The expression “yoshkin cat” is used to mean “wow!”, “wow!”, “well, well!”, “wow!” The phrase expresses surprise, misunderstanding, disappointment, annoyance. There is no exact analogue for it in other languages of the world. The closest emotional connotation in English is perhaps the expression “holy molly”; it is with this expression that translators replace our “tree-sticks”, “exel-moksel” and the mysterious “eperesete”. But the cat, with which a certain shock can be compared, is a phenomenon of exclusively Slavic culture. Where could Yoshkin's cat come from and what did it mean to our ancestors?
Character
If we recall Russian folklore, in particular folk tales and Baba Yaga, who appears in most of them, her cat appears before readers in the form of Kota-Bayun. This beast is black in color and huge in size, feeds on human remains, and is capable of hypnotizing a person with its magical voice.
Yaga the cat deserves a special treatment on a level with the universally remembered Devil or Dashing. But if we proceed from this option, then it is correct to call him Ezhkin. People are used to speaking differently.
Ethnographic version
In Serbo-Croatian the word "jeza" means "horror", and in Slovenian it means "anger". In Czech “ezinka” is an evil woman, in Polish she is “edza”. These words are related to the Russian “Yaga” and have a connection with the Proto-Slavic designation for snakes.
It cannot be ruled out that the “Ezhkin” cat is not directly connected with Baba Yaga, but with more ancient words. The sound “zh” is consonant with “z” and “dz”. It is believed that the expression came from some ancient conspiracy.
The cat is a sacred animal in many cultures; the Slavs also attributed mystical qualities to it. There could very well be a conspiracy with the phrase "evil/terrible cat" or "snake cat". But there are no serious studies on this topic at the moment.
CONSPIRACY
If you don’t go into etymology and don’t believe fairy tales, this phrase can mean an ancient Slavic conspiracy. It was pronounced in order to protect one’s home, family and everything that is dear to a person from evil spirits. This was at a time when people did not yet know the origin of most things, and gave mythical explanations for all events. Then they uttered similar slander in speeches in order to call upon the forces of light and good spirits. Since those times, many other rituals and symbols have come to us, which are popular to this day.
cat Baiyun
The meaning of phraseology
The idiom “yoshkin cat” means “very bad”, “terrible”. She vividly and emotionally expresses the highest degree of surprise and annoyance.
The phrase can also be perceived as a curse word, but not a curse word, but a filler word that replaces more powerful abusive constructions.
No specific cat is implied. The combination of sounds that convey expression is important.
We can rightfully say that the phrase has undergone interjection, that is, the loss of its original meaning for the sake of the emotional component.
Where does Eshkin the cat live?
The city of Yoshkar-Ola became a unique habitat for Eshka the cat, in the center of which a monument was erected to him in 2011. He depicts an animal lounging on a bench, well-fed and happy with life. The sculpture is located in the park near Mari State University. Therefore, local students have developed a peculiar tradition of scratching the cat’s nose in order to write and pass all exams.
Yoshkin the cat in Yoshkar-Ola
In the same city, another composition was installed, a very cute and sophisticated Yoshka cat. She became a friend of the cat lying nearby, from which the mouse was running away. Their creation was facilitated by the consonance of a common phrase with the humorous city name “Yoshka”.
Yoshka's cat in the same city
Origin of phraseology
Folklorists trace the adjective “Yoshkin” to Baba Yaga, specifying that it would be more correct to write Yozhkin. The black cat, the eternal companion of the forest witch, is connected with the other world.
In some texts he is called the cat Bayun (from the word “bayat” (to speak)) and is considered a guide from the kingdom of the living to the kingdom of the dead. To make it clearer, it’s enough to remember the scientist’s Lukomorsky cat, who “walks around the chain.”
This cat does not walk aimlessly. The famous oak tree in Pushkin’s poem is nothing more than the World Tree, connecting earth and sky, and the furry singer and storyteller is its guard, a mediator between worlds.
The cat is connected with Baba Yaga, who in fact is also the queen of the snake kingdom, by the possibility of access to the world of the dead.
There is a belief according to which Bayun was sent for the old woman in order to take her with him forever, but the cunning grandmother paid off with human bones and persuaded the cat to remain in her service.
Read about what this service was like in Russian folk tales. The expression “went to the people” after the release of the film “Love and Doves” (1984), the main character of which often remembered Yoshka’s cat.
A little humor
This phrase often has a humorous connotation, although it comes from the name of Yaga’s dangerous and cunning accomplice. Ekarny babay, vigorous louse, vigorous matryona, and plaque-fly have similar properties. They all come out of Russian folklore, and are common only among the Russian people.
We can say that other countries are simply not suitable for them due to the wrong mentality of the local residents. But within the Federation, Eshkin the cat and other Slavic characters remain popular with people during moments of emotional outbursts, which happen very often.
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Folklore version
It can be assumed that the word “eshkin” indicates that it belongs to an owner named Eshka. According to one version, “Eshkin” is a distortion of “Ezhkin”, that is, the mysterious owner of the cat - Baba Yaga, familiar to everyone from childhood. After all, a classic witch must have a cat.
