The history of the emergence of the phraseological unit “colossus with feet of clay.”
How to explain the origin of the expression “colossus on feet of clay"? We owe the appearance of this phrase to the Book of the Prophet Daniel. It tells the story of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. The story describes his dream, in which the king saw a huge metal idol of a terrible appearance. The head of this idol was gold, the chest and arms were made of silver, the body was made of copper, and the legs were made of iron. The legs were mostly made of clay. In the king’s vision, one stone came loose from the mountain, which, falling on the feet of the idol, broke them.
But the word “colossus” does not appear in the source. Where is the connection then? To thoroughly understand this issue, it is necessary to know the original meaning of the word “colossus”. To do this, it is worth turning to the Greek language, where this word meant nothing more than “a large statue.” This is exactly what they called the gigantic statue of the ancient Greek sun god Helios or Apollo. This copper statue was erected in 280 BC in the harbor of the island of Rhodes.
The book of the prophet Daniel appeared around 165-168 BC. Therefore, we can assume that Daniel was fully aware of the existence and meaning of the word “colossus.” Unfortunately, the original of the prophet’s work has not survived to this day. Therefore, we can only guess that when translating this book, the expression “large idol” became a replacement for the word “colossus”. But there is no doubt that the phrase “colossus with feet of clay” came to us from a biblical story. This expression means something that looks monumental and majestic, but is also very fragile, weak and easily destroyed.
From French: Colosse auxpieds d argiles. From the Bible. IN Old Testament, (Book of the Prophet Daniel, Chapter 2, Art. 31-35) talks about the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, who saw in a dream a huge, terrifying metal image on clay... ... Dictionary winged words and expressions
Cm … Dictionary of synonyms
A winged expression that characterizes something that is majestic in appearance, but essentially weak. It arose from the biblical story about the interpretation by the prophet Daniel of the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 2:31 35). History of the expression ... Wikipedia
Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the Colossus about the feet of clay as a biblical expression. IN figurative meaning“colossus with feet of clay” fragile, unfaithful, unreliable, unsteady, unstable, unsteady, dangerous, risky, brittle, brittle, slippery, ... ... Wikipedia
Colossus with feet of clay- Book Iron. Something that looks majestic and impressive, but is actually weak and fragile. But although he [Hitler] himself claimed that Soviet Union this is a “colossus with feet of clay”, in the depths of his consciousness he began to gradually feel that the war with Russia... ... Phraseological Dictionary of the Russian Literary Language
Colossus with feet of clay- wing. sl. The expression is used when talking about something majestic in appearance, but essentially weak. It arose from the Bible (Daniel, 2, 31 35), from the story about the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, who saw a huge metal... ... Universal additional practical explanatory dictionary by I. Mostitsky
colossus with feet of clay- What am I talking about? outwardly majestic, but essentially weak. From the biblical story about the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, who saw in a dream a huge metal idol with clay feet, which collapsed when a stone torn from the mountain hit him on... ... Dictionary of many expressions
Book Iron. or Neglect What l. majestic, powerful in appearance, but weak, easily destroyed in essence. FSRYA, 202. /i> Goes back to the biblical story about the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, who saw a giant in a dream (cf. colossus from ... ... Large dictionary of Russian sayings
Wed. Slanderers, enemies of Russia! What did you take? Is Ross still the Sick, Relaxed Colossus? A.S. Pushkin. Borodino anniversary. Wed. The large, terrible idol had a head of pure gold, a chest and arms of silver, a belly and thighs of copper, legs... ... Michelson's Large Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary
colossus with feet of clay- book. , often ironic. or neglected something majestic, powerful in appearance, but weak and easily destroyed in essence. The expression goes back to the biblical story about the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, who had an ominous dream. He saw... ... Phraseology Guide
Books
- Rus' between two fires - against Batu and the “dog knights”, Mikhail Eliseev. There is no sadder story in the world than “The Tale of the Destruction of the Russian Land” from Batu’s invasion, and debate about the causes and culprits of this catastrophe has been raging for centuries. How did the steppe hordes manage to...
Book Iron. or Neglect What? majestic, powerful in appearance, but weak, easily destroyed in essence. FSRY, 202. /i> Goes back to the biblical story about the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, who saw a giant in a dream (cf. colossus- from Greek kolossos- a large statue), whose clay feet were hit by a stone falling from the mountain; the colossus collapsed and turned to dust. BMS 1998, 285; Mokienko 1986, 144; ZS 1996, 513; BTS, 208.
- - a giant statue; K. Rhodes - one of the seven wonders of the world...
