The Hamburg account is an idiomatic expression.
What is a Hamburg Account? If you don't know real story the appearance of this catch phrase in Russian, you can nominate as many different versions and none of them will be correct. Meanwhile, the verbal turnover, firmly established in our speech, was born relatively recently. This is the rare case when we have the opportunity to call the exact date the emergence of phraseological units.
The origin of the phraseological unit
The expression "Hamburg account" entered into everyday use thanks to Soviet writer and publicist Viktor Borisovich Shklovsky. In 1928, a collection of essays and notes was published, where the author had the rights literary critic analyzes creative activity their contemporaries - fellow writers. The writer evaluates the works of Yu. Olesha, M. Gorky, Vs. Ivanov, V. Khlebnikov, M. Zoshchenko, O. Mandelstam, M. Bulgakov, S. Yesenin, A. Tolstoy, V. Mayakovsky and many others.
Shklovsky's book "The Hamburg Account" contains a parable about Russian athletes performing in the circus arena. To please the audience, the fights in the classical or, as it was also called, French wrestling were short and planned in advance, were more indicative and artistic than sporting in nature. But once a year, athletes went to Hamburg, Germany, where they held competitions in one of the inns closed to spectators in order to identify the real champion. Obviously, the meaning of the phraseological unit "Hamburg account" corresponds to such synonyms as "fair alignment" or "unadorned reality."
Artistic allegory
Modern researchers suggest that historical fact, described by Shklovsky, did not exist in reality, and this author's fiction was created in order to become a platform for a playful ranking of writers of the first half of the 20th century. Shklovsky, subtly owning literary word and with an inexhaustible sense of humor, with a certain amount of sarcasm, he continued the story about identifying the winners among the wrestlers: "The Hamburg score is necessary in literature."
Further, the writer places his colleagues on the imaginary steps of the literary Olympus, which, in his opinion, they are worthy. The champion title goes to Velimir Khlebnikov, and Bulgakov finds himself in the role of a red-haired clown at the carpet. Probably, it will be interesting for current school graduates to reveal the topic of the Hamburg account in an essay on the Unified State Exam. Moreover, the story invented by Shklovsky is distinguished not only by its beauty and laconicism. She has overgrown with some interesting facts... They said that Mikhail Bulgakov was offended by this critical attack and for some time did not shake hands with its author. However, the phrase instantly gained popularity among writers, and then went beyond the literary environment.
The meaning and examples of the use of the idiom
Hamburg account ... We have already figured out what this short phrase means. Its meaning is interpreted quite simply: the true alignment, the real state of affairs, a true assessment. This expression is often used in various areas of life. For example, you watched a film that, despite its brilliance, does not bear any artistic value or you just didn't like it. Here you can be sarcastic: "By and large the Hamburg score, that is, to be honest, this motion picture is not worth a dime." And it doesn't matter whether this opinion is strictly objective or based on your own, individual vision. This expression has long lost its fundamental meaning and is used with a touch of light, gentle humor.
Doubt of competence and deserved approval
Phraseologism is applicable to assess the professional or personal characteristics of a person: "He is, of course, not a bad guy, but, judging by the Hamburg score, he cannot be entrusted with a serious matter." Most often, pronouncing this phrase, they try to reveal some flaws of the animate or inanimate object, events, phenomena. Less often, praise can be heard here: "The work was done excellently, even according to the Hamburg score." The meaning invested in this verbal turnover serves as a kind of measure of the quality of the highest standard on the endless scale of universal human values.
Fixed exchange rate
Let's try to figure out whether this phrase existed outside the work of Shklovsky, does the writer have the palm in its creation? In the financial and credit sphere there is such a concept as "banko", which denotes the established rate at which the purchase and sale is made valuable papers... According to " Encyclopedic Dictionary Brockhaus and Efron ”, this term was first introduced by the Bank of Hamburg at the beginning of the 18th century. As you know, until the 19th century, Germany was an imperial union of many sovereign states, each of which had its own currency in circulation. Gold thalers not only worn out with long use, lost their original weight, but also were not always accepted for calculations in adjacent lands.
Only in a bank in Hamburg could the currency of any of the German states be deposited into the account. One conventional coin (marka-banco) had a denomination of 528 ac of pure gold. Since 1763, the Hamburg account was adopted financial institutions in many countries of the world. Coins were minted in England, Denmark, Sweden, Prussia, were accepted in Dutch, Italian, German and other banks. With the introduction of the metric system, such a settlement mechanism gradually began to lose its position, and was abolished in the territory of the united Germany in 1873.
The most accurate way of bank payments
The phraseologism "Hamburg account", according to historians, most likely originated in the accounting field and was known to a narrow circle of professionals. At a time when there was no complex computer technology, and all mathematical calculations were performed manually, the so-called Hamburg method was in use, which made it possible to obtain the most accurate results.
This method of converting bank balances was considered laborious, and therefore was used only in special cases. It must be assumed that in the 20s of the last century, when Shklovsky was creating the well-known note, the main tool of a financial worker was abacus with wooden knuckles. Information about a special ultra-precise technique could be heard.
