"Sharashka" or "Sharashkin's office" - what is it? "Sharashkin's office": the meaning of the phraseological unit Sharashkin's office the origin of the expression.

Often we pronounce well-established phrases without delving into their meaning. Why, for example, do they say "naked like a falcon"? Who is "smoking room"? Why, finally, do they carry water to the offended? We will reveal the hidden meaning of these expressions.

Hot spot

The expression "hot place" is found in the Orthodox funeral prayer ("... in a hot place, in a place we will rest ..."). This is how paradise is called in the texts in Church Slavonic.
Ironically, the meaning of this expression was rethought by the raznochno-democratic intelligentsia of the time of Alexander Pushkin.

The language game was that our climate does not allow growing grapes, therefore, in Russia, intoxicating drinks were made mainly from cereals (beer, vodka). In other words, evil means a drunken place.

They carry water to the offended

There are several versions of the origin of this saying, but the most plausible one seems to be the one that is associated with the history of St. Petersburg water carriers. The price of imported water in the 19th century was about 7 kopecks in silver a year, and of course there were always greedy merchants who inflated the price in order to cash in. For this illegal act, such would-be entrepreneurs were robbed of a horse and forced to carry barrels in a cart on themselves.

Shabby view

This expression appeared under Peter I and was associated with the name of the merchant Zatrapeznikov, whose Yaroslavl linen manufactory produced both silk and wool, which were in no way inferior in quality to the products of foreign factories. In addition, the manufactory also made very, very cheap hemp striped fabric - motley, "shabby" (rough to the touch), which went on mattresses, wide trousers, sarafans, women's headscarves, work gowns and shirts.

And if for rich people such a dressing gown was home clothes, then for the poor, shabby things were considered “going out” clothes. The shabby appearance spoke of the low social status of a person.

Sitny friend

It is believed that a friend is called so by analogy with sieve bread, usually wheat. For the preparation of such bread, flour is used much finer grinding than in rye. To remove impurities from it and make the culinary product more "airy", not a sieve is used, but a device with a smaller cell - a sieve. Therefore, the bread was called sieve. It was quite expensive, was considered a symbol of prosperity and was put on the table for treating the most dear guests.

The word "sieve" in relation to a friend means "the highest test" of friendship. Of course, this phrase is sometimes used in an ironic tone.

7 Fridays per week

In the old days, Friday was a market day on which it was decided to fulfill various trade obligations. On Friday, the goods were received, and they agreed to give money for it on the next market day (on Friday of the next week). Those who broke such promises were said to have seven Fridays a week.
But this is not the only explanation! Friday was previously considered a day free from work, therefore, a similar phrase was used to describe a slacker who has a day off every day.

Where Makar did not drive calves

One of the versions of the origin of this proverb is as follows: Peter I was on a working trip across the Ryazan land and communicated with the people in an “informal setting”. It so happened that all the men he met on the way called themselves Makara. At first, the Tsar was very surprised, and then said: “From now on, all of you will be Makars!” Since then, “Makar” has become a collective image of the Russian peasant and all peasants (not only Ryazan) began to be called Makars.

Sharashkin's office

The office got its strange name from the dialect word "sharan" ("trash", "dull", "crooks"). In the old days, this was the name of a dubious association of swindlers and deceivers, but today it is simply an "unremarkable, unreliable" organization.

Do not wash, so by rolling

In the old days, expert laundresses knew that well-rolled linen would be fresh, even if the wash was not brilliant at all. Therefore, having made a mistake in washing, they achieved the desired impression "not by washing, so by rolling."

Goal like a falcon

“Goal like a falcon,” we say about extreme poverty. But this saying has nothing to do with birds. Although birdwatchers claim that falcons do lose their feathers during molting and become almost naked!
"Falcon" in the old days in Russia was called a ram, an instrument made of iron or wood in the shape of a cylinder. He was hung on chains and swayed, thus breaking through the walls and gates of the enemy's fortresses. The surface of this weapon was flat and smooth, in other words, bare.

The word "falcon" in those days was called cylindrical tools: scrap iron, pestle for grinding grain in a mortar, etc. Falcons in Russia were actively used before the advent of firearms at the end of the 15th century.

