The meaning of the expression on the Hamburg account. Hamburg account. How legends are born

What do you think is the meaning of phraseology Hamburg account? This can not be guessed, even understanding each word individually. Trying to "translate the phrase into Russian", relying on intuition, will not work either. “In Hamburg's account” is roughly the same as “in the long run”. But this pair of phraseological units cannot be called equivalent.

In order to freely use the “Hamburg account” in speech and not to make a mistake with the place, using this lexical unit, it is worth knowing exactly the history of the phrase.

Who invented phraseology?

The origin of phraseology is connected with the name of the literary critic Viktor Shklovsky. he wrote a book in the title of which the catchphrase sounded for the first time. On the front pages of the publication, the critic tells an intriguing parable about wrestling athletes. Legend has it that at the beginning of the 20th century, fights organized for the public were staged. It was decided in advance which of the participants will win and which techniques each wrestler should use in order to make the fight as spectacular as possible.

However, once a year in Hamburg, all the most famous athletes gathered for real competitions behind closed doors. The meeting place was a tavern where no one else was allowed. The curtained windows did not allow outsiders to see what was happening inside. The fights taking place in the tavern showed the current state of affairs and revealed the strongest.

How true this story is is unknown. Therefore, it is assumed that Shklovsky did not illustrate his understanding of the state of affairs through a historically reliable fact, but using a beautiful legend.

Value in the literature

Shklovsky uses the phrase to describe what is happening in the literature. He writes that many authors publish and receive titles “by pull”, and not because they have talent. The critic suggests weeding out such crooks. The use of impartial evaluations without concessions is the “Hamburg account” in the literature. In his book, Shklovsky discusses what place his contemporaries occupy in the art arena.

The meaning of the concept in economics

The economic sphere allows the use of phraseological units in a slightly different meaning. Here the phrase matters honest open relationships. Contracts signed “on the Hamburg account” are documents proclaiming equal conditions. Moreover, the parties are equal not only on paper, but this is the real state of affairs.

The use of catchphrases in art and science

The concept is quite extensive. For example, a great scientist may not have a title and not write a single significant work, not take part in official celebrations. But if the followers, having worked through his ideas, achieve significant results - then, “according to the Hamburg account”, the scientist lived his life not in vain and should be among the recognized scientists.

The expression is applicable not only to people. If a book became very popular, sold in millions of editions, a film was made on it ... But in reality, a work of art does not carry a semantic load, is not capable of influencing minds or history in any way - then its “Hamburg account” is equal to zero. It is also possible to appreciate a work of art, a musical masterpiece, architecture.

Context of use: where appropriate and where not

Phraseologism “according to the Hamburg account” is approximately equal in meaning to the phrases “in reality”, “in reality”. But there is one caveat - to use this phrase is appropriate only in a conversation about something global and significant. So, let's say in a conversation about the weather or about everyday problems it is better to use the above synonyms. The sentence “According to the Hamburg account, the weather is excellent this year” sounds ridiculous. But if we are talking about the fate of a person (“According to the Hamburg account, he is a good specialist”) - then this phraseological unit is quite appropriate.

What is a hamburg account? If you do not know the real story of the appearance of this winged phrase in Russian, then you can put forward as many different versions as you like, and not one of them will be true. Meanwhile, the verbal circulation, firmly established in our speech, was born relatively recently. This is the rare case when we have the opportunity to name the exact date of occurrence of phraseology.

The origin of phraseology

The expression "Hamburg account" came into everyday life thanks to the Soviet writer and publicist Viktor Borisovich Shklovsky. In 1928, a collection of essays and notes was published, where the author, as a literary critic, analyzes the creative activity of his contemporaries - fellow writers. The writer gives an assessment of the works of Yu. Olesha, M. Gorky, Vs. Ivanov, V. Khlebnikov, M. Zoshchenko, O. Mandelstam, M. Bulgakov, S. Yesenin, A. Tolstoy, V. Mayakovsky and many others.

Shklovsky’s book “Hamburg Account” contains a parable about Russian athletes who performed in the circus arena. For the sake of the public, fights in the classical or, as it was also called, the French wrestling were short and planned in advance, were more indicative and artistic than sporting in nature. But once a year, athletes traveled to Hamburg, Germany, where in one of the restaurants closed to spectators, competitions were held to identify the real champion. Obviously, the meaning of phraseology “Hamburg account” corresponds to such synonyms as “fair alignment” or “unadorned reality”.

