Usually obsolete words are used by poets or writers to recreate the historical era of a given time. However, even from our grandparents, we often hear unfamiliar expressions. For example, what does “heed” mean? Using this word, do we preserve Russian roots or are we not moving to the future?
What does the word “heed” mean?
Listen - this is archaism. This definition refers to obsolete structural units of a language that are not currently in use due to their replacement with new ones.
The outdated word is “listen.” What does “heed” mean? Listen to someone, pay attention to what has been said or respond with interest to the request of another person.
This word is with a pompous tinge. Often can be found in the poetic works of Alexei Pleshcheev. For example, in the poem “Go! Without fear and doubt ... ":
Listen carefully, brothers, to the word of the brother,
While we are full of youthful forces:
Forward, forward, and without return,
Whatever rock in the distance we promised!
Modern alternative to the word
What does it mean to “heed” - we found out. In modern vocabulary, this word is practically not used. It is simply necessary to find synonyms for it. The word is outdated, and through synonymous substitutions you can understand exactly what it is about.
So, the following words are considered to be an alternative to “heed”:
- I hear;
- understand;
- I clarify;
- I am aware of;
- I comprehend.
The last verb may be perceived by the reader as not entirely appropriate. However, in a certain context he is useful.
Phraseologisms
Recall that phraseologism is a stable verbal expression that cannot be changed or rearranged in it. It seems that the use of phraseological units in our everyday speech somewhat limits the creative ability of the language. And if you look at this fact from the other side, then a lot of extra words can be replaced with one capacious concise phrase - phraseological unit.
The word “heed” is contained in such phraseological units:
1. “To heed the voice of reason” means to listen to your intuition, to perceive the current situation objectively, adequately, putting aside all emotions.
2. "I heed your wisdom" - often this phrase can be found in biblical parables. For example: “My son! Listen to my wisdom and lean your ear against my mind ... ” From the context, you can understand this phraseology means that you need to listen to the wise advice of elders, accepting it and adapting it to your life.
The verb cannot be put in the future tense
If you mentally forget about the obsolete meaning of the word, then only synonyms will remain in the head. What does “heed” mean if you look from a different angle on this word? One of the meanings of the verb is "to pay special attention to something."
The modern analogue is to “heed” - to “understand”. The last word can be put in the form of the future tense. And our ancestors, apparently, did not realize that the verb has three tenses: past, present and future. Therefore, the word “heed” has no future tense. Only the present. However, this has its own special wisdom of the action "here and now."
What does “heed” mean? We hope that we have opened another unsolved mystery to the reader. However, the content of the word “heed” lies on the surface.
By the way, answering a phone call, instead of the usual "Hello" or "Yes", you can speak the original Russian word "heed." Give it a try. Surely you can surprise your friend on the other side of the phone.