What are winged words?

"If the mountain does not go to Mohammed", "On a silver platter", "And you, Brutus!" - how firmly in our life these phrases entered. And each of them is very brief and precise, in a few words can describe the situation or convey the feelings.

What it is?

Winged words, or expressions - phraseological units that are derived from historical events, folklore and various literary sources - artistic, journalistic, scientific. They often meet the names of literary characters, historical figures, geographical names. These can be quotes from speeches of famous people.

Most winged phrases lose their original meaning and are used already in relation to current realities.

Winged words can have the features of an aphorism, or simply have a figurative character or be used in a figurative sense. They, like proverbs, are known to many, are often and everywhere used, have a special expressiveness and accurately convey a thought.

Where did this name come from?

The very phrase "winged words" belongs to Homer and has by no means the meaning attributed to him now. The Greek poet in his Odyssey meant a loud speech. Later, however, the expression "winged words" found a different meaning in Homer's mouth. It began to mean a smooth speech, the words of which fly from the mouth of the speaker to the ear of the listener.

The present meaning of this phrase came about thanks to the publication in 1864 of a collection of popular quotations compiled by the German scientist George Buchman. Since then, expression has become a term used in stylistics and linguistics.

The history of the appearance of some winged phrases goes back to ancient times. Some of them belong to mythology, others to historical events or speeches of prominent figures and philosophers of the past. Translated from Latin and Greek, winged phrases have firmly entered our life, having lost, of course, its original meaning. And expressions derived from mythology are generally used only in a figurative sense.

Sources

A special place is occupied by the winged words, the source of which is the Bible. Individual phrases or even whole sentences - biblicalisms - are often found in everyday speech and give it a special color and meaning. The most famous of them are "do not judge, so you will not be judged", "a book with seven seals", "a voice crying in the desert" and many others.

In addition to biblical quotations, a separate niche is occupied by literary sayings found in the works of Russian and Ukrainian classics - NV Gogol, AS Pushkin, M. Yu. Lermontov. A huge source of winged expressions are the fables of IA Krylov and "Woe from Wit" by AS Griboedov. Significantly later, the quotation from the works of Ilf and Petrov enriched the collection of such phrases.

Losing its original meaning, partially modifying under the influence of time, winged words, nevertheless, adorn our speech, make it richer and more interesting. Some expressions are instructive in nature, others impose a humorous color on words. Increasingly, winged expressions can be found in the headings of books and articles.

Conclusion

However, some phrases in different countries may have a slightly different meaning, although they are taken from the same source. There are expressions that generally do not have analogues in another language, and when translated they seem completely meaningless. This is worth knowing to people who want to flash their speech and knowledge abroad, so as not to get into an embarrassing situation. It is better to learn a few winged expressions that are actively used in this country. This will be the best evidence of a genuine interest in the culture and history of the host country.