year in one of Hamburg's taverns, wrestlers gather for a fair fight. Their struggle takes place without spectators, from whom the struggle itself is hidden, and how long it is actually long, unaesthetic and difficult for the wrestlers. At this spectacular event, it turns out which of the wrestlers is stronger and which is weaker.
This is done in order to find out the true price for each wrestler, regardless of what place he occupies in the open arena.
The Hamburg Account in the literature
It is this struggle, hidden from all, in which official titles and titles are not important, that Shklovsky calls the “Hamburg account”. This concept is important in relation to literature, and more precisely, to what place this or that writer occupies in the literary arena. What does phraseologism “Hamburg account” mean for Viktor Shklovsky, it becomes clear from the use of the expression “according to the Hamburg account” in the text of his short article. “According to the Hamburg account, there is no Serafimovich and Veresaev. They don’t reach the city, ”the author writes and continues his allegory, saying that in Hamburg, that is, in hidden competitions, where the true strength of the wrestler is found out, Bulgakov would have appeared on the carpet, Isaac Babel would have played lightweight, the strength of Maxim Gorky would be doubtful, since this "athlete" is not always in shape, but Velimir Khlebnikov would be a champion.
One of the areas of use of the expression “Hamburg account” is economic. The etymology and meaning of phraseology is such that it can be used in the sense that economic relations are built on honest, open principles, when all parties to the contract are equal both formally and in essence.
Hamburg Account in Literary Criticism
As can be seen from the retelling of a short article by Shklovsky, in literature, as in sports, the Hamburg account is important. The value of phraseology in the context of literary criticism lies in the fact that in literature, as in struggle, any figure can be evaluated by two systems. For the former, the official “alignment” of forces is important, and for the latter, real. In the first case, formal indicators of the success of the author and the work are important in the literature, and in the second, his true scale of talent.
Of course, in literature to find out which of the writers “does not reach the city” and who is the champion is much more difficult than in sports. Ultimately, only a time can evaluate a writer and a work according to the Hamburg account, however, it means that when assessing a literary phenomenon it is important not to follow the momentary criteria, but to look at it as if it existed outside of time.
Hamburg Account in various fields of culture and art
Since the time of Shklovsky (and his book was written in 1928), the expression "Hamburg account" has become familiar in many areas of culture. The meaning of phraseology expanded. More often than not, a Hamburg score means an assessment of a cultural phenomenon or cultural figure, regardless of any opinions, official recognition, awards, prizes awarded, popularity or fame.
So, by coincidence, a scientist may not have a high scientific rank - not be either an academician, or even a professor, but just an assistant professor, not hold senior positions, not participate in official events, but "according to the Hamburg account", that is, in reality , to be an interesting scientist, whose thoughts, works and achievements are really important for science.
This approach to evaluation is possible not only in relation to a person, but also, for example, to a book. One book can be published by the largest publishing house with a circulation of ten thousand copies, it is widely known to readers, has a lot of fans, a series can be shot on it, but according to the Hamburg account this is just a commercial project or a temporary, momentary phenomenon. Another book can be published in a small provincial publishing house with a circulation of five hundred copies and is known only to a small circle of readers to receive negative feedback from critics, but according to the Hamburg account this may turn out to be a really talented work.
The allegorical meaning of the expression "Hamburg account"
However, this is far from all possible meanings of the expression “Hamburg score”. The value of phraseological units in the modern language is even broader. It is used when they want to say about the real, honest price of something, about the true state of things. You can judge and evaluate according to the Hamburg account not only phenomena and cultural figures, but also your actions, family relationships, relationships between people, events in the country, etc. - in short, everything that can have a formal, official side and real, true.
Examples of the use of the expression "hamburg account"
The specificity of phraseology is such that even with a clear understanding of its meaning, its use can cause problems, since samples of grammatical “inscription” of an expression into a phrase are necessary. There are really not many grammatical and syntactic options:
- Pelevin is a strong satirist and a very successful commercial project, a successful writer, but if, according to the Hamburg account, it is a void, like all the phenomena of postmodernism.
- He very eagerly speaks on a variety of topics, but becomes silent under Ivan Ivanovich: he understands that according to the Hamburg account all his knowledge is superficial.
- I trust this vet. He will never say too much and will not advise if he does not understand the situation. He works according to the Hamburg account, his goal is not to pretend that he understands everything, but to save the animal and not harm him.
- Of course, they won this match. But, according to the Hamburg account, they played poorly. They just got lucky. It was their day.
Relevant and Inappropriate Contexts
Phraseologism is such a linguistic unit that, in the case of transparency of its meaning, is used freely and rapidly expands the horizons of its use. The same thing happens with the expression “Hamburg score”: the origin and meaning of the words are transparent. This means that you can safely experiment. However, in this case, you should be careful not to use the expression even when it is well understood what a Hamburg account is.
The fact is that this expression itself is intended for conversation "according to the Hamburg account" and resists ordinary, everyday, insignificant topics and contexts. It will be inappropriate when talking about whether the birthday was good, whether the pie was successful, or at what level the service in the cafe. In these situations, the expression “Hamburg account” is not redundant only if everyday events for some reason are important in one's destiny or significant for the life of a city or country.