More than a year ago, a referendum was held in Crimea, as a result of which the peninsula was annexed to Russia. The security of this event was provided by the military in camouflage, masked, without any identification marks. They behaved extremely correctly, for which they received the name "polite people."
Expression value
In this regard, the famous Russian proverb “the courage of the city takes” was quickly transformed. But only one word has changed. Now it began to sound like this: "the politeness of the city takes."
And there is no exaggeration. In late February, unknown and unidentified people very quickly and without firing a shot captured a number of key points on the peninsula - the Council of Ministers of Crimea and its Verkhovna Rada, Simferopol and Belbek airports, as well as the headquarters of the coastal defense forces and the state-owned television and radio company Crimea.
No one knew who these people were, where they came from, what their goals were. However, it was striking to everyone that they were extremely restrained. Local newspapers noted that all military, as well as transport facilities, were “politely blocked” by them. And on the day of the referendum, ribbons of white color were tied on the sleeves of the military, emphasizing their peacekeeping goals. Proceeding from this, the meaning of the expression can be regarded as the fact that not cities, but politeness takes cities.
Etymology
An expression characterizing the behavior of unknown military personnel appeared after one of the interviews by the security chief of the airport they had seized said that his people were “politely asked to leave.” Since then, this phrase in different variations began to be used by journalists, the expression has become an Internet meme.
Politeness takes cities ... Who said this phrase for the first time? It was in this design that she sounded in the headlines of the media after the well-known events. And the expression "polite people" is believed to be the first to be spoken by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. However, the phrase in question follows quite logically from this phrase.
The term “polite people” has sparked a surge of inspiration in online communities. So, his fruit was jokes, jokes, collages and graphic genres of social advertising. “City politeness takes” - “a poster of social advertising” with the following motto and the following text: “2014 is the year of culture in Russia” was created in the bowels of the Internet. Of course, besides the inscriptions, there is also an image of a warrior camouflaged from head to toe with a machine gun on it.
Use of expression in the media
As quickly as the phrase “politeness of the city takes” arose, so quickly it entered the language. A rare newspaper did not use it as a headline, talking about Crimean events. Many Internet sites are also full of it.
In May last year, a video about the advantages of military service was posted on one of the social networks, which immediately became very popular. In an interview with RIA Novosti, one of the representatives of the Russian Ministry of Defense commented on this interest to a youth audience as follows: “Today we can say that politeness takes not only cities, but also wins hearts ...”
It can be safely stated that the definition given by the military personnel, who ensured the safe conduct of the Crimean referendum, was included in the Russian vocabulary, both political and everyday, and at the same time the phrase characterizing their behavior: “politeness takes cities.”
Regardless of the events of March, a similar title was placed by a business publication, telling about the intricacies of business relations with Singapore.
Using expression in colloquial speech
Naturally, the phrase mentioned migrated from the Internet, from other mass media to everyday conversations. What is remarkable is such a “picture from nature”. Talking with a grandmother, an eighth-grader. The grandson is looking for proverbs with the word "courage" and, of course, one of the first finds "the courage of the city takes": "Bab, right?" “No,” the grandmother answers, “politeness takes cities!” - and explains to the bewildered look of the grandson: “By courage, every fool can, but with politeness, take a whole city!”
An interesting perspective on the use of this phrase was shown by entrepreneurs. Just a few days after the events in the Crimea, a chevron was released depicting "a man who politely took the city." And soon, T-shirts, sweatshirts, sweatshirts with a warrior in camouflage appeared. They also bear the motto: “Politeness of the city takes” with the continuation: “Russia is a great power!”
Conclusion
It seems that it can be considered with full responsibility that the phrase “politeness takes cities” that arose against the backdrop of political events already received the status of winged expression, and over time it will only gain a foothold in this status. And her meaning will be unequivocal: to achieve her peacefully, without a single shot and without a single drop of blood. And if it will also be about business, then about cultural and respectful relationships.