What happens if “Kondraty grabs you”?

Imagine the following: You see someone you know on the street and decide to approach them. They seem happy to see you, but turn pale and say: “Чуть Кондратий не хватил!” (“Chut Kondraty ne khvatil!” or “Kondraty almost grabbed me!”). That's the surprise effect: They're frightened, because they weren't expecting the encounter or were deep in thought and didn't see you approaching.

Historian Sergei Solovyov believed that the phrase "Kondraty grabs you" has a real-life prototype – a Cossack ataman named Kondraty Bulavin. In the 17th century, he led an uprising in the Don region. The reason was the disputed saltworks, over which the Don Army and the Izyum Regiment were in conflict.. The conflict dragged on for several years, until it was brought to the attention of the capital. First, in 1705, Peter the Great introduced a state monopoly on the sale of salt. Second, two years later, another imperial decree was issued – one ordering the search for fugitive peasants in Cossack territories. Bulavin utterly routed Prince Yuri Dolgorukov's detachment, which was searching for fugitives along the Don River and killed him. A report was sent to St. Petersburg: "Dolgorukov grabbed by Kondrashka Bulavin."

This expression began to be used to describe sudden death or paralysis and, over time, it became a metaphor, to emphasize the element of surprise. Instead of "I nearly died of fear" or "I was nearly paralyzed with fear", people began to say "Kondraty nearly grabbed me”.

For example, the hero of Anton Chekhov's short story ‘A Tragic Man Despite Himself’ complains about his family life and the need to constantly carry out his wife's orders and requests. "You walk along and gawk at 'Scandal in a Noble Family' or some 'Motya,' applaud at your wife's command, and pine away, pine away, pine away and, every minute, you expect Kondraty to grab you."