"Master yourself," "calm down": phraseology as a choice in meaning?

Among the various reasons why translators from the Russian language have difficulties, you can specify the abundance of phraseological phrases in our lexicon. These generally accepted phrases are so common that we do not even think about their structure or the appropriateness of the application. But if a foreigner needs to find phrases "to master himself, to calm down", the phraseological phrase in Russian, he will cope - this is the rare case when Russian, English, French and German variants are almost identical in meaning and verbal construction. At the same time in the world there is a huge number of idioms and phraseological units that do not fit into linear logic. In addition, all these languages belong to one common logical structure, representatives of other language groups will be much more difficult.

Phraseologisms in Russian

All phraseological units can be conditionally divided into groups according to the alleged sources of occurrence. For example, a phrase can be associative, degenerated from a conventional comparison. "Time flows like water through fingers" - this comparison, however, if you say: "Minutes flowing away through your fingers" - this is a phraseology, associatively derived from the original expression. If you try to interpret literally, it turns out that someone is able to miss intangible minutes, and there will not even be an analogy with water. That is why even a brilliant technical knowledge of the language will not help to catch the mechanism of the appearance of idiomatic expressions.

In the example above, instead of the expressions "to master yourself, to calm down" phraseological turnover is traditionally used alone - "pull yourself together". But any language as a linguistic system is not an unshakable lump. It is fluid matter, developing and growing as society evolves.

The use of phraseology in everyday speech

We are so used to idioms that sometimes we do not even think about where they came from. The solid part refers to the so-called winged expressions - that is, to phrases from literature or mythology that have become widespread. For example, "was there a boy?" - this is an ironic expression, using which the speaker expresses a mocking doubt in the presence of cause for concern. The author is Maxim Gorky (novel "The Life of Klim Samgin"). But the phrase "Augean stables" came from ancient Greek mythology: King Avgia was credited with dirty stables, which only Hercules could clean up by turning the river bed so that it carried away all the impurities. Used to briefly describe the degree of neglect of cases.

"Take yourself in hand" - meaning "to master yourself, to calm down" the phraseological turn that occurs even in the speech of young children. They use it unconsciously, but more often in a completely correct semantic key. The natural method of studying the native language, when the baby is oriented towards the vocabulary of parents and surrounding people, allows you to understand even more complex idioms unnoticeably.

"Self-control": a semantic analysis of the expression

Virtually any phraseology can be disassembled in meaning and find out the mechanism of its occurrence. Linguistic laws, according to which any language is formed, make it possible to analyze any neoplasm. "To master oneself, to calm down" - a phraseological turn appears precisely because of the meaning of the original phrase.

What does it mean to "master"? It is to take power over anything. In this case, take power over yourself. Other forms of this phrase sound like: "He perfectly owns himself" - this means he controls his own emotions. Calmness and the ability to curb impulses - this is the possession of yourself.

Logical output

If the words "master yourself, calm down" are replaced by phraseology on the basis of the above semantic analysis, you can easily find the right phrase. Someone has so much power over themselves that it is easy to control the gusts, emotions. If you hold, then you can mean that it does it literally - with your hands. The council to pull itself together means not only willful calm, it is often a call to connect control over current events, literally - to master them.

It turns out that the idiom under consideration is interpreted not only as "to master yourself, to calm down". The phraseology "to keep oneself in hand" also means "not to let slackness, not to dissolve, not to allow external negative influence to break through psycho-emotional protection."

Additional phraseological turnovers

From the phrase "pull yourself together," similar idioms have emerged over time, which can amplify or soften the expression for greater imagery of speech. Examples:

• Take yourself by the collar (the scruff, the ear);
• Collect ass in handful;
• Squeeze yourself into a fist.

Thus, the notion of "mastering oneself, settling down" the phraseology "pull yourself together" is spreading, but additional idioms are making specific and emotional coloring.

Psychoemotional coloring of synonymous expressions

If you imagine the idiom "pull yourself together" as the original, then the phrase "squeeze yourself into a fist" means a more intense action. That is, just do not hold hands, you have to make more efforts.

"Take yourself by the collar" or for other places - it's also "take control of yourself, calm down" - the phraseology in this case implies more battle with laziness and the habit of postponing important matters for later. It turns out that a man treats himself as an inappropriately stern parent with a lazy schoolboy - takes the scruff of the neck and forces him to carry out important tasks.

But "to assemble a butt into a handful" is an ironic synonym for the idiom to "pull yourself together", more often more bold and obscene expressions with the same meaning are used.

Appropriate use of phraseology "pull myself together"

If the expression "to master yourself, to calm down" is replaced by phraseological turnover, the emotional coloring of the context can change. If in the oral speech the interlocutor gets a hint in the form of intonation and facial expressions, in the written speech the expression is interpreted depending on the mood and current events in the life of the addressee. To avoid misunderstanding, it is better to avoid idioms, which can be taken as annoyance, patronizing tone or devaluation of other people's problems.

When dealing with foreigners, even those who know Russian well enough, the use of literary expressions without complex national features will be a good way, including idiomatic expressions that are difficult to translate literally. This is business etiquette. And if for phrases "to master yourself, to calm down" phraseology is identical in the main European languages, then representatives of other linguistic groups may find themselves in a quandary.

Difficulties in translating phraseological units

Many translators can share stories about how difficult it is to explain specific idioms to a foreigner. And without that, the complex Russian language begins to seem incomprehensible when a guest of the country discovers that it "overcooked borsch" and "overdone it with salt" - it is almost the same thing. With the expressions "to master yourself, to calm down" everything is somewhat simpler, and you can make a little effort on yourself, take yourself in hand and dispense with difficult to translate expressions.

However, for professionals who are engaged in the translation of works of art, everything is much more complicated. This is a higher degree of language proficiency, which implies the study of idiomatic expressions. Translation into Russian also has its difficulties, because in each culture there are their own phraseological units. For example, if a girl is told "she sat on a high horse", then this corresponds to our idiom "she lifted her nose."