Interesting language: what does it mean to play in a box?

A box is a multi-valued word. A box can be called both a TV and a compartment on the table. Therefore, it is used in different meanings. For example, there is the expression “put aside for a long box”, meaning that someone has put off some business for a long period, delays in execution. But what does it mean “played in a box”? Is there really such a game or instrument?

The meaning of the phrase "play in the box"

So what do they mean when they say that someone played in a box? The meaning of phraseology “play in the box” is quite certain. It marks the end of one's life path, death. Thus, when they say that a person "played in a box" "means that he died, died.

The origin of phraseology

The theme of death in many cultures is taboo. There is a belief that the mention of death can bring misfortune and illness to the house. Therefore, in many languages ​​euphemisms that designate this process “take root”. Russia was no exception.

Often in Russian the “casket" is called a coffin. Until the 18th century, the sources mentioned the expression "put in a long box." In those days, "put" was the colloquial synonym for the word "bury." This phraseology meant forgetting about something, abandoning business. Now this expression, as it were, “split” into two phraseological units: “played in a box”, which means “to die” and “remove / put / put aside” in a long box in the meaning of forgetting about something.

There is another version of the origin of this phraseological unit. According to her, the expression appeared in connection with the tradition of accompanying the funeral procession with mourning music. Musicians play for the deceased in order to honor his memory. Thus, music does not sound for the living, and each musician seemed to play in a box, which literally means "inside it."

Similar expressions

In our culture, to denote death, we use such expressions as “give up”, “give soul to God”, “move to a better world”, “die” and many others, even such vulgar ones as “throw away hooves” and “cast back flippers”.

In other cultures, the theme of death is also hidden behind various neutral expressions and idioms. In English-speaking countries, the literal phrase "dead man" will be a threat rather than a statement of fact. Used "the late" or "the deceased". It is worth considering that “playing in a box” is rather jargon, so the expression “to kick the bucket” can be called analogous to it. Literally, this English expression means “kick a bucket,” but metaphorically it still means that someone played in a box.

Examples of the use of expression in culture

The expression was embodied in jokes based on a pun, found in books (more often to indicate the simplicity or illiteracy of the speaker), as well as in movies.

For example, in the “Twelve Chairs” there is a witty, but slightly specific classification of deaths in phraseological units:

- Claudia Ivanovna has died! - said the customer.

“Well, the kingdom of heaven,” agreed Bezenchuk, “died, then the old woman ... Old women, they always die ... Or they give the soul to God - it depends on what old woman.” Yours, for example, is small and in the body - it means that it has “ceased” ... And, for example, which is bigger, but worse — it is believed that it “gives its soul to God” ...

- That is, how is it considered? Who is it considered?

- It’s considered here. The masters ... Here you are, for example, a prominent man of high stature, although thin. You, it is believed, if God forbid you die that you "played in a box." And who is a merchant, a former merchant guild, that one, "ordered to live long." And if someone has a lesser rank, a janitor, for example, or one of the peasants, they say about him - “he threw himself over” or “extended his legs”. But the most powerful when they die, the railway conductor or someone from the authorities, it is believed that "they give oak." So they say about them: "But ours, they heard, he gave the oak" ...

Shocked by this somewhat strange classification of human deaths, Ippolit Matveyevich asked:

- Well, when you die, how will the masters say about you?

- I am a small person. They say "Bezenchuk bent." And they won’t say anything else.

And he strictly added:

- It’s impossible for me to “give the oak” or “play the box”. I have a small complexion ...

Another well-known example is the American film The Bucket List, which in the Russian box office has received the title “Until I Played in a Box”.

The responses to “Until I Played in the Box” are almost unanimous: the film about two terminally ill friends in the ward, who wants to fulfill his unfulfilled dreams before his death, is worth watching.