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 is 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.