One of the main treasures of the Russian language is its chic phraseological phrases that make oral and written speech vivid and imaginative. We will get to know one of them, find out what Trishkin Kaftan means, in what situation it will be appropriate to use this phrase, where it came from.
Appearance story
There are several sources for the appearance of idiomatic expressions, one of them is fables, clergy, and other short but surprisingly capacious texts. So “Trishkin Kaftan” owes its origin to the fable of Ivan Krylov of the same name. The plot of this straightforward but witty work is simple:
- A certain Trishka, the protagonist of the fable, faced a problem - his beloved caftan fell into disrepair, torn on his elbows.
- The hero did not become discouraged, he quickly found a way out of this situation - put patches, but used parts of the sleeves themselves as material for them. As a result, the caftan turned out to be rather unusual, did not close his hands completely.
- But here Trishka did not despair, he corrected the situation like that - cut off the fabric from the floor and the fold of clothes and lengthened the sleeves. The problem, it would seem, has been resolved, but this is bad luck - now the caftan itself has become much shorter than it should be. Such attire caused only laughter among those around.
Such is the content of the fable and the origin of the phraseology “Trishkin Kaftan”. The text was written in 1815 and almost immediately hit the pages of the magazine "Son of the Fatherland".
Value
The great fable moral Krylov formulated very clearly and clearly:
Other gentlemen
Having confused things, they are corrected,
You see: in Trishkin’s caftan they flaunt.
This explanation fully helps to understand the meaning of phraseological circulation. Saying "Trishkin Kaftan", we mean the desire to deal with some difficulty, but unsuccessful methods. So, the problem will be solved, but due to the actions others will be created. The man himself will be confused in what he has done, even more bogged down.
Real background
We got acquainted with the meaning of the phraseology “Trishkin Kaftan”, now we will find out why this text came out from Krylov’s pen. Faced with financial difficulties, some representatives of the nobility decided to cope with their problems by re-pledging their estates in the Board of Trustees. In order to live in habitual luxury, many aristocrats - contemporaries of Krylov - took a loan, but did not have the opportunity to pay it. Wanting to "plug the hole", they took a second loan, on much more unfavorable conditions. And in the end they completely went bankrupt.
Modern use
Let us consider an example of the current situation when it will be possible to correctly and appropriately include in your speech the phraseology “Trishkin Kaftan”. So, a man took a loan, but did not calculate his financial capabilities and failed to make a payment on time. In order not to become a debtor, he decides to take another loan, for a small amount, safely pays part of the contributions on the first loan. But the time comes, and he needs to pay two payments already. But there is no money, this person has to issue a microloan at very high interest rates. Having received the money, he makes payment on both loans on time, but falls into the debt hole - now he has three debts, but the income level has not increased. It’s safe to say about such a wretched financier that he “flaunts in Trishkin’s caftan” or “put it on”.
Another example is from the life of students. Some unscrupulous student decided not to prepare for the physics test, but to use cheat sheets, but he got caught and was sent for retake. Due to the fact that he had to urgently pull up physics, he could not properly prepare for chemistry, so this subject also did not pass. Here we see a solution to one problem by temporarily ignoring another, which ultimately leads to even greater difficulties.
Phraseologism Trishkin Kaftan is very relevant for our time, because often people are forced to deal with one difficulty at the expense of another, which only leads to an aggravation of the situation.