To such natural phenomenon like the wind, people have always been wary. The deities and spirits, symbolizing this element, in legends and tales appear as eccentric, selfish and unpredictable persons. Their actions rarely bring a positive result, they often break the word and do not know what they want.

This is how the people of all continents reflected the fact that it is very difficult to cope with the winds and predict their direction. Sailors tried to do this, and among them the attitude towards the winds was respectful and cautious. Representatives of other professions mostly faced problems from the elements, which have always been more than enough:

• the wind blew away the fertile layer of soil, as if mocking the farmer.
• often hurricanes drove primitive tribes into shelters for several days, preventing them from replenishing their food and water supplies.
• the wind blew out the fire, which the people were laying out, and fanned Forest fires dangerous to all living things.
• a loudly spoken phrase or shout was carried by the wind over a long distance, thereby notifying the entire district of the location of the person.

The latter brought a lot of harm to the hunters. With a strong wind directed towards the prey, it was difficult for them to coordinate their actions and sneak up unnoticed. The elements betrayed them with a head and not at all because they cared about the animal population.

But people have always been serious about words. Probably, it also comes from the environment of primitive hunters. Symbolizing various actions, phenomena and objects with combinations of sounds, it was easier to coordinate the actions of a large group of people directly at the moment of a collective hunt.

In ancient people, all words had a clear meaning and a utilitarian meaning. Said idle, they could alarm the tribe. Since then, such a requirement for speech has appeared as the utmost honesty of all the information provided.

The words were given a magical meaning. Those that signify the most important concepts forbidden to pronounce for fun. Shamans, using ordinary speech, communicated both with their clientele and with spirits and deities. Over time, these superstitions acquired a new sound. So among the soldiers there was a belief that the word "death" should be replaced by a synonym from the specific army jargon. This made it possible not to call this misfortune to the military unit.

The meaning of phraseology

The expression "to throw words to the wind" means to make promises that will not be kept in the future. The person who does this knows from the outset that his statements are not supported by anything, and he will not take any action to bring what he said to life.

Expressions can become analogues of this phraseological unit:

• make empty promises/promises;
• do not keep the word;
• speak in vain.

This phraseological unit characterizes the style of human behavior. It reveals a striking difference between the actions and words of a person. The term that can characterize someone who throws words to the wind is irresponsible behavior. This characteristic has an unambiguous negative connotation.

Often this expression can be pronounced as an insult to a talker. Such a story can happen only in the men's team, where the unwritten rule works: "a man said - a man did." This phenomenon is based on the law of nature - with empty promises, the earner and protector can put fellow tribesmen in front of the threat of death.

Examples of phraseological sentences:

• Trying to get attention, he just threw words to the wind.
• "You're throwing words into the wind..." Kuzma said gloomily, without letting go of the cigarette from his mouth.
• in rhyme:

He always aimed at parliament

And threw the words to the wind.

In addition to the phraseologism under discussion, its antonym is insanely popular - "does not throw words into the wind." So they say about a person who keeps his word and certainly fulfills the promise. This can be both admiration for his character and behavior, and emphasizing his power, the ability to realize any promise or threat.

Razg. Unapproved Do not fulfill these promises and obligations. BMS 1998, 531; 3S 1996, 341; BTS, 98, 122.

• - who Speak in vain, thoughtlessly or irresponsibly. It means that the person makes frivolous, unreasonable promises without thinking about the consequences. Speaks with disapproval. speech standard...

  Phrasebook Russian language

• - Throw money, wealth into the wind. THROW TO THE WIND money, wealth. Razg. Express. Spend recklessly, in vain. - I never gamble, - remarked Sanin - Really? Yes, you are perfect...
• - Razg. Only carry. More often present. temp. or led. incl. with negative Talking uselessly or thoughtlessly; recklessly promise and not fulfill the promise. From noun. with meaning faces: comrade, brother ... does not throw words into the wind ...

  Educational Phraseological Dictionary

• - From the poem "Good for dreams, good for passion ..." by the poet, publicist-Slavophile Ivan Sergeevich Aksakov. Jokingly-ironically: about someone's verbosity; words not backed by deeds...
• - From the poem "Good for dreams, good for passion ..." by the poet, publicist-Slavophile Ivan Sergeevich Aksakov. Jokingly-ironically about someone's verbosity...

  Dictionary of winged words and expressions

• - Razg. Unapproved Spending uselessly, squandering money. BMS 1998, 155; BTS, 122, 166, 251, 1493; ZS 1996, 104...
• - Razg. Unapproved Do not fulfill these promises and obligations. BMS 1998, 531; 3S 1996, 341; BTS, 98, 122...

  Big Dictionary Russian sayings

• - A sequence of morphemes corresponding to the law of word formation of a particular language ...

  Dictionary of linguistic terms T.V. Foal

• Dictionary Ozhegov

• - WIND, wind, about the wind, in the wind, pl. -s, -ov and -a, -ov, m. Movement, air flow in a horizontal direction. Wind speed. Strong, lightweight. Traveling in. Stand in the wind...

  Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov

• - THROW TO THE WIND words. THROW TO THE WIND words. Razg. Express. To speak in vain, to no avail. My tongue is mute; on it, the idle sound does not burn. And he will not throw a vain word into the wind ...

  Phraseological dictionary of Russian literary language

• - Razg. Unapproved 1. what. Waste, spend in vain, recklessly. FSRYA, 94; ShZF 2001, 25. 2. . To speak in vain, irresponsibly, without thinking. BMS 1998, 78; FSRYA, 49; SOG 1989, 93...

  Big dictionary of Russian sayings

• - adj., number of synonyms: 35 chattering, chattering beans, bred, chatting, chatting into the wind, chatting bolts, chatting, throwing words, leading balusters ...

  Synonym dictionary

• - Cm....

  Synonym dictionary

• - throw away, throw money down the drain, transfer, throw away, wind, kill, throw to the wind, squander, harass, spend, waste, squander, throw money down the drain, squander to the skin, let it go...

  Synonym dictionary

"Throwing words to the wind" in books

3. Wind of change and wind back