The smoking room is alive

"The smoking-room is alive!" - an expression from the old Russian children's game "Smoking room". The rules were simple: the participants sat in a circle and passed a burning torch to each other, saying: “The smoking room is alive, alive! The legs are thin, the soul is short. " The one in whose hands the torch was extinguished came out of the circle. It turns out that the "smoking room" is not a person at all, as one might think, but a burning sliver of which in the old days was used to illuminate the hut. She barely burned and smoked, as they said then "smoked".
Alexander Pushkin did not miss the chance to take advantage of this linguistic ambiguity in the epigram to the critic and journalist Mikhail Kachenovsky:

How! Is the journalist still alive?
- Zhivehonek! still dry and boring
And rude, and stupid, and tortured with envy,
Everything squeezes into its obscene sheet
Both old nonsense and absurd novelty.
- Fu! tired of the smoking room journalist!
How to extinguish a stinking speck?
How to kill my smoking room?
Give me an advice. - Yes ... spit on him.

Drunk

We find this expression in Alexander Pushkin, in the novel in verse "Eugene Onegin", when it comes to Lensky's neighbor - Zaretsky:
I fell off the Kalmyk horse,
Like a drunk zyuzya, and to the French
Got captured ...
The fact is that in the Pskov region, where Pushkin was in exile for a long time, "zyuzi" is called a pig. In general, "drunk like a zyuzya" is an analogue of the colloquial expression "drunk like a pig."

Share the skin of an unkilled bear

It is noteworthy that back in the 30s of the XX century in Russia it was customary to say: "Sell the skin of an unkilled bear." This version of the expression seems closer to the original source, and more logical, because there is no benefit from the "divided" skin, it is appreciated only when it remains intact. The primary source is the fable "The Bear and Two Comrades" by the French poet and fabulist Jean La Fontaine (1621-1695).

Dusty reality

In the 16th century, during fistfights, dishonest fighters took bags of sand with them, and at the decisive moment of the fight they threw it in the eyes of their rivals. In 1726 this technique was prohibited by a special decree. At the present time, the spreading "splurge" is used to mean "to create a false impression of one's capabilities."

The promised three years are waiting

According to one of the versions, it is a reference to a text from the Bible, to the book of the prophet Daniel. It says: "Blessed is he who waits and reaches one thousand thirty-five days," that is, three years and 240 days. The biblical call for patient waiting was humorously rethought among the people, because the whole proverb sounds like this: "They wait three years for the promised, but on the fourth they refuse."

Retired goat drummer

In the old days, among traveling troupes, the main actor was a scientist, a trained bear, followed by a "goat" dressed up with a goat's skin on his head, and only behind the "goat" was a drummer. His task was to beat a homemade drum, beckoning the audience. Interrupting with odd jobs or handouts is rather unpleasant, and then there is also not a real “goat”, retired.

Leavened patriotism

The expression was introduced into speech circulation by Peter Vyazemsky. Leavened patriotism is understood as a blind adherence to obsolete and ridiculous "traditions" of national life and an unquestionable rejection of someone else's, foreign, "not ours."

Good riddance

In one of the poems by Ivan Aksakov, you can read about the road, which is "as straight as an arrow, with a wide stitch that the tablecloth is laid down." So in Russia they saw off on a long journey, and did not put any bad meaning in them. This initial meaning of the phraseological unit is present in the Ozhegov Explanatory Dictionary. But it also says that in modern language the expression has the opposite meaning: "The expression of indifference to someone's departure, departure, as well as the desire to get out wherever you want." An excellent example of how ironically stable etiquette forms are rethought in language!

Shout to the whole Ivanovskaya

In the old days, the square in the Kremlin, on which the Ivan the Great bell tower stands, was called Ivanovskaya. On this square, clerks announced decrees, orders and other documents concerning the inhabitants of Moscow and all the peoples of Russia. So that everyone could hear well, the clerk read very loudly, shouted throughout Ivanovskaya.

Figure out a man

The expression to see through a person came to us from the times when coins made of precious metals were in use. Their authenticity was checked for a tooth: if there is no dent, the coin is real.

Pull the gimp

What is a gimp and why should it be pulled? This is a copper, silver or gold thread used in gold embroidery for embroidery patterns on clothes and carpets. Such a thin thread was made by pulling - multiple rolling and pulling through increasingly small holes. Pulling out the gimp was a very painstaking task that took a lot of time and patience. In our language, the expression to pull the gimp is fixed in its figurative meaning - to do something long, tedious, the result of which is not immediately visible.

