There are such phraseological units in the Russian language that at first glance do not seem incomprehensible. And this is their main insidiousness. Because they do not mean at all what is written. Everyone can easily offer as many examples of this kind. But today, the meaning of phraseology “drop anchor” has come into our attention. We are exploring it.
Origin
There is no exact data, as always. Because phraseological units are one of the deepest layers of the language, but it is assumed that expression is hardly rooted in everyday life before the 18th century, when the institution of the regular army and navy was finally formed. When the seaman was ending his service, he was free to choose a place of permanent or temporary stay. It is believed that since then people have learned the meaning of phraseology “drop anchor”, not only the direct, but also the figurative meaning of expression.
Value
When people say that they are anchoring somewhere, it means that they stop at this place, settle down. You can choose an apartment, house, city or work. After all, one can settle down not only in physical space. The latter is just not very important, the main thing is different: a person has stability in life. An anchor suggests the bottom. This metaphorical “bottom” is stability, for which the metaphorical “anchor” clings. We hope that the meaning of the phraseology “drop anchor” is understandable. If the meaning is not clear, then you should not despair, for the explanations will continue, then the turn of examples will come.
How to replace an expression with a verb?
In fact, when we talked about meaning, we already casually mentioned possible replacements for phraseologism. Naturally, we are primarily interested in how to explain the meaning of phraseology in one word (“drop anchor” in the focus of our attention, if someone has forgotten). There are three main substitutions, and there are a great many derivatives, the main thing here is to grasp the meaning. So, synonyms:
- Stay.
- Settle down.
- Settle down.
The last word in the scientific community has another meaning: to defend a candidate, that is, get a degree. But those who have not encountered the organization of science do not know this interpretation. People often settle or stop in different places for a short or long time.
What does it mean to settle down?
There are no problems with the interpretation of these words, but when someone is told that he needs to settle down, is it really about getting a candidate degree in one of the sciences? No, of course not. The thing is that a person needs to learn to be restrained, judicious, from some point of view, even boring, in other words, an adult. When does a person become sedate? When his life gains stability. He settles in a certain place, acquires a house, wife, friends, dogs, cats, habits. His being is steady and predictable. If the reader knows such lives, be sure: these people are not so much ready to drop the anchor (we just consider the meaning of phraseologism in one word), they already did it. We turn to interesting illustrations of the expression.
Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha
When it comes to language and expressions, I want to not only explain the meaning, but also pick up a memorable example. The classic Hessian will allow us to understand that no anchor can be cast forever. Because the life of even one person is a terribly changeable thing.
Judge for yourselves: Siddhartha was a wandering and mendicant ascetic, a rich man, a ferryman. And each time the main character had a persistent feeling that he remained in a certain state forever. If he knew the meaning of phraseology “drop anchor”, he would surely use it. Toward the end of the story, Siddhartha realizes that all his roles (ascetic and rich man) have the same relation to him as his old skin does to the serpent, he also realizes that all these tests had to be passed in order to gain enlightenment, which is possible only in unity with nature.
How does this wonderful story relate to the topic of our conversation “drop anchor - the meaning of phraseology”? Very simply, the story of Siddhartha shows how shaky stability is. And as it seems, the novel perfectly illustrates the meaning of a stable phrase when it comes to a temporary shelter for a person. Although the philosophical message of the work is even deeper. It says that life is temporary in principle, and only the soul is eternal.
Happy Gilmore. When an anchor changes a person’s whole life
Stories and ordinary people know cases when a person lives extremely frivolously: pursues strange, unrealizable goals, drags without a trace behind women. He has no family, no job, no hobby - nothing. It would be good for him to find stability, but there is no suitable basis for this.
So it was with the hero of the famous comedy - Happy Gilmore. Briefly recall the plot. Happy is a fanatic fan of hockey. He has one misfortune - he absolutely cannot skate, but he has the right blow. In any case, he did not go into his favorite sport. And then a tragedy happened: his grandmother was robbed of his house. Happy urgently needed money. Since the Lord’s paths are inscrutable, he came upon a golf course and decided to anchor there, that is, to engage in this sport seriously. First, reluctantly, then already with the full realization that golf is his calling, and not hockey at all.
What does this story teach in this case? To the fact that if a person drops anchor, that is, takes root in any soil (whether it is a place of residence or work), this changes his whole life. True, only the right choice will help here.
We hope the article was useful and not too boring. We examined the meaning of the phrase “drop anchor”: the meaning of phraseology, history, and even selected two unusual examples for better memorization of the material.