People are used to the fact that the white color, at least in Western culture, symbolizes something positive and good. Yes, all this is so. But there is one expression in the Russian language in which white is not displayed in the most favorable light. The focus is on the meaning of phraseology âsewn with white threadâ.
France and Russia: the connection of cultures
The phrase came to us from the French language, and she was born among tailors. Even someone who has never sewed himself clothes theoretically imagines that it is best to carefully select the threads to match the color of the thing you work with. This approach is justified, since it is necessary that the threads do not stand out against the general background. Thus, if we sew something with white thread, not paying attention to the overall result, then our unscrupulous labor will be visible to the naked eye.
The next moment. French tailors (we assume that not only they) used white threads to mark the place where the seam on the clothes would pass. Occasions sometimes happened, and needle and fabric workers, either from fatigue or from inattention, forgot to pull white threads from their colored clothes. Accordingly, flaws became apparent immediately.
Now we are ready to formulate the meaning of phraseology. âSewn with white threadâ - means done rough, bad, messy. This is the direct meaning. If we talk about figurative, then they usually talk about inept deception, falsification or mystification. We turn to the examples, on them the meaning becomes, as a rule, clearer.
Unfaithful husband and aliens
Imagine a standard situation. The drunk husband came home. The wife, of course, does not sleep, is worried. The spouse is good: he smells of female perfume, expensive alcohol, and, of course, lipstick on the collar of the shirt is the main evidence.
His wife also meets him with the usual question: âWhere have you been ?!â - And here she hears a completely incredible and 150% true story. We will name husband Vitya.
It turns out that Vitya was abducted by aliens from the planet Venus and set inhuman experiments on him.
The fact is that women of that foreign race are very fond of lipstick, but they are embarrassed to try new samples on their lips, and their men consider it an insult to help their friends in such a difficult task.
Therefore, humanoids catch gaping earthlings and experiment with them. In addition, the women of the planet Venus are very educated, and they know that earthly men love almost everything to drink, especially at someone else's expense. Not forgetting anything important, they finally awarded Victor a wonderful expensive alcohol, a bottle of which he, unfortunately, did not bring to his house and drank along the way. After experiments, he was tormented by extreme thirst.
The wife, patiently listening to this wonderful composition, suddenly said unexpectedly:
- Attention! Sobriety test! Do you know the meaning of phraseology âsewn with white threadâ?
âYes, unfortunately,â the husband said, losing courage.
- Here! Your story is sewn with white thread, my dear!
And the next morning Vitya was waiting for a serious conversation, for his wife was a wise woman and never arranged a debriefing in hot pursuit.
And yes, if someone after reading this story raises the question: âBut itâs interesting if the inhabitants of the planet Venus were very educated, did they know the meaning of phraseologyâ sewn with white thread? â Reader, do not hesitate for a second, with the tendencies of earthly life, aliens will soon be much smarter than humans.
Schoolboy and teacher
Less extreme example. The student has not prepared for the control and tells the teacher such a story. Let the studentâs name be Serezha.
The boy said that he was sick, his body temperature was 42 degrees Celsius. He suffered from vomiting, indigestion, and his glaucoma suddenly worsened. In other words, the horror that was with the child.
But the resourceful Seryozha did not know that his teacher, Vasily Petrovich, also did not bast, he had an ace hidden in his sleeve. And the venerable mentor answers him:
- My dear dearly beloved student, I would gladly believe in your story, even despite some factual absurdities, but tell me for starters this: the expression âsew with white threadâ, the meaning of phraseology, have you learned well? Did you definitely attend that lesson?
- Yes, the venerable mentor is blushing, answered Seryozha.
- So, my dear, the control work on the Russian language was scheduled for Wednesday, and on the same day you were seen on the football field cheerfully chasing the ball! And you were surprisingly healthy and alert.
âWho are these wonderful people, oh teacher, who betrayed me with my head, thinking, of course, exclusively about my education?â
âI cannot, dear lad, reveal to you the names of these venerable representatives of the human race.â
Tonality of expression and synonyms
We have given, perhaps, a bit grotesque examples, but the phrase usually considered is used in a somewhat more rude form and gives a clear neglect to what they are talking about.
The double moral of phraseology
What does the statement teach? First of all, it instructs and encourages the person to do everything as it should, so that there are no white threads, no tails, or any kinds of flaws. Of course, a speech revolution gradually educates a person and tells him that lying is not good. This is one moral side of the phrase âsew with white threadâ (the meaning of phraseology was disclosed a little earlier).
But an alternative, âharmful" morality can also be extracted from the expression. If a person is deceiving, cunning, then you need to do this so that his lie is believable, and no one could distinguish it from the truth at the first approximation.
However, we hope that the reader will learn only the good by reading our article.
This is the analysis in which the phraseological unit âsewn with white threadâ took part as a direct object.