What does the expression "make ends meet" mean?

This phraseological turnover exists not only in Russian, but also in some other languages, for example in German, French, Polish, English. What does it mean when a person is told that he has to make ends meet? The interpretation of idioms in all nations is approximately the same, although it has several meanings that are quite similar in meaning.

How to understand the phrase "make ends meet"?

Often, phraseology is used in cases where people are talking about people who are experiencing difficulties in their work, performing professional or household tasks, trying unsuccessfully to find the right decision. For example: "It was not an easy task, it was not immediately possible to make ends meet".

Even more often such a verbal formulation can be heard in relation to a person who is limited in financial means, who is forced to consider every penny to keep within the allocated budget. They say about him: "He earns so little that he can barely make ends meet." In this situation, the phrase "make ends meet" meaning takes almost literal, according to the originally laid down meaning: "keep spending on arrival", that is, try to spend exactly as much as you get.

Etymology of stable expression

Presumably, this turn came in Russian from French, where joindre les deux bouts means "to connect two ends". Linguists believe that the idiom was born in the accounting environment and was used in the sense "to reduce the debit with the loan." The execution of this action was not a matter of the lungs. Therefore, the phrase "make ends meet" began to sound in a figurative sense, when talking about intricate circumstances, the exit of which required the application of mental or physical effort.

Other versions of the origin of the idiom

In literary sources, the expression occurs quite a long time ago. For example, the English historian Thomas Fuller (1608-1661) describes the life activity of a gentleman: "He did not deceive the world's riches, he preferred to be satisfied with small things, if only to make ends meet."

Although there is a clear financial leaning here, some linguists believe that the expression could have appeared in a crafts environment where it was required to combine the individual parts into one. The tailor needed to accurately calculate the amount of fabric for tailoring. And the person who is engaged in the manufacture of baskets and other similar utensils, to bring together the ends of the vine or birch-bark strips. In the affirmative sounding this phraseology has a positive meaning. It means that a person has managed to cope with difficult work, got out of a difficult financial or worldly situation.