It is difficult to talk about stiffness, because the phenomenon is not close to our era. Who is looking back at tradition now? Although England itself still feels the power of habit in almost everything, it’s hard to say that stiffness blossoms and smells there. In any case, we will analyze today the adjective “prim”, and this is informative, although perhaps not entirely clear. As always, there will be sentences, meaning and origin.
"Heron" and "stiffness"
The ideal beginning is to look at the history of the word. Good when she is. In this case, we are lucky. The word “pedigree” leads from the heron. From this important and graceful (in his own way) bird. It is interesting that there are several words in the language that have “bird rights” (here, of course, phraseological unit should be saturated with a new meaning). Let's get a look:
We have a noun, an adjective and a verb in our list. And the kinship is not obvious until we say that the heron used to be a “chapel”. But under the influence of a clatter, the name of the bird acquired a modern look. And the verb “to tap” is not just going, but walking slowly just like a bird. In addition, another dictionary indicates that importantness has an unexpected, but suitable for our conversation, synonym - “stiffen up”.
Value
Now we are morally and financially (that is, we have facts, material) ready to learn the meaning of the word “prim”: “Excessively strict and forced in behavior, in observance of decency”.
A strange thought came to mind: imagine how an English aristocrat would be offended if he were told that he was as important as a heron? Although, if you know the etymology of the word, there is nothing offensive in such a compliment, it's true. Even the prim heron is not an insult, but a statement of fact. But a little in this sense is a shame for the bird, because it is not to blame for the fact that its natural manner is perceived by people as arrogant.
But in search of an example, we will point out a film, only stylized in antiquity, but actually released recently - “My awful nanny” (2005). There, the father of the family had an aunt who, as passion, wanted the children to have a mother. The Duchess Adelaide Stich seems to be a perfect illustration.
suggestions
Despite the fact that the word is forgotten and slightly covered with dust of antiquity, sentences with it are quite possible. And now the reader will be convinced of this:
- I can’t be here: such an atmosphere is prim - it’s just awful! What if I’m not going to take the plug in my hand, or even forget how to behave.
- Yes, you look, this lady is very prim. Yes, not nuts, but stiff. Please listen carefully.
- Set stiffness and kiss in memory of past times!
It is also important to say here that stiffness and stiffness is not always bad if you interpret the concepts broadly and talk about the rules in general and following them. Because the rules outline the space of interaction between people. Especially the British succeeded in this, even informal communication is terribly formalized. You can read more about this in Kate Fox’s remarkable book, England and the British.
And even if we distract from the British, we must admit: the presence of rules greatly facilitates life. Although it is difficult for a Russian person to understand this, because we live in a chaotic social reality, where there are no exact establishments. We cannot work out any algorithm in which a person will definitely succeed. The action is not meaningless, but unpredictable. Therefore, the object of research may not be very clear to us: what are the rules, what are we talking about?
Synonyms
Despite the difference in mentality and lifestyle of England and Russia, we still hope that the adjective, considered by us, lingers in the head and heart of the reader. All that remains for us to complete the picture is to illuminate the synonyms for “prim” with a spotlight of our attention:
- serious;
- strict;
- scrupulous;
- ceremonious.
Some replacements of the object of study did not get on the list just because they are slightly offensive in their meaning, but at the same time they are quite decent. Therefore, it is them that we leave to the reader for independent study, of course, they must first be found. Otherwise, it will be difficult to assimilate them.