As you know, some stable phrases contain information about various folk traditions that were performed or are being performed to this day. These include the expression “sprinkling ashes on your head.” In this article we will look at what it means, how it appeared, where, when and why it is used in speech and whether it is possible to find synonymous phrases for it.

“Sprinkle ashes on your head”: the meaning of phraseology

The interpretation of the expression is to grieve greatly because of a misfortune that has happened, the loss of something valuable. This is what it means to “sprinkle ashes on your head.” This expression conveys deep sorrow at loss or misfortune. For example, if some great grief has occurred, be it the death of a loved one or another major loss.

It shouldn't be taken literally. To understand their meaning, it is necessary to consider the etymology of the phrase. With its help, the expression acquires meaning and becomes understandable.

The history of the origin of this phraseological unit

To find out where this stable phrase came from in our speech, you need to open the Bible. In it we learn about the unusual tradition of the Jews, which they performed upon the death or other great misfortune of their loved ones, as well as upon their own troubles. At such moments, they sprinkled ashes or earth on their heads. Such a ritual showed their grief and despair. It was iconic and contained deep meaning.

Now, after familiarizing ourselves with the etymology of the expression “sprinkle ashes on your head,” the meaning of the phraseological unit seems to us quite clear and explainable.

Synonyms of a set phrase

The phraseological unit we are considering can be replaced with various verbs and expressions. For example, use the following words and combinations instead: grieve, grieve, yearn, become despondent. Or you can replace it with another stable expression: “tear your clothes.” Its meaning is the same as the phrase “sprinkle ashes on your head.” The meaning of the phraseological unit also expresses the extreme degree of despair and sorrow. Moreover, its origin is also connected with folk tradition. Only it no longer belongs to the Jews, but to the ancient Greeks and Slavs. It was also borrowed by some other nations. As a sign of grief, they tore their clothes.

Oddly enough, such an archaic tradition is still observed by some peoples. It is also worth noting that they tore not only clothes, but also hair. It expressed complete despair. It is no coincidence that there is such an expression as “pulling your hair out.” It is also a synonymous phraseological unit for the phrase we are considering.

Use of expression

It is unlikely that in modern colloquial speech we can hear the phrase “sprinkle ashes on your head.” The meaning of a phraseological unit, even if it is known to someone, few will dare to use such a phrase. It can embellish their speech and can just as easily put the other person in an awkward position. Rather, this phraseological unit should be used in the media and fiction.

Journalists and writers love to insert various stable phrases into their works. In this way they enliven their works, making the language brighter and the descriptions deeper. As an example, we can cite an excerpt from the story by writer Yuri Nagibin “Rise and Go.” “And the fact that after my father’s arrest I was deprived of my Sunday ruble was more of a ritual gesture, like sprinkling ashes on the head, than a necessity.” As we see, the writer used the expression we are considering in his story. In this way, he was able to show readers that the gesture was ritual, that is, although it was not justified, it was obligatory, like the tradition of sprinkling ashes on the head, like the ancient Jews.

Conclusion

Having examined this expression, we learned its meaning, history of origin, selected synonyms for it and found out the scope of its application.

"Hair stood on end" fear, horror, surprise. "None hair did not flinch" confidence, self-control, courage. "Seven spans in the forehead" very smart. "Holding on a thread" is an extremely dangerous situation. "Being on a thread from..." very close." Tear on myself hair"Great grief, suffering.

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And other stressful places, be sure to wash your hair - wash away the heavy energy that your hair. After suffering stress and a long illness, visit a hairdresser and get a haircut. Just don’t cut yourself too much... she insisted that she had never tried drugs. They didn’t believe her until they found out that her extensions had been sent for analysis. hair. That's it. Before an important event: public speaking, interview, etc. – it’s better to make a ponytail or a bun so as not to...

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Obviously more playful. The ancient man, and this is not excluded, was seduced by the sight of a woman less hairy than him. Development hair It is connected not only with racial, geographical (the greatest hairiness is typical in our regions for Armenians and Greeks), but also... to very ancient times. In ancient Rome, those made from hair blond captive Teutons. By hair guessed. During the christening, the first to be cut off hair the baby was rolled into wax and thrown into the water. If they drowned, then...

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For this reason, folk beliefs have been formed over the centuries, signs and superstitions have arisen associated with rituals in the course of which human hair. Some of them have reached us. Signs and superstitions When doing your hair for an important event, make sure that... rituals or it will spoil you. If on the threshold of your home or inside residential premises you find hair(one hair, several or a ball), do not touch them. Wear gloves or protect your hands with unnecessary...

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With it, we owe the antiseptic properties of peroxide to oxygen). As a result, a large amount of peroxide, firstly, discolors hair, and secondly, it damages cells - indiscriminately. However, there is a third, specific effect on cells... only in vitro, “in vitro”, that the artificial introduction of L-methionine stops the processes associated with graying hair. Unlike the black-haired Nishimura, who was only interested in the unexpectedly revealed connection between melanoma and senile...

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... hair. I was so worried. But hair were so thick and shiny that it was not noticeable, I stood in the institute auditorium and looked at my hair. In my second dream I dreamed of a hairdresser. That I'm talking to the master and asking him to trim and paint hair, hair...she doesn’t guard me, she only paints me. Then I meet my friends, we discuss my hair. They are long, thick (not like in life). Why do you dream...

Question for a psychologist:

Hello! My name is Anna, I'm 25 years old.

I have two problems that seem to me to be neurotic in nature.