Dance from the stove

To dance from the stove means to act according to an approved plan once and for all, without applying any of your knowledge and ingenuity. This expression became famous thanks to the 19th century Russian writer Vasily Sleptsov and his book A Good Man. This is the story of Sergei Terebenev, who returned to Russia after a long absence. The return awakened in him childhood memories, the most vivid of which were dance lessons.
Here, he is standing by the stove, feet in third position. Parents and servants are nearby and watch his progress. The teacher gives the command: "One, two, three." Seryozha begins to do the first "steps", but suddenly he gets off the beat, his legs braid.
- Oh, what are you, brother! - says the father reproachfully. - Well, go about five to the stove, start over.

Sharashkin's office Prost. Contempt. Trustless, worthless institution, enterprise: - I was assigned to work in "Todt" - the Germans had such a sharashkin office for the construction of roads and defensive structures (Sholokhov. The fate of man).

Phraseological dictionary of the Russian literary language. - M .: Astrel, AST... A.I. Fedorov. 2008.

See what "Sharashkina's office" is in other dictionaries:

sharashkin's office - noun, number of synonyms: 6 sharaga (10) sharashka (6) sharashkin business (4) ... Synonym dictionary

sharashkin's office - simple. , neg. unremarkable, not credible institution, enterprise, organization. The possessive adjective sharashkina is explained by the dialectal sharan “trash, dumb, crooks”. Sharashkin's office literally means “an institution, an organization ... ... Phraseology reference

sharashkin's office - (or sharashkin's company, sharashkin's factory; sharashkin's business; sharashkin's navars, etc.) a dubious institution, event; dark company. From sharashka ... Dictionary of Russian argo

Sharashkin's office - Spread. Nebr. 1. An undignified, not credible institution, enterprise, organization. FSRYa, 204; BTS, 1490; BMS 1998, 294. 2. Poorly run establishment. FSRYa, 204; BMS 1998, 294. 3. Absolute disorder. FSRYa, 204; BMS 1998, 294; Grachev, ... ... A large dictionary of Russian sayings

sharashkin's office - the ball of the Ashkin control, the ball of the Ashkin control ... Russian spelling dictionary

sharashkin's office - decomp. decrease 1) Fraudulent enterprise, rogue company. 2) An enterprise, an institution engaged in an unnecessary, useless business ... Dictionary of many expressions

sharashkin company - sharashkin factory, sharashkin navars, sharashkin business, sharashkin office Dictionary of Russian synonyms. sharashkin company noun, number of synonyms: 4 sharashkin business (4) ... Synonym dictionary

office - s, w. comptoir m. Goal. kantoor, it. Kontor. 1. A seat of office, usually a subdivision of a central office. Sl. 18. His Imperial Majesty's general regulations or the Charter according to which the state collegiums are all ... ... Historical Dictionary of Russian Gallicisms

sharashkina factory - noun, number of synonyms: 4 sharashkin business (4) sharashkin company (4) ... Synonym dictionary

office - OFFICE, s, f. 1. Police. 2. KGB (FSB). 3. Any dubious establishment. Things are going, the office writes everything is fine, everything is in order. See also: sharashkina office ... Dictionary of Russian argo

And again, an expression from life - many use it, but not many know where it comes from. When we say "sharashkina's office", we mean some kind of enterprise, a company that does not understand what and why, and it is clearly of a fraudulent nature, an accumulation of crooks, so to speak. In general, an ironic and clearly negative expression. “- Where did Vasya find a job? - Yes, in a sharashkin office of some kind, hell understand what.

In addition to this very expression, the people use the close-to-meaning "sharash-montage" (usually applied to suspicious construction companies) and simply "sharaga", applied to poorly organized and shabby offices. For example, in my youth, a student hostel was called "sharaga".

Where did it come from, this expression?

The fact is that in the old Russian dialect the word "sharash" meant swindlers, deceivers, beggars, even robbers. For example, from him, from this word, such concepts as "dumbfounded" - that is, stun and "shy away" - to hit. I think it's perfectly understandable why. So it turns out that the "sharashkin office" is a bunch of these very crooks, and the office itself does not inspire confidence.

In addition to this, the most frequently used sense of the expression "sharashkina office", there is still not so often used, but also related word - "sharashka". And here the meaning is completely different. More precisely, not entirely different, but clearly having a different connotation - respect and even sometimes admiration. For example: “- Yes, my dad worked in a sharashka with Korolev! - Gosha! You're not lying? "

The explanation is this: under Stalin, talented scientists and engineers, convicted of various offenses, could quickly redeem their guilt with shock work for the state. From such people scientific teams were created, placed in separate buildings or groups of buildings, and worked there, under appropriate protection and / or with an appropriate secrecy regime. Such offices were called "special design bureaus", and in jargon - "sharashki".

