“To hell with Kulichki,” everyone has probably heard such a saying, meaning “very far, into the very wilderness.” This phrase is used when answering questions “where are you going, going, etc.”, as an indication of a very distant abandoned place, or simply as a formal answer without clarification...
In the old days, the appearance of this and similar phrases was associated with superstitions. It was believed that a direct answer to the question “where?” you can jinx the road. Initially, the expression sounded like “to hell with Kulizhki”, or “Kulishki”, where these words meant islands in a swamp or forest clearings. Over time, the word became exclusively dialectal, and it was replaced by the more understandable noun “Kulichki” - yes, those same Easter cakes, Easter! As you remember, our favorite Easter cakes resemble hummocks in their shape. Unusual, right? And as a result, the expression combined seemingly incompatible concepts: after all, the devil and a religious holiday are completely incompatible. But perhaps it was precisely this holiness that knocked out all the evil spirits from their homes.
But the most interesting thing, friends, is that this place – Kulishki – still exists today! Yes, yes, don't be surprised. I found this place and will tell you more about it.
Ancient Moscow was surrounded by forests and swamps. There was even such a proverb: “Moscow stands in a swamp, they don’t thresh rye in it.” And “Kulichki, Kulischki, Kulishki”, as I already said, are swamps. In ancient times, these very little places were considered a lost place where all sorts of things could be found. devilry. And this place was considered far, far away from the white-stone capital city, which was located outside the Kremlin walls.
But as the years passed, Moscow grew. People drained swamps, burned and cut down forests, and developed wastelands. Along the way, they drove away all the evil spirits that inhabited these lands. In place of the little places, streets with houses appeared, and so that all evil spirits would not return, cathedrals and churches were erected in these places. And now only in old sayings and ancient names the “swamp spirit” has been preserved. And only by these names can one still determine where this place was located.
So where is it, this place with such unusual name? The ancient district of Kulishki was located at the confluence of the Moscow River and the Yauza River. Currently this is the Solyanka district with adjacent lanes up to Yauzsky Boulevard and the Yauza embankment, and the entire territory of the former Orphanage.
By modern times this is the very center of Moscow, if you move directly from the Kremlin, it will be a little more than a kilometer, I specifically measured it using the speedometer. That is, on foot, slowly, looking at the sights and drinking beer, you can get from the Spasskaya Tower in fifteen to twenty minutes. Well, that’s understandable, along the sidewalk and in fashionable boots without much fuss. But in ancient times, in bast shoes or supports and through swamps, it would not have been possible to get there so quickly.
But if you are in the Mother See, then take the time and stroll slowly along these streets. Absorb the spirit of old Moscow and imagine what it was like here in ancient and harsh times. Walk along Varvarka to Slavyanskaya Square, along underground passage You will pass Kitaygorodsky passage and the splendid beauty will open to your eyes - the Church of All Saints on Kulishki. The first wooden church on this site was built during the time of Dmitry Donskoy. In Russian chronicles under 1365, when describing the great Moscow fire (which later received the name All Saints), the Church of All Saints is mentioned as already existing, but now it is historical Center Moscow. And it was in this church, in 1862, that the Russian artist Vasily Pukireev painted the well-known painting “ Unequal marriage", which can now be seen in the Tretyakov Gallery.
A little further away, there is the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary on Kulishki. It is located on the arrow formed by Podkolokolny Lane and Solyanka. The church is beautiful and old; there are mentions of it in ancient chronicles. From this place the road began - to Zayauzye. Solyanka Street, the former Bolshaya Kolomenskaya Road, reaching Kolomna on the Oka, and then going to the Ryazan Principality. And it was here, on Vasilievsky Meadow, that the all-Russian army gathered before long hike on the Kulikovo field. After the end of the battle, in order to perpetuate the memory of the Russian soldiers who fell at the Battle of the Don, on September 8, 1380, this temple was originally built from wood. And on June 1, 2010, a monument “In memory of the victims of the tragedy in Beslan” was opened in front of the temple.
Here is a small excursion into history and geography. A lot in Moscow interesting places, but about the meaning ancient names streets, alleys and squares, many people don’t even suspect. Moreover, I have met people who proudly consider themselves indigenous residents of the capital, but do not know basic things about their city.
Moscow, March 2011
Where did the expression "At the Devil's in Kulichki" come from?
