When a person says: “I wash my hands”, the meaning of phraseology suggests that he resigns himself from some kind of authority. It may be that he admits his inability to correct the situation. We will understand the intricacies of the meaning of the expression and consider its history.
Pontius Pilate and Christ (origin)
Like many other phraseological units, considered by us comes from the Bible. In the Gospel of Matthew there are such words: "Pilate, seeing that nothing helps, but the confusion increases, took water and washed his hands before the people." Then the procurator said: "I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man." This gesture serves as a symbol of the fact that in this situation nothing more can be done and the person takes off all responsibility for the consequences.
There is an episode with Pontius Pilate in Bortko’s film “The Master and Margarita” and the movie by Mel Gibson “Passion of Christ”. The directors love him, apparently, for the drama.
This is the story of the expression "wash your hands." The origin is no longer a secret to the reader.
When do people prefer to wash their hands?
It is clear with the origin, but the semantic nuances are still a mystery. Does a person wash his hands and thereby relieve himself of responsibility, flees from it? Not really. For illustration, let us turn to an example.
An unlucky motorist comes to the mechanic with an eternal complaint: “Knocks.” He replies: "Let's see." And so it goes on several times. After the next visit, the mechanic honestly says: “You know, I wash my hands. The meaning of phraseology comes to mind as soon as I see your car. And I also remember all the passions of Christ at once. You have come to me for the tenth time. I don’t know what to think. ”
The image of a mechanic exhausted by an unsuccessful motorist tells us: the craftsman does not run away from responsibility at all, but on the contrary, he does everything possible. But human strength and knowledge in any field are limited. And when the specialist became weak, he honestly told the client: “I wash my hands.” The meaning of phraseology is considered a little earlier.
Is it good to refuse further struggle? Moral phraseology
There may be different answers, it all depends on the situation. We offer an example when it is advisable to wash hands.
Man has been fighting for many years with a serious illness. All this time he was accompanied by one attending physician, and here comes the moment when the doctor tells his relatives that there is no more hope. If they have other clinics in mind, then they better go there. He does not know what else can be done.
Relatives, of course, grief. It seems that the doctor acted cruelly with them, taking away hope. Or maybe the other way around? Figuratively speaking, he told them: “I wash my hands” (many people know the meaning of phraseology) - and did not draw money from them and take time from people. They can manage the hours, months, years of life of the patient, as they wish. Maybe he will be assigned to a more expensive clinic, or maybe they will go with the whole family to travel and spend the time allotted to a loved one with benefit.
It also happens that you can’t wash your hands.
The schoolboy brought home the first "deuce" in mathematics. And the parents (of course, this cannot be, but nevertheless) surrendered without a fight and said: “We wash our hands, live as you want.” Cruel? Oh yeah. It is gratifying that this cannot happen in reality. Evaluation, even a “deuce,” is not so scary, so people do not back down and turn (with due diligence and diligence of the student) the ugly “deuce” into a beautiful “five”.
Tonality of expression
In rare cases, stable, winged expressions can be used during more or less serious meetings. Please note that in the example of a seriously ill patient, the doctor did not directly tell relatives: “So, I wash my hands” (the meaning of phraseology, as well as its morality and nuances of meaning, have already been examined by us). Why didn’t he? Because if such a phrase sounded at a tragic moment from the lips of a health care provider, then she would have exposed the heartlessness of Aesculapius.
The expression “I wash my hands” is suitable for use in a circle of people who are well acquainted with each other (in the family). My father put a lot of effort into making the child go to college, but the child does not want to get a higher education. And then the parent says to his son: “Do not want? Do not! I wash hands".