It's not uncommon to hear the phrase "close the issue" in the media or even in everyday conversation. This phraseological unit has an intuitively guessed meaning. More about it will be discussed in the article. And also you will learn in what situations this set expression is used, how it is combined with other lexical units, in what ways it is translated into foreign languages and many other interesting facts.
Meaning
First of all, you need to say what a phraseologism is. So in linguistics they call a stable combination of words that makes sense exactly in the form in which it exists. For example: “play the fool”, “circle around your finger”, “topsy-down”, “white crow” and the like. The meaning of such expressions is conveyed not with the help of their constituents, individual words, but due to the meaning rooted in the language. So, "fooling around" means deliberately behaving stupidly, "circling around your finger" - cunningly deceive, "topsy-turvy" - not in the right way, or inside out, "black crow" -sharply different from the general mass.
Also, the expression “close the question” is one of the phraseological units. This means finally solving a problem or problem in order not to return to it again. Closing the issue may be associated with the implementation of any actions, as well as simply with the termination of the discussion of the topic that has exhausted itself.
Parallel to this, there are stable expressions "open question", "question open" and "question remains open". They, respectively, mean that the problem has not yet been resolved - you need to take action or end the discussion that has become meaningless.
Origin
Currently, the expression "close the question" is a fairly common cliché in journalistic speech. It is not known for certain where this expression comes from, but it can be assumed that the socio-political sphere became its source. Most likely, the phrase was once used in the media and quickly spread, gaining a foothold in the Russian language.
Use
“Close the question” is a phraseological unit that can often be found in news articles and speeches by statesmen. They use it when discussing important social and political issues, when they want to show an intention to bring a matter to its logical conclusion, solve an existing problem, etc. In this case, the solution may also lie in not continuing or not taking any action. Also, the expression can be used in situations where the speaker emphasizesthe importance of the final solution of the problem.
Examples of the use of this phraseological unit you can see below.
- The union put forward a demand to close the issue of wage arrears by the end of the month.
- Countries agreed to close the issue of export conditions.
- City closed the possibility of building a new stadium.
Synonyms
Speech should be literate and varied. Sometimes, in order to avoid lexical repetition, it will not be superfluous to remember and use an expression with the same meaning as “close the question”. A synonym for it can be, for example, the simplest one: "to solve a problem (case, question)". You can also put it this way: "close the topic." Another option: "finally decide and never come back to this." The last expression sounds somewhat overloaded, but it carries the same meaning as the desired phraseological unit.
Translation into other languages
Now let's talk about how the expression "close the question" is used in the speech of other nations. Such a phenomenon as phraseological units is characteristic of any language. The difference is that each such combination of words is unique. It only makes sense in this form and in this language, so tracing or literal translation is rarely appropriate.
Next, we will look at how the phrase “close the question” sounds in European languages. Translation into English has several options. Some of them are pretty close toRussian:
- close the matter;
- close the issue.
There is also an English expression close the books on (someone or something), which means "to solve a case" or "to close a question".
In German there is an expression das Thema zu schließen, in French - fermer la question, in Spanish - cerrar el tema. All of them are similar in structure, from which we can conclude that this expression is universal. Perhaps it has the same source everywhere - the journalistic style of speech.
Variations on a theme
You can also mention situations in which the expression “close the question” is not exactly a phraseological unit. These include, for example, the sphere of Internet communication. Closing a question on a forum or website is an option that the moderator implements. In other words, we can say that the topic is closed. This means disabling the possibility of commenting in a particular discussion thread, since the topicstarter (the person from whose post the virtual conversation began) has already received an answer to the question asked or no longer wants to see responses from other participants.
Another kind of expression that this article is devoted to is the concept of “closed question” (English closed question). It is used in sociology and means such a question in the questionnaire, to which the respondent can only answer "yes" or "no". For example: "Do you like milk?" or “Is the statement true that…?” and similar expressionssuggesting a detailed answer with an explanation.
After reading the article, you learned what the phrase "close the question" means. This expression is a phraseological unit and is most often used in media reports and official statements by the authorities. This phrase is also familiar to the regulars of Internet forums and sites with questions and answers, but in this area it is used in a slightly different meaning.