Art allegory

Modern scholars suggest that the historical fact described by Shklovsky did not exist in reality, and this author’s fiction was created in order to become a platform for humorous ranking of writers of the first half of the 20th century. Shklovsky, who has a fine command of the literary word and has an inexhaustible sense of humor, with a certain degree of sarcasm, continued the story of identifying the winners among the wrestlers: "The Hamburg account is necessary in literature."

Next, the writer places his colleagues on the imaginary steps of the literary Olympus, which, in his opinion, are worthy of. The champion title goes to Velimir Khlebnikov, and Bulgakov appears in the role of a red clown by the carpet. Probably, it will be interesting for current graduates of schools to reveal the theme of the Hamburg account in an essay on the exam. Moreover, the story invented by Shklovsky differs not only in beauty and laconicism. She overgrown with some interesting facts. They said that Mikhail Bulgakov was offended by this critical attack and for some time did not give his hand to his author. However, the phrase instantly gained popularity among writers, and then went beyond the literary environment.

The meaning and examples of the use of idioms

Hamburg account ... What we mean by this short phrase, we have already found out. Its meaning is interpreted quite simply: the true alignment, the real state of things, a true assessment. Often this expression is used in various areas of life. For example, you watched a film that, with external brilliance, does not carry any artistic value or you just didn’t like it. Here you can syronize: "By and large, the Hamburg account, that is, frankly, this movie is not worth a penny." And it does not matter whether this opinion is strictly objective or based on one’s own, individual vision. This expression has long lost its fundamental meaning and is used with a touch of light non-malignant humor.

Doubt in competence and well-deserved approval

Phraseologism is applicable for assessing a person’s professional or personal characteristics: “He is a good guy, of course, but judging by the Hamburg account, he cannot be entrusted with a serious business.” Most often, when uttering this phrase, they try to reveal some shortcomings of an animate or inanimate object, event, phenomenon. Less often, praise may sound here: "The work was done" excellently "even according to the Hamburg account." The value invested in this verbal circulation serves as a kind of measure of the quality of the highest standard on the endless scale of universal values.

Hard exchange rate

Let’s try to figure out if this phrase existed outside Shklovsky’s work, does the writer have a palm in its creation? In the financial and credit sector, there is such a thing as “bank”, which denotes the established rate at which securities are bought and sold. According to the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, the term was first introduced by the Hamburg Bank at the beginning of the 18th century. As you know, until the XIX century, Germany was an imperial union of many sovereign states, each of which had its own currency. Gold thalers not only wore away with long-term use, lost their original weight, they were also not always accepted for calculations in neighboring lands.

Only in the bank of Hamburg could one deposit the currency of any of the German states. One conditional coin (brand-bank) had a face value of 528 as pure gold. Since 1763, the Hamburg account was adopted by financial organizations in many countries of the world. Coins were minted in England, Denmark, Sweden, Prussia, accepted at Dutch, Italian, German and other banks. With the introduction of the metric system, such a settlement mechanism gradually began to lose its position, and in the territory of united Germany it was abolished in 1873.

The Most Accurate Bank Settlement Method

Phraseologism "Hamburg account", according to historians, most likely arose in the accounting field and was known to a narrow circle of professionals. At a time when there was no complicated computer technology, and all mathematical calculations were carried out manually, the so-called Hamburg method was used, which allowed to obtain the most accurate results.

This method of reducing bank balances was considered laborious, therefore, it was used only in special cases. It must be assumed that in the 20s of the last century, when Shklovsky created a note that became famous, the main tool of a financial employee was abacus with wooden knuckles. Information about a special ultra-precise technique could be heard.

How legends are born

It is likely that Viktor Shklovsky could know both about the existence of the Hamburg settlement system and about the universal currency of European banks. But, you see, the legend that tells about the competitions of wrestlers looks much more romantic and attractive to readers than an immersion in the wilds of financial office work. Apparently, it was these considerations that Shklovsky was guided by when creating his note.

