The expression “put it on the back burner” has, in principle, only one meaning. Moreover, it is consonant with the expression itself and has a negative meaning when used. It means postponing unimportant things for later, an unbearable delay in their implementation.

Alternatively, the verbal expression "put it on the back burner" is considered to be derived from the nominal phraseological turnover "long drawer", which is most often used to denote the delayed execution of something. For example, a will is the postponement of the performance of some actions for a time after the death of a person.

It is much more interesting to learn about where this phraseological phrase appeared in our great and mighty Russian language. Because there are several versions of its origin.

The first version is official. It is believed that the origins of the meaning of the expression "shelving" originate in the seventeenth century, during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich Quiet - the father of Peter the Great.

It was he who established the establishment on the square opposite his Kolomna Palace of a box for submitting all requests, proposals, petitions and complaints. Since at that time all records were made on long sheets of paper - bundles or birch bark - the box was quite long in its shape.

The problem was that the box was checked very rarely, so complaints reached the sovereign very rarely. Sometimes they did not reach at all, because they were taken apart by the courtiers. Since the answer had to wait a very long time, in the common people this box was called a long one.

The second version is semi-official. Some believe that the expression "shelving" got its meaning much later - in the nineteenth century. At that time, in the offices and offices of officials, there were obligatory chests of drawers with file cabinets of cases that needed to be done. The drawers in these filing cabinets were very long.

And often cases that did not require urgent consideration were put off in the longest and farthest box. Hence the expression.

From the same working environment there was also a synonymous phraseological expression - to put under the cloth. The same officials "hid" or put off unnecessary things under the cloth with which the desktops in their offices were upholstered.

The third version is folk. In Russian, the semantics of the words "long" and "long" in the common people are the same. In other words, these words are synonyms.

Even the pronunciation of the phraseological unit varies - some use both the pronunciation "put it on the back burner" and the pronunciation "put it on the back burner".

The fourth version is foreign. In German, there is a synonymous phraseological phrase: etwas in die lange Truhe legen. Literally, this expression means - to put something in a long chest. Most often in Germany, this expression is used in the judicial and legal industries to refer to too long an investigation of a case, "grouse"

But upon a detailed semantic examination, it is very similar to Russian. Some philologists believe that the Russian-language expression is a reflection of the German-language version for certain situations.

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Put in a long box

(under the red cloth) - foreign language: set aside for for a long time

Wed The training that had begun as a teacher did not end in anything, or, in any case, shelved.

Ch. Uspensky. Without your will. one.

Wed Not procrastinating, they immediately went to the lake (to hunt).

Pisemsky. Forties people. 3, 19.

Wed His judgment was pleasing to everyone, in order that it would soon end: right there, there was an analysis and a penalty on the spot, in a distant box did not love save: everything would go with his living hand.

P.I. Melnikov. Old years. 3.

At the palace of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, in Kolomenskoye village, a long box was made in a post, where petitions were placed, quickly examined by the tsar, but remained motionless due to red tape in the offices. In Russia before Peter I, petitions to the tsar were also laid in the Archangel Cathedral on the graves of his ancestors.

Wed Etwas auf die lange Bank schieben.

Lay (c) on a long bench.

In the old German judiciary, the judges sat between the benches, on which lay cases that were subject to immediate consideration. These benches (shops) were like boxes, and things that were put aside were kept in these (long) benches.

Wed Mettre l "affaire aux oubliettes.

Cm. living hand.

Russian thought and speech. Yours and someone else's. Experience of Russian phraseology. Collection of figurative words and parables. T.T. 1-2. Walking and well-aimed words. Collection of Russian and foreign quotations, proverbs, sayings, proverbial expressions and individual words. SPb., type. Ak. Sciences.. M. I. Mikhelson. 1896-1912.

See what is "put on the back burner" in other dictionaries:

- (under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, a box for requests). See PORA MEASURE SUCCESS ... IN AND. Dal. Proverbs of the Russian people

Put in a long box- what. Obsolete Iron. Postpone a decision indefinitely. The Senate, having explained the answer, put it, as they say, in a long box under the red cloth (Derzhavin. Notes) ... Phrasebook Russian literary language

Put in a long box (under the red cloth) inosk. put off for a long time. Wed The preparation that had begun as a teacher did not end with anything, or, in any case, was shelved. Ch. Assumption. Without your will. 1. Wed. Not… … Michelson's Big Explanatory Phraseological Dictionary (original spelling)

What. Razg. Delay the execution of any business for an indefinite period. FSRYA, 543; BTS, 271, 1535; SHZF 2001, 29; FM 2002, 649; 3S 1996, 222, 342, 474, 476; F 2, 69; BMS 1998, 653; Mokienko 1986, 39; DP, 565 ...

