One of the main riches of the Russian language is its chic phraseological turns, which make oral and written speech bright and figurative. Let's get acquainted with one of them, find out what "Trishkin's caftan" means, in what situation it would be appropriate to use this phrase, where it came from.
History of Appearance
There are several sources of idiomatic expressions, one of them is fables, and others are short but surprisingly capacious texts. So "Trishkin's caftan" owes its origin to Ivan Krylov's fable of the same name. The plot of this uncomplicated, but witty work is simple:
- A certain Trishka, the protagonist of the fable, faced a problem - his favorite caftan fell into disrepair, torn at the elbows.
- The hero did not lose heart, he quickly found a way out of the current situation - put patches, but used parts of the sleeves themselves as material for them. As a result, the caftan turned out to be rather unusual, it did not completely cover the hands.
- But even here Trishka did not despair, he corrected the situation in the following way - he cut off the fabric from the floor and the fold of the clothes and lengthened the sleeves. The problem, it would seem, has been solved, but here's the bad luck - now the caftan itself has become much shorter than it should be. Such attire caused only laughter from those around.
This is the content of the fable and the origin of the phraseological unit "Trishkin's caftan". The text was written in 1815 and almost immediately found its way to the pages of the Son of the Fatherland magazine.
Meaning
The moral of the fable the great Krylov formulated very clearly and understandably:
Other gentlemen, Things get messed up, they get fixed, Look: they are flaunting in Trishka's caftan.
This explanation fully helps to understand the meaning of phraseological units. Saying "Trishkin caftan", we mean the desire to deal with some difficulty, but unsuccessful methods. So, the problem will be solved, but because of the actions, others will be created. The person himself will get confused in what he has done, get even more bogged down.
Real background
We got acquainted with the meaning of the phraseological unit "Trishkin's caftan", now we will find out on what occasion such a text came out from Krylov's pen. Faced with financial difficulties, some members of the nobility decided to cope with their problems by remortgaging their estates in the Board of Trustees. In order to live in familiar luxury, many aristocrats - Krylov's contemporaries - took out a loan, but were not able to pay it off. Wishing to "shut uphole”, they took out a second loan, on much more unfavorable terms. And in the end they were completely ruined.
Modern use
Let's consider an example of the modern situation, when it will be possible to competently and appropriately include the phraseological unit "Trishkin's caftan" in your speech. So, a person took a loan, but did not calculate his financial capabilities and failed to make a payment on time. In order not to become a debtor, he decides to take another loan, for a small amount, safely pays part of the installments on the first loan. But the time comes, and he needs to pay two payments already. But there is no money, this person has to draw up a microloan at very high interest rates. Having received the money, he makes payments on both loans on time, but falls into a debt hole - now he has three debts, and his income level has not increased. It's safe to say about such a would-be financier that he "flaunts in Trishka's caftan" or "put it on."
Another example comes from the lives of students. A certain unscrupulous student decided not to prepare for the physics test, but to use cheat sheets, but he got caught and was sent to retake. Due to the fact that he had to urgently pull up physics, he could not properly prepare for chemistry, so he also did not pass this subject. Here we see the solution of one problem by temporarily ignoring the other, which ultimately leads to even greater difficulties.
Phraseologism "Trishkin caftan" is very relevant for ourtime, because often people are forced to deal with one difficulty at the expense of another, which only aggravates the situation.
