The whole variety of phraseological units cannot be described in words. Linguists have about one and a half thousand such expressions. In the people they are called and winged phrases, and aphorisms, and even proverbs.
A prominent Russian critic of the 19th century Vissarion Grigoryevich Belinsky called phraseological units the “face” of the Russian language, its unique tools, and also the cultural wealth of the people.
In this article we will introduce you to such a Russian expression as “beating babies”. We will also select synonyms so that you can replace this phrase with a similar one in meaning.
What is phraseologism?
Linguists call this word fixed in Russian language expressions. From simple phrases they are distinguished by a number of signs. There are many of these signs, but we will tell you about the most important thing - about integrity.
What it is? Under this word, linguists mean the ability of phraseology to fulfill its function (transfer of meaning) only under the condition that all the words in it, roughly speaking, are in place.
We will verify by example. In Russian, we know the phraseology "to wallow Vanka", which means "lounging."
Once upon a time in Russia, this expression was used in the literal sense. "Vanka" is a tumbler toy, which the children "wallowed" effortlessly. Much later, this expression turned into phraseologism, which had the meaning of "lounging" based on a metaphor. Now the meaning of the phrase can be learned from dictionaries, so its imagery has been "erased" for so many years.
Phraseologisms we mean fixed expressions that carry one meaning and reflect the culture of a language.
Kinds
Linguistic scholars divide stable expressions into three types. The borders between them are quite blurry, due to the complexity of this linguistic phenomenon.
The first type of phraseological units is fusion. They are called that because the words in them are tightly connected. "Fel Vanka" is an example of fusion. The second type of phraseological units is unity. Here the components can be diluted with pronouns, adjectives, service words, etc. Phraseological units retain their imagery. An example of unity is the phrase "fall for (someone / your / mine / fraudulent) bait". And finally, the third type is combinations. In them, the words behave freely, they can be diluted and modified. An example of a combination is a bosom friend.
Value
Phraseologism "beating babies" refers to the group of unity. The imagery of this expression is preserved, which means that we can independently guess its meaning.
One of the meanings of phraseology “beating babies” is an easy victory. So they say about competitions in which the strengths of the rivals are not equal, and one quickly overcomes the other.
The second meaning of phraseology “beating babies” is cruel treatment of the weak, sometimes even reprisal. So they say if defenseless people are oppressed by force.
Origin
Phraseologism "beating babies" appeared due to the gospel legend. This biblical account speaks of the Jewish king Herod, who was afraid to lose power and ordered the priests to find the newborn Jesus. It was this boy who was prophesied to become the new sovereign. The magi were to come to him for worship, and then report to Herod about finding the baby. But the priests disobeyed the king and did not tell him where Jesus was.
An angry ruler, left with his nose, ordered to kill all the Bethlehem newborns. The word "beating" then meant the murder, but nowadays these words have different meanings.
Thus, the original meaning of phraseology “beating babies” is an inhumane attitude towards children. Soon the circle of people subject to cruelty expanded. Phraseologism began to mean anti-humanity in relation to all defenseless people.
In connection with the development of society and the reduction of violence in the world, phraseological unit has taken a softer connotation of meaning (easy victory).
Synonyms
“Beating the babies” is replaced by the word “reprisal”. It has a more negative connotation than phraseology itself.
Since this is a literary expression, it is impossible to select a direct synonym for it. However, in the meaning of "cruelty" there are the following idioms:
- "Hide the skin." Such a promise is given in anger. Its meaning is to do it cruelly, rudely.
- "Set the bashing." Also a manifestation of stiffness. This phrase is often used by parents in relation to naughty children.
- "Give birch porridge" - literally flog or scold strongly.