「Dress like a Christmas tree」: semantics, genesis and the cultural code of brightness Introduction: The phraseological unit as a cultural artifact The phraseological unit "dress like a Christmas tree" represents a rich linguocultural phenomenon functioning in modern Russian as an idiom with a strongly evaluative semantics. A scientific analysis of this phraseological unit requires a comprehensive approach at the intersection of linguistics, cultural studies, semiotics, and social psychology. This expression is not unique: its analogues exist in other languages (for example, the English "to be dressed like a Christmas tree"), indicating the universality of the cultural models of perception of festive aesthetics underlying it. Semantic nucleus and connotations Semantically, the phrase "dress like a Christmas tree" means excessive, striking, often tasteless brightness in clothing and accessories that violates the norms of situational or aesthetic codes. Key connotations: Excessiveness — overabundance of details, colors, decorations. Dissonance — mismatch with the context (for example, everyday setting). Eclecticism — the combination of incompatible elements. festive inappropriateness — the transfer of attributes of the carnival, festive space (tree) into a profane, everyday environment. Linguistically, this is a comparative phraseological unit with a shade of irony or disapproval. It is important to note that the evaluation is always subjective and depends on the speaker's cultural capital, social context, and changing fashion trends. What may be "dress like a Christmas tree" for one generation or social group may be an appropriate streetwear look for another. Genesis: from a sacred symbol to an object of irony The historical origin of the phrase is directly related to the transformation of the role of the New Year (Christmas) tree in Russian/Soviet culture. Pre-Soviet period (XIX — early XX centuries): The tree as an element of the aristocratic, and then bourgeois Ch ... Read more