A man makes a promise to fight a bad habit. It turns out that such a noble impulse has a name in the language of stable phrases. In the center of attention is the expression “Annibal's oath”: origin, meaning, and also an example from the movie.
Annibal is a variant of the famous name Hannibal. Carthaginian military exploits
The fact that the name of the great African commander can be transcribed in different ways. Of course, our contemporary, when mentioning the name Hannibal, immediately recalls the crazy psychiatrist, popular thanks to the books of Thomas Harris, but in this case one of the Buffalo Bill catchers has nothing to do with it. A psychiatrist and a general connects only a name.
The expression "Annibal oath" arose from the fact that the great military leader gave himself the vow at the age of nine to be an enemy of Rome. But, as you know, the matter was not limited to the promise. Hannibal really was an ardent opponent of Rome and reaffirmed his convictions with deed - feats of arms. He inflicted several sensitive defeats on Rome. True, in the end, the empire took its toll. Hannibal first made peace with his sworn enemy, and then he was forced to go into exile, where he committed suicide, not imagining himself a kneeling servant of Rome.
Hannibal is dead, and the phrase “Annibal oath” will live on as long as the Russian language exists. The memory of the commander’s exploits has also passed the test of time a long time ago.
Expression value
By analogy with the behavior of Hannibal, the oath that bears his name implies an unshakable conviction and determination to uphold his position in the face of the enemy. Also, naturally, phraseologism can be used if we are talking about some kind of event or phenomenon in front of which it is a shame to pass. It is known that I.S. Turgenev had an extremely negative attitude towards serfdom and even made himself the Annibal oath to fight it to the end. Such is the story.
So, once again, the Annibal oath means a firm determination to fight anything to the last drop of blood. Moreover, make this struggle a matter of your life. Expression does not always imply something bellicose. It also happens that a teenager who has survived a lot of grief from the lack of culture and callousness of people, chooses the enlightenment of the masses as the work of his life, wants to sow good and bright and burn with the verb of the heart, that is, become a teacher.
Hollywood action movies in the service of Russian phraseology
But, of course, the most striking example of the phenomenon under consideration can be, oddly enough, Hollywood action films, which were shot 90 years of the 20th century.
The film "Double Strike" (1991) with Jean-Claude Van Damme. The plot is standard for this genre. Little twin brothers kill their parents. Then after 25 years they are given the opportunity to take revenge, of course, under the guidance of a mentor. In one of the episodes, one of the brothers turns to the teacher and says: "I will take revenge, Frank, to the very end." Agree that this is fully consistent with the expression "Annibal oath", the meaning of which we have already considered a little earlier.
Such examples can pick up a lot. The American fighter, in principle, stands on the idea of blood feud, as M.N. Zadornov.
And if you take the trouble and look wider, then the life of so many people embodies the content, which is the phraseology “Annibal oath”. Think someone didn’t like something in childhood. There was a certain anti-example, and even when he didn’t shave, he said to himself: “No, I certainly won’t be like that!” And then he did not back down from his words. There are, of course, those who change their beliefs more often than soap in a soap dish, but such subjects are outside the scope of our vision, because they should not be equaled.