Many phraseological phrases are used in modern colloquial speech without regard to origin. But the original meaning of the expression can carry a completely different color. In any case, referring to the origins of the language will clarify the meaning.
The expression "cheese boron" is used to characterize a small quarrel, a squabble, the cause of which is quite insignificant on the part of an outside observer. The phrase can be used in an exemplary context: "What is the fuss about?" But where does the cheese and where does the boron. If by part of the phraseological unit "cheese" is understood a lactic acid product, and by "boron" a chemical element, the meaning of the expression is completely lost.
What kind of cheese and what kind of boron?
In this context, the word "cheese" is a short adjective from the word "raw" by analogy with "white - white", "bold - bold", "gray - gray". Bor is an old Russian word with which many other word formations are associated - take, bee keeper, hog, boletus, etc. The main meaning of the word "boron" according to the dictionary of V. Dahl: "Red or coniferous forest; drill pine or spruce forest on dry soil, on a hill”.
In the definition given by Vladimir Dal, attention should be paid to two key words - "coniferous" and "dry soil". Anyone who had a chance to visit a coniferous forest, especially a pine forest, could not help but notice the clean and dry air and dry soil covered with needles.
In the expression "fuss" there is a clear inconsistency with reality. Boron, like a coniferous forest, cannot initially be raw, that is, irony is embedded in the phraseological phrase. This can only mean one thing - in the assessment of the conflict, there is a critical vision of the situation.
What happened to raw boron?
The absurdity of the "fuss-bor" combination will be even more obvious if we consider the entire proverb in full. Often, stable expressions reach descendants in a truncated form, which sometimes distorts the meaning. In this case, knowledge of the full text strengthens the assessment of the situation to which the phraseological unit applies. In full, the proverb sounds like "the boron cheese flared up because of a pine tree" or "the boron cheese caught fire from a spark."
Of course, dry wood is prone to burning if the fire is not handled carefully. And the needles can catch fire from a spark, which threatens with rather serious disasters. But setting fire to a damp forest is much more difficult. Moreover, if you take a spark as a source of fire. And a single pine tree will not ignite a damp forest.
Hence the ironic sound of the whole expression, and the use of a truncated definition of "fuss" in the meaning of the minor significance of the conflict. Moreover, it is with a hyphen that it is customary to use this expression in modern written use.
