"Self interest": meaning, etymology, synonyms

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:55

Great and mighty is the Russian language. It is also very rich in proverbs and sayings, winged expressions, phraseological units and other phrases that make our speech more expressive, vivid, memorable, but also more incomprehensible.

In order not to get into a mess, using any stable metaphorical expressions in a conversation, you need to know their meaning and features of use in speech. This knowledge is also needed in order to understand what your interlocutor is talking about. What does the expression "selfish interest" mean, where did it come from and when is it appropriate to use it?

Meaning

For starters, let's figure out what it is - "selfish interest". According to one of the newest dictionaries of the Russian language, edited by V. N. Trishin, this phraseological unit means a thirst for personal gain. When we mean that a person's actions are not motivated by a sincere and disinterested desire to help, but are caused by the desire to obtain some kind of benefit, material profit, or even just anybenefit for ourselves, then we are talking about selfish interest.

Etymology, or What does the skins have to do with it?

What does it mean - "selfish interest", it's already clear, now we'll find out the origin of the phrase. There are at least two versions of the etymology of this idiom. Selfish interest, that is, one's own, personal interest - one that is close to the body, like a skin (a similar metaphor can be seen in the saying "one's own shirt is closer to the body"). This is if we consider the part of the meaning of the phraseologism, connected precisely with personal interest, selfishness.

But there is, after all, another meaning in the phrase, namely monetary gain, profit. Then it is worth turning to the history of money. Many people know that symbolic money, the ones that we use now, did not appear immediately. Previously, they paid with something material, real, useful. The purchase represented an exchange of value. Skins and furs were one of these valuables. In exchange for them, the inhabitants of the northern settlements, where hunting was developed, received food, fabrics and much more from merchants. Later, there was a need for symbolic money that would have a certain denomination. Therefore, skins are the progenitors of modern money. So, selfish is one that is somehow connected with money or any commodity exchange.

In support of this version of the origin of the phrase "selfish interest", one can cite interpretations of similar-root Russian argotisms. So, one of the meanings of the word "skin" in the dictionary of Russian slang is "corrupt man".

Features of use

Despite the rather neutral history of phraseology (for example, it is not of biblical origin, which would indicate the bookish stylistic coloring of the idiom) and the fact that the phrase does not contain any rude or expressive words with a bright negative connotation However, do not forget that the meaning of the phrase is negative. Its meaning contains a certain amount of reproach, because commercialism has always caused rejection and condemnation in society and has been defined as a negative character trait.

Therefore, there are some restrictions on the use of the phraseologism "selfish interest", defined as recommendations on the culture of speech. An educated person will not allow himself such a statement in relation, for example, to his superiors. In secular conversation, this expression will also sound inappropriate. So it is better to use it in communication with people with whom you, so to speak, are on a short footing. Otherwise, you can replace this phraseological unit with synonyms that will be softer and more polite in their stylistic coloring.

Synonyms

To express the meaning of the phrase "selfish interest" in a more civilized and neutral way, you can use such expressions that are similar in meaning: "You are doing this for personal gain or because of personal interest." Such an expression will sound more pathetic: "The motive of your actions is far from disinterested" or "You are driven by personal interest.""Thirst for profit", "desire to receive material benefit, benefit" - all these phrases are also similar in meaning to our expression.

Use the Russian language in its entirety, in all manifestations and variations. The main thing is to do it competently, appropriately and culturally.

Now you know that this is selfish interest, the history of this idiom, as well as how and in what situation it is permissible to use this phraseological unit.