Ancient world. Dictionary-reference book
- - ...
Dictionary of Antiquity
- - a name used to designate any statue that is larger than life...
Encyclopedic Dictionary Brockhaus and Euphron
- - colossus "giant, gigantic statue." Through him. Koloss or French colosse from lat. colossus from Greek κολοσσός, words of Mediterranean origin; see Hoffmann, Gr. Wb. 152...
Vasmer's Etymological Dictionary
- - From French: Colosse auxpieds d'argiles. From the Bible...
Dictionary of popular words and expressions
- - Á noun, see _Appendix II And in their circle is a two-headed colossus, In a shining crown of ice, Elbrus is huge, majestic, White in the blue sky...
Dictionary of Russian accents
- - ; pl. colo/ssy, R....
Spelling dictionary Russian language
- - male, Greek an object of enormous size, extraordinary size; talk, esp. about the cast or hewn likeness of a person. Colossal, excessive in size, unusually huge...
Dictionary Dahl
- - COLOSSUS, husband. . A statue, a structure of enormous size. A colossus with feet of clay is about something. seemingly huge, but internally weak...
Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary
- - COLOSSUS, -a, m. A statue, a structure of enormous size...
Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary
- - COLOSSUS, colossus, husband. . 1. Gigantic, enormously sized statue, column, etc. . Colossus of Rhodes. 2. transfer About something of overwhelming magnitude or greatness. “A two-headed colossus... Elbrus is huge, majestic...
Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary
- - colossus m. 1. Gigantic, huge statue, column, etc. 2. transfer...
Explanatory Dictionary by Efremova
- - Wed. Slanderers, enemies of Russia! What did you take? Is Ross still the Sick, Relaxed Colossus? A.S. Pushkin. Borodino anniversary...
Mikhelson Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary
- - An ear on feet of clay. Wed. Slanderers, enemies of Russia! What did you take? Is Ross still sick, a weakened ear? A. S. Pushkin. Borodino anniversary...
Michelson Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary (orig. orf.)
- - Book Iron. or Neglect What? majestic, powerful in appearance, but weak, easily destroyed in essence. FSRYA, 202...
Large dictionary of Russian sayings
- - Cm....
Dictionary of synonyms
"Colossus with Feet of Clay" in books
Colossus with feet of clay
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From the book Encyclopedic Dictionary of Catchwords and Expressions author Serov Vadim VasilievichColossus with feet of clay
From the book Carbohydrate Metabolism Disorders author Monastic KonstantinA colossus with feet of clay The doctrine of “proper” nutrition of the US National Institutes of Health (under the auspices of the United States Department of Agriculture) is based on the so-called The Food Guide Pyramid. The results of many years of propaganda of this predominantly fruit-cereal pyramid led to
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From the book 1001 questions about the past, present and future of Russia author Soloviev Vladimir RudolfovichA colossus with feet of clay It’s interesting why all the efforts that our government is making to overcome the crisis lead to prices rising, panic among the population growing, optimism on television growing, and distrust in television too. Maybe it's time
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From the book Heavenly Office [collection] author Vekshin Nikolay L.A colossus with feet of clay Based on the study of world history, L. N. Gumilyov put forward his own model of the development of peoples (ethnic groups). In this model, emphasis was placed on the biological and geographical aspect of ethnogenesis. Gumilyov assumed the independence of ethnogenesis, almost
"Colossus with feet of clay." Who do they call that? “Pravmir” continues to talk about how well-known biblical expressions change, ending up in journalistic texts and blogs. This time we will talk about an allegorical definition of something outwardly majestic, but in fact weak.
REFERENCE
A colossus with feet of clay they call something grandiose, seemingly powerful, but essentially insignificant, ready to collapse at any moment.
The source is a biblical story about how King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was interpreted. The prophet found himself at the court of the Babylonian ruler, having come to him as a hostage, and revealed to the king the secret of his dream:
“You, king, had such a vision: behold, some kind of large idol; This idol was huge, it stood before you in extreme splendor, and its appearance was terrible. This image had a head of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of copper, its legs of iron, its legs partly of iron and partly of clay. You saw him until the stone came off the mountain without the help of hands, struck the image, his iron and clay feet, and broke them ... "
Interestingly, the biblical texts themselves do not contain the word “colossus.” It appeared only in the middle of the 19th century, after Count Segur, in his memoirs, cited the words of Diderot, who called it “a colossus with feet of clay” Russian Empire. Perhaps the writer remembered the biblical story of the colossus. Diderot's expression caught on in the press and became popular in relation to Russia.
