What is the origin of the phrase "wash your hands"? What does the phrase "I wash my hands" mean? The expression wash my hands what does it mean.

When a person says: “I wash my hands,” the meaning of a phraseological unit suggests that he is resigning some authority. It may be that he admits his inability to correct the situation. We will understand the intricacies of the meaning of the expression and consider its history.

Pontius Pilate and Christ (origin)

Like many other phraseological units, the one we are considering comes from the Bible. In the Gospel of Matthew there are these words: "Pilate, seeing that nothing helps, but confusion increases, he took water and washed his hands before the people." Then the procurator said: "I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man." This gesture serves as a symbol of the fact that in this situation nothing more can be done and the person relieves himself of all responsibility for the consequences.

In Bortko's film The Master and Margarita and Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ, there is an episode with Pontius Pilate. Directors love him, apparently, for the drama.

This is the history of the expression "wash your hands." The origin is no longer a mystery to the reader.

When do people prefer to wash their hands?

The origin is clear, but the meanings are still a mystery. A person washes his hands and thereby relieves himself of responsibility, runs away from it? Not really. To illustrate, let's look at an example.

An unlucky motorist comes to the mechanic with the age-old complaint: “Knocking”. He replies, "We'll see." And so it goes on several times. After the next visit, the mechanic honestly says: “You know, I wash my hands. The meaning of phraseology comes to my mind as soon as I see your car. And I also remember all the passions of Christ at once. You are the tenth time you come to me. I don't know what to think anymore."

The image of a mechanic exhausted by an unfortunate motorist tells us: the craftsman does not run away from responsibility at all, but on the contrary, he does everything that is possible. But human strength and knowledge in any field is limited. And when the specialist was exhausted, he honestly told the client: "I wash my hands." The meaning of phraseologism was considered a little earlier.

Is it good to refuse further struggle? Moral phraseologism

There may be different answers here, it all depends on the situation. We offer an example of when it is appropriate to wash your hands.

A person has been fighting a serious illness for more than a year. All this time, one attending physician accompanies him, and then the moment comes when the physician tells his relatives that there is no more hope. If they have other clinics in mind, then they better go there. He doesn't know what else to do.

The family, of course, is in grief. It seems that the doctor acted cruelly with them, taking away hope. Or maybe vice versa? He, figuratively speaking, told them: “I wash my hands” (the meaning of the phraseological unit is known to many) - and did not pull money out of them and take people's time. They can dispose of the hours, months, years of the patient's life as they wish. Maybe he will be assigned to a more expensive clinic, or maybe they will travel with the whole family and spend the time allotted to a loved one with benefit.

There are times when you can't wash your hands.

The schoolboy brought home for the first time "deuce" in mathematics. And the parents (of course, this cannot be, but still) surrendered without a fight and said: "We wash our hands, live as you want." Cruel? Oh yeah. It is gratifying that this cannot happen in reality. An assessment, even a "deuce", is not so scary, so people do not back down and turn (with due diligence and diligence of the student) an ugly "two" into a wonderful "five".

Tonality of expression

In rare cases, stable, popular expressions can be used during more or less serious meetings. Please note that the doctor in the example with a seriously ill patient did not directly tell his relatives: “So, I wash my hands” (the meaning of the phraseological unit, as well as its morality and shades of meaning, have already been considered by us). Why didn't he do it? Because if such a phrase had sounded at a tragic moment from the lips of a health worker, it would have exposed the callousness of the doctor.

The expression “I wash my hands” is suitable for use in a circle of people who are well acquainted with each other (in the family). The father put a lot of effort into ensuring that the child studied at the university, but the child does not want to receive a higher education. And then the parent says to the son: “Do you want to? No need! I wash hands".

Wash your hands

Wash your hands
From the Bible. According to the Gospels, these words were spoken by the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, who tried to save Jesus from execution, not seeing any particular guilt behind him. But since the crowd demanded his death and might otherwise rebel, he was forced to leave the decision on the fate of Jesus at the mercy of his enemies. The Gospel of Matthew (ch. 27, v. 24) tells about it this way: “Pilate, seeing that nothing helps, but confusion increases, took water and washed his hands before the people, and said: I am innocent of the blood of this Just One; you look."
At that time, washing hands was a ritual that meant a person’s non-participation in any unseemly deed or his refusal to participate in it. So, in the case of finding a dead body, it was prescribed to perform the ritual of washing hands over the victim and thereby show that among those present there is no culprit of this death.
Allegorically: to get rid of responsibility for something.

Encyclopedic Dictionary of winged words and expressions. - M.: "Lokid-Press". Vadim Serov. 2003 .