If the writer had not clothed this expression in an artistic shell, it would hardly have become known to a wide circle of the reading public and reached the people. An indisputable fact: many proverbs and sayings, considered popular, are actually strings from author's works. It’s enough to recall the phrase “staying with nothing”, which came out of Pushkin’s fairy tale “On the Golden Fish”, or the wonderful expression “happy hours are not observed,” given to us by A. S. Griboedov. Today, catchphrases come into our speech thanks to the outstanding work of filmmakers, the skill of actors, the ingenuity of colloquial artists, the talent of songwriters and even the not always folding speeches of some politicians.

The term accepted in social psychology

Interestingly, the phrase “Hamburg account” is nowadays a semi-official term used in social psychology to determine the true status of an individual in society. The actual position of the individual, according to the findings of individual studies, often does not correspond to her formal position at the level of the social ladder assigned to her. To find out the actual status of a particular subject, specialists resort to a method, conditionally called the Hamburg account. This verbal circulation is present in the professional slang of practicing psychologists and is even used in thematic reports and publications. Allowing ourselves a little joke, let's say that Victor Shklovsky not only enriched his native speech with a beautiful catchphrase, but also contributed to modern science.

The film of German filmmakers

Many times I heard the statement that the phraseology “Hamburg account” exists only in Russian. But in 1999, a feature film produced by Germany was released, in the title of which this verbal circulation appears. What does it mean? Did the director Zenka Wortmann, who made the story of the events of Friday night in one of the districts of the port city, know our idiom?

The issue is resolved quite simply. The original title of the film is “St. Pauli Nacht”. And in the “Hamburg account” the film was renamed for Russian distribution according to the plan of domestic translators, since the plot develops in Hamburg. Of course, it turned out pretty well. In any case, capacious and recognizable. But, unfortunately, this film has nothing to do with the works of Viktor Shklovsky, the work of Russian writers and the legend of athletes.

  . The “Hamburg account” was a real correlation of strength and skill of circus wrestlers, while in the circus arena the winner of the fight was determined by agreement in advance:

Hamburg account is an extremely important concept.
  All wrestlers, when they fight, cheat and lie on the shoulder blades on the orders of the entrepreneur.
  Once a year, fighters gather in the Hamburg tavern.
  They fight behind closed doors and curtained windows.
  Long, ugly and hard.
  The true classes of wrestlers are established here, so as not to overlook.
  A Hamburg account is needed in the literature.
  According to the Hamburg account, there are no Serafimovich and Veresaev.
  They do not reach the city.
  In Hamburg - Bulgakov by the carpet.
Babel is a lightweight.
Bitter - doubtful (often not in shape).

The legend told by the writer did not find confirmation. The historians of Hamburg and the modern owners of restaurants do not know anything about the competitions of wrestlers, allegedly held in the old days in a hamburg tavern. KV Dushenko believes that the “Hamburg account” is Shklovsky’s own expression. Doubts are added by the fact that I. M. Poddubny, whose age was essential for the plot of his story, turned only 53 years old in 1924, and he really fought to 70.

Victor Shklovsky’s determination of the place “on the carpet” for Mikhail Bulgakov was the last to be perceived as offensive, alluding to the clown who entertained the audience at the circus. This has complicated the relationship between the two writers. A hint of a clown, however, was not seen by everyone. So in a letter to literary critic Stanislav Rassadin, Viktor Konetsky expressed a different understanding of the ranking of writers by Shklovsky:

Once again I came across a rebuke to V. B. Shklovsky against Bulgakov: “by the carpet” (that is, it is being withdrawn from the game!). This is a kind of mass psychosis, because the expression indicates a high compliment and prediction of the "Hamburg struggle" and victory in it. This is written “by the carpet” in 1924. The book was published in 1928. It seems to me to understand the expression:
  1. Bulgakov has already arrived in Hamburg. But Serafimovich or Veresaev cannot even get close there.
  2. Bulgakov is already standing at the carpet, for he is allowed to compete in aerobatics (this is in 1924!).
  3. Khlebnikov has already left the carpet, for he has already won.

4. Babel already took part in the fight, but, according to V. B. Sh., Lightweight. Gorky is often not in shape, that is, they can simply strangle him on the carpet - an old one already.

Shklovsky later admitted his prologue was wrong.

