Recently, many complain that they cannot master, say, English, German, French, Italian or any other foreign language. They consider them incredibly complex: either the words are read completely not according to the rules, then the grammar is complex, then the pronunciation is not at all what it should be ...
How to be? Experienced linguists advise just to relax and try to get the most out of the learning process. Do you think fate has not endowed you with linguistic abilities? Not true! One of the most difficult languages in the world has already submitted to you! Which one? Russian, of course!
Do not believe? In vain! Judge for yourself how poor foreigners can figure out, say, our phraseological units? However, why only to foreigners? Well, for example, do you know what the phrase “Parable in the city” means? Most likely, most of us only guesses the true meaning, although we have heard it more than once.
Here the dictionary is unlikely to help. And what a poor tourist is! Can you imagine?
It is about this lexical unit that will be discussed in this article. We will try to define, trace the etymology and find out situations in which it would be appropriate to use it.
Section 1. What does the phrase “Parable of the city” mean?
We will not hide, this expression is still quite rare in our time. It can almost be called archaism. According to experts, it means something that has gained great fame, that is, what everyone discusses. A fact for a long time spinning on everyone’s lips.
Although it is worth noting that such a subject of general discussion in most cases causes grins and disapproval of others. It turns out that if someone became a “talk of the town”, this means that he was subjected to universal condemnation, ridicule, and as a result received unkind fame.
Section 2. Biblical Interpretation
Not everyone knows that this phrase, along with many others, is considered a biblical expression, since it has a completely religious basis. Here are some examples to compare.
Say, the phrase “a wolf in sheep's clothing” is taken from the Gospel and is pronounced when characterizing a hypocrite who hides his bad intentions under the mask of virtue.
The words “not of this world” were spoken by Jesus. They are used in the case of a description of a blessed person immersed in dreams and fenced off from real worries.
But the “parable of the town” (the phraseological meaning was given above) is taken from the Bible itself. Its lexical composition is represented by the combination of the words “parable” (short story, proverb, proverb with a moral sense) and “all the way” (dialects, languages, tribes, peoples).
It turns out that the "parable of the town" is nothing more than a "saying in the people", something that is constantly talked about, as well as something that has gained wide popularity and has caused ridicule and condemnation.
Section 3. Where can I use phraseology?
As was noted, the winged expression "parable of the town" is now used quite rarely and mainly by people of advanced age. However, sometimes such a statement can also be heard in the conversations of progressive and well-read youth who are glad for the preservation of their native language. In addition, many authors use this phrase in their works.
Historians, by the way, note that the expression "parable in the town" is phraseological unit having ancient Slavonic roots. It was often used in ancient literature and even then designated the subject of general discussion and constant gossip. It turns out that its meaning has not changed.
Section 4. The most common synonyms
The lexical unit “parable of the town” these days has been replaced by some well-known synonyms that are more familiar and appropriate in modern Russian. Instead of it, one can often hear such words from people: tradition, belief, anecdote, story, example, hint, legend, fiction, fairy tale and many others.