Wash your hands

The expression is used in the meaning: to be removed from responsibility for something; arose from the gospel legend. Pilate washed his hands before the crowd, handing over Jesus to them for execution, and said: "I am not guilty of the blood of this righteous man" (Mat. 27:24). The ritual washing of hands, which served as evidence of the non-participation of the person washing to something, is described in the Bible (Deuteronomy, 21, 6-7).

Dictionary of winged words. Plutex. 2004

See what "Wash your hands" is in other dictionaries:

- “Pilate washes his hands” (Duccio. “Maesta”, detail) Washing hands is a type of ritual washing in various religions, as well as an expression meaning “to avoid responsibility, to declare your non-participation in the case” ... Wikipedia

Wash your hands- WASH HANDS. WASH HANDS. Razg. Express. Refuse to participate in any responsible business. Here are the people! everyone is like this: they know in advance all the bad sides of an act, they help, advise, even approve it, seeing the impossibility of another means, and then ... Phraseological dictionary of the Russian literary language

Cm … Synonym dictionary

wash your hands- to step aside from something, to take responsibility for something. In some ancient peoples, judges and accusers, as a sign of their impartiality, performed a symbolic ceremony: they washed their hands. The expression became widespread due to ... Phraseology Handbook

Wash your hands- wing. sl. The expression is used in the meaning: to be eliminated from responsibility for something; arose from the gospel legend. Pilate washed his hands in front of the crowd, handing over Jesus to them for execution, and said: “I am not guilty of the blood of this righteous man” (Mat. 27:24) ... Universal additional practical explanatory dictionary by I. Mostitsky

WASH, wash someone, wash your face, or hands, body with water, for cleanliness, washing off dirt; than, wash, rub, rinse with a watery drug. Nanny, wash the child! Without washing their hands, they do not sit down at the table. She washes her face with something, from freckles. If someone washed ... ... Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary

DRY, wash, wash; smart; owls, whom what. Wash (face, neck, hands). The child has. U. hands (also trans.: stepping back, relieve oneself of responsibility for what n .; book. [according to the gospel legend of Pilate, before the execution of Jesus Christ, who washed ... ... Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov

Nesov. transition 1. Wash someone's face, neck, hands. 2. trans. Refresh, washing (about rain, dew, etc.). Explanatory Dictionary of Ephraim. T. F. Efremova. 2000... Modern explanatory dictionary of the Russian language Efremova

wash- see wash; a / u, a / eat; nsv. Wash / be an old man. Wash/wash your face, hands. Rain washes the roofs of houses... Dictionary of many expressions

1. Unfold Detach yourself from smth., take responsibility for smth. FSRYA, 401; BTS, 1388. 2. Jarg. they say To hide, to disappear imperceptibly, to leave, to run away from somewhere. Maximov, 369. /i> From the ancient rite: judges and accusers as a sign of their ... ... Big dictionary of Russian sayings

and Christ (origin)

In Bortko's film The Master and Margarita and Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ, there is an episode with Pontius Pilate. Directors love him, apparently, for the drama.

This is the history of the expression "wash your hands." The origin is no longer a mystery to the reader.

When do people prefer to wash their hands?

Is it good to refuse further struggle? Moral phraseologism

There may be different answers here, it all depends on the situation. We offer an example of when it is appropriate to wash your hands.

There are times when you can't wash your hands.

Tonality of expression

But what does the disclaimer have to do with handwashing? The Bible, in the book of Deuteronomy, speaks of the ritual washing of hands. If at that time a dead person was found, and the killer was not known, then the elders of the nearest city had to sacrifice a cow that did not wear a yoke, and wash their hands above her head, while saying the words: “Our hands did not shed this blood, and our eyes have not seen; Cleanse your people, Israel, which you, Lord, freed, and do not impute to your people, Israel, innocent blood.

However, the expression “wash your hands” became widely known due to an event described no longer in the Old, in the New Testament. When the Jewish high priests and elders wanted to execute Jesus Christ, they had to bring Him to the Roman governor. Judea was then under the rule of Rome, and only the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate could pass the death sentence.

Pilate interrogated Jesus and listened to the accusations that were brought against him. He understood that Jesus was not guilty of anything, and they wanted to execute Him out of envy. In addition, Pilate's wife asked not to harm Jesus.

At that time there was a custom - on the Easter holiday to release one prisoner. Pontius Pilate, not wanting to execute Jesus, offered to release Him. But the elders stirred up the people and demanded that the well-known robber and murderer Barabbas be released, and that Jesus be crucified on the cross. "What evil has He done"? asked Pontius Pilate. But the crowd, incited by the elders, shouted and demanded to crucify Christ. Pilate saw that all his arguments had no force. Then he publicly decided to relieve himself of responsibility for the condemnation of Christ. He washed his hands before the people and said: “I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man; you look." To which the Jewish people answered him: "His blood is on us and on our children." After that, according to the demand of the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas, and ordered Jesus to be crucified on the cross.