Spread

Thanks to the book of the same name by Viktor Shklovsky, the expression “Hamburg account”, which has become widespread in the Russian language, has become winged and popular not only among the writers, but also much wider. In particular, psychologists use it to identify the real, not official, place of an individual in the status hierarchy.

... First of all, the “Hamburg account” is relevant when working with a social psychologist-practitioner with small groups, determining their current status and development path, identifying the causes of low functionality of both obvious and potential conflicts ...

This is also indicated by Harry Walter, Doctor of Philology, professor at Ernst Moritz Arndt University in Greifswald.

Outside the Russian language, this expression causes translation difficulties due to the lack of a concept in other languages \u200b\u200band the polysemy of the Russian word “ score". Douglas Robinson (eng.)russian  offers three options: English. The Hamburg Score, The Hamburg Rankings, The Hamburg Account  for the title of the work of Shklovsky, noting that English. score, rankings better describe the allusion to the competition of wrestlers, but Richard Sheldon used English in the translation. account.

There is an assumption that, by association with Viktor Shklovsky’s “Hamburg account”, the expression “by and large” appeared later, which appeared later in Veniamin Kaverin’s novel “Fulfillment of Wishes”.

Notes

1. Hamburg account (unspecified)   (National Psychological Encyclopedia). vocabulary.ru. Date of appeal September 12, 2017.
2. Shklovsky V.  The Hamburg account and by and large // Vopr. culture of speech / Acad. sciences of the USSR. Inst-r. lang Ch. ed. S.I. Ozhegov. - M.: Nauka, 1965. - Issue. 6. - S. 129-131. - 241 p. - 8500 copies.
3. Shklovsky V.  Hamburg account. - L.: Publishing House of Writers in Leningrad, 1928. - S. 5. - 247 p. - 4000 copies.
4. Myagkov B.S.  Bulgakov Moscow. - M.: Mosk. Worker, 1993 .-- S. 120-126. - 222 p. - ISBN 5-239-01439-6.
5. Griboedov's House // Bulgakov Encyclopedia / B.V. Sokolov. - M.: Lokid: Myth, 1996 .-- S. 191-198. - 592 p. - ISBN 5-320-00143-6. - ISBN 5-87214-028-3.
6. According to the Hamburg account // Encyclopedic Dictionary of winged words and expressions / [ed. Vadim Serov]. - M.: Lokid-press, 2004 .-- 877, p. - 2000 copies. - ISBN 5-320-00323-4.
7. Dushenko K.V.  Dictionary of modern quotes: 4300 walking quotes and expressions of the XX century., Their sources, ed., Dating. - M.: Agraf, 1997 .-- S. 406. - 628, p. - ISBN 5-7784-0031-4.
8. Poddubny Ivan Maksimovich / V.I. Linder // Peru - Semitrailer. - M.: Great Russian Encyclopedia, 2014 .-- S. 541-542. - (The Big Russian Encyclopedia: [in 35 vols.] / Ch. Ed. Yu. S. Osipov  ; 2004-2017, v. 26). - ISBN 978-5-85270-363-7.
9. Belozerskaya-Bulgakova L.E.  Oh honey of memories. - Ann Arbor, Michigan: Ardis, 1979.- S. 45 .-- 134 p. - ISBN 0-88233-318-6.
10. Konetsky V.V.  Echo: (Around and around readers' letters). - 2nd ed., Rev. and add. - SPb. : Blitz, 2001 .-- S. 324-325. - 453, p. - 3000 copies. - ISBN 5-86789-142-9.
11. Putin hat da noch eine hamburger rechnung offen  (German). Die Welt (10.24.2014). Date of appeal September 15, 2017.
12. Walter Harry About two “German” aptonyms in Russian (Hamburg account; Who is late, history punishes him) (unspecified) . Problems of history, philology, culture (2011). Date of appeal September 12, 2017.
13. The hamburg score  (eng.). dalkeyarchive.com. Date of appeal September 14, 2017.
14. The hamburg score  (eng.). the complete review. Date of appeal September 14, 2017.
15. Joshua Cohen. The Formalist’s Formalist: On Viktor Shklovsky (unspecified) . forward.com (November 20, 2007). Date of appeal September 14, 2017.

