Indifference is an interesting phenomenon. Now there are more and more indifferent people , because the rhythm of life is just crazy. Accordingly, a person is forced to build a system of priorities, and sometimes other people do not always fall into this education. But there are subjects who do not care. As if they have empty column "value". "Like water from a goose" - they say about such. We will examine in detail what this means, is it good or bad.
Origin
Phraseologism arose, like many proverbs and sayings, from people's observations of wildlife. For a goose, water is a natural environment. He is with water on "you." When he swims in a pond, water does not linger in his feathers. This allows him not to go to the bottom and not freeze. When geese fly through the clouds, the water that has accumulated in them does not interfere with the plans of the birds - to get to warm places. Hence the meaning of “like a goose’s water” expression.
The disapproving tone of phraseology
Usually, when the expression in question is used, the person is condemned. Like, he is indifferent to everything. Nothing bothers him and nothing really interests him.
Laughter is the best cure for disease
Is it always bad? Consider an example. The man was given a terrible diagnosis - cancer. History is silent about the degree of the disease, but this is not the main thing. The man reacted extraordinary: instead of spending time on chemotherapy or treatment in principle, he typed in comedy films and locked himself in the house with the words “even have a good laugh”.
Relatives who did not yet know how the matter would end could, of course, say: “It seems that he does not care, the diagnosis is like water off a duck” (we analyze the meaning with clear examples).
The most interesting thing is what happened next: the man, having a good laugh, recovered. Spontaneous cures for cancer sometimes occur.
For example, Carnegie cites the case. The girl was cured of cancer thanks to faith - either in God, or in her healing. Now this is not so important, in fact, it matters that she recovered at the time when the doctors had already waved her hand at her. By the way, she also refused treatment.
From this in no case can we conclude that treatment is evil or something like that. A spontaneous cure is akin to a miracle; one cannot completely rely on it. The moral of these stories is that sometimes it’s nice to behave like a bird, that is, in accordance with the phraseology “like a goose’s water”. The meaning of its reader should be more or less clear.
Ironically admired tonality
It is good that language is a vibrant, dynamic formation, and the Russian language is very dependent on intonation. In other words, the tone with which people pronounce one or another stable phrase is very important.
Now we have a good idea of phraseologism meaning (“like a goose’s water” - it is discussed in the article) and we can imagine that a person is thus not only scolded, but also praised.
Steve Jobs and his failures
Many active Internet users have seen Steve Jobs speak to Stanford alumni. In it, he said many good and correct, but, in general, well-known things. Among other things, he said that he had three major failures - points in life that determined the outline of his fate, and each time a famous computer man restored himself from ruins.
It is possible to perceive similar information in different ways. It is possible to comment on the meaning in the life of Jobs of these turning “points”: “Like water off a goose!” You must admit that a person, like a waterfowl, can repel not only good, but also bad. In addition, indifference, if it is peace of mind, is not so bad.
An example of a “goose” from world literature
Of course, a large number of heroes can be remembered, which was "all the same." Probably, from Russian literature, Oblomov from the novel of the same name first of all comes to mind. But I would like to appeal not to him, but to the hero of the French writer Albert Camus - Meursault - an “outsider”.
At this point, we return to what we talked about at the beginning, that is, the meaning (“like a goose’s water”) of phraseology in this section is traditional.
For the reader to understand the meaning of events, it is worth recalling the plot of the book. The work begins with the fact that Merceau dies mother. Moreover, since he had not lived with her for a long time (the closest relative of the hero was in a nursing home), the story is shocking from the very first lines: “Mother died yesterday, and maybe the day before yesterday ...”
Then Merceau sits at the coffin of the deceased, but he doesn’t care much about it, he wants to smoke and drink coffee and is very sorry that you can’t smoke right in the farewell hall.
Then, after Merso returned to work the next day, the boss, assuming that in such situations people usually take time off, he himself lets the employee go on fire. Merceau does not refuse. He takes his girlfriend and they go to the cinema to watch a movie.
Truly “like a goose of water” - the meaning of phraseology in this case is completely suitable for describing the behavior of the hero of a work by a French thinker.
The moral side of the issue and the debate about the meaning of phraseology
We have given various examples from books and real life about how the ability of goose feathers to repel water as a language metaphor is interpreted. The reader also understood which of the interpretations is classical, and which can be used if the native speaker freely interprets the linguistic canon.
And yet, in the end, it should be said that, no matter what the reader puts into the phraseology “like a goose’s water” (which this expression means, we have already examined it in detail), only one thing is important: to maintain the presence of mind in any situation. At the same time, it is not critical what others think or how they interpret the behavior. Only one thing is important - to be sober. As psychologists note, a person who does not give in to emotions in a critical situation can rather improve things than the one who panics. Simple enough, but nonetheless essential.
One way or another, we hope that the question of what the phrase “like a goose’s water” means has disappeared from the reader after reading our article.