The great Russian language is rich in winged expressions and idioms, with which you can characterize almost any situation. Moreover, to understand the meaning of some of them is quite difficult. The meaning of phraseology “getting lost in three pines” is no exception.
The meaning of phraseology
What does it mean to “get lost in three pines”? This question can be answered in different ways.
- In a figurative sense, this popular saying means "do not understand the elementary situation", "stumble out of the blue", "get confused in a simple matter." It is used as a comradely and derogatory censure to those who, due to certain circumstances, did not show a liveliness of mind and ingenuity and could not figure out a simple problem.
- In a relatively figurative sense, idiom means “getting lost where it is practically impossible to do it,” for example, where there are no complicated forks and intricacies of roads and buildings.
Proverbs Origin History
The meaning of phraseology “to get lost in three pines” can be interpreted as an example of a literary work. In 1798, a certain Vasily Berezaysky published the book "Anecdotes of the Ancient Poshekhontsy", where he described in a joking satirical form the life and life of the inhabitants of Poshekhonye (a real people who once lived along the banks of the Sheksna River).
Representatives of this people in the book were exposed as stupid, irresponsible and absent-minded. In one episode of the book, the Poshekhontsy went on a journey for happiness, but they didn’t get to happiness, having lost their way in three pine trees: each of the Poshekhontsa insisted that one pine had happiness, and they did not come to a common opinion. Since then, the expression "get lost in three pines" has become a household name. He was popularized, in particular, by the Russian writer and journalist Saltykov-Shchedrin M.E., using the new phraseology in his works.
Since then, we have been actively using this phraseologism in our daily lives, sometimes without thinking about the history of its origin.