"The game is not worth the candle" or "the game is not worth the candle"

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:40

When pronouncing phraseologism “The game is not worth the candle”, a person implies that the conceived business is unprofitable, unprofitable. This expression came into the Russian language from the past, having a real fact under it. But which one? This should be de alt with.

A modern comic look at phraseology

If today we offer young people the following task: to describe the origin of the phrase "The game is not worth the candle" in a modern manner, then it is likely that someone will offer this option.

Players who decide to win a large amount of money at the races go to the racetrack by car. But on the way, they have a nuisance, because of which they have to change the candles in the car. Perhaps by staying at home and not getting into the car with such a large group, this could have been avoided, but the hope of winning was significant enough, so the players decided to take a chance and leave the house without making a painstaking inspection of the car.

However, their calculations turned out to be wrong: the gain was so small that it did not even pay for the repair of the vehicle. Therefore, the phrase "The game is not worth the candle" most accurately described the situation.

Or maybe consider the situation where a cynic who treats love like a game spends on candles for a romantic date. However, the lady of the heart (or the failed victim of deceit?) turned out to be intractable, which is why the spending of the cynical ladies' man was made senseless, his "player" failed!

Theater and idiom

In principle, this explanation does not contradict the truth. Although it would be incorrect to assert that the expression “The game is not worth the candle” refers specifically to car repairs. Indeed, in those days when it appeared in speech, there were no cars yet. Yes, and electricity, by the way, too.

So, perhaps the phraseologism "The game is not worth the candle" occurred due to another event? Suppose the candles in question were used to illuminate the theater stage and the auditorium, and the word "game" meant the acting of actors. Having spent quite a large amount on candles, the director of the theater discovered an almost empty treasury: the people did not show up for the performance in such numbers that the proceeds from the sale of tickets could recoup the costs.

Synonymous variants of the phrase

In principle, this option does not contradict the true meaning of the phraseological unit. After all, the situation described quite accurately conveys the meaning of the expression: the performance did not bring benefits, it was unprofitable, unprofitable. In such cases, they often say that “the game is not worth the candle.”

Many businessmen, considering some dubious proposals and calculatingfuture net incomes, they also use such an expression as "Across the ocean, a heifer costs a half, but give a ruble for transportation." This phraseological unit in this situation can also serve as a synonym for the expression about the game and candles.

The true origin of the phrase

However, most linguists are inclined to believe that the etymology of this expression goes back to playing cards. And if in the evening, with candles lit at the card table, small bets were made or the game went on with varying success, as a result of which none of the players received any significant gain, then the phrase could not be more intelligibly described the meaninglessness of the money spent on coverage.

Electricity has appeared in people's lives for a long time, and the expression that came into the language from antiquity is still actively used in speech. When costs exceed income, hardly anyone can help but remember a card game that did not bring money to its participants.

What does "The game is worth the candle" mean, did anyone think? For sure, yes. Knowing the meaning of the expression "The game is not worth the candle", it is easy to explain the meaning of its antonym. That is, considering this expression and its etymology, one can give such an explanation to the phraseological unit: the business that is planned is quite profitable, cost-effective, profitable. Or at least it will not introduce a person into waste, it will pay off, in the literal sense, the expression means: the price of candles (costs) will not exceed the gain (income), which in itself already means the profitability of the undertaking. It's like a good game of cards, when the winner of the big jackpot pays for the usedcandles during the evening pastime and does not go to waste.