How legends are born
It is likely that Viktor Shklovsky could have known both the existence of the Hamburg settlement system and the universal currency of European banks. But, you see, the legend about wrestling competitions looks much more romantic and attractive to readers than plunging into the jungle of financial office work. Apparently, it was these considerations that Shklovsky was guided by when creating his note.
If the writer had not clothed this expression in an artistic form, it is unlikely that it would have become known. a wide range of reading public and went out to the people. An indisputable fact: many proverbs and sayings that are considered popular are in fact lines from works of authorship. It is enough to remember the phrase “stay with broken trough", Which emerged from Pushkin's fairy tale" About the Goldfish ", or the wonderful expression" happy hours do not observe ", presented to us by A. S. Griboyedov. Today catch phrases are included in our speech thanks to the outstanding work of filmmakers, the skill of actors, the ingenuity of artists. spoken genre, the talent of songwriters, and even the not always folding speeches of some politicians.
Social psychology term
Interestingly, the phrase "Hamburg account" today is a semi-official term used in social psychology to determine the true status of an individual in society. The real position of the individual, according to the conclusions of individual studies, often does not correspond to his formal position on the assigned level of the social ladder. To find out the real status of this or that subject, experts resort to the method conventionally called the Hamburg account. This word turnover is present in the professional slang of practicing psychologists and is even used in thematic reports and publications. Allowing ourselves to joke a little, let's say that Viktor Shklovsky not only enriched his native speech with a beautiful catch phrase, but also contributed to modern science.
Film by German filmmakers
Many times I have heard the assertion that the phraseological unit "Hamburg account" exists only in the Russian language. But in 1999 came out Feature Film made in Germany, in the name of which this verbal turnover appears. What does it mean? Did director Söncke Wortmann, who filmed the story of the events of Friday night in one of the districts of the port city, know our idiom?
The question is solved quite simply. The original title of the film is St. Pauli Nacht. And in the "Hamburg Account" the film was renamed for the Russian distribution according to the idea of domestic translators, since the plot develops precisely in Hamburg. It certainly worked out well. In any case, it is capacious and recognizable. But, unfortunately, this film has nothing to do with the works of Viktor Shklovsky, the work of Russian writers and the legend of athletes.
The concept " Hamburg account", Which has become widespread in the Russian language, means the identification of the real, and not the official place of the individual in the status hierarchy. Paying a Hamburg bill means paying honestly.
The Hamburg Account "is the title of a collection of literary-critical articles by Viktor Shklovsky, published in 1928. In a short programmatic article, which opens the collection, the author himself explains the meaning of the book's title as follows:" The Hamburg account is an extremely important concept. All fighters, when they are fighting, cheat and lie on their shoulder blades at the order of the entrepreneur. Once a year, wrestlers gather in the Hamburg tavern. They fight with closed doors and hung windows. Long, ugly and hard. Here, the true classes of wrestlers are established, so as not to get out of hand. "According to A. P. Chudakov, commentator of the modern edition of the book, the real basis of this plot for Shklovsky was the oral story of the circus wrestler Ivan Poddubny. However, it is much more likely that the authorship of the expression" Hamburg score "belongs to Shklovsky himself. Immediately became a catch phrase, especially fashionable in the literary environment, the expression" Hamburg score "is the equivalent of an impartial assessment of something without discounts and concessions, with the utmost exactingness. which has the same meaning, is nothing more than a transformation of Shklovsky's notions. For the first time in literature, the phrase "by and large" is found in the novel "Fulfillment of Desires" (1935), created by Veniamin Kaverin, a writer close to Shklovsky's circle. more often in our speech we hear the expression "according to the Hamburg count" - the contamination of two phraseological units invented writers.
Critic Irina Rodnyanskaya in the article "Hamburg Hedgehog in the Fog" (Novy Mir. - 2001. - No. 3), dedicated to the problems of literary strategies today, notes: “Shklovsky could have been satisfied - almost like Dostoevsky, who was proud of the enrichment of the Russian language with the verb“ to be effaced. ”The expression“ Hamburg counting ”separated from the parable he told in the 1920s and went for a walk around the world in an undoubted and generally understood meaning. so long ago, even the most colorful Duma deputy publicly threatened to judge someone “according to a large Hamburg score.” They laughed at the deputy amicably. it lies somewhere nearby.
The "Hamburg score" (it has come to be understood) is a large aesthetic score in literature and art. Revealing the first, second, and last places on the scale of the genuine, present. "Big" - because it opposes the "small" accounts maintained by the officialdom, groups, get-togethers in the interests of their situational needs. "Big" - because it appeals to the "big time", in whose epochal contours the fog will dissipate, burst bubble and everything will fall into place. The connoisseur who attracts the "Hamburg score" acts as a guessing agent, an oracle, listening to the noise of the big time, comparing the signals from there with his aesthetic instrument. "
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Today people use expressions and phraseological units without thinking at all about their origin. It comes to the point that you have to "rummage" on the Internet in search of a proper answer. It is for this reason that a site was created, a site in which we constantly interpret the meaning and meaning of various words and expressions. Today let's talk about pretty famous phrase, this is Hamburg Account, you can discover the meaning of the phraseological unit a little later.