This version is contradicted by the fact that the word “eshkin” is spelled with the letter “sh” and has no other spelling options. But Grandma Ezhka is a character in oral folklore. If we assume that the hedgehog cat separated from the image of her, the hedgehog cat, and ceased to be associated with her quite a long time ago, then the substitution of the letter could have occurred simply because “f” and “sh” sound very similar. Even in the 19th century, the norms for the only correct spelling of words had not yet been adopted. In the correspondence of educated people of that time, you can see that the same word is often written differently by one author.
Habitat[edit]
Habitat of the Yoshkin cats
The habitat of the Yo-cats has been determined with absolute accuracy, since it completely coincides with the state borders of the Russian Federation (including Ukraine and Alaska). It should also be noted that when the borders of the Russian Federation changed, the area changed along with them. But the distribution of habitat density of this extraordinary predator is very heterogeneous. It is interesting that the territories of embassies and consulates of the Russian Federation in foreign powers, as well as areas of mass habitation of Russians abroad can be classified as temporary parts of the range of Yo-cats, to the extent that the surrounding reality transforms the worldview of Russian citizens, whose biofield Yo-cats prefer .
You can often find Yoshkin's cat in forest and forest-steppe zones, less often it is found in forest-tundra and steppes, and even less often in the Arctic tundra and semi-desert. Although even there, in very unfavorable habitat areas, individual individuals were registered. The appearances of Yoshkin's cat in the upper Volga region forced local cat worshipers to erect a golden statue of the Cat in one of the cities, where their rituals take place, causing protest from the Christian and Muslim clergy. LGBT activists criticize the sculptor for openly exaggerating the animal’s sexual characteristics.
Emotions and humor
Often a well-known phrase takes on a humorous meaning, despite its origin from a very cunning and very dangerous assistant of a far from kind heroine of folklore.
The same overtones characterize the no less common “vigorous matryona” and “ekarny babai”. They also came from Russian folklore and became widespread in Russia.
Surely, the mentality of residents of other countries is not at all to the liking of the hero of the Russian expression, since outside the homeland the phrase with such a character did not take root.
But within the Russian Federation, Eshka’s cat is often remembered in moments of outburst of emotions.
Mythical-historical interpretation
If we don’t remember the folklore origin and don’t go into the etymology, then the usual phrase is, according to some versions, part of a conspiracy widespread among the ancient Slavs.
It was pronounced in order to protect everything dear to a person from evil spirits. At that time, the origin of many things was unknown to people, so events received mythical interpretations.
Ancestors read such slander to call upon the forces of light. Since then, many interesting rituals have remained, and some have not been forgotten even now.
Other phraseological units
The horse didn't lie
The case hasn't started yet.
Lost hour
Wasted time, long meaningless wait.
How to give something to drink
Guarantee of an easy and mandatory solution to the issue.
Break things up
Make stupid mistakes, take a series of ill-considered actions.
All phraseological units
A book from the authors of this article!
Collection: “100 popular phraseological units of the Russian language”
More details
Where does the popularity of “Eshka’s cat” come from?
This expression gained popularity in Soviet times thanks to the release of the film “Love and Doves.” The hero of the film quite often uttered the expression “yeshkin cat,” and many Soviet people liked this phrase. Moreover, Alexander Mikhailov often used this idiomatic expression in colloquial speech in everyday life. In addition, in most of his interviews Mikhailov used this quite often. Well, the actor’s popularity was simply at its best. The simple Soviet people began to repeat it after him. We tried to adopt his extraordinary way of conveying emotions. And the easiest way to do this is to adopt the manner of your favorite artist to speak like this, repeating after him his most favorite phraseological units and jargon. That is why in Soviet times, many began to convey their feelings and emotions thanks to this expression. And the next generation simply adopted from their elders this manner of expressing their emotional state, making their words more expressive.
Exterior and color[edit]
Yoshkin cat (hereinafter Yo-cat
) is a typical representative of the cat order. The height at the withers of the most frequently encountered specimens ranges from about 20-30 cm, length - up to 50-80 cm. Moreover, from a quarter to a third of the length is the tail. The physique is proportional, characteristic of all representatives of the feline genus. The coat is thick, uniform, with a thick undercoat.
Active molting is observed twice a year. On the head there are vibrissae - modified hairs that, in addition to the tactile function, like in other felines, also play a special role inherent exclusively to Felis joscae
.
The coat color is varied, the most common individuals are gray spotted or striped, or mixed colors (motley). Less common are red, white ( leucocratic color)
) or black (
melanin color
). Albinos were not observed among representatives of this species.
Russian scientists, having studied the genotype of “felis joscae”, identified genes and haplogroups, and, by folding them into a spiral, made it possible to preserve them in a liquid solution. The brightest colors have been preserved. It turned out that anyone who drinks this liquid has every chance of meeting Yo-cat in person.