1. There is a habit of running through your hair with your fingers, tearing brittle and weak ones, i.e. literally “tearing out your hair.” This started in childhood and continues to this day. This usually happens when I'm nervous or need to concentrate. I don’t do this in public, but when I’m alone, it can last up to several minutes while I’m thinking about something or even reading. I think that somehow this calms me down, but I don’t like it, and I’m also ruining my hair, and it’s hard to stop, my hands are dragging themselves. How can I help myself get rid of this?

2. The second problem is more acute and interferes with a normal life. About nine months ago I broke up with my boyfriend because, secretly from me, he returned to his ex-girlfriend. We parted quickly and hard. Since then, I haven’t followed his life in any way, I even specifically avoided it, we no longer communicated. Sometimes I learned something from mutual friends, but by accident. From about that time, in addition to the usual suffering accompanying such an event, obsessive associations began to occur related to him, his and her interests (I didn’t know her personally, I only saw a photo and knew her occupation). I still can’t calmly watch or listen to what he loved, even if I myself am interested in it, because I remember him and it upsets me. When somewhere they simply talk about his (or her) profession, pronounce his (or her) name, in general, everything connected with them, it irritates me, and these areas of life seem to be poisoned for me. Even just people who look like them or have something in common are annoying. I understand that I am limiting myself by this, and this annoys me, but I cannot get rid of unpleasant associations. After the breakup, I distracted myself with everything I could, looking for new interests, doing something, trying to move on with my life and develop. This helped to some extent, but with varying success. When it was especially difficult, I wrote everything down on paper and wrote to him (then destroyed it). At first I shared it with my loved ones, but now I don’t do this: I don’t want to return to this situation even in conversations and pour it from empty to empty. As a last resort, I write it down in my diary. But obsessive thoughts and associations still arise every day. Time heals, but, in my opinion, this has been going on for too long, I’m terribly tired.

I ask for advice: what else can be done to get rid of obsessive associations?

Psychologist Olga Yuryevna Belogortseva answers the question.

Dear Anna!

Your problem is that you are stuck in one of the intermediate stages of experiencing an uncomfortable situation. Any grief or stress has four stages of development/experience: shock, aggression/denial (“why did this happen to me?”), awareness and acceptance. The less stress, the easier, faster and more unnoticeably these stages pass. You cannot cancel or change their order; if there is a moment of getting stuck on one of them, someone or you yourself must push you further, to full acceptance. Only then can you safely say that the situation has been overcome, the experience from it has enriched you and you are ready to move on. You are stuck between aggression/denial and awareness. This is confirmed by your unconscious new habit of plucking your hair - this is aggression directed against yourself (auto-aggression). This means that you blame yourself for the breakup of your relationship, and punish yourself in this way. You were exchanged for another woman, and you think that you are bad, uninteresting, ugly - although in fact, and I am absolutely sure of this, this is not so. The reasons are never just one partner, both are always involved in the situation, both partners build relationships, and accordingly, the blame for the fact that the relationship broke up lies with both.

You need to work through the whole situation, not just your part. Remember all the good and all the bad moments, analyze them, determine the share of participation of each of you in both the good and the bad that you had. Then you will be able to see the problem in a completely different light, and it will have its own solution. Well, if you can’t do it on your own, seek advice from a therapist, in person or online. I'm sure you will succeed,

. Prozorov grieved terribly for his wife, tore out his hair and went on a rampage, vowing to improve his memory to calm her memory.(Mamin-Sibiryak. Mountain nest).

Phraseological dictionary of the Russian literary language. - M.: Astrel, AST. A. I. Fedorov. 2008.

See what “Tearing out your hair” means in other dictionaries:

Hair - get a valid Miniinthebox promo code on Akademika or buy hair at a discount on sale at Miniinthebox

tear out your hair- to regret, to be killed, to bite one’s elbows, to bite one’s elbows, to regret, to despair, to fall into despair, to tear one’s vestments, to beat one’s head against the wall, to be annoyed, to sprinkle ashes on one’s head, to sprinkle ashes on one’s head, to grieve, to despair Dictionary... ... Synonym dictionary

TEAR YOUR HAIR OUT- who Come to despair; openly express your grief from the loss of someone or something. This means that a person, or less often a group of people (X), experiences a feeling of strong annoyance, hopelessness, extreme regret about something. irreparable, missed, lost. speech... ...

Tearing out your hair.- Bite your nails. Breaking fingers (hands). Tearing out your hair. See PATIENCE HOPE... IN AND. Dahl. Proverbs of the Russian people

tear out your hair- To be in despair, very annoyed with oneself... Dictionary of many expressions

Tearing out your hair- to become desperate, to be very annoyed with oneself. FSVChE... Psychology terms

Tearing out your hair without taking your hands out of your pockets- (from the vernacular, to tear out the hair on the head, to come into despair, to grieve; rudely) original meaning ... Live speech. Dictionary of colloquial expressions

Tearing out your hair (hair)- Razg., Kar. About the external expression of extreme grief and despair. DP, 122, 145; BMS 1998, 96; SBG 3, 84; SRGK 2, 239 ... Large dictionary of Russian sayings

tear- Pulling out your hair, being very annoyed with yourself, being in despair. I'm ready to tear my hair out from grief. Tear someone to pieces, vying with each other to whom. with requests, instructions, etc., not to give peace, to exceed whose n. strength...... Phraseological Dictionary of the Russian Language

TEAR Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

TEAR- 1. TEAR1, tear, tear, past. vr. tore, tore, tore; d.n.v. no, not really, what. 1. Pull with force, with a sharp movement, pull out. Tearing nails. Don't tear it out of your hands. The storm uproots trees. || Take it, break off the stem, and tear it off. Pick raspberries... ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

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