Blue box. Prost. Shuttle. iron. About TV. Mokienko 2003, 152. Long box. Jarg. corner. Shuttle. 1. Coffin. 2. Dark corridor. Baldaev 1, 113; Mokienko 2003, 152. /i> Cf. shelving. Put someone in a box. Jarg. they say Bring someone l. ... ... Big Dictionary Russian sayings

Cm … Synonym dictionary

- (put) foreign language. put off for a more or less long time Under the cloth lies (the case) Cf. Have mercy! tout coule, tout roule, and we have the most useful projects under the cloth for six months, and no one wants to think about anything! Saltykov. Little nothings of life. 1, 2, 2... Michelson's Big Explanatory Phraseological Dictionary- In various styles of speech, phraseological turns are widely used - stable phrases that form a semantic unity. Their function is diverse: if in scientific and official business speech they are used mainly as ... ... A guide to spelling and style

The saying "to shelve", as everyone probably knows, means "to delay the decision of some matter for a long time." But what kind of box it is and why it is long, probably not everyone knows.

However, among philologists on this issue, too, there is a significant disagreement. To this day, three options for the origin of our saying have been proposed.

According to one version, this is a primordially Russian turnover, which appeared during the reign of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, father of Peter I. And it is allegedly associated with the custom of filing petitions. Prior to the accession of Alexei Mikhailovich, petitions addressed to the royal name were left on the tombs of the royal ancestors in the Archangel Cathedral. But Alexei Mikhailovich liked to live not in the Kremlin, but in his beloved village of Kolomenskoye, where he ordered to put a long, or “long” box for petitions (long and long in Russian are synonymous words). This box was quite roomy, and until it was completely filled, complaints were not taken away. And then the boyars and duma clerks considered the petitions for a long time. So lowering the petitions into the royal box acquired a figurative meaning - "pull the case."

It is difficult, however, to vouch for the accuracy of this explanation: after all, we are talking about “shelving”, and not “lowering” and not “putting down”. And there is no exact historical justification for this legend. Therefore, other scholars believe that the “long drawer” was a desk drawer in the first Russian offices, where complaints were put aside that did not require a quick response, or did not arouse the desire of officials to consider them.

However, there are several arguments against this version. Firstly, the turnover “to shelve” appeared only in the middle of the 18th century. Secondly, it occurs exclusively in the literary language and, thirdly, it retains the same form. These features characterize the so-called calques (philologists use this term to denote literal borrowings from other languages). Thus, our turn, most likely, is a tracing paper from the German etwas in die lange Truhe legen (put something in a long chest). Recall that it was at the beginning of the 18th century that the Germans poured into Russia in droves.

Indeed, in the buildings of the German courts there were large long lari-lockers where court cases were put; however, they were used as benches. The cases of rich and noble plaintiffs, of course, were resolved quickly, and the cases of the poor were put aside by court officials at the farthest end of the locker-bench - "on the back burner." By the way, in the 18th century a more modern version appeared: etwas auf die lange Bank schieben, literally - to move something to a long bench.

So, the expression "to shelve" is probably taken from the everyday life of the German bureaucracy of the New Age (which, however, was not much different from ours, which is why the ill-fated box took root on Russian soil).

And the Russian analogue of this foreign expression is “put under the cloth ». Special explanations he does not require.

Like many phraseological units, the expression "to shelve", meaning to delay something for a long period of time, has an ambiguous origin.

It is likely that this phraseological unit originates during the reign of Tsar Romanov Alexei Mikhailovich, nicknamed "The Quietest", on whose orders a long box for the so-called petitions was installed in the village of Kolomenskoye (the Tsar's favorite residence) next to his palace.

Any person could leave a message to the king in this box with a complaint or request. Complaints were taken only after the full filling of this capacious box. Then the messages were considered for a long time by clerks and boyars. And in Russian the word "long" means "long". So it turns out that in order to submit a petition, you need to "put it on the back burner." But still, we say: "put it on the back burner", and not "put it".

Therefore, other philologists believe that the origin of the "long box" lies in the nineteenth century. At that time, various petitions, complaints and requests to sort were accepted. So the officials laid out the submitted papers in different boxes. Cases that did not require a quick decision or simply did not want to be considered were put away in a desk drawer, which could be called "long".

But it is also possible that the phrase "to shelve" came into Russian from the German language: etwas in die lange Truhe legen, meaning "to put something in a long chest." Indeed, in the eighteenth century, large and long chests for storing court papers really stood in German courts. So, the affairs of the poor, in contrast to the nobility, whose affairs were resolved very quickly, were kept and waited for their "star" hour in the farthest chest: well, why not a "long box".

