The most common answer to the question: “Who is Yoshkin the cat” is the cat of that same Baba Yaga. And not the one who was both the Damp Earth and the companion of Death in Slavic mythology, namely the fabulous Grandma Yoshka. Just remember the fairy tale “Morozko”, because there too there is a “cat, a warm tummy”, a companion and an insidious furry assistant to a lonely witch.
And in many other fairy tales, Yaga always has a black cat who sits in a mortar, or better yet, on the witch’s shoulder. It is not uncommon for this pet to also be a shapeshifter who can turn into a thing or another small character who will carry out the owner’s instructions in the best possible way.
Character
If we recall Russian folklore, in particular folk tales and Baba Yaga, who appears in most of them, her cat appears before readers in the form of Kota-Bayun. This beast is black in color and huge in size, feeds on human remains, and is capable of hypnotizing a person with its magical voice.
Yaga the cat deserves a special treatment on a level with the universally remembered Devil or Dashing. But if we proceed from this option, then it is correct to call him Ezhkin. People are used to speaking differently.
Ethnographic version
In Serbo-Croatian the word "jeza" means "horror", and in Slovenian it means "anger". In Czech “ezinka” is an evil woman, in Polish she is “edza”. These words are related to the Russian “Yaga” and have a connection with the Proto-Slavic designation for snakes.
It cannot be ruled out that the “Ezhkin” cat is not directly connected with Baba Yaga, but with more ancient words. The sound “zh” is consonant with “z” and “dz”. It is believed that the expression came from some ancient conspiracy.
The cat is a sacred animal in many cultures; the Slavs also attributed mystical qualities to it. There could very well be a conspiracy with the phrase "evil/terrible cat" or "snake cat". But there are no serious studies on this topic at the moment.
CONSPIRACY
If you don’t go into etymology and don’t believe fairy tales, this phrase can mean an ancient Slavic conspiracy. It was pronounced in order to protect one’s home, family and everything that is dear to a person from evil spirits. This was at a time when people did not yet know the origin of most things, and gave mythical explanations for all events. Then they uttered similar slander in speeches in order to call upon the forces of light and good spirits. Since those times, many other rituals and symbols have come to us, which are popular to this day.
cat Baiyun
Exterior and color[edit]
Yoshkin cat (hereinafter Yo-cat
) is a typical representative of the cat order. The height at the withers of the most frequently encountered specimens ranges from about 20-30 cm, length - up to 50-80 cm. Moreover, from a quarter to a third of the length is the tail. The physique is proportional, characteristic of all representatives of the feline genus. The coat is thick, uniform, with a thick undercoat.
Active molting is observed twice a year. On the head there are vibrissae - modified hairs that, in addition to the tactile function, like in other felines, also play a special role inherent exclusively to Felis joscae
.
The coat color is varied, the most common individuals are gray spotted or striped, or mixed colors (motley). Less common are red, white ( leucocratic color)
) or black (
melanin color
). Albinos were not observed among representatives of this species.
Russian scientists, having studied the genotype of “felis joscae”, identified genes and haplogroups, and, by folding them into a spiral, made it possible to preserve them in a liquid solution. The brightest colors have been preserved. It turned out that anyone who drinks this liquid has every chance of meeting Yo-cat in person.
Where does Eshkin the cat live?
The city of Yoshkar-Ola became a unique habitat for Eshka the cat, in the center of which a monument was erected to him in 2011. He depicts an animal lounging on a bench, well-fed and happy with life. The sculpture is located in the park near Mari State University. Therefore, local students have developed a peculiar tradition of scratching the cat’s nose in order to write and pass all exams.
Yoshkin the cat in Yoshkar-Ola
In the same city, another composition was installed, a very cute and sophisticated Yoshka cat. She became a friend of the cat lying nearby, from which the mouse was running away. Their creation was facilitated by the consonance of a common phrase with the humorous city name “Yoshka”.
Yoshka's cat in the same city
cat Baiyun
INTERESTING: Yoshkin the cat is also called “Cat Bayun”, which is already closer to the Slavic Yaga, helps her not only in witchcraft, but also in transferring the souls of the dead from the world of the living to the world of the dead.
That is why meeting a black cat implies meeting the end of earthly life, hence the dislike and superstitions for black cats. Also, the black cat of the Damp Earth was a cannibal and a sorcerer in his own right; he enchanted wanderers, purred with his songs and ate them.
In the space of the countries of the USSR, the expression “Yoshkin cat!” became very popular as an expression of emotions of indignation and some kind of indignation after the release of the film “Love and Doves” on the wide screen. Although, of course, there was no historical significance or revelation of the secret of this cat itself in the film, the expression simply went among the people.