However, before continuing, I would like to show you some informative articles on the meaning of proverbs and sayings. For example, what does it mean to cheat yourself; how to understand it is bursting at the seams; what does Ask a bath mean; who is called Versta Kolomenskaya, etc.
So let's continue Hamburg account value phraseological unit?
Hamburg Account- this is an assessment of something without any concessions and discounts, with the utmost accuracy and exactingness
Hamburg Account- denotes something just and honest, which is judged without falsification and fraud
Synonym for Hamburg reckoning: in fact, in reality.
Example:
You bastard still answer me on the Hamburg account!
This guy is a beginner specialist, however, according to the Hamburg score, it will harm whether he will withstand fierce competition in this field of activity.
Wrestling was popular in Germany at one time, and many spectators came to gawk at two sweaty men who knocked each other around the arena. Cunning trainers and entrepreneurs have learned to capitalize on such spectacular competitions. They assigned roles between the fighters in advance, talked about how the competition should be held, and who should eventually become the winner and who should lose. In fact, from beginning to end, these were negotiated battles, and many viewers did not even know about it.
However, the wrestlers themselves wondered who of them was actually the strongest and most agile. Therefore, one day, having gathered all together, they decided to hold fights with each other once a year in order to find out the strength of each athlete.
For this, they chose one small inn, which was located in Hamburg... In this place, the fight was extremely fair and honest, but almost no one knew about the results of these fights.
True, if you dig a little deeper, you will find out that in Hamburg no one had ever heard of this mysterious tavern, and of the fights taking place in it. Most likely Shklovsky, namely through him everyone recognized this beautiful story, used false information, or simply lied for the sake of a catchphrase.
After reading this sensible article, you learned the meaning of the expression by Hamburg account, and now you will not get
What do you think is the meaning of the phraseological unit Hamburg account? One cannot guess about this, even understanding each word separately. Trying to "translate a phrase into Russian" by relying on intuition will also not work. "By the Hamburg score" is about the same as "by and large." But this pair of phraseological units cannot be called equivalent.
In order to freely use the "Hamburg count" in speech and not be mistaken with the place, using this lexical unit, it is worth knowing exactly the history of the origin of the phrase.
Who came up with the phraseological unit?
The origin of the phraseological unit is associated with the name of the literary critic Viktor Shklovsky. he penned the book, in the title of which the catch phrase sounded for the first time. On the front pages of the publication, the critic tells an intriguing parable about sportsmen-wrestlers. Legend has it that at the beginning of the 20th century, fights for the public were staged. It was decided in advance which of the participants would win and what techniques should be used by each fighter in order to make the fight as spectacular as possible.
However, once a year in Hamburg, all the most famous athletes gathered for real competitions behind closed doors. The meeting place was a tavern, where no stranger was admitted. Curtained windows did not allow outsiders to see what was happening inside. The battles that took place in the tavern showed the real state of affairs and revealed the strongest.
How true this story is is unknown. Therefore, it is assumed that Shklovsky illustrated his understanding of the state of affairs not through a historically reliable fact, but using a beautiful legend.
Meaning in literature
Shklovsky uses a phrase to describe what is happening in literature. He writes that many authors publish and receive titles "by virtue", and not because they have talent. The critic suggests weeding out such crooks. The use of impartial assessments without concessions is the "Hamburg score" in literature. In his book, Shklovsky discusses the place his contemporaries occupy in the arena of art.
The meaning of the concept in economics
The economic sphere allows the use of phraseological units in a slightly different meaning. Here the phrase means honest open relationship... Agreements signed "on the Hamburg account" are documents that proclaim equal conditions. At the same time, the parties are equal not only on paper, but this is the real state of affairs.
Use of catchphrases in art and science
The concept is quite broad. For example, a great scientist may not have a title and not write a single significant work, not take part in official ceremonial events. But if the followers, having worked out his ideas, achieve significant results, then, "according to the Hamburg account," the scientist did not live his life in vain and should be among the recognized scientists.
The expression is applicable not only to humans. If the book became very popular, it was sold in millions of editions, a film was made on it ... But in reality work of fiction does not bear semantic load, is in no way capable of influencing the minds or history - then his "Hamburg score" is zero. It is also possible to evaluate the work visual arts, musical masterpiece, architecture.
Context of use: where appropriate and where not
Phraseologism "according to the Hamburg account" is approximately equal in meaning to the phrases "in reality", "in reality". But there is one nuance - it is appropriate to use this phrase only in a conversation about something global and significant. So, say, when talking about the weather or everyday problems, it is better to use the above synonyms. The sentence "According to the Hamburg score, the weather is great this year" sounds ridiculous. But if it comes about the fate of a person (“According to the Hamburg account, he - good specialist») - this phraseological unit is quite appropriate here.