In the Russian language there are many well-established phrases, the so-called phraseological units, which we use almost every day. These are phrases that tend to have figurative meanings.
And in this article we will consider what phraseological units with the word “tooth” people use in their speech. Such phrases can be counted with at least a dozen. All of them are different in meaning and are often found in the lexicon.
"To speak teeth"
This phraseology is used very often and means that the person toward whom this phrase is pronounced is trying to move on to another topic, distracting his interlocutor from the main question or the essence of the conversation.
But this expression comes from ancient times, and the story of its appearance is very simple: healers whispered various words to a man who came with a toothache in his ear, trying to distract, “speak” a toothache.
For example, such expressions will reveal the essence of the phrase:
“You don’t speak my teeth here”
"I don’t need to speak my teeth, speak essentially."
"There is a tooth"
This phraseologism is perhaps better known in the form of “sharpening a tooth”, but their meaning is the same. This means nurturing a plan of revenge for something, concealing malice, personal hostility. As an example, you can cite the following sentence with the word "teeth":
"He grinds a tooth on her for letting him down."
“Ever since then, I have a tooth for one of our classmate.”
"Teeth flared up"
This expression is used when it is necessary to say that a person has a huge desire for something, something he really wanted to get.
“When I saw this dress, my teeth flared up straight.”
“The dish looked so appetizing that my eyes and teeth flared up.”
“Know by heart”
Another phraseologism that came to us from past centuries. If a person uses this phrase, it means that he knows a topic or question thoroughly, by heart, so that there is nothing to complain about.
The origin of this phrase goes to the custom of checking a coin for authenticity with its teeth. Previously, to check if a gold coin, it could be slightly squeezed with teeth. And if a bite mark remained on it, then the coin is real.
“Today I am perfectly prepared for the exam! I know the tickets by heart. ”
“Teeth on the shelf”
This phraseology also came from ancient times. Today, some mistakenly believe that we are talking about human teeth, and that's why. The essence of this phrase is to live starving when there is nothing to eat or there are not enough resources for existence. This expression is very famous today. But the “teeth” in this case are not folding their teeth, but the teeth of various field tools - rakes, saws, because when they are not needed (not a season, there is no harvest), their teeth were stacked on a shelf.
“If we buy a new refrigerator now, all that’s left is to put our teeth on the shelf.”
"There is no money, even put your teeth on the shelf."
“A tooth doesn’t get on a tooth”
This is what they say about a person, if he is very cold or very frightened, trembling.
Such phraseological units with the word “tooth” are also easy to hear in everyday life. This expression is not bewildering, since its essence is described by the phrase itself, there is no figurative meaning. For instance:
“Let's go home soon!” The frost is such that I don’t have a tooth on my tooth. ”
“Teeth to eat”
The expression "teeth eaten" in meaning is similar to the more famous phraseology "eat a dog." These phraseological units with the word “tooth” mean that a person has gained experience, gained skills in working with something, and gained thorough knowledge in some issue.
Also, the expression “eaten teeth” is used in some cases to denote great experience.
“Yes, I ate all my teeth on these tasks.”
"In this case, I can not outwit, I ate his teeth on it."
"Tooth by tooth"
Everyone knows such a biblical expression as "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." This expression was literal. In the laws for Jews, God introduced such a rule that if anyone decides to inflict bodily harm to his neighbor, then everything must return to him: "fracture after fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth." Of course, this abhors the norms of Christian morality, since revenge is condemned by the Bible. But at the moment we are talking about phraseological units, or rather, about its last part, which describes the essence of the phrase as vividly as the whole expression.
As it becomes clear, the expression describes revenge, fair retribution, that is, an equivalent response to moral or bodily harm to a person.
“As you did to me, so I will. Tooth by tooth. ”
“You won’t tear your teeth out”
This phraseology is used both to describe the properties of objects and people. Its designation is one: it means that it is difficult to obtain, something is holding fast or is inaccessible.
If we are talking about an object, then the expression is applied in this way:
"The nail is stuck tightly in the board - you can’t tear it out with your teeth."
And if we talk about a person, it is used in a figurative sense (an example is given from a literary work):
“I give you this guest for a short while. If the hens capture him, you won’t vomit with your teeth. And I can always take it from you. ”
"Too tough"
Well-known phrase. We use it when we want to say that a specific task is beyond our power. It doesn’t matter, there is not enough experience, knowledge or physical strength, the essence remains the same.
"Oh, this mountain is too tough for me."
"No matter how hard I tried to resolve this situation, it was too tough for me."
Modern phraseological units
There are also phraseological units with the word "tooth", which appeared not so long ago, but are also widely used and known to many.
Such well-established expressions, for example, include the phrase "not a single foot." So they say when they want to declare ignorance or misunderstanding of what is happening or the essence of some issue.
"I am not a foot in this molecular physics."
“- What happened here?”
“I'm not kicking a tooth.”
Another phraseologism came to us from the criminal lexicon - "I give a tooth." This expression means that a person will not lie and in any case will keep his promise. Its second meaning is confidence in one’s rightness, similar in meaning to the expressions “how to give a drink” or “as clear as a white day”.
"As I said, it will be so, I give a tooth."
This expression comes from the fact that in the conclusion the person had nothing of value with which he could vouch for the promise. Therefore, in order to confirm his intentions, the man promised to knock out a tooth if he breaks his word.
Conclusion
The article cited phraseological units with the word "teeth" and their meaning. As you can see, there are quite a lot of them, and they all have different meanings. Nevertheless, all these expressions are widely used in literature and in everyday life.