- The Church of All Saints on Kulishki is just it. It is famous not only for the evil spirits that were once bred there (since then the expression “near the devil in Kulichki” came about). It was built in honor of the Victory of Dmitry Donskoy on the Kulikovo Field. Are you familiar with the expression of the devil in the middle of nowhere? Yes, its origin is connected entirely with the same Kulishki. The story is as follows. I will tell you based on detailed story I.V. Vinokurov, one of the largest poltergeist researchers in our country. In the deep autumn of 1666, in the almshouse established by the first Patriarch of Moscow Job at the Trinity Church on Solyanka, an event occurred that, with its absurdity and unprecedentedness, confused not only the minds of Muscovites of that time, but also the one that disturbed the peace of mind of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. There, through the action of a certain sorcerer, a demon took possession and the living creatively doing various dirty tricks there. This demon did various dirty tricks to the old women: he gave them no rest day or night, loudly shouted various obscenities, threw people off their beds and benches, knocked and rattled on the stove, on the floors and in the corners. Many priests tried to exorcise evil spirits with prayers, but nothing worked, the devil bullied and instilled even more fear. Then Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich turned with a request to expel the demon to the Monk Hilarion (1632-1708), who happened to be in Moscow at that time. At the cost of incredible efforts, reciting prayers and blessing with holy water, Hilarion rid the almshouse of the poltergeist and returned to his Suzdal monastery as “a king, a brave warrior and a winner in battle, an invincible adversary, terrible to the unclean spirit, and a clear and wondrous miracle worker to the whole world.” In the memory of the people, only the place where this illogical event took place was preserved, and the content of the latter turned out to be repressed, perhaps due to the fact that the logic of this event raised insurmountable doubts. Hence the meaning of the expression "the devil is in the middle of nowhere" - God knows where.
Another version of the origin of the saying - In the middle of nowhere
This means: terribly far away, somewhere in the wilderness. General meaning The words are clear to everyone, but almost no one knows what Easter cakes are. Kulichki is a spoiled word of Finnish root, kulig, kulizhki, which has long been included in Russian speech. This is how forest clearings, meadows, and swamps were called in the North. Here, in the wooded part of the country, settlers of the distant past constantly cut down small areas in the forest - areas for plowing and mowing. In old charters the following formula is constantly found: And all that land, as long as the ax walked and the scythe walked. The farmer often had to go to his field in the terrible wilderness, to the farthest fields, worse developed than the nearest ones, where, according to the superstitious ideas of that time, in the swamps and windbreaks there were superfluous ones, and devils, and all sorts of forest evil spirits.
- In the middle of nowhere
This means very far. True, no one will say that about Paris or London, although they are not close either. .
Ancient Moscow was surrounded by swamps. There was even such a proverb: “Moscow stands in a swamp, they don’t thresh rye in it.” And “Kulichki” or otherwise “Kulichki, Kulishki” are swamps. In ancient times, these very Easter cakes were considered a lost place where all kinds of evil spirits lived.
Moscow was growing. People drained the swamps, drove out evil spirits, and streets with houses and churches appeared in the place of the Easterlands. And now only in the names the “swamp spirit” has been preserved: the Church of All Saints on Kulishki, the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin on Kulishki... Moreover, Muscovites of those ancient times, going to visit relatives who lived in outlying areas, grumbled dissatisfiedly: “What a distance! Right in the middle of nowhere!” - from the movie, probably, evenings on a farm near Dikanka...
- Now the expression “to hell in the middle of nowhere” means “very far, no one knows where, into the wilderness.” In its origin, it is most likely an extension of the answer to the same truly sacramental, “forbidden” question: where? (cf. the common remark “to hell” in response to a wish for success in the form of the phraseological unit “neither fluff nor feather”). Modern form, as is usually believed and as V. Dahl also believed, is a reworking of the older expression “to hell with the kulizhki”, which arose as a result of the substitution of the narrow-dialect word kulizhki forest clearings, islands in the swamp and consonant with the noun kulichka kulichki, Easter. As a result of this, the phraseological unit acquired (now, however, very weakly realized) the expressiveness of combining contradictory concepts (oxymoron): to go “to hell in the middle of nowhere,” that is, to Easter, means to go to God knows where, because the concepts of devil and religious holiday Easter are completely incompatible.
The sharp pun of this expression has faded because in the modern Russian language the word kulichka in the meaning of “Easter” no longer exists and the diminutive form of the word kulichka is almost never used. The phraseology "to Kudykin's mountain" essentially "repeats" the expression "to hell with the middle of nowhere." This phrase is most often used now as an expressive answer to an annoying and unnecessary question from the point of view of the question being asked: where (are you going, driving, in a hurry, etc.)? In its meaning it is equal to phrases like What do you care? or Do you care? and so on.
