The Russian language has many interesting stable phrases, the meaning of which is not easy for foreigners to understand. But sometimes even people born in Russia cannot accurately explain this or that expression and use it correctly. For example, we will try to make out the definition that everyone once heard: “on fish fur, ” the meaning of phraseology and the history of its appearance in our article.
Do Russian fish have fur?
From early childhood, we are taught that thick soft hair is one of the signs of mammals. Then why do we say, "on fish fur"? The meaning of phraseologism is not difficult to explain - we are talking about the very poor quality of the insulation cover or its complete absence. Do fish have no fur? So we use this winged expression when we want to emphasize the low quality of an object (usually clothes) and its inability to keep warm.
Origin history
Phraseologism "on fish fur" arose from an old Russian folk proverb. In its full version it sounded as follows: "The poor man has a fur coat on fish fur." Previously, phraseology was also actively used: “On sterlet fur”. It was about the poor, unable to afford clothing warm enough for the Russian winter. According to some experts, this proverb also had a deeper meaning, for example, reminded that you can find out the status of a person and his financial situation by carefully examining his suit. However, today this proverb is almost completely obsolete, and you can hear it infrequently.
