Fighters for the purity of the Russian language often do not realize how many foreign words are embedded in it. Mutual flow of terms and concepts, linguistic migration is a natural process of speech development, characteristic of all nationalities. At the same time, one should not ignore the fact that often a borrowed word makes understanding somewhat more difficult. For example, the common expression "take revenge." The meaning of phraseology is inextricably linked to its roots and origin. Where did this phrase come from and how to use it correctly?
What is revenge?
The main stream of French terms poured into Russia after the historical “cutting a window into Europe” - Peter I not only introduced fashion to everything foreign, but also largely determined the development of speech. The tutors discharged from abroad taught young noblemen, and the French language was firmly established in our vocabulary. More than two thousand words and concepts, including “revenge” in the meaning of “retaliation, revenge, wagering, repayment”. The word revanche as a result of such a migration has not changed its meaning. The meaning of phraseology “take revenge” is based precisely on the desire of the losing or defeated side to surpass the opponent or at least return everything as it was.
Belinsky, whom fighters against foreign words love to weave as an authority, was actually quite wise in enriching his native speech with borrowed terms. In particular, he even lamented that some words were slowly penetrating into everyday life, and emphasized the need for selectivity in attempts to protect the language from “foreign novelties”.
The meaning of phraseology "take revenge"
In Russian, the peculiarity of rethinking borrowed words and expressions, first of all, is selective preservation of the original meaning. So the French expression cher ami, “my friend”, was reincarnated not only in a completely different meaning “ball-skier”, that is, a poor tramp and a beggar, but also in the vivid phrase “scribble with a little girl”, when I mean it’s sincere friends, from mon cher, ma chère.
The meaning and interpretation of the term “take revenge” is not only to get an opportunity to take revenge or to recoup, but also to realize it. As part of this phrase, only the verb is changed - I’ll take it, take it or take it, but in other cases the word “revenge” is inclined to the case. This stable expression has not supplanted the more familiar “revenge”, but is more often applied to cultural methods of revising results, for example, in sports. That is, an attack from around the corner in order to cripple the offender is not a revenge, it is a banal revenge. In order not to violate the logic of the narrative, you need to follow the semantic content of phrases.
What is revenge
There is also a fairly common concept, which is closely related in meaning to the French revanche, but has a slightly different semantic and emotional content. Revanchism is a policy in which the losing side wants to interpret events in such a way as to achieve a review in their favor. Moreover, connotation is often ironic or condemning.
The meaning of phraseology “take revenge” implies an honest and morally clean way to regain one's own or become a winner. Another thing is if this happens under the influence of certain external factors, for example, new information, a change in the attitude of the people involved. In interpersonal relationships, one can say that he “took a kind of revenge”, that is, he felt that justice was restored and revenge was accomplished on its own.