He was born in a hunting environment and initially represented the hunters’ answer to the question, forbidden from their point of view, about where they were going. The strict prohibition of hunters from answering such a question is explained by the existence of a belief that prohibits naming the place of hunting, since this could lead to failure (cf. the saying Don’t talk, there will be no happiness). It is quite possible that such a taboo was imposed on the question where? for purely linguistic reasons, due to the consonance where with the words kud (where) " evil spirit, devil, devil”, kudesit “to conjure”, kud “witchcraft”, known in the prokuda dialects as “a crafty, malicious person”, etc.
Thus, in the expression to Kudykina Gora two meanings seem to merge: the literal to your Kudykina Mountain (kudyka is the one who asks where the hunter is going) and the metaphorical to hell (kudyka from where (a) evil spirit, devil, devil
- In short, everything is simple. Kulichki are hummocks in swamps, and a swamp has been the habitat of various evils since ancient times. These are dense, impenetrable, hard-to-reach places, that’s why they say so.
Eh! What can we come up with! 🙂 Foreigners never dreamed of it))) - This means that they drove the person far away!
In the middle of nowhere Razg. Unism. Very far away, in a remote place. = Far away, to the edge of the world (in 1 value). = Two steps away, just a stone's throw away. With verb. nesov. and owls type: to be, to live, to be, to live, to settle... where? in the middle of nowhere.
We had to endure the drive for several hours, since the city hospitals are located... in the middle of nowhere. (A. Chekhov.)
I chased them for weeks as poachers on a boat, overtook them in the snow, found them in the middle of nowhere... (V. Zakrutkin.)
Petya had never been to Near Mills. He knew for sure that it was terribly far away, in the middle of nowhere. (V. Kataev.)
(?) Kulichki arose on the basis of a narrow dialect word Easter cakes- “forest clearings, islands in the swamp” and became consonant with the noun kulichka (diminutive from Easter cake- “Easter bread”). Thus, the phraseological unit acquired expressiveness as a result of the combination of contradictory and incompatible concepts– feature of the religious holiday of Easter.
Educational phraseological dictionary. - M.: AST. E. A. Bystrova, A. P. Okuneva, N. M. Shansky. 1997 .
Synonyms:See what “in the middle of nowhere” is in other dictionaries:
in the middle of nowhere
In the middle of nowhere- Simple. Express Same as The Devil's Horns. When I travel by train, I look at every lineman's booth with envy. I would jump off the train and settle somewhere in the middle of nowhere! Forest, gun, vegetable garden, pension. Live, take care of your health (G... Phrasebook Russian literary language
In the middle of nowhere- Simple. Very far away, in the wilderness, no one knows where. FSRY, 523; BMS 1998, 624; BTS, 479; Mokienko 1990, 8, 63, 145; FM 2002, 618; ZS 1996, 488, 492 ...
in the middle of nowhere- to hell with the coolies; to hell (to hell) on coolies/chki, decomposition. About very remote and remote places... Dictionary of many expressions
KULICHKI: in the middle of nowhere- or to hell with the middle of nowhere (colloquial) It’s too far away. Ozhegov's explanatory dictionary. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 … Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary
in the middle of nowhere- In the middle of nowhere... orthographic dictionary Russian language
the devil's horns- what, who to be; be; live, etc. Very far away; unknown where. This means that buildings, landscape elements (Z), territory (L), person or group of persons (X) are located in an extremely remote, remote and undeveloped place, where it is difficult to reach,... ... Phraseological Dictionary of the Russian Language
in the middle of nowhere- on coolies, adv., colloquial In the middle of nowhere (very far away)… Together. Apart. Hyphenated.
At the Devil's Kulichkah- in the middle of nowhere adv. circumstances decomposition places reduction Very far away, no one knows where, in the middle of nowhere. Ephraim's explanatory dictionary. T. F. Efremova. 2000... Modern Dictionary Russian language Efremova
In the middle of nowhere- People's The same as the devil in the middle of nowhere. DP, 555... Big dictionary Russian sayings
Books
- Winged words, Sergey Maksimov. " Winged words"S. V. Maksimova is a rare book that is not picked up for a while, which should be in the library of everyone who is at all interested native language, and lovers of Russian... Buy for 330 rubles
- Winged words and expressions, parables, tales, beliefs of the Russian people, Sergei Vasilievich Maksimov. Where is this - in the middle of nowhere? How can porridge praise itself? Why is the thief's hat on fire? What does a long box look like? Who are the Kazan orphans? Who can you put under your belt? What is this...
“Near the grave monuments and crosses, people with Easter cakes and bundles were huddled together. Apparently, many of them had come to bless the Easter cakes from afar.”
Chekhov, "Holy Night".
