The expression "Ekar babai" in one form or another was heard by all or almost all people. A lot of people thought about who this very babay is and where this expression came from. The main part of the people will remember only Babayka, who scared them in childhood when they did not want to sleep, and few will give more accurate information. So who is this ekarny babai? Attempts to find out the origin of this unusual expression have been made for a very long time.
Ecarny bogeyman. Meaning in modern speech
The "Big Dictionary of Russian Colloquial Speech" says that this expression denotes any emotion: irritation, joy, annoyance and others. It is used as an interjection and refers to a jocular colloquial reduced style. This is a euphemism that is most often used by representatives of working speci alties, if a situation occurs in which one wants to use foul language, the soul, so to speak, asks, but for some reason this cannot be done. For example, if you accidentally hit yourself with a hammer onfinger, and there are children nearby. That is, only the first sound of the swear phrase is pronounced, the rest are replaced by an obscure phrase. In addition, euphemisms are often used in print and speech, again to replace swear words. With the help of euphemisms, you can reduce the negative load of the text, although it is almost always clear from the context and / or from the very sound of the euphemism which obscene expression it replaces.
Why Babai?
There is a version that this expression is a modified "anchor babay". So in the old days they called workers whose duties included installing and regulating beacons on the Volga. When the water level changed at the anchor, standing on the buoy, it was necessary to adjust the length of the cable. Most often, retired sailors were taken to this position. And here babay? Translated from Tatar, this word means "grandfather".
Why else can a babai be yokarny?
There are several versions of this.
- This expression appeared in ancient times (as, indeed, all proverbs), so its exact origin is unknown.
- Tatar "Yo khana babai!" - an expression from which the Russian "ekar babai" came. The translation of this expression into Russian (approximate) is “The end of you, grandfather!” This expression may be pronounced differently in different regions.
- From Turkic, this expression can be translated approximately as "an old grandfather who loves men's backsides", that is, itelderly homosexual.
According to the latest version, the equally frequently used expressions "Ekar babay and his girlfriend" and "Girl girlfriend" used in demotivators lose all meaning and are used only to express themselves flamboyantly and unusually.
Uncommon versions of the origin of this expression
There are two more versions of the origin of the expression, which also have the right to exist:
- Among Buryat shamans, the word "yokhar" means a ritual dance. As already mentioned, the word "babay" in Tatar and Mongolian means "grandfather". That is, perhaps this substitute for obscene expression means the harmless word "shaman".
- Perhaps there is an even deeper reason for the origin of this expression. Og is the name of one of the heroes of the Bible, Noah, who was saved during the Flood. There are references to Og in the folklore of almost every country and, accordingly, in many place names. He is also the Yokarny Babay considered in our article. Examples of such references are the Oka River in Siberia, the character of the Easter Island myth Yokarny Babay, the father of fish in New Zealand Ika-tere, the Prussian deity Eye Pirms, the Greek king Ogyg, etc. Let's take a closer look at the Greek character. In the folklore of this country there are several tales of the flood. In one of the most popular of them, the person who escaped the flood is the Boeotian king Ogyg.
- What's interesting, Noah, or rather Yokarny Babai, is even associated with the myths about Atlantis. Atlantis was called, as the daughter of Atlanta, the goddess Calypso, who held the Homeric Odysseus in love captivity. How is she related to Noah? She lived on an island called Ogygia! "Address of residence" is nowhere to be exact!
Does it make sense to look for the exact etymology?
Perhaps there is no point in trying to find the exact etymology of this expression. It unequivocally entered into speech a very long time ago, and exact evidence of its origin has not been preserved. In conclusion, we will name another version of the origin of this expression, which also has the right to exist. It is known that Babai as a character is quite often found in Russian folklore. Perhaps the main character of our article was once a character in fairy tales, but was simply lost over time?
Babai as a character in fairy tales and just an outdated word
Babai is a night spirit in Slavic folklore. He is often mentioned by parents in order to scare naughty children. Usually this is done so that the children do not get out of bed after they are put to bed, otherwise the babai will take them away, because he hides under the bed. His appearance is usually not described at all. Children are given the opportunity to imagine it in the most terrible form possible. He is sometimes described as a black old man with physical defects. Sometimes the variant "babayka" can be used, which means "old woman" in translation. The study by V. Lutsenko indicates that in its direct sense (ie, to refer to an old person) this word is limited to the area of use. ATIn an article by Nikolina and Gritsenko, the word "babay" in children's horror stories is generally regarded as a sign of ethnic hostility.
