What does the expression "A parable of the town" mean?

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:43

Recently, many complain that they can not master, say, English, German, French, Italian or any other foreign language. They find them incredibly difficult: sometimes the words are not read at all according to the rules, then the grammar is difficult, then the pronunciation is not at all as it should be …

How to be? Experienced linguists advise you to just relax and try to get the most out of the learning process. Do you think fate has not endowed you with linguistic abilities? Not true! One of the most difficult languages in the world has already conquered you! Which? Russian, of course!

Don't believe me? In vain! Judge for yourself, how can poor foreigners understand, say, our phraseological units? However, why only foreigners? Well, for example, do you know what the expression "Parable of the town" means? Most likely, most of us only guess about the true meaning, although we have heard it far more than once.

Here and the dictionary is unlikely to help. And what about the poor tourists! Can you imagine?

It's about this lexicalunit and will be discussed in this article. Let's try to give a definition, trace the etymology and find out the situations in which it would be appropriate to use it.

Section 1. What does the phrase "The Talk of the Town" mean?

Let's not hide, this expression is still quite rare in our time. It can almost be called archaism. According to experts, it means something that has gained great popularity, that is, what everyone is talking about. A fact that has been on everyone's lips for a long time.

Although it is worth noting that such a subject of general conversation in most cases causes smiles and disapproval of others. It turns out that if someone has become a "talk of the town", it means that he was subjected to universal condemnation, ridicule, and as a result received an unkind fame.

Section 2. Biblical interpretation

Not everyone knows that this phrase, along with many others, is considered a biblical expression, as it has a completely religious background. Here are some examples for comparison.

Let's say the saying "a wolf in sheep's clothing" is taken from the Gospel and is used to characterize a hypocrite who hides his bad intentions under the mask of virtue.

The words “not of this world” were spoken by Jesus. They are used to describe a blissful person, immersed in dreams and fenced off from real worries.

But the phrase “parable of the town” (the meaning of phraseologism was given above) is taken from the Bible itself. Its lexical composition is represented by the union of words"parable" (a short story, saying, proverb with a moralizing meaning) and "by the town" (adverbs, languages, tribes, peoples).

It turns out that "the talk of the town" is nothing but a "saying among the people", something that is constantly talked about, as well as something that has gained wide popularity and caused ridicule and condemnation.

Section 3. Where can phraseological units be used?

As it was noted, the popular expression "parable of the town" is now used quite rarely and mainly by elderly people. However, sometimes such a statement can also be heard in the conversations of progressive and well-read youth, who care for the preservation of their native language. In addition, many authors use this phrase in their works.

Historians, by the way, note that the expression "parable of the town" is a phraseological unit that has Old Slavonic roots. It was often used in ancient literature and even then it denoted the subject of general conversations and constant gossip. It turns out that its value has not changed.

Section 4. The most common synonyms

The lexical unit "parable of the town" has now been replaced by some well-known synonyms that are more familiar and appropriate in modern Russian. Instead of it, you can very often hear such words from people: tradition, belief, anecdote, story, example, hint, legend, fiction, fairy tale and many others.