Introduction
“In the middle of nowhere. Probably, not everyone knows what a little place is. In the old days, this was the name given to those places in the forest that were the most swampy and viscous. It was there, according to legend, that all evil spirits, led by the devil, lived. Therefore, they strictly punished each other - not to climb too far and deep into the forest, not to get lost in the three pines, for the devil is strong."
However, the expression “in the middle of nowhere” has a double meaning.
1. As the most remote place.
2. Easter cakes.
"K u l i ch k i - this is a modified dialect word k ul i zh k i (from k ul i g a) meaning “forest clearings; places burned out, cut down and adapted for cultivation, as well as islands in the swamp.” Kulizhki were, as a rule, far from villages and villages, hence the meaning of the expression: “in the middle of nowhere” - very far away, no one knows where. Gradually, Easter cakes began to be associated with Easter cakes and the Easter holiday, which led to a change in the meaning of the phraseological unit: “to go to the devil’s Easter cakes” - to go to no one knows where and why (since the devil cannot have any Easter cakes).”
There is another interesting version related to the natural-territorial location of the toponym.
"There is one version of this expression. This especially applies to steppe zones, where there are very few forests and swamps. This was the name for a place that was inaccessible for viewing from a height of human height, namely, very far away. Hence similar expressions: I galloped to hell in the middle of nowhere, I was already in the middle of nowhere."
Etymology of the word Kulich
Firstly:
“This means: terribly far away, somewhere in the wilderness. The general meaning of the words is clear to everyone, but almost no one knows what “Kulichki” is.
Kulichki is a corrupted Finnish root word, “kuligi”, “kulizhki”, which has long been included in Russian speech. This is how forest clearings, meadows, and swamps were called in the North. Here, in the wooded part of the country, settlers of the distant past constantly cut down “kulizhki” in the forest - areas for plowing and mowing.
In old charters the following formula is constantly found: “And all that land, as long as the ax walked and the scythe walked.” The farmer often had to go to his field in a terrible wilderness, to the farthest “kulizhki”, worse developed than the nearest ones, where, according to the superstitious ideas of that time, in the swamps and windbreaks there were superfluous ones, and devils, and all sorts of forest evil spirits.
That's how we got it ordinary words your second, figurative meaning: very far, at the edge of the world."
Secondly:
" Kuli;ch (from Middle Greek ;;;;;;;;(;;) from;;;;;; - koulliki from kollis “bread round or oval shape») - Russian name Easter bread. U Eastern Slavs the holiday bread was round and tall, with dough decorations on top. Cylindrical shape Easter cake is associated with the church practice of baking artos" [VP].
So we have two origins for Easter cakes: Finnish and Greek. However, the words kulichi, kulichki, kuligi, kulizhki, oddly enough, are of Slavic origin.
kulich/kulig - kulich/kulig > krugj/krug/glush - circle/circle/wilderness (glorified) (reduction r/l; reduction g/k, sh/g), otherwise, “clearing,” “clearing,” “ wilderness", "round bread".
The making of Easter cake among the Slavs has a sacred meaning associated with the remembrance of the dead. It is not for nothing that both in ancient times and today, on Easter, people visit the graves of the dead with offerings of eggs and Easter cakes.
I dare to suggest that the offering of Easter cakes to the graves of the dead originates with the commemoration of killed soldiers in the Battle of Kulikovo, so it makes sense that the word “Kulich” coincides with both round Easter bread and “Kulizh”, in the sense of a remote place, a clearing. In the Kitay-gorod area in Moscow there is the Church of All Saints on Kulizhki. It should be noted that the feast of all saints in the Slavic tradition is otherwise called Semik (commemoration of the dead), which is celebrated in spring (Trinity) and in autumn, which in Western Europe is referred to as Halloween (All Saints' Day). The church on Kulizhki was built on the outskirts of Moscow, if we take period XIV centuries and precisely from the side from which Dmitry Donskoy’s troops left for the Battle of Kulikovo and where at the same time they brought dead soldiers in logs and buried them on Kulizhki. It was there that the majority of the people, relatives of those killed on All Saints’ Day, flocked from all over Rus' to bless the Easter cakes and remember the fallen, because the army of Dmitry Donskoy was truly national and consisted of untrained Muscovites (militia volunteers), Kolomna residents, Serpukhov residents, Beloozersk residents, Yaroslavl residents, Polotsk residents, etc.
The expression "in the middle of nowhere" can be considered in addition to the concept " remote place"like "features" on kulizhki, meaning the border field separating Rus' and the Polovtsian field, where one of the most famous battles Middle Ages.
