Where does the expression “to cherish it like the apple of your eye” come from? Take care like the apple of your eye: the meaning of phraseology and its origin Take care like the apple of your eye meaning

08.12.2017

The expression “to cherish like the apple of your eye” is quite popular. At the same time, he manages to maintain his relevance for quite a long time. Despite its impressive period of existence, the phraseological unit has managed to convey its original meaning to the present day. This is actually what will be discussed in this article.

Where did the expression “to take care of it like the apple of your eye” come from?

Like many other popular expressions, the idiom “to cherish like the apple of your eye” has biblical roots. This expression first appeared in the book of Deuteronomy. You should look for it in chapter 32, written in the form of a poetic text. In fact, the entire chapter is a song of Moses, in which there are many artistic images. Actually, this is not surprising, because poetry is always created with the help of such tools.

If we talk about the song in more detail, its lyrics describe how the Lord tries to protect His people from various kinds of adversity. He “took care of these people like the apple of his eye.” It is worth noting that the phraseological unit “to cherish like the apple of your eye” can also be found in the Psalter: Ps. 16:8.

The meaning of the phraseological unit “to cherish like the apple of your eye”

Having become acquainted with the history of a phraseological unit, it becomes much easier to understand what it means. But first, we need to look at the constituent elements of the expression “to cherish like the apple of our eye.” The Old Slavonic word “zenitsa” means pupil. In our lives there are quite a lot of people and things that should be especially taken care of and protected, literally like our own eyes. After all, we all understand how much depends on vision.

A blind person, in fact, becomes practically helpless. In ancient times, loss of vision was equated to death, because a person had to constantly defend his right to life in the face of various influences, ranging from natural elements to an unfriendly environment, including wild animals.

Therefore, people have always, first of all, tried to protect their eyes from various dangers. In addition, a little later, quite often, prisoners of war had their eyes gouged out in order to completely disarm and subjugate them.

However, now the expression “to cherish like the apple of your eye” is not used in such a literal sense. Most often it is used in relation to something extremely important that must be carefully protected. In this case, we can talk not only about spiritual and material values, but also about loved ones.

Like the apple of your eye Neism. Vigilant, very caring. Most often with verb. nesov. type: protect, store... how? like the apple of my eye.

“This is Shvabrin,” I said to Grinev. “Shvabrin! I am glad! Hussars! Take it! Yes, tell our doctor to bandage his wound and take care of him like the apple of his eye.” (A. Pushkin.)

He attaches great importance to his work and therefore takes care of himself like the apple of his eye. (A. Chekhov.)

“Swear to take care of my son like the apple of your eye and guide him on the difficult path of life!” (E. Fedorov.)

(?) Zenica(obsolete) – “pupil”; eye(obsolete) – “eye”.

Educational phraseological dictionary. - M.: AST. E. A. Bystrova, A. P. Okuneva, N. M. Shansky. 1997 .

See what “the apple of your eye” is in other dictionaries:

LIKE THE APPLE OF YOUR EYE- store, protect very diligently, carefully, like the most precious thing. This means that a person, a group of persons (X) show concern for another person (Y), an object, an idea, a state of affairs (P) for everything that is of value to them.… … Phraseological Dictionary of the Russian Language

How to protect and store the apple of your eye- HOW to protect and store the apple of your eye. Express High Carefully, thoroughly. [Jew:] Money? money is always suitable for us at any age; But the young man is looking for nimble servants in them And without regret he sends here and there. The old man sees them as reliable friends and takes care of them... ... Phraseological Dictionary of the Russian Literary Language

Keep it like the apple of your eye- From the Bible. The Old Testament (Deuteronomy, chapter 32, article 10) says: “He found him in the desert, in the sad and wild steppe, protected him, looked after him, kept him as the apple of his eye.” “Zenitsa” translated from Old Church Slavonic means “eye pupil”.... ...

Keep [save] like the apple of your eye- Expression from the Bible: He found him in the waterless desert, thirsty from the heat, protected him, looked after him, kept him as the apple of his eye (Deuteronomy 32:10). Zenitsa (Church Slavic) – eye, pupil. Dictionary of popular words. Plutex. 2004 ... Dictionary of popular words and expressions

Cherish like the apple of your eye

Cherish like the apple of your eye- wing. sl. To keep (take care) like the apple of his eye Expression from the Bible: “He found him in the waterless desert, thirsty from the heat, protected him, looked after him, kept him like the apple of his eye” (Deuteronomy 32:10). Zenitsa (Church Slav.) eye, pupil... Universal additional practical explanatory dictionary by I. Mostitsky

treasured like the apple of his eye- adj., number of synonyms: 11 cherished (48) cherished more than the apple of his eye (10) ... Synonym dictionary

guarded like the apple of his eye- adj., number of synonyms: 1 most expensive (1) ASIS Dictionary of Synonyms. V.N. Trishin. 2013… Synonym dictionary

cherish as the apple of your eye- Cm … Synonym dictionary

treasured like the apple of your eye- book. carefully protect something. An Old Slavonic expression from the Bible: “Keep me as the apple of your eye” (Psalms 16, 8 by the Byzantine writer Klimak). Zenitsa - pupil... Phraseology Guide

Books

Blasphemers who speak the truth, God-glorious is alive. The prototypes of the Koschunovs, who speak the truth, go back to ancient times, to those times when the three great Slavic peoples: Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians had not yet emerged as independent...

