It is very difficult, if not impossible, for a foreigner to understand a Russian person. Despite possessing one of the most beautiful languages in the world, slang words denoting certain objects or actions are often used in everyday communication in Russia. As one of our favorite substitutes for the word money, we usually say "grandmother", not even suspecting what was the root cause of such a strange replacement.
Version one: royal
In the old days in Russia there was a special social caste of the people. These people not only entertained common people at fairs and big holidays, but also had their own secret language. The first substitute words came from them. Subsequently, foreign words and prison jargon came to the spoken language. At the same time, the word "grandmother" is surprisingly related to both monarchs and ordinary inhabitants of Russian cities and villages. The fact is that the one hundred ruble bill, which was especially popular in pre-revolutionary Russia, depicted Catherine II at a fairly old age. At the same time, most of the financial transactions from doing business to accumulating money "in stocking" were carried out using this particular note. At the same time, all representatives of the ruling Romanov dynasty,which changed a lot during the 19th - early 20th centuries were, to one degree or another, the grandchildren or great-grandchildren of Catherine II. In particular, Alexander I during official speeches referred to his royal grandmother. This fact was quickly noticed by the population of the country and the one hundred ruble bill began to be called the “royal grandmother”. However, it was long and inconvenient to say two words. Therefore, at first one hundred ruble bill turned into just a grandmother, and then all paper banknotes were called “grandmothers”. Therefore, at first one hundred ruble bill turned into just a grandmother, and then all paper banknotes were called “grandmothers”. Therefore, at first one hundred ruble bill turned into just a grandmother, and then all paper banknotes were called “grandmothers”.
Version two: peasant
Despite the fact that the version about the origin of the word "grandmother" in relation to money, derived from the one hundred ruble "Katenka", is the most popular, there are other theories of the origin of this concept that look no less reliable. Most often, the word "grandmother" is used as a question "How many people earned" grandmother "? A number of researchers believe that it is here that one should look for a clue to the origin of this concept. The fact is that before the revolution in the villages, sheaves, during the harvest, made up one to the other, were called “grandmas”. When the sheaves accumulated from ten to thirteen, they began to be placed in the second row. It turned out something like a nesting doll, really, like a grandmother. It was with such grandmas that the peasants measured the harvest, asking each other “How many“grandmas”did you take. Wherein,since a good harvest and a large number of attendants were considered a measure of prosperity, over time the concept of "grandmother" became an analogue of the word "money", gradually moving from village to city.
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Version three: game
There is also a third not very popular, but, nevertheless, noteworthy version of the appearance of the word "grandma" in the understanding of money. In pre-revolutionary Russia, as well as for several decades of the existence of Soviet power, teenagers in the courtyard loved to gamble for money, which was called "grandmother". The “grandmother” in this case was the bone of the animal's hoof, from which the round grandmother was cut. During the game, you had to knock out as many other people's money as possible with your grandmother. The winner in the game not only received the small change that was at stake, but was also considered a “wealthy” person among his peers. Since the game was extremely popular in Russian cities and villages, grown-up lovers of children's fun continued to call money "grandmothers", and the way to earn money was designated as "to fill up the attendants.
Dmitry Sokolov