Surely, each of us heard an expression about a fraer who was ruined by our own greed. Also often used is the expression "for a short time the music played, for a short time the fraer danced." What does this expression mean? Fraer - who is it at all? Where did this word come from and what does it mean when viewed from different social angles.
Origin
According to historians, the word freier first appeared in the everyday life of the Germans several hundred years ago. From the ancient German "fraer" - who is it? This is a person who is completely free from any obligations, or the groom. There is also a translation where this word means a young man who often visits brothels and has enough money to rent a girl of easy virtue for the night. A similar translation of “bridegroom, lover” is found in this word in Ukrainian explanatory dictionaries.
Thieves' jargon
It is not known whether the word came from the German or Ukrainian vocabulary, as they say, to the people, but it came down there thoroughly. Scientists say that German was the closest, since it went to Yiddish, and from there many words and expressions got into the thieves 'thieves' vocabulary of the inhabitants of Odessa before and after the war.
If we talk about the thieves' lexicon, then this word can have different meanings. Trump frayer - this is a man who was sitting in prison and belongs to thieves thieves. Civil frayer - a man who has never been in prison, an intellectual, is a very tidbit of money for bandits, hooligans and thieves. Even in Polish thieves' jargon there is such a word. For Poles, frajer is a simpleton who is very easy to fool. It turns out that the languages ​​are different, and the fraer is everywhere a fraer.
There are other jargon variations that explain what a framer means. For example, this word may mean a prisoner, but one who has just begun his thieves 'path and has not yet been ranked among the highest thieves' caste. Bandits and thieves are one thing, and a paid fraer is another.
The second group is allowed to rob, deceive. Such a fraer is considered a simpleton, a sucker, an inexperienced person. Quite often you can hear the phrase: "What am I - fraer or what?". It will mean that a person does not rank himself in those whom it is so easy to deceive, rob and circle around a finger.
Goldfinch or Dandy
And what do smart dictionaries say? Fraer - who is it? They have several definitions of the word. Firstly, it’s just a man. Yes, so many dictionaries write: a fraer is a man. Surely, this means a person who cares for a woman or spends time with her. Secondly, this word denotes a very well-dressed person. Quite often, in Soviet camps, they called people belonging to the political elite. Political prisoners have always been an order of magnitude tidier; they have watched, even in such terrible conditions, how they look.
Expressions
So, we sorted it out and answered the question: “Fraer - who is this?” However, with this word there is a huge mass of expressions and phrases, the meaning of which is also worth understanding.
- Coil frayer - a person who is distinguished by a cheerful, lively disposition. It is also called "zinger".
- Squint - do not get what you want, make a mistake or even become disgraced.
- An insulted fraer is a person who may never have been in prison, but knows perfectly all the laws and traditions of the thieves' world.
- Fraer means trying to impersonate an experienced and seasoned thief who spent a long time in prison. It can also mean banal boasting.
- “For a short time the music played, for a short time the fraer danced” - the phrase we mentioned above. It means that reckless reveler has come to an end, pleasures end, the moment of reckoning begins.