Oka" is very old; it came into modern Russian from Old Church Slavonic. “Zenitsa” can be found in “The Tale of Igor’s Host”, and in the old translation of the Bible, and in Russian poets who loved archaisms. Over the course of several centuries, the Russian language has changed, new words appeared in it, and many old ones fell out of use or remained only in idiomatic expressions that are not always understandable to modern Russians.

Some expressions were once used in one or another professional environment and were understandable to everyone, but with the disappearance of the profession they disappeared from everyday speech.

The eye and what's in it

The second part of this expression is more or less clear. The word “eye” has been preserved in almost all Slavic languages - Russian, Belarusian, Polish, Czech, Slovak and others. It means "eye". In Russian, this word has become part of the “high calm” language, while in other Slavic languages it refers to ordinary everyday vocabulary.

This word is heard quite often in songs and romances - just remember “Black Eyes”, “Black Eyebrows, Brown Eyes”, etc.

What's in the eye?

Examine the eye. You can take a picture, you can look. You will see that it consists of several parts. There is, there is an iris, and there is a pupil. It represents the most important thing in the eye. Now, of course, damage to the pupil is sometimes treated, but in ancient times a person could go blind with the slightest injury to the pupil. It was this black spot in the center of the eye that was called the apple of the eye, and it was this that had to be protected.

An eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth

Ancient Rus', like any state, had its own laws. To a modern person they may seem cruel, but the people of that time did not know how to maintain order any other way. And from those times the expression “an eye for an eye” came about - again about the eyes. If we translate it into modern language, it will sound something like this: “repay in the same coin”, “do to a person the same thing that he did to you.” The eye is mentioned because in ancient times people especially valued vision. A blind person very quickly found himself at the bottom of the social ladder, unless he was a member of the ruling family. Most crafts and military service were inaccessible to him.

Colloquial relatives

In everyday speech, the word “zenitsa” is rarely found. But this word has relatives that relate not only to everyday, but even to grassroots vocabulary. The word “zenki” sounds much less dignified than “zenitsa”. You can’t even say that it comes from the same Old Church Slavonic. Nevertheless, it is true. The rough colloquial expression “to stare” or “to stare” means “to be surprised by something to such an extent that the pupils dilate,” or “to look at something.” So from the same root come both the apple, which needs to be protected or stored, and the apple, which means the extreme degree of amazement.

How can you tell a person to be attentive and vigilant? One of the options is the expression “to cherish like the apple of your eye.” Let’s analyze the meaning of phraseological units today.

What is the “apple of your eye”?

Everything is very simple: the “apple of the eye” is the pupil of the eye in an outdated version. For any person, whether ordinary or outstanding, the organs of vision are very important. A person is very afraid of losing his sight, because it means being in complete darkness. That is why the expression “to protect like the apple of your eye” (the meaning of the phraseological unit follows) is deciphered as follows: “to protect something as the most valuable thing you have.” The saying comes from the Bible. If the reader opens Deuteronomy, chapter 32, verse 10, he will find it.

Letter from father

Considering the expression “to cherish like the apple of your eye,” what sentence with phraseology can be made? The answer to this question is easy. For example, a boy is given a letter that his father wrote and they tell him: “Take care of it like the apple of your eye.” Why? Perhaps the letter has special value because it is the last from his father. And if the boy understands the idiomatic expression correctly, then he will treasure the letter as the greatest value.

First love

And someone keeps a photo of their school love. Because youth is a magical time, and the first strong feeling is something unforgettable. Photography in this case serves as a portal to that time, of course, not real, metaphysical. Thanks to the photograph, a person mentally returns to that time and experiences those sensations again. In general, it is clear what “to cherish as the apple of your eye” means (the meaning of the phraseological unit no longer presents any difficulties).

Keys to the apartment

Until now, the conversation has been about intangible values. But phraseological units can also be used to ask a friend to ensure the safety of material treasures, for example, an apartment that will be empty for a long time. One friend calls another and says:

Seryoga, hello! I need to go on a business trip here. They send it for 2 months. You look after my apartment. It's newly renovated, there's a stereo system, and the furniture is expensive. I will give you the keys, and you take care of them like the apple of your eye.