The expression "Hamburg account" meant the intention of Russian circus wrestlers of the late XIX - early XX centuries to identify in their midst really the strongest. Usually in the circus arena, the winner of the fight is determined in advance - by agreement. But once a year, wrestlers, as if converging away from the public and employers in the Hamburg tavern, found out in a fair fight which of them was actually stronger than the others.

Hamburg account is an extremely important concept.
  All wrestlers, when they fight, cheat and lie on the shoulder blades on the orders of the entrepreneur.
  Once a year, fighters gather in the Hamburg tavern.
  They fight behind closed doors and curtained windows.
  Long, ugly and hard.
  The true classes of wrestlers are established here, so as not to overlook.
  A Hamburg account is needed in the literature.
  According to the Hamburg account, there are no Serafimovich and Veresaev.
  They do not reach the city.
  In Hamburg - Bulgakov by the carpet.
Babel is a lightweight.
Bitter - doubtful (often not in shape).

  Khlebnikov was the champion.

Victor Shklovsky. Hamburg account. L. 1928

Viktor Shklovsky’s determination of the place “on the carpet” for Mikhail Bulgakov was insulting because of the hint at the clown who entertained the audience at the circus. This caused a complication in the relationship between the two writers. It is known that Shklovsky later changed his mind.

There is an assumption that, in association with Viktor Shklovsky’s “Hamburg account”, the expression “by and large”, which later appeared in Benjamin Kaverin’s novel “Fulfillment of Desires,” became the winged phrase.

Spread

The legend of Ivan Poddubny did not find documentary evidence, the historians of Hamburg and the modern owners of restaurants do not know anything about the competitions of wrestlers held in the Hamburg tavern at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Nevertheless, thanks to the book of the same name by Viktor Shklovsky, the expression “Hamburg account”, which has become widespread in the Russian language, has become winged and popular not only among the writers, but also much wider.

Psychologists use it, in particular, to identify the real, not official, place of an individual in the status hierarchy.

... First of all, the “Hamburg account” is relevant when working with a social psychologist-practitioner with small groups, determining their current status and development path, identifying the causes of low functionality of both obvious and potential conflicts ...

Outside the Russian language, this expression causes translation difficulties due to the lack of a concept in other languages \u200b\u200band the polysemy of the Russian word “ score". Douglas Robinson (eng.)russian  offers three options: English. The Hamburg Score / Rankings / Account   for the title of the work of Shklovsky, noting that English. score, rankings  better describe the allusion to the competition of wrestlers, but Richard Sheldon used the English translation. account .

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Notes

Literature

• Walter Harry   // Problems of history, philology, culture. - 2011. - No. 3. - S. 199-204.
• Jutta limbach. Ausgewanderte Wörter. Eine Auswahl der interessantesten Beiträge zur internationalen Ausschreibung "Ausgewanderte Wörter". In: Deutscher Sprachrat, Goethe-Institut (Hrsg.): Wörter wandern um die Welt. Hueber, Ismaning 2006 (3. Auflage 2008), ISBN 978-3-19-107891-1

Links

• Victor Shklovsky.  Hamburg account. - Leningrad: Publishing House of Writers in Leningrad, 1928. - 247 p. - 4000 copies.
• Victor Shklovsky.  Hamburg account: Articles, memoirs, essays (1914 - 1933). - Moscow: Soviet writer, 1990. - 129 p.
• Social Psychology. Dictionary / Under. ed. M. Yu. Kondratiev // Psychological lexicon. Encyclopedic Dictionary in six volumes / Ed. L.A. Karpenko. Under the total. ed. A.V. Petrovsky. - M .: PER SE, 2006 .-- 176 p.

Excerpt from the Hamburg Account

The first shots did not sound off yet, as others sounded, more and more, merging and interrupting one another.
  Napoleon rode with his retinue to the Shevardino redoubt and got down from the horse. The game started.

