What does it mean to "burn life": definition and meaning

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

The great, powerful, free and, of course, truthful Russian language sometimes amazes with its richness, complexity and beauty - how many amazing words it has, which have several meanings, how many stable expressions that amaze with their diversity, how many proverbs and sayings, meaning which changes with each new generation…

Ignorance is no excuse

Often, ignorance of a particular phrase, its incorrect use or understanding causes all sorts of situations that have a greater or lesser level of awkwardness. Take, for example, the expression “burn life”. Have you ever thought about its interpretation? Have you ever used this phrase? Or was it used on you?

In the article we will try to figure out how it is to burn life, what is needed for this and whether there is any need to master such a skill.

Similar to English

If you look at the expression, so to speak, with the naked eye, it is quite possible to interpret it not quite correctly. Moreover, there is the possibility of a completely misunderstanding, up to the diametrically opposite one.

A person who is little familiar with Russian phraseology may well think that burning life means taking advantage of all the opportunities that it presents, risking exactly as much as necessary to achieve a result. This interpretation is not surprising, because in the same English language there is a similar expression to burn out bright, which has a similar meaning. If you translate the phrase literally, you get something like “live so as to burn brightly.”

The expression is certainly beautiful, but it has almost nothing to do with the Russian version.

A completely different shade

As you can easily guess from the sub title of this paragraph, in our language the phrase “burn life” has almost a diametrically opposite meaning. It has a clearly negative connotation, and you are unlikely to be able to boast of your erudition by praising someone in this way.

In the Russian version, a person who burns his life is, if not quite a lost soul, then clearly approaching it. Most often, such individuals have a continuous revelry on their minds, and for the most part they are not used to caring about tomorrow at all.

A touch of luxury

There is, of course, no definite answer to this question, but in general terms it will not be difficult to explain the phrase. Despite the richness of the nuances of understanding the expression in the minds of everyone, there are only two most common points of view on this matter.

If among your acquaintances suddenly there is someone who allows himself to live on a widefoot, trying all sorts of pleasures, from gastronomic masterpieces to organizing large parties for which he, perhaps, cannot even pay, you know - this is a man who lives life luxuriously.

As an example, perhaps, in this case, we can cite the main character of the novel by F. S. Fitzgerald "The Great Gatsby". His slightly naive, somewhat frivolous attitude towards life and money for the sake of achieving a single goal became surprisingly fertile ground for the so-called burning. This was beautifully demonstrated in the film of the same name. By the way, the life of almost the entire American elite in the 20s and 30s perfectly fits this description.

Reverse side of the coin

Nevertheless, people who once descended to its very bottom will be no worse able to tell about what it means to “burn through life”. In some cases, this process is understood as just a manifestation of excessive frivolity, sometimes leading to extremely undesirable results.

There are, of course, just an incredible number of interpretations of such situations. For example, it is quite common to understand the expression as the presence of some destructive habits like drinking or even drug addiction.

For many, the life-burner looks like a person who does not want to do absolutely anything to improve it, to achieve any new heights. In a word, the person is not at all ambitious, butsometimes completely indifferent to reality.

Characteristic examples

If everything is more or less clear with the first case, then the second, perhaps, requires some commentary. In fact, one does not have to be one of the heroes of the incredibly realistic and revealing Gorky play “At the Bottom” in order to fit this description.

Speech in this case, of course, is not only about all kinds of outcasts. In fact, almost every one of us can get such a characteristic.

To do this, it is enough just to stop in personal development, stop wasting your time and energy on it. The bottom line in this case will be precisely in the almost useless wasted time, which, of course, is very little pleasant.

Nevertheless, the interpretation described above is less common than the one that we paid attention to at first. In most cases, this expression means just the frivolous, somewhat reckless life that young people most often indulge in.

It is this understanding of the phrase that is most often found in literature and cinema. Tomorrow simply does not exist for such people, as does the need to think about the consequences of certain actions.

Of course, to some extent, such a position can be called romantic, but there are always time limits for maintaining such a lifestyle, not to mention social ones. This is what it is - the expression "burn life", the meaning of which is sovaried.

In this age of unhindered access to the Internet with its numerous social networks and the ability to stay in touch 24/7, it is quite easy to become a playboy. So next time, before committing a rash act that can lead to a variety of consequences, think about whether you fit the definition described in this article. And most importantly - answer the question, do you need it.