In the 21st century press they call it a colossus with feet of clay. different countries. And not only countries, but also large companies, departments and even just individuals. For example, in the Ukrainian press I found the headline “Dwarf with Feet of Clay.” The article was about Ukrainian statehood (which was given such a definition) and that the Orange Revolution did not live up to expectations. Here it’s not even a colossus, but a dwarf! That is, he no longer even seems huge and powerful, as in the original expression, but appears small, and, moreover, ready to completely disappear at any moment.
And in one of the articles the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs was called “a monster with feet of clay.” The department received this name after the so-called “Vradiev case.” His defendants - police officers - are accused of beating and raping a local girl (Vradievka - a village in the Nikolaev region). Monster - because it turns out that the police should be afraid. And he has feet of clay - because the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as they say in the opposition, is not in control of the situation and looks confused; The authorities use the Ministry of Internal Affairs for their own purposes.
"Tandem with feet of clay." This, of course, is about Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin. In an article with this title, we're talking about about the Magnitsky case and why the Russian leadership cannot punish those involved in the death of the lawyer.
Rarely, but still this expression is used not in political, but in other texts. Even in sports. For example: “Wimbledon 2013. Authorities have feet of clay.” The point is that those who were most expected to win suddenly lost.
Journalists themselves call Rupert Murdoch’s empire in one of their articles “a colossus with feet of clay” - due to a series of scandals that led to resignations.
Another large corporation, General Motors, was described in one of the publications of The Washington Times as “a superpower with feet of clay.”
“stands on feet of clay” - you can also find such statements.
And finally, the direct, not figurative meaning: “Fakes with feet of clay.” This article is about idols and modern idolatry.
It is curious that this expression is used, as a rule, only in journalistic texts. You rarely hear it in blogs and live communication. Although it would be quite possible to call some bosses this way, for example. And any person whose reliability is deceptive.
The expression comes from the biblical story about the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, who had an ominous dream. He saw a huge image whose head was made of gold, its chest and arms were made of silver, its belly and thighs were made of copper, its knees were made of iron, and its feet were made of clay. A stone falling from the mountain hit his clay feet, and he turned to dust. The king gathered priests and soothsayers, and one of them interpreted this dream as a fatal omen of the impending destruction and death of the Babylonian kingdom under the attacks of the Persians (which happened soon, according to legend, in fact).
This story is told in the Old Testament (Book of the Prophet Daniel, chapter 2, v. 31 - 35):
“31. You, king, had such a vision: behold, some kind of large idol; this idol was huge, it stood before you in extreme splendor, and its appearance was terrible.
32. This image had a head of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of copper,
33. His legs are of iron, his feet are partly iron, partly clay.
34. You saw him until a stone was torn away from the mountain without the help of hands, and struck the image, its iron and clay feet, and broke them.
35. Then everything was crushed together: iron, clay, copper, silver and gold became like dust on the summer threshing floors, and the wind carried them away, and no trace remained of them; and the stone that broke the image became great mountain and filled the whole earth."
This expression uses the word "colossus"(not the ear). The word “colossus” means - 1. A gigantic, enormously sized statue, column, etc. 2. About something overwhelming in size or greatness (Explanatory Dictionary, 1935-1940).
The word colossus originally meant “giant”, “idol” and has ancient Greek roots. Thus, the expression means a Giant with feet of clay (and not a stalk (ear) with feet of clay).
The phrase is also used in other languages, for example, in French - Colosse aux pieds d'argiles.
Examples
Vadim Serov
Encyclopedic dictionary of popular words and expressions. — M.: “Lockeed-Press”. 2003 The author writes that foreign states often used the phrase “Colossus with feet of clay” in relation to Russia and the USSR:
“German literature gave its own versions of Diderot’s famous words - “Asian colossus” (1833), the author of which was Heinrich Laube (1806-1884), and “northern colossus” by the German critic and publicist Karl Ludwig Berne (1786-1837). The latter expression was used in the 1840s, not only to Russia, but also to its Emperor Nicholas I. At this time, the phrase “Russian colossus” was also popular in the Western European press and later widely used the expression “colossus with feet of clay,” using it to describe no longer. Tsarist Russia, but the Soviet Union."
(1799 - 1837)
“Borodino Anniversary” (1830):
"But you, troublemakers of the chambers,
Easy-tongue twists,
You, the rabble of the disastrous alarm,
Slanderers, enemies of Russia!
What did you take?..
Is Russia still
A sick, relaxed colossus?
Is northern glory still
An empty parable, a false dream?