When a person has excelled in many areas, one can safely say that he is a "jack of all trades." The meaning of phraseology will be analyzed today.
What is meant by “hands”?
The main difficulty in understanding is the imagery of phraseological units. Because an inexperienced person in folk idioms will think that it is about hands. But no, it says in this case that a person can do a lot. If you use a modern language, then the master is a multispecialist.
Of course, the expression was originally understood to mean that a man is terribly independent and can do a lot in the household: build a house, plant a tree, raise a son, and everywhere his result is not only wonderful, but excellent. Nowhere is there a slip, everything is arguing with him.
When the world began to change and the division of labor gained momentum, expression took on a broad meaning. So they began to talk about a worker who could combine the talents of a builder and an electrician, and a football player who could give, and circle, and score. Of course, as an example of the latter, Lionel Messi asks for the language, but we will diversify the repertoire and recall the Liverpool midfielder Filippe Coutinho.
Synonyms
Without synonyms, it is rarely possible to analyze one or another phraseological unit. Moreover, you can offer the reader both substitutions in one word, and similar phraseological phrases. Let's start with the first:
- ace;
- dock;
- craftsman;
- craftsman.
And there are very few phraseological substitutions:
- golden hands ;
- master of his craft;
- work burns in the hands.
It can be seen that in all stable phrases, substitutions of the phrase “master of all trades” phraseology, hands are the main element of the construction. True, in two of the three positions the “pragmatic”, “applied” aspect of expression is pronounced. “Master of his craft” is an abstract and universal praise, and the rest are rigidly “sewn” to thrift.
Leonard Cohen and Vasily Shukshin
You always need to confirm your words with practice. Therefore, we need genuine masters in several areas. We decided to choose those individuals whose names are listed in the title.
About Vasily Shukshin one could say at one time that he was a "jack of all trades". Vasily Makarovich was an excellent actor, director and writer. Some contemporaries even believed that his nature was too gifted. Maybe that's why he left so early. Of the Western directors, few people recall. There is, of course, David Cronenberg’s recent novel, “Used.” But it seems that his prose is not considered a classic in America, like the stories of Shukshin in Russia. Of Western musicians, only Leonard Cohen comes to mind, who was able to sit on two chairs - a singer and a novelist. In general, talented people are rare in many areas. When they say that a talented person is talented in everything - this is more of a compliment than truth.
So, we hope that the reader understood the meaning of phraseology “jack of all trades”. We tried to be convincing.