Nowadays, children are more likely to know about Yoshkin’s cat as a fairy-tale character, and among the population under 45 years old, few people use this turn of phrase. The cat is still popular and in demand among the 55+ generation, but you still can’t hear it that often. But the character himself is still reverently loved, and in 2011 in Yoshkar-Ola a monument was erected to him on the square in front of the shopping center, which the townspeople and guests of the city celebrate for happiness and good luck.
INTERESTING: analogues of Yoshka's cat are: Yadryona Louse, Yokhanykh Babai, Yadryona Matryona, Yapona Mother.
A little humor
This phrase often has a humorous connotation, although it comes from the name of Yaga’s dangerous and cunning accomplice. Ekarny babay, vigorous louse, vigorous matryona, and plaque-fly have similar properties. They all come out of Russian folklore, and are common only among the Russian people.
We can say that other countries are simply not suitable for them due to the wrong mentality of the local residents. But within the Federation, Eshkin the cat and other Slavic characters remain popular with people during moments of emotional outbursts, which happen very often.
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Folklore version
It can be assumed that the word “eshkin” indicates that it belongs to an owner named Eshka. According to one version, “Eshkin” is a distortion of “Ezhkin”, that is, the mysterious owner of the cat - Baba Yaga, familiar to everyone from childhood. After all, a classic witch must have a cat.
This version is contradicted by the fact that the word “eshkin” is spelled with the letter “sh” and has no other spelling options. But Grandma Ezhka is a character in oral folklore. If we assume that the hedgehog cat separated from the image of her, the hedgehog cat, and ceased to be associated with her quite a long time ago, then the substitution of the letter could have occurred simply because “f” and “sh” sound very similar. Even in the 19th century, the norms for the only correct spelling of words had not yet been adopted. In the correspondence of educated people of that time, you can see that the same word is often written differently by one author.
Other phraseological units
Bring to clean water
To catch someone in a lie, expose, make obvious someone's bad intentions.
How to give something to drink
Guarantee of an easy and mandatory solution to the issue.
Tip on your tongue
This is what they say when they are afraid that an unpleasant thought expressed by someone will become reality.
Trojan horse
A gift with a “double bottom”, which is given with the intention of causing harm.
All phraseological units
A book from the authors of this article!
Collection: “100 popular phraseological units of the Russian language”
More details
Place in ecosystems[edit]
As mentioned, all Yoshkin cats are extremely sensitive to the state of their own environment. Namely, to the characteristics of the surrounding biofields, which together constitute the biofield of the habitat.
But, depending on the subspecies, the way it is influenced is different.
If Yoshkin's cats have the vulgaris
it is rather passive in nature, i.e. Yo-cats of this subspecies react only to unfavorable changes in its changes, adjusting their biofields in such a way as to compensate for unfavorable changes, while Yo-cats of the urbanis subspecies
regulate
it actively. And the method of regulation they use is very reminiscent of sophisticated extortion or blackmail.
There is no person on Earth who does not know what could happen if a representative of this cat family suddenly crosses the road.
Crossing the trajectory of a person’s movement, Yoshkin the cat interacts his biofield with the human biofield, changing it accordingly. After such an impact, anything can happen to a person, and does happen. Otherwise, no one would have mentioned the name of this extraordinary predator so often, loudly and clearly. Sensing this fact, Yo-cats position themselves along the roads, showing their intention to certainly cross them right before a person’s feet.
A knowledgeable city dweller always has with him the object of the hunt of urban Yo-cats - a solid piece of fresh sausage, by throwing which, you can prevent the Yo-cat from trying to influence the human biofield.
Thus, Yo-cats regulate the biofield of the urban ecosystem to a state favorable to themselves.
Mythical-historical interpretation
If we don’t remember the folklore origin and don’t go into the etymology, then the usual phrase is, according to some versions, part of a conspiracy widespread among the ancient Slavs.
It was pronounced in order to protect everything dear to a person from evil spirits. At that time, the origin of many things was unknown to people, so events received mythical interpretations.
Ancestors read such slander to call upon the forces of light. Since then, many interesting rituals have remained, and some have not been forgotten even now.
The meaning of phraseology
The idiom “yoshkin cat” means “very bad”, “terrible”. She vividly and emotionally expresses the highest degree of surprise and annoyance.
The phrase can also be perceived as a curse word, but not a curse word, but a filler word that replaces more powerful abusive constructions.
No specific cat is implied. The combination of sounds that convey expression is important.
We can rightfully say that the phrase has undergone interjection, that is, the loss of its original meaning for the sake of the emotional component.
Emotions and humor
Often a well-known phrase takes on a humorous meaning, despite its origin from a very cunning and very dangerous assistant of a far from kind heroine of folklore.
The same overtones characterize the no less common “vigorous matryona” and “ekarny babai”. They also came from Russian folklore and became widespread in Russia.
Surely, the mentality of residents of other countries is not at all to the liking of the hero of the Russian expression, since outside the homeland the phrase with such a character did not take root.
But within the Russian Federation, Eshka’s cat is often remembered in moments of outburst of emotions.
