Cockroaches in the head - about oddities with a smile

Most of our compatriots have a forced neighborhood with cockroaches for many decades. In the kitchens of communal apartments, they were permanent residents, no one could get rid of them. And on the territory of its own, a separate living space completely sprawl small illegal tenants is difficult. Such close relations led to the fact that small brown insects "settled" in a number of common popular expressions. The most ridiculous and expressive of them: "cockroaches in my head."

What does this mean?

This phraseology is so often used that it is not everyone who can fully characterize it. All perfectly understand the meaning, use it almost every day and other words to express its meaning, simply do not know.

Still try to understand. "Cockroaches in the head" - this is primarily a characteristic of the original personality, with extraordinary behavior. So they say about the man-eccentric, with his zamorochki, very strange from the point of view of the common man in the street. The phrase itself is very ironic and allows you to note someone's unusual behavior without offending him, since in the aftermath the conversation can always be translated into a joke.

Why do they say that?

There are three basic assumptions that explain the origin of the phrase "cockroaches in the head."

According to the first version, the phrase gave rise to observations of human behavior, in the ear of which a cockroach (or other insect) was stuck. As a rule, in such a situation people behave very funny and, frankly, non-standard: they twist their finger in the auricle, shake their heads, stamp and jump. At the same time, the stuck cockroach completely absorbs all their attention.

The second assumption is based on the ability of cockroaches in a matter of hours to disable any, even the most reliable, device. Everyone knows that it is worthwhile only these little scoundrels to settle inside the hull of home appliances, it will be almost impossible to repair it.

And the legend at number three gave rise to memories of a case from the life of the great Russian poet AS Pushkin. It is said that one day he was told a funny story: supposedly cockroaches are able to get into the head of a person during his sleep, settle there and start eating his brain. To which Alexander Sergeevich said: "How interesting, now about the fools I will say that they are offended by cockroaches."

Foreign cockroaches

Phraseological units about oddities, unique and unusual behavior of people are present in many languages. All of them are rightfully considered analogues of our expression "cockroaches in my head", although they do not mention the insects themselves.

Of course, it is quite difficult to list all the world analogues. Let's turn to the most common European languages:

• The Spaniards say cada loco con su tema, which in literal translation means "everyone has his own theme";

• The inhabitants of Germany will say einen Vogel im Kopf haben, which means "to have a bird in your head";

• The English have the expression a bee in one's bonnet (a bee in a hat), perhaps this phrase is closest to our "cockroaches in my head".

To study similar expressions in different languages is very useful and interesting. With their help you can learn more about the mentality of the nation, and its use in conversation with the native speaker will show a high level of erudition.

Humor and insects

It's hard to argue with the fact that the phrase about cockroaches is capacious, interesting and very funny. And irony has always been inherent in our countrymen. Therefore, Russian folk art could not be limited to just one sentence of "cockroaches in my head." Statuses in social networks are full of various phrases about insects. Sometimes they distort or enlarge the original meaning of the expression a little. But this makes it even funnier.

Here are just a few of them:

• There are solutions from which cockroaches in my head applaud standing up;

• It's bad when cockroaches have settled in my head, but it's even worse if they are stupid;

• I'll tell myself, it's strange how my cockroaches have not eaten each other up to now;

• Cockroaches in my head, butterflies in my stomach - yes, I'm just some sort of terrarium;

• In my head there are no cockroaches, they were eaten by larger and more dangerous creatures;

• Well, when you and your loved one have cockroaches in the head of one species.

And finally, the shortest and funniest anecdote about cockroaches in my head.

X: I think there is a mysterious spark in her eyes!

XX: Yes, no, it's rather in her head cockroaches celebrate the holiday, and you see the salute ...