Wait, I don’t know what “to cherish like the apple of your eye” means, explain the meaning of the phraseological unit to me?

Okay, don't pretend. Even a child knows the meaning of this expression. I'll come see you in the evening.

Don't worry, your apartment will be under reliable security.

Literary example

It is known that Franz Kafka ordered his friend Max Brod to burn his entire literary heritage, but his friend did not listen to the great German-speaking writer, and, on the contrary, preserved everything that Kafka wrote. Whether Max Brod did good or bad, we don’t know. The main thing is that his behavior is suitable as an example that illustrates the phraseology “to cherish like the apple of your eye.”

There are many people in literary history who disobeyed writers and ended up publishing and making their legacy public. Imagine that, for example, M.A. Bulgakov did not plan to publish the novel “The Master and Margarita” and wrote it on the table. Now, of course, this is hard to believe. But during Stalin’s life, despite all the latter’s favor towards Bulgakov, the novel could not be published for ideological reasons. The novel was first published in a truncated form in 1966. The full text appeared only in 1969.

What would happen to literature if there weren’t people who internally formulated their life program like this: to cherish as the apple of their eye (the origin of the phraseological unit was discussed at the very beginning, or rather the source is indicated - the Bible) the writer’s legacy at all costs.

Value is a subjective concept

From the previous discussions it is clear that it is impossible to accurately determine the class of things that are or are not worth keeping better than your own eyes. Because value is a subjective concept. The child treasures a candy wrapper or a very rare chewing gum insert. A teenager - with a record of his favorite band, an adult - with a car, an apartment or something else, for example, a gold watch. Each person decides whether something is worth as much as the apple of his eye or not.

Tonality and informality of phraseological units

Despite the fact that the expression belongs to the high style, like all of which are the Bible, it should not be used at a meeting in ties. It is too informal for such meetings. But among family and friends the expression is acceptable. Close people will easily understand what a person wants to say. They will not have a question about what it means to “cherish like the apple of their eye.”

The reader will not have such a question, because the meaning of the phraseological unit has been analyzed using various examples. It has also been established that the expression plays a special role in the history of domestic and foreign literature. In particular, if people had not lived who not only knew, but also applied in practice the wisdom contained in the speech, then we, modern people, would have lost many masterpieces of literary creativity.

Phraseology lesson

What the phraseological unit “to cherish like the apple of your eye” means is, of course, important, but even more important is how the saying orients people. If you think about it, it contains a whole moral program: firstly, to be able to distinguish the great from the insignificant; secondly, keep the first and discard the second. Sometimes the meaning of a phraseological unit is more mundane, but we hope that in any case the lesson will be learned.

If you learn to unfold the lapidary folk wisdom, then you will not need to read any other books except the phraseological dictionary in order to be imbued with the experience of centuries. True, to learn how to develop stable phrases, you need to know a lot. So far, the only reliable source of storing and transmitting information is books. The circle closes, and the person has no choice but to head to the library or to the bookshelf in the apartment (if there is one).

Keep it like the apple of your eye

Keep it like the apple of your eye
From the Bible. The Old Testament (Deuteronomy, chapter 32, article 10) says: “He found him in the desert, in the sad and wild steppe, protected him, looked after him, kept him as the apple of his eye.”
“Zenitsa” is translated from Old Church Slavonic as “eye pupil”.
Allegorically: to store something as the greatest value.

Encyclopedic Dictionary of winged words and expressions. - M.: “Locked-Press”. Vadim Serov. 2003.

See what “Keep as the apple of your eye” is in other dictionaries:

Cherish like the apple of your eye

Expression from the Bible: He found him in the waterless desert, thirsty from the heat, protected him, looked after him, kept him as the apple of his eye (Deuteronomy 32:10). Zenitsa (Church Slavic) – eye, pupil. Dictionary of popular words. Plutex. 2004 ... Dictionary of popular words and expressions

like the apple of my eye- Unism. Vigilant, very caring. Most often with verb. nesov. type: protect, store... how? like the apple of my eye. “This is Shvabrin,” I said to Grinev. “Shvabrin! I am glad! Hussars! Take it! Yes, tell our doctor to bandage his wound and take care of him as... ... Educational phraseological dictionary

cherish as the apple of your eye- Take care (store) like the apple of your eye; = take care more than your eyes Vigilantly, carefully, carefully (protect, store, etc.) ... Dictionary of many expressions

Protect, save, save, hide, keep. Wed. protect, preserve... Dictionary of Russian synonyms and similar expressions. under. ed. N. Abramova, M.: Russian dictionaries, 1999. store... Synonym dictionary