Returning from Prince Andrei to Gorki, Pierre, ordering the landlord to prepare the horses and wake him up early in the morning, immediately fell asleep behind the partition, in the corner that Boris had ceded to him.
  When Pierre completely woke up the next morning, there was no one else in the hut. Glass rattled in the small windows. The berator stood pushing him.
  “Your excellency, your excellency, your excellency ...” - stubbornly, not looking at Pierre and, apparently, having lost hope of waking him up, swinging him by the shoulder, sent the beitor.
  - What? Started? Is it time? - said Pierre, waking up.
  “Please hear the fire,” said the guardian, a retired soldier, “all the gentlemen have already raised them, the lightest ones have long passed.”
  Pierre dressed hastily and ran out onto the porch. The yard was clear, fresh, dewy and fun. The sun, having just burst out from behind a cloud obscuring it, splashed to the half by broken clouds of rays through the roofs of the opposite street, onto the dew-covered dust of the road, on the walls of houses, on the fence windows and on Pierre’s horses standing by the hut. The rumble of guns could be heard more clearly in the yard. Adjutant with a Cossack hacked along the street.
  - It's time, count, it's time! Shouted the adjutant.
  Having ordered a horse to lead him, Pierre went down the street to the mound, from which he had looked yesterday at the battlefield. There was a crowd of military men on this mound, and the French staff spoke, and Kutuzov's gray-haired head was visible with his white cap with a red cap and a gray nape drowned in his shoulders. Kutuzov looked ahead into the pipe along the high road.
Entering the steps of the entrance to the mound, Pierre looked ahead of himself and froze in admiration for the beauty of the sight. It was the same panorama that he admired yesterday from this mound; but now this whole area was covered with troops and the smoke of shots, and the slanting rays of the bright sun rising behind, to the left of Pierre, threw light and dark, long shadows piercing with golden and pink tint in the clear morning air. The distant forests that end the panorama, as if carved from some precious yellow-green stone, were visible with their curved feature of the peaks on the horizon, and between them, a large Smolensk road cut through Valuyev, covered with troops. Gold fields and copses glittered closer. Everywhere - in front, on the right and on the left - troops were visible. All this was lively, majestic and unexpected; but what Pierre was most struck by was a view of the battlefield itself, Borodin and the hollow above Kolochaya on both sides of it.
  Above Kolochy, in Borodin and on both sides of it, especially to the left, where in the swampy banks of the Voyna flows into Kolocha, there was that fog that melts, spreads and shines when the bright sun comes out and magically colors and outlines everything visible through it. The smoke of shots joined this fog, and morning lightning shone everywhere on this fog and smoke - now across the water, now across the dew, then against the bayonets of the troops crowding along the coasts and in Borodino. Through the fog this white church could be seen, some where the roofs of the huts of Borodin, some where solid masses of soldiers, some where green boxes, guns. And all this moved or seemed moving, because fog and smoke stretched across this whole space. As in this locality of the lower reaches near Borodin, covered with fog, and outside it, higher and especially to the left, along the entire line, along forests, fields, lower bottoms, at the tops of elevations, incessantly incurred by themselves, from nothing, cannons, then lonely, sometimes hurt, then rare, then frequent puffs of smoke, which, swelling, expanding, swirling, merging, were visible throughout this space.
  These smoke shots and, strange to say, their sounds produced the main beauty of the spectacle.
  Puff! - suddenly there was round, dense smoke playing with purple, gray and milky white flowers, and boom! - the sound of this smoke was heard after a second.
  “Puff puff” - two smoke rose, pushing and merging; and “boom boom” - confirmed the sounds that the eye saw.
Pierre looked around at the first smoke, which he left a rounded dense ball, and already in his place there were balls of smoke stretching to the side, and puff ... (with a stop) puff puff - three more, four more, and each, with the same constellations, boom ... boom boom boom - beautiful, solid, true sounds answered. It seemed that these smokes were running, that they were standing, and forests, fields and shining bayonets were running past them. On the left side, through the fields and bushes, these large smokes constantly appeared with their solemn echoes, and closer still, along the bottoms and forests, small, not having time to round off haze of guns flashed and similarly gave their little echoes. Fuck that tach - guns popped though often, but incorrectly and poorly in comparison with gun shots.
  Pierre wanted to be where these smokes were, these shiny bayonets and guns, this movement, these sounds. He looked back at Kutuzov and his retinue to compare his impression with others. Everything was exactly the same as he was, and, as it seemed to him, they were looking forward with the same feeling, on the battlefield. On all faces now shone that latent warmth (chaleur latente) of feeling, which Pierre noticed yesterday and which he understood completely after his conversation with Prince Andrei.
  “Go, darling, go, Christ is with you,” said Kutuzov, not taking his eyes off the battlefield, to the general standing beside him.
  Having heard the order, this general passed Pierre, to the exit from the mound.
  - To the ferry! - General said coldly and sternly in response to a question from one of the staff, where he was going. "Both I and I," thought Pierre, and went in the direction of the general.
  The general mounted the horse that the Cossack had given him. Pierre went to his guardian, who was holding horses. Asking which is more humble, Pierre climbed onto the horse, grabbed the mane, pressed the heels of the turned legs to the horse’s stomach and, feeling that his glasses were falling and that he couldn’t take his hands away from the mane and the reins, galloped after the general, arousing staff smiles, from the mound looking at him.

