Now "wife" is a term that is not ambiguous. But this was not always the case, let's analyze the meaning of the word, its synonyms, as well as the difference between a spouse and a wife.
Meaning
If a person is cultured enough, then three images come to mind at the word "wife":
- Penelope - wife of Odysseus;
- Xanthippe - wife of Socrates;
- The old woman from A. S. Pushkin's fairy tale about the fisherman and the fish.
In principle, the last two types can be combined with the adjective "grumpy", few people dream of such wives, everyone wants, of course, Penelope, but not every man is Odysseus, so everything is fair.
Let's look into the dictionary and find out that a wife is not only a married woman. So the meanings are:
- A woman in relation to a man with whom she is officially married.
- Same as a woman. This is an outdated and high variant.
By the way, the Slavs called all women “wives” in principle, the same is true for men - a husband is a male person, and when he leaves his single position, he becomes a spouse. Therefore, whether we like it or not, we need to talk about the meaning of the words“spouse” and “wife.”
The difference between spouse and wife
In addition to the dictionary meanings of words, there are also personal preferences that determine the lexical choice of a person. This is us to the fact that someone fundamentally does not like the word "wife" because of the echo of bureaucracy in it. Such a point of view has a right to exist. But the meaning of the word "wife" among the Slavs was not suitable for characterizing a married woman, because then other names had not yet appeared in the language. In fact, there is nothing terrible in the word "spouse", on the contrary, it is positive.
Derived from the old Russian “spousug”, that is, “pair team; spouse, married couple, husband and wife. The noun traces its genealogy from the verb "sprushti" - "pull, connect, harness." In other words, spouses are concepts similar in meaning to the words "husband" and "wife" in their modern interpretation. And if we turn to ancient times, then the same couple will look like this: husband and wife are a man and a woman who are not married, and spouses are those who form a family.
Official documents and speech etiquette
What we have told above is not yet subtleties, but really delights will go further. The feeling of bureaucracy from the definition of "spouse" arises for a reason. After all, it is this noun that is taken as the main one in official documents. Further more interesting. Sometimes you can hear: “My wife was in the store and told me that chickens have fallen in price!” - This is a wrong turn. About mybeloved, you can only say "wife", and when it comes to someone else's wife, then she is "spouse." That is, the following sentence would be correct: “My wife was in the store today and told me that chickens have fallen in price. Pass on this extremely interesting information to your wife.” A little awkward, but what can you do. In general, the word "wife" fell out of favor, so it is relatively rare to hear it, although such an appeal is much better than animalistic names - such as "cat", "zai", little fish. It seems that when getting married (getting married) or finding a permanent sexual partner, people lose their identity, forget names and dissolve in an anonymous sea of common definitions. After all, a person is given a name at birth not so that later, having changed his marital status, he will safely lose it. But let's leave it, the only important thing here is that "spouse" even in relation to his wife is preferable to affectionate, meaningless appeals.
Ideological conclusions from the difference in synonyms for the concept of "beloved woman"
Strong association with the team gives a field for a variety of interpretations. Questions about the crisis of marriage as a social institution and the problem of common interests between wife and husband fall into their sphere. In this context, the wife is more like a fighting girlfriend, and the wife is like a fellow traveler on the train: she simply decided to share some part of the trip with a man, because there was no other ticket or money for a more luxurious compartment. By the way, the last scenario is the key to a huge number of unions between a man andwoman: people did not find anyone better, but grabbed what was, because time is inexorable.
But even if you think like that, you still can't say that such speculation is true. No matter how noble the origin of words, people fill them with concrete content. You can call your wife your wife, while making a certain stylistic mistake, but this will not make her any kinder or more merciful. A wife is a state of mind, and the name is unlikely to change anything. Roughly speaking, people can be divided into two categories - egoists and altruists. The first are disgusting husbands and wives, and the second are excellent. Because some put their well-being above everything and sometimes use people in their own interests, the second put the happiness of another above their own and are able to serve a husband or wife. Of course, these are the so-called pure types; in reality, as a rule, one does not have to observe them. What is the conclusion? You should not attach great importance to the word "wife", it is better to observe the actions of a woman.
Synonyms for "wife"
Since we started talking about synonyms, let's continue and pick up replacements for the noun "wife". Without delaying things, let's move on to the list:
- half (dearest, legitimate);
- beloved;
- hostess;
- my love;
- darling;
- honey;
- fighting girlfriend;
- friend of life;
- life partner.
In fact, there are even more replacements, because each family gradually develops its own individual dictionary of nicknames and diminutivesdefinitions for each member of the family, so here is a general list, excluding comparison with animals and other outright bad taste. But if you move from the linguistic plane to the plane of life, then you must say: you need to look for a wife such that she does not need replacements.
How not to make a mistake in choosing a fighting girlfriend?
Someone may be indignant and say: “We are not in the market, the wife is not a vegetable!” Calm down, that's right. There is love that is not a carrot, but a person always chooses based on some grounds, criteria. We just want the search to be done correctly, this in no way contradicts "great and pure love." In addition, our algorithm can be rejected by the reader, but let him at least think about it. So, the list of qualities is:
- mind, intellectual development;
- community of interest;
- charm;
- beauty.
Men might think that we are cunning, how can you put beauty in last place? But like this. Life is a marathon, and beauty is a perishable product that stands for nothing, while intellectual power, common interests and charm do not evaporate anywhere. And yes, there is no need to interpret words about beauty in a vulgar way, because physical attractiveness should still be between people. It's just about not being captivated by mindless beauty that doesn't involve any baggage.
The main thing is love
Of course, any parameters andalgorithms only make sense in a favorable space. Any claims are groundless and unfounded without love, but it is also difficult to live without clear ideas about what is desired in this very love juice. Because, as practice shows, marriages concluded on enthusiasm and love quickly break up: such a factor as the unpreparedness of people for family life comes into play. The latter can be expressed both in the incompatibility of everyday habits and in the difference of interests.
Sometimes the discrepancy between lifestyles is so great that even love is unable to smooth out this difference. There is some truth to the jokes about multi-year mortgages as the foundation of a secure marriage. But what kind of life is it when people stay together only for the sake of certain material and economic benefits? Good question to think about at your leisure. Moreover, there is no shortage of information, there are a whole scattering of definitions of “wife” alone.
