Professor of sauerkraut soup

Let's see, what is the connection between an academic degree and ordinary soup? It sounds like a culinary compliment, but in reality it's a mockery of pseudo-experts.

In the old days, "sour cabbage soup" was the name given not only to soup, but also to a special, cheap and highly carbonated drink like kvass. Brewing such a drink was a thorough matter, requiring no skill or talent. Therefore, to call someone a "professor" or "master" at making sauerkraut soup was the highest degree of irony: it is like praising a person for his ability to boil water.

Later the meaning expanded: this is what they started to call any hobbyist who talks in an important atmosphere about things he doesn't understand at all.

Today we hardly drink the same "sour cabbage soup", but we often meet "professors" - when someone tries to look smarter than he really is, giving advice on trivial matters.

Phraseological units

🌿 Russian proverbs