The general, behind whom Pierre rode, going downhill, turned sharply to the left, and Pierre, having lost sight of him, jumped into the ranks of the infantry soldiers walking ahead of him. He tried to leave them right and left; but there were soldiers everywhere, with equally worried faces, busy with some sort of invisible, but obviously important business. Everyone with an equally displeased questioning look looked at this fat man in a white hat, it is not known why he was trampling them with his horse.
- What goes around the battalion! - shouted at him alone. Another pounded his horse with the butt, and Pierre, clinging to the bow and barely holding the shy horse, jumped forward a soldier, where it was more spacious.
  There was a bridge ahead of him, and other soldiers stood at the bridge, firing. Pierre drove up to them. Without knowing it, Pierre drove to the bridge over Kolocha, which was between Gorki and Borodin and which in the first battle action (occupying Borodino) was attacked by the French. Pierre saw that there was a bridge ahead of him and that on both sides of the bridge and in the meadow, in the rows of lying hay that he had noticed yesterday, soldiers were doing something in the smoke; but, despite the incessant shooting taking place in this place, he did not think that there was a battlefield here. He did not hear the sounds of bullets screeching from all sides, and the shells flying over him, did not see the enemy on the other side of the river, and for a long time did not see the dead and wounded, although many fell near him. With a smile that never left his face, he looked around him.

The expression “Hamburg account”, or “according to the Hamburg account”, is considered by linguists to be classified as phraseological units whose meaning is not equal to the sum of the meanings of words. In other words, knowledge of what is “Hamburg” and what is “score” will not shed light on the meaning of this phrase.

Context-Based Intuitive Expression

Nevertheless, the expression “Hamburg score”, or “according to the Hamburg score”, is usually intuitively clear from the context and is often equated with the phraseological phrase “by and large”. In general, this is true, but only an intuitive understanding of phraseologism usually does not allow you to freely use it in your own speech, since the boundaries of the meaning are not quite clear, and secondly, there is always a doubt about whether it is understood correctly and what it has attitude to the city of Hamburg.

To understand the nuances of meaning and the specifics of the use of this expression will help knowledge of what is the "Hamburg account", as well as what is the history of the origin of phraseology.

Victor Shklovsky about the etymology of the expression "Hamburg account"

The origin of phraseology is closely connected with the name of the famous literary critic and critic Viktor Shklovsky. It is his book called The Hamburg Account. The meaning of phraseology becomes clear after meeting with a parable told by Shklovsky and explaining the title of the book.

The parable says that professional sports wrestlers never fight honestly, their task is to make an order. They must lose (lie on the shoulder blades) when the entrepreneur tells them. This scam is for making money. However, every year in one of the Hamburg taverns, wrestlers gather for a fair fight. Their struggle takes place without spectators, from whom the struggle itself is hidden, and how long it is actually long, unaesthetic and difficult for the wrestlers. At this spectacular event, it turns out which of the fighters is stronger and which is weaker.

This is done in order to find out the true price for each wrestler, regardless of what place he occupies in the open arena.

The Hamburg Account in the literature

It is this struggle, hidden from all, in which official titles and titles are not important, that Shklovsky calls the “Hamburg account”. it is important in relation to literature, and more precisely - to what place this or that writer occupies in the literary arena. What does phraseologism “Hamburg account” mean for Viktor Shklovsky, it becomes clear from the use of the expression “according to the Hamburg account” in the text of his short article. “According to the gam-burg-sch count, there are no Se-rafi-movi-cha and Be-resa-eva. They don’t go to town, ”the author writes and continues his allegory, saying that in Hamburg, that is, in hidden competitions, where the true strength of the wrestler is found out, Bulgakov would have been at the carpet, Isaac Babel would act as a lightweight fighter, the strength of Maxim Gorky would be doubtful, since this “athlete” is not always in shape, but Velimir Khlebnikov would be a champion.