Conclusion
Church of All Saints on Kulizhki creators new chronology(NH) A.T. Fomenko and G.V. Nosovsky is associated with the site of the Battle of Kulikovo. How right they are will be the topic of my next article about the historical vicissitudes of both the Battle of Kulikovo and other military and religious confrontations in medieval Rus'.
Abbreviations
SPI - A Word about Igor's Campaign
PVL – Tale of Bygone Years
SD - Dahl's dictionary
SF - Vasmer's dictionary
SIS - dictionary of foreign words
TSE - Efremov's explanatory dictionary
TSOSH - explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov, Shvedov
CRS – dictionary of Russian synonyms
BTSU - Ushakov’s large explanatory dictionary
SSIS - combined dictionary of foreign words
MAK – small academic dictionary Russian language
VP – Wikipedia
EBE - Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron
TSB - large Soviet encyclopedia
1. History catchphrase"in the middle of nowhere", 2. In the middle of nowhere, http://www.otrezal.ru/catch-words/444.html
3. V. N. Timofeev “Search methodology Slavic roots V foreign words", http://www.tezan.ru/metod.htm
Let's talk about interesting expression"in the middle of nowhere." We will consider the meaning of phraseological units, synonyms, and examples today.
Easter cakes - what are they?
There is an interesting and strange association in this sense: Easter cakes are baked for Easter. How is the devil connected with this bright tradition? No way. In fact, consonance is to blame for this misconception. Really, why did the devil suddenly decide to treat the unknown visitor with baked goods? In fact, in the proverb “in the middle of nowhere” (we’ll look at the meaning of the phraseological unit a little later) we're talking about about something completely different.
In Rus', tussocks in a swamp were called kulichki. And the latter, as we know, cannot do without evil spirits, who simply have nowhere else to go, because people do not like them too much. Devils, for example, are driven away with a cross. The reader probably knows all these stories. But sometimes the devil is lucky, and they send him to him. For example: “The boss is completely crazy, he says that we need to bring our products to the masses, so go, Peter, to Magadan. The masses are good, nothing to say. They sent me to hell in the middle of nowhere." How can one not recall the famous remark of the hero of “The Diamond Arm”: “Well, you’ll be with us in Kolyma...”.
Meaning
Referring to the origin of expressions is very important because it gives depth to the story and reminds us of our roots. Also, one cannot think of a better preface to the meaning of the phraseological unit “in the middle of nowhere.” The latter is deciphered as follows: very far. After all, it is difficult to imagine a swamp in the center of the city and even on the outskirts of the city, although, since Russia is a country of paradoxes, everything is, of course, possible in it, but not so much.
The meaning is more interesting: why do they say that? There are several topics that are unethical to discuss, and apparently they have been relatively taboo for quite some time. For example, in many countries it is not customary to ask about salary or money. We do not observe such complexes. If someone gets a job, they immediately ask him: “What’s the salary?” Usually they are interested only in order to mentally say: “Well, I have more, which means I’m better.”
The situation is similar with the question: “Where?” The meaning of the phraseological unit “in the middle of nowhere” not only comes down to expressing annoyance regarding a distant business trip, but can also serve as an excuse when a person does not want to let an acquaintance he accidentally meets into his affairs. Maybe because he doesn't want interference in personal life, or maybe there are specific reasons for this.
Synonyms
Sometimes you need to decipher an expression in one word. We are lucky and we can provide the reader not only with adverbs that are similar in meaning, but also with similar stable phrases. Let's start with adverbs, perhaps:
- far;
- far away;
- not close.
And phraseological replacements:
- Where did Makar drive the calves?
- To hell with the horns.
- Where the raven takes the bones.
For symmetry, we will leave three positions in each list. Here one cannot help but admire the imagery of expressions. There are phraseological units whose linguistic richness we no longer feel, but these are not one of them, because modern people’s rumors rarely remember them. These are synonyms for “in the middle of nowhere.” It turned out ambiguous, but true.
A long journey is not always a burden for a person
Any fairy tale begins with the fact that the hero, by himself or due to certain circumstances, finds it difficult to stay at home, and he sets off on a journey and does not imagine what trials will fall to his lot. The same fairy-tale principle was used in the film Route 60. Main character did not know what awaited him, but since his life was not the most interesting, and he longed for answers, he set off without delay. As a result, he hit a big jackpot.
However, there are significantly more people who like to read or watch about adventures than those who are ready to undertake them. There is always a chance of getting to a place where Makar didn’t drive his calves, and then what to do? That's why virtual travel preferable.
We looked at the expression “in the middle of nowhere.” We hope that now the reader will use it in his everyday speech, of course, in the right place and time.