Worm to freeze: the meaning and origin of the phraseological unit

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:45

The expression "to kill a worm" is familiar to each of us from childhood. This verbal turnover is used in the sense of satisfying hunger, having a light snack before the main meal. It turns out that the creature hiding under the mask of an unknown worm is not so gluttonous, but why should it be killed, and not appeased or appeased?

The Spanish caterpillar and the French beast are the brothers of our worm

In many European languages there is a similar concept, but it refers exclusively to booze taken on an empty stomach. The Spanish say matar el gusanillo, the Portuguese say matar o bicho, the French say tuer le ver. Literally translated, it sounds like "kill the caterpillar" and "destroy the beast." There is clearly a direct connection with our idiom "kill the worm." The meaning of a phraseological unit becomes more understandable, since the verb in its composition is synonymous with such concepts as “torture”, “lime”, “destroy”, “put to death”.

The thing is that inIn medieval Europe, alcoholic beverages were used as an anthelmintic. A glass of alcohol was supposed to be drunk on an empty stomach in order to hasten the death of worms living in the human body. Today, completely different drugs are used to combat parasites. But the custom of “starving a worm”, that is, skipping a glass before breakfast, remained.

Insidious monster in the heart of a dead lady

In France, among the regulars of drinking establishments, who prefer to sit at the bar counter in the morning, a bike masquerading as pure truth is popular. They say that once in a Parisian family a young woman died suddenly. After opening the body of the deceased, the doctors found in her heart a huge, unknown to science worm. All attempts to kill him failed, the animal turned out to be surprisingly tenacious.

Then one of the doctors decided to lure the monster with a piece of bread dipped in wine. Having tasted the offered treat, the parasite immediately expired. It is believed that it is this case that underlies the tradition of “killing the worm” or “killing the beast.”

The monster eating our insides

In Russian, unlike French or Spanish, the expression "to kill a worm" is a synonym for a light snack without drinking alcohol. According to some researchers, the idiom could have arisen under the influence of popular beliefs. At a time when people knew very little about the anatomical features of the human body, it was believed that inside the abdomenthere is a snake that needs to be constantly fed.

Rumbling in an empty stomach was associated with the displeasure of the monster. If his need for food was not satisfied in time, it could eat a person from the inside - it is no coincidence that with long breaks in food, it began to suck in the stomach. It is quite possible that such an idea of the structure of the internal organs became the starting point for the emergence of the expression "freeze the worm." The meaning of the phraseological unit subsequently acquired a soft ironic coloring, and the formidable asp "turned" into a small harmless booger.

Speech borrowings and confusion of concepts

All the proposed versions look quite plausible, if you do not take into account the fact that the phrase “worm to kill” appeared in Russian only in the 19th century. Until that time, this phrase did not occur in the domestic literature. Therefore, it is not necessary to talk about the ancient Slavic roots of the idiom. You can also question the assertion that the birthplace of phraseology is medieval Europe. To remove helminths, according to historical information, it was not alcohol that was used there, but saturated solutions of common s alt.

Where did the expression "kill the worm" come from? The origin of phraseologism is not known for certain. One can only assume that it appeared thanks to the ancient Roman healers who treated various intestinal infections with the help of wormwood tincture. This medicine has been usedto fight parasites (worms). Today, a liquor similar to the one invented in ancient Rome is called absinthe.

Having migrated from the Mediterranean countries to France and Germany, the verbal turnover "to kill a worm" somewhat lost its original meaning and began to be identified not with treatment, but with the adoption of alcohol for a light snack. With the same meaning phraseologism penetrated into Russia. But in the Russian language there was already an expression “to freeze howl”, that is, “to eat”, “to satisfy hunger”. Over time, these phrases merged into one, and the alcoholic connotation was completely lost.