| for all one/it is worth | во всю ивановскую (There are two common explanations of the origin of this idiom, one connecting it with Ivanovskaya Square, the place in the Kremlin where the tsar's decrees were announced for all to hear, and the other connecting it with the Ivan the Great Bell Tower, also located within the Kremlin. The latter explanation traces the idiom to an expression used by bell ringers, "Звонить во всю колокольную фамилию", ("to ring all the bells in the bell tower"). The full complement of bells in the Ivan the Great Bell Tower was called "ивановская". VLZ_58) |