P.S. Somewhere I met a stubborn version that, they say, in the days of the NEP, when small individual shops and offices created by ordinary people began to appear like mushrooms after rain, the state treated them against the backdrop of giant collective construction projects like zilch. As a trifle not significant. And he called them "sharashkin offices", from the typical surname of a small trader - Sharashkin. That is, like the "Ivanovo office", or "Sidorovskaya". So - this is bullshit, not a version.

Where did the expression “sharashkin's office” come from? updated: July 7, 2017 by the author: Roman Gvozdikov

and where did the phrase "sharashkin's office" come from? and got the best answer

Answer from the Chairman of the HOA [guru]
The phraseological turnover of the sharashkin office (like the synonymous and doublet expression of the sharashkin factory) arose in lively colloquial speech and has a negative character. It was formed according to the model using both the structure of phraseological phrases such as post office, volost office, etc., and their grammatical reference word office (for the primordially Russian phraseological phrases formed according to the model, see: N.M. Shansky Phraseology modern Russian language. M., 1985. S. 95-96).
Therefore, in order to establish the etymology of this expression, it is enough to determine what is the origin of the word sharashka (sharashkina is undoubtedly a possessive adjective, compare: with gulkin nose). However, this is precisely what is unclear. Moreover, even the phraseological unit itself is not recorded in dictionaries.
Since in etymological dictionaries the word sharashkina (office, factory) has not yet received absolutely no explanation, at present it is possible to offer only a preliminary, although, as it seems to us, very probable etymology.
This explanation is fully consistent with the meaning of the phraseological turn of the sharashkin office, as well as the scope of its use and expressive and stylistic coloring. Most likely, the word sharashkina is etymologically related to such a word as the dialectal sharash (naked) “trash, idle, crook”. If this is the case, then the sharashkin's office is literally “the office of swindlers, deceivers” (compare: to shy away “hit”, stun “stun”, similar to stun, which originally meant also “stun, hit”).
The phraseologism of the sharashkin office recently gave our speech a reverse education - sharaga.
The chairman
Artificial Intelligence
(194781)
Well, what the hell to me with this comment?

Answer from Matilda[guru]
This expression appeared in the Russian language relatively recently. Sharash-montage is a dialect word meaning "crooks". That is, "the office of swindlers, deceivers." Hence the origin of the word dumbfounded.
Sharashkin's office (simple negligible) is an undignified, not credible institution, enterprise, organization. The possessive adjective sharashkina is explained by the dialectal sharan "trash, idle, crook". Sharashkin's office literally means "an institution, an organization of swindlers, deceivers." From the circulation, in turn, the word sharaga is formed "suspicious place or group of people

Answer from Marousel[guru]
the word sharashkin is etymologically related as related to such a word as the dialectal sharash (naked) "trash, idle, crook". If this is the case, then the sharashkin's office is literally “the office of swindlers, deceivers” (compare: to shy away “hit”, stun “stun”, similar to stun, which originally meant also “stun, hit”).
Phraseologism sharashkin's office recently gave our speech a reverse education - sharaga

Answer from Karnel lord[newbie]
SharaShkina-Office. rf

Answer from Adam Miziev[newbie]
This word came from the USSR. At that time, sharashki were called buildings, which are still found in many cities of Russia. These were the buildings of the KGB, heavily guarded and fenced off, where they brought arrested scientists convicts, and forced to work and develop all sorts of secret things. The people called them the sharashkin office

Answer from 2 answers[guru]

Hey! Here is a selection of topics with answers to your question: where did the phrase "sharashkin's office" come from?

Sharashkin's office - (simple. negligible) undignified, not credible institution, enterprise, organization. The possessive adjective sharashkina is explained by the dialectal sharan "trash, idle, crook". Sharashkin's office literally means "an institution, an organization of swindlers, deceivers." From the turnover, the word sharaga "suspicious place or group of people" is formed. Sherochka with little little girl

Sharashkin's office

(simple. negligible) undignified, unreliable institution, enterprise, organization. The possessive adjective sharashkina is explained by the dialectal sharan "trash, idle, crook". Sharashkin's office literally means "an institution, an organization of swindlers, deceivers." From the turnover, the word sharaga "suspicious place or group of people" is formed. Sherochka with little little girl

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