What does it mean to be "engaged" or "engaged": a stamp in a passport, a social status or just a convention?

Often in social networks you can see the status of "engaged" or "engaged" in the questionnaire of a particular user. You can hear about such a family situation in real life. However, not everyone knows what it means to be "engaged", trying to explain this by a lot of incorrect guesses. By the way, often on the Internet and in real life this concept differs in meaning and perception, which misleads users of the World Wide Web. And some even believe that the status of "engaged" simply means that the lady is not free, that she has a boyfriend. And yet what does it mean to be "engaged" or "engaged" in social networks and in real life?

What is an engagement

Generally, the engagement is the day when the lovers are determined to marry, but in Russia the engagement is the day the application is submitted to the registry office, after which the young are given a month to meditate and prepare for the wedding. From the day of the engagement, the couple can already be called a bride and groom. The groom usually gives the bride to the engagement a gold ornament (most often a ring) as a sign of the seriousness of his intentions. At the engagement, it is customary to inform about their decision to relatives and friends (to spread rumors, as they say), and after the application has been submitted to the registrar, a festive reception should be arranged. Usually the reception for such an event is modest and not very solemn, which can not be said about the same traditions in the West, and about the traditions of our ancestors.

A bit of history

In Russia it was customary to arrange an engagement before the wedding, and it was necessary to do this. The entire process of marriage included matchmaking, then an engagement and only then betrothal. So, after the father of the future bride has agreed to a request for the daughter's hand, young people have the right to think about marriage.

Having decided to marry, they must first inform parents about this and arrange a meeting with them in order to discuss in close family circles all the nuances of the upcoming wedding, as well as the future family life (the place and time of the celebration, the number of guests, where and how the newlyweds will live etc.). The groom's parents were invited to the bride's house under any pretext other than the true one, and received them there with honors and obeisances. The bridegroom had to come to visit not with empty hands, but to give the bride a kerchief, a ring or other golden ornament. The bride herself was absent at the same time, but at the end of the evening she went out, accepted gifts and gave herself something of value to her future wife. Such an interesting custom was called collusion. From the date of the deal until the wedding, the groom's bride should not have been seen. By the way, in our time, often everything goes according to the same scenario. After the collusion, the couple submits an application to the registrar. And then you can "make a fuss" about the upcoming wedding among friends and note the very engagement. That's what it means to be "engaged" or "betrothed" in fact.

Engaged on the Internet

Recently in social networks it has become fashionable to indicate in its application form the status of "engaged" or "engaged." What this position means is understandable, but often those are the pairs that have been in a relationship for quite some time, and this does not necessarily mean that they are in the premarital period. Therefore, on the Internet, you should not particularly trust the questionnaires and the data specified in them, but you just need to ask the couple directly about their marital status.

Conclusion

Now, knowing what it means to be "engaged" and "engaged", it is worthwhile to think: do not throw empty words to the wind, telling everyone around the non-existent marital status, it's better to just go to the action to back up your words!