historical origins of drinking gesture

[Emily Johnson]

Margarita, there is a whole story  connected to that in Bashutsky's  
1834 Panorama Sankt-Peterburga.  Supposedly the angel on the Peter  
and Paul Cathedral broke, and, just as they were taking estimates to  
build scaffolding so that they could access the top of the spire and  
fix it, a common laborer announced that he could do it with minimal  
equipment.  There are elaborate illustrations showing how he climbed  
up the spire on a rope harness and rope ladder (blood spurting from  
under his nails at the effort).  When he got done, the tsar rewarded  
him by giving him a new set of clothes and a certificate that  
entitled him to free beverages in the taverns of the capital.   
Predictably, the certificate was promptly lost/stolen.  At which  
point, the fellow went to beg the tsar for a replacement.  The tsar  
reportedly had the sign authorizing the free beverages tattooed on  
the man's neck--hence, supposedly, the origin of the gesture.  I  
think there is something about this in Pyliaev as well.

I hope this helps.  Emily


Dr. Emily Johnson
Associate Professor
Dept. of Modern Languages, Literatures & Linguistics
University of Oklahoma
780 Van Vleet Oval, Room 206
Norman, OK 73019
phone: (405) 325-1486
fax: (405) 325-0103
emilydjohnson at ou.edu




On Oct 10, 2008, at 8:16 AM, Margarita Nafpaktitis wrote:

> Dear colleagues,
> I'm teaching a film class this semester, and the subject of Russian  
> drinking
> culture has come up more than once in discussion, vis-a-vis several  
> of the
> films we've been watching, now that we've moved into the  
> 1960s-70s.  I think
> I know what flicking the throat just underneath the jawline means,  
> but I
> don't know its origins, and that was the most recent question from  
> one of my
> students.  Several other students in the class said that it had  
> something to
> do with a tax on vodka and a tattoo that one of the tsar's  
> favorites had on
> his neck exempting him from the tax...but I'd love a source and more
> specific details for that.  Googling didn't really help me on this  
> one, so I
> appeal to your collective wisdom.
>
> Thank you in advance,
> Margarita
>
> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
> Margarita Nafpaktitis
> Assistant Professor of Slavic Languages & Literatures
> University of Virginia
> 109 New Cabell Hall / PO Box 400783
> Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4783
> Tel: (434) 924-3548   FAX: (434) 982-2744
> http://www.people.virginia.edu/~mn2t/home.html
>
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