The proverb “is close to the elbow, but you can’t bite” even children know, but it can be used in various life circumstances.
The proverb “is close to the elbow, but you can’t bite” you can try to reproduce literally. When trying to bite the elbow, it is found that this action is impossible to perform. In the best case, it will turn out to get the elbow with a tongue. Therefore, using this proverb, they characterize something close, but unattainable.
The proverb was included in his book “The Proverbs of the Russian People” by military Russian doctor Vladimir Ivanovich Dal 1953. During his travels around the country, he gathered a richest collection of Russian folk proverbs and sayings. Then the writer, interpreter of Russian phraseology Mikhelson M.I. in 1904.
There are several options for interpreting the meaning of the proverb:
The illusion of intimacy
It may seem to a person that the goal is close and minimal efforts are needed to achieve it. But when trying to get what you want, it turns out that many nuances were not taken into account that cannot be overcome. The goal becomes completely unattainable, you have to refuse its implementation. A person needs to learn how to recognize similar situations.
Inability to change the committed
The situation when the outcome of any action has become undesirable can be characterized by this proverb. If a person regrets the perfect one, wants to change his actions, he even knows how, but he cannot, due to various reasons: missed opportunities, time, etc., then he can express his regret with these words.
Such an interpretation was born in antiquity, when people wanted to express their state of dissatisfaction with the result and annoyance from the inability to correct the act. Anything can touch on: from minor mistakes to large mistakes and an incorrectly chosen life path, when over time, it seems that everything can be changed, but insurmountable circumstances arise in the way.
The stupidity of the act
Stupid actions, actions, which you subsequently regret, do everything. In this case, regret can occur both immediately after action, and after some time. The commonality of the situation lies in the fact that a person could predict the negative consequences of his absurd, meaningless actions, but did nothing to prevent. And it is impossible to fix.
The proverb is greatly widespread. It is used by East Slavic, Polish peoples. In their work, famous writers used the proverb: Chekhov A.P., Saltykov-Shchedrin M.E., Turgenev I.S., Shukshin V.M.
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