In the end, I would like to note that the meaning of the last two versions is very well suited to another phraseological expression "put under the cloth", because bureaucratic tables in state institutions were basically covered with cloth.

Photo: Katarina Gondova/Rusmediabank.ru

“Long box”, that is, postponing something important for tomorrow, is not only the killer of your dreams, it can literally become a killer. And your health, and relationships, and career, and family, sometimes life itself. If you don't shorten your backlog immediately, blame yourself!

What are we postponing?

Yes all! We only do what we put off.
money for a future purchase;
using a new thing until an opportunity;
Mondays from which a new life will begin;
fitness, sports, outdoor activities;
walks;
learning languages;
serious relationship;
birth of children;
going to the zoo with them;
cleaning, washing, washing dishes, routine, unpleasant work;
clarification of relationships and setting all dots over i;
completion of the started cases;
repair;
call mom, dad, friend;
confession and communion;
;
forgiveness;
declaration of love.

You can list indefinitely, and everyone will have their own list. And meanwhile, in this list all our life! As a rule, we put aside what is important. In one way or another, this is exactly what determines our future.

Why are we postponing?

Now let's think about why we do this. Perhaps this will help us overcome the consequences of postponing important things, that is, by and large, postponing our own lives, for which, as we know, we only have one chance.

Why?

1. We are tired of the routine, boring, unpleasant side of these affairs.
2. Sometimes the quick achievability of the result scares. “We’ll redo everything today, there will be nothing left for tomorrow.”
3. Fear of failure is very scary from completing things, especially if they are really difficult. “What if it doesn’t work out?” - a powerful brake that makes us put off the fateful things for us.
4. We are just too lazy.
5. Lost interest and no incentive to keep going.
6. It seems to us that efforts are in vain. The futility of effort kills initiative. If we do not have success, victories, it is extremely difficult to complete things, because they look meaningless.
7. It seems to us that the time has not yet come. Everything is ahead or we are not yet ready for the final stage.

The consequences of postponing

It would seem that there is no danger here, well, a person puts off his life, let him do what he wants. This is his own business. It turns out not always. Sometimes someone's postponing leads to family quarrels, conflicts, stressful situations, and innocent people fall into the radius of action.

And the child understands that the work that has been started must be completed in order to move forward. But in life, we come up with thousands of excuses and reasons that help us cope with our own dishonesty and guilt for unfulfilled deeds.

We resort to murderous arguments like
- lack of time, money, strength, means, desire, incentives, etc.;
- irrelevance of the case in this moment, there are more important things, now is inconvenient, not the time, out of place;
- interference from loved ones, relatives, friends and enemies, circumstances.

But our excuses only accumulate, turning into a snowball that inexorably moves towards us and threatens to crush us with the whole mass of unfinished plans and unfulfilled expectations.

And then we begin

get nervous and freak out;
to make mistakes;
hurry;
freeze off;
run away, etc.

And we are overtaken
- migraine;
– stress;
- lack of self-esteem;
- diseases;
- quarrels, reproaches, criticism;
- conflicts, breaks and even divorces.

Do you still think that family quarrels have nothing to do with procrastination? Look at your life with an open mind and as critically as possible. And you will find that
the faucets are flowing;
the dishes are moldy in the sink;
linen does not wash itself;
the dust under the bed turns inexorably into snowdrifts;
"madame sitting" without fitness and with getting wider and wider;
hair and face without care turn into a washcloth and washboard;
mother, whom no one calls, becomes lonely and unhappy;
the dog yearns without walking;
life slowly but surely slips into a swamp of routine and boredom (without travel, walks, a child, new meetings).

This is a catastrophe! We urgently need to change something!

How to get rid of unfinished business?

There is an exit.
You can conduct an audit and select those without the completion of which it is impossible to live on.
And immediately, just this very second, proceed to complete them. Not on Monday, not tomorrow, but just now. One per hour, per day, per week. And there you look, and there will be no unfinished business.
The rest of the less important things should probably just be forgotten. Cross them off the unfinished list. Consider that they are already completed. If you haven't finished them yet, then you don't really need them.
We must always remember that unfinished business is like unfinished gestalt and constantly stops our progress. We are not able to start new things until the old ones are completed. Do not pour into a full cup of water.

Therefore, obeying the law of filling voids, we should periodically sort out our rubble and make room for new good undertakings and deeds. This is especially true on New Year's Eve, but you can find any other occasion - New Year according to the Eastern calendar, a new month, birthday, even, no matter how trite, Monday. And the vacated place will be occupied by new, interesting and so necessary undertakings.