1. Earlier in Russia, the alternative name of the constellation Ursa Major was widespread - the Horse on a pin (meaning a grazing horse tied with a rope to a peg). And the North Star, respectively, was called the Joke Star.
2. The ancient expression "pour over the Adam's apple" meant "to get drunk", "to drink alcohol". Hence the phraseological unit "bosom friend" was formed, which is used today to refer to a very close friend.
3. In Ancient Russia, a fire from lightning was considered divine fire and was extinguished not with water, but with milk.
4. In Ancient Russia, rolls were baked in the shape of a castle with a round bow. Citizens often bought rolls and ate them right on the street, holding by this bow or handle. For reasons of hygiene, the pen itself was not consumed, but given to the poor or thrown to the dogs. - According to one of the versions, about those who did not disdain to eat it, they said: he reached the handle. And today the expression "to reach the handle" means to completely sink, to lose human appearance.
5. In "The Lay of Igor's Campaign" you can find the lines: "Boyan the prophetic, if someone wanted to write a song, Mysiya spread along the tree, like a gray wolf on the ground, a gray eagle under the clouds." Translated from the Old Russian "cape" is a squirrel. And because of an incorrect translation, in some editions of the Lay there appeared a joking expression “to spread the thought along the tree”, which means going into unnecessary details, distracting from the main idea.
6. The turnip has very small seeds: there are more than a million of them in one kilogram. Therefore, in ancient times, when sowing turnips, the seeds were not thrown by hands, but spat out. Good spitters were very much appreciated as the job was not easy.
7. After the capture of Kazan, Ivan the Terrible, wishing to bind the local aristocracy to himself, rewarded high-ranking Tatars who voluntarily came to him. Many of them, in order to receive rich gifts, pretended to be badly affected by the war. Hence the expression "Kazan orphan" appeared.
8. In medieval Europe, on the eve of winter, the mass slaughter of livestock and the preparation of meat began. If the meat is simply salted, it loses its original taste. Spices, which were brought mainly from Asia, help to preserve it almost in its original form. But since the Turks monopolized almost all the spice trade, their price was prohibitive. This factor was one of the motives for the rapid development of navigation and the beginning of the era of great geographical discoveries. And in Russia, because of the harsh winters, there was no urgent need for spices.
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9. Peasants before the introduction of serfdom in Russia could pass from one master to another. They were hired to work in the spring, "for Egoria", and received the payment in the fall, in "Kuzminki" During transactions, the parties often indulged in all sorts of tricks, and sometimes deception. Hence, the words "burn" and "podkuzmit" appeared.
10. The wedding celebrations we are accustomed to in ancient Russia were only the second part of the ritual - the "red table". In the first part, which was called the “black table,” the bride went to church in mourning clothes. This is how the ritual funeral of the bride was performed, because the wedding was for her a rite of initiation into adulthood, which could only be passed through the world of the dead.
11. In the Russian code of laws of the 14th century "Justice Metropolitan" there is a description of the cost of domestic animals: "Pay 9 kuna for a pigeon, 30 kuna for a duck, 30 kuna for a goose, 30 kuna for a swan, 30 kuna for a crane, 3 hryvnia for a cat, for a dog 3 hryvnia, for a mare 60 kuna, for an ox 3 hryvnia, for a cow 40 kuna, for a calf 5 kuna, for a sheep 5 kuna, for a stallion hryvnia. Considering that the hryvnia was equal to 50 kunas, it turns out that cats and dogs were valued as one ox, 3 horses or a herd of rams.
12. To prepare for the conquest of the Kazan Khanate, Ivan the Terrible conducted a unique military operation, moving a wooden Kremlin. The fortress was dismantled in the city of Myshkin near Uglich, each log was marked, floated down the Volga and caught near the mouth of the Sviyaga River, where Russian troops took up positions. In 24 days, 75 thousand people gathered from those logs a fortress comparable to the Moscow Kremlin. It was named Sviyazhsk and became a springboard for the capture of Kazan.
13. The French kiss (with the tongue) in Russia was called the Tatar kiss. He was strongly condemned by the church and was equated with a kiss on the genitals.
14. Freebie used to be called the bootleg. The lower part of the boot - the head - wore out much faster than the bootleg of a freebie. Enterprising "cold shoemakers" sewed a new head to the bootleg. These boots - sewn on "for free" - were much cheaper than new ones.
15. The word "week" used to denote Sunday - a non-working day when "they do not do it", and then began to be called a seven-day period. In many Slavic languages, this name has survived to this day.
16. The most experienced and strongest barge haule, walking in the strap first, was called a bump. This became the expression "big shot" to refer to an important person.
17. Previously, Friday was a free day from work, and, as a result, a market day. On Friday, receiving the goods, they promised to give the money due for it on the next market day. Since then, to refer to people who do not keep promises, they say: "He has seven Fridays a week."
18. During the rise of the Moscow principality, a large tribute was collected from other cities. The cities sent petitioners to Moscow with complaints of injustice. The king sometimes severely punished complainants in order to intimidate others. Hence, according to one version, the expression "Moscow does not believe in tears" came about.
19. In the old days, it was believed that a person's soul is placed in a depression between the collarbones, a dimple in the neck. In the same place on the chest there was a custom to keep money. Therefore, they say about a poor person that he has “nothing behind his soul”.
20. In the old days, chunks cut off from a log - blanks for wooden dishes - were called baklush. Their manufacture was considered easy, requiring no effort and skill. Now we use the expression "to beat the thumbs up" to mean idleness.
21. In the old days, village women, after washing, “rolled” the laundry with a special rolling pin. Well-rolled laundry turned out to be wrung out, ironed and clean, even if the wash was not very good. Today, to denote the achievement of the goal in any way, the expression "not by washing, so by rolling" is used.
22. In the old days, messengers who delivered mail sewed very important papers, or "cases" under the lining of a cap or hat, so as not to attract the attention of robbers. Hence the expression "trick is in the bag."
23. In ancient Russia, a frog was launched into a vessel with milk so that it would not turn sour.
24. In the 13th century, the monetary and weight unit in Russia was the hryvnia, which was divided into 4 parts ("rubles"). The especially weighty remainder of the ingot was called the "long ruble". Associated with these words is the expression about big and easy earnings - "chasing a long ruble".