One of the areas of use of the expression "Hamburg account" is economic. The etymology and meaning of phraseology is such that it can be used in the sense that it is built on honest, open principles, when all parties to the contract are equal both formally and in essence.

Hamburg Account in Literary Criticism

As can be seen from the retelling of a short article by Shklovsky, in literature, as in sports, the Hamburg account is important. The value of phraseological units in the context of literary criticism lies in the fact that in literature, as in struggle, any figure can be evaluated by two systems. For the former, the official “alignment” of forces is important, and for the latter, real. In the first case, formal indicators of the success of the author and the work are important in the literature, and in the second, his true scale of talent.

Of course, in literature to find out which of the writers “does not reach the city” and who is the champion is much more difficult than in sports. Ultimately, only a time can evaluate a writer and a work according to the Hamburg account, however, it means that when evaluating a literary phenomenon it is important not to follow the momentary criteria, but to look at it as if it existed outside of time.

Hamburg Account in various fields of culture and art

Since the time of Shklovsky (and his book was written in 1928), the expression "Hamburg account" has become familiar in many areas of culture. The meaning of phraseology expanded. More often than not, a Hamburg score means an assessment of a cultural phenomenon or cultural figure, regardless of any opinions, official recognition, awards, prizes awarded, popularity or fame.

So, by coincidence, a scientist may not have a high scientific rank - not be either an academician or even a professor, but just an assistant professor, not hold senior positions, not participate in official events, but "according to the Hamburg account", that is, in reality , to be an interesting scientist, whose thoughts, works and achievements are really important for science.

This approach to evaluation is possible not only in relation to a person, but also, for example, to a book. One book can be published by the largest publishing house with a circulation of ten thousand copies, it is widely known to readers, has a lot of fans, a series can be shot on it, but according to the Hamburg account this is just a commercial project or a temporary, momentary phenomenon. Another book can be published in a small provincial publishing house with a circulation of five hundred copies and is known only to a small circle of readers to receive negative feedback from critics, but according to the Hamburg account this may turn out to be a really talented work.

The allegorical meaning of the expression "Hamburg account"

However, this is far from all possible meanings of the expression “Hamburg score”. The value of phraseological units in the modern language is even broader. It is used when they want to say about the real, honest price of something, about the true state of things. One can judge and evaluate according to the Hamburg account not only phenomena and cultural figures, but also one’s actions, family relationships, relationships between people, events in the country, etc. - in short, everything that can have a formal, official side and real, true.

Examples of the use of the expression "hamburg account"

The specificity of phraseology is such that even with a clear understanding of its meaning, its use can cause problems, since samples of grammatical “inscription” of an expression into a phrase are necessary. There are really not many grammatical and syntactic options:

• Pelevin is a strong satirist and a very successful commercial project, a successful writer, but if, according to the Hamburg account, it is a void, like all the phenomena of postmodernism.
• He very eagerly speaks on a variety of topics, but becomes silent under Ivan Ivanovich: he understands that according to the Hamburg account all his knowledge is superficial.
• I trust this vet. He will never say too much and will not advise if he does not understand the situation. He works according to the Hamburg account, his goal is not to pretend that he understands everything, but to save the animal and not harm him.
• Of course, they won this match. But, according to the Hamburg account, they played poorly. They just got lucky. It was their day.

Relevant and Inappropriate Contexts

Phraseologism - such that in the case of transparency of its meaning is used freely and rapidly its use. The same thing happens with the expression “Hamburg score”: the origin and meaning of the words are transparent. This means that you can safely experiment. However, in this case, you should beware of using the expression even when it is well understood what a Hamburg account is.

The fact is that this expression itself is intended for conversation "according to the Hamburg account" and resists ordinary, everyday, insignificant topics and contexts. It will be inappropriate when talking about whether the birthday went well, whether the cake was successful or at what level the service in the cafe. In these situations, the expression "Hamburg account" is not redundant only if everyday events for some reason are important in one's destiny or significant for the life of a city or country.