It is impossible to imagine Russian without known winged phrases. “Beating the bacilli”, “you can’t see a zig”, “sitting in a puddle”, “breaking firewood” - these are all phraseological units.
Similar stable expressions exist in every language. They decorate speech, make it more diverse, richer. The meaning of most phraseological units cannot be understood without knowing their origin. This makes people delve into the history of their native language and their people.
Origin and meaning
The meaning of phraseologism "to break firewood" in one word can be conveyed by the verb "to blame". In a more detailed sense, this expression means "to make many mistakes, while making gross blunders."
The meaning and origin of the phraseology “to break firewood” are connected. The meaning of the expression is explained by its history. It is believed that it comes from the 19th century. The word "firewood" meant "everything that can be used to melt a stove" (brushwood, felling). These materials broke very easily. Women independently prepared such "firewood", splitting them into several parts about their knees.
Why did phraseologism take on a negative connotation? The fact is that the broken brushwood lay in careless heaps. The sticks were of different lengths and with clumsy edges. That is why any careless work with a large number of mistakes and mistakes was compared to breaking wood.
Synonyms
This stable expression can be replaced by similar ones in meaning:
- To sit in a puddle is to blunder, to get into an awkward position, to fail.
- Give a blunder - make a mistake, make a mistake.
- To get into the galosh is to get into an awkward position.
- Give a mistake - miss, make a mistake.
- Face in the mud - to be dishonored, blunder.
- To frown - to make mistakes, to miss.
- To get it wrong - be in an awkward / difficult position.
There are also a number of antonyms of this winged expression:
- Do not hit the face with dirt - do everything in the best possible way; don't be dishonored.
- To be on a horse is to win.