Often you can hear from others such a speech turn: "He set to work rolling up his sleeves." We will consider the meaning of phraseologism today and try to understand how sleeves are related to work.
Origin
In Russia, noble persons had long, long sleeves in clothes. If we say that they interfered with work, it means to say nothing, they simply did not allow it to be done. Therefore, the man who still decided to work, had to fold his sleeves many times. It is not necessary to think that such people did not want to work at least sometimes, but among the boyars there were good representatives of the human race.
Since then, it has become the custom that a person working diligently rolls up his sleeves, figuratively speaking, i.e. He does not spare himself, gives his whole body and soul to work. This is the etymology of the expression "rolling up your sleeves." The meaning of phraseology is clarified thanks to a knowledge of the history of the issue.
Modern shirt and work
Of course, formally we have a classless society. Now everyone is equal (but some are more equal than others). Boyar clothes have long been a thing of the past, and the phrase “roll up your sleeves” (the meaning of phraseology in the research process) does not lose its relevance. The question is why. Everything is very simple. At the moment, even in the modern style of the shirt you can’t work hard. In addition, the shirt is still clothing for the most part;
American farmers and Russian phraseology
Yes, there are people like American farmers, and they prefer plaid shirts. The reader is absolutely right in his dumb claim, but we hasten to repulse this argument and say that farmers also do not work with sleeves fastened with buttons. Americans also prefer to roll up their sleeves during blessed work in nature. The compatriots of Abraham Lincoln probably have some kind of their own sayings on this subject, but we believe, if they explain the meaning of the Russian proverb, they will understand it without any difficulty, for they do something by rolling up their sleeves (the meaning of phraseology is probably already clear to the reader) is a truly international concept.
Sport and sleeves
There is nothing surprising in the fact that athletes do without sleeves at all. Boyar shirt or modern is not intended for active action. No wonder sportswear has sleeves, if any, that do not hang down, but tightly fit the athlete’s hand. Football players, for example, even in cold weather prefer to play with short sleeves, warming themselves with special thermal underwear.
And all this for good reason. Athletes need the ultimate freedom of action. In the working clothes of runners, javelin throwers or core sleeves, they are completely absent as an element. In such a strictly domestic way the sleeve is connected with sports. And we continue to reveal the secret of the expression "rolling up our sleeves" (phraseological unit). Next in line is the antonym to him.
Antonym. “After the sleeves”
Knowing the etymology of the previous expression, it is easy to understand what is meant in the antonymic expression “through the sleeves”. It also refers us to the boyars. Working through the sleeves means reluctantly, somehow, well, and, of course, the result will be corresponding.
For example, the couple decided to make repairs in the apartment and decided to save on workers, i.e. improve the apartment yourself. But the husband did not want to do this, he would have paid better, but you can not convince your wife. And so he began to work. The couple made repairs, almost got divorced in the process, but the main thing is the result. True, a year later the wallpaper, along with the ceiling, fell on the owners' head. And, of course, this is hard to believe, but the couple got divorced after all (all the characters are fictitious). Hence two conclusions:
1) avaricious pays twice,
2) you can’t work through the sleeves, but only roll up.
It is clear that for most men, repair is hell. They would rather live with falling wallpaper than do repairs. A woman, on the contrary, is an aesthetic nature. She cannot observe the same decor for 5 years in a row. Or maybe the internal renewal of the home has other goals: combating stress, demonstrating power over a man, satisfying one’s vanity in front of others. Who knows what beautiful walls hide.
A little more about work
From the foregoing it is clear that no matter what a person does (sports, work and even rest, if he is active), nothing should be done after the sleeves, the sleeves should always be rolled up. Thus, any activity must be taken seriously and responsibly, otherwise negative consequences are possible.
Let us return to the thought that was expressed a little earlier, we also need to rest wisely. There is an opinion that you need to work, rolling up your sleeves. You must also rest with feeling and with the arrangement. True, here the meaning of the expression in question shifts a little. Resting, rolling up your sleeves is an oxymoron. Nevertheless, before resting, you need to thoroughly prepare a place of relaxation, and also make sure that the company of friends will not interfere with anyone.
There is no need to take an example from our tourists in Turkey, who, perhaps, work with their sleeves rolled up, but they also have a rest in a big way, falling into all their hardships. Even the Turks cry from them, but the Turks have nowhere to go, because the money doesn’t smell, but sometimes they don’t get it very easily.