What does it mean "by pull"? If we hear this expression, then we understand that a person has connections and acquaintances in certain circles, thanks to which he managed to get something, to have. The very word "blat" in Russian is borrowed from others. From Yiddish, it translates as "leaf, silent prayer." From Dutch - "sheet of paper, thin board." In German it means "paper money". What does the word "blat" mean, let's try to figure it out.
Peter the Great and Catherine the Second
Peter the Great is known all over the world as a great reformer. He carried out a coup in all public spheres: politics, education, government, churches, and so on. It was also necessary to overcome the ossified boyar foundations. By Peter's decree, the names of those who fulfilled the entire list of requirements or paid off with taxes were entered on a paper list, which was called in the Dutch manner - blat. The presence of a name in blat saved the boyar from pen alties.
Catherine the Great is also famous for her love of change. According to her decree, paper was issued to German settlers when settling the state lands of Novorossia. It gave its owner the right to receive certain privileges. She was also called blat.
We are ours, we are the new world…
Revolution of 1917 in Russia. Not always those “who were nothing” could cope with the opportunities that fell upon them, including material ones. There was a need to regulate the issuance of "benefits" by the authorities. German Cominternists could receive goods and products from special distributors. To do this, they were given coupons called blat. “What are you supposed to do there? Three arshins of red cloth for bloomers.”
Gradually the word took root in criminal circles, became slang. Prisoners began to be called thieves, who, if I may say so, were at the top positions of the thieves' hierarchy.
Blat in the USSR
In the early forties, a commodity and food crisis arose in the USSR, during which the word from thieves' jargon was first used in the modern sense. Despite the dictatorship of the Soviet government, even in wartime, it was possible to achieve something with the help of bribes or connections.
Gradually, organizations were created in which special support was implied. These could be scarce products or things, services in specialized institutions, vouchers to rest houses and sanatoriums. To receive these benefits without serving in such institutions and without having acquaintances who distributed them became practicallyimpossible.
The once very popular speci alties were gradually losing their prestige. Store managers, catering directors and other "masters of life" were raised into favor. After all, it was they who could provide "blat".
Today
What does "on the hook" mean today, when store shelves are bursting with an abundance of goods and products? Having connections and acquaintances in the right circles helps even today. For example, he got a job, went to school, got scarce football tickets, passed an interview, a casting by pull, and so on.
