According to this approach, an idiomatic noun phrase is entered under its noun. An idiomatic phrase containing two nouns is entered under the first noun, regardless of the cases the nouns are in. An adjective phrase is entered under its adjective (or the first adjective, if there is more than one), and a prepositional phrase is entered under the key word of the preposition’s nominal complement. When the only noun in an idiom is a proper name (personal or geographical), the idiom is listed under that proper noun; for example, КАК МАМАЙ ПРОШЁЛ ‘it’s as if an army had marched through (some place)’ is entered under МАМАЙ.
Idiomatic verb phrases containing a noun are generally entered under the noun (or the first noun if an idiom contains more than one). For example, ПОДНИМАТЬ/ПОДНЯТЬ ПЛАНКУ ‘raise the bar higher’ is listed under ПЛАНКУ; ВЫХОДИТЬ/ВЫЙТИ ЗА РАМКИ ПРИЛИЧИЯ ‘overstep the bounds of propriety’ is listed under РАМКИ. This approach has been taken for pragmatic reasons, in order to spare the user the difficulty of dealing with Russian verbal aspect. The noun in a verbal idiom is the least changeable part of the idiom; only in rare cases can it change its number and/or gender. One exception is ГОДИТЬСЯ В ОТЦЫ (B МАТЕРИ, В СЫНОВЬЯ и т.п.) ‘be old (young) enough to be s.o.‘s father (mother, son etc)’, which has changeable noun components and is entered under the verb. Verbal idioms not containing a noun are entered under the verb (or the first verb if there is more than one); for example, РВАТЬ И МЕТАТЬ ‘rant and rave’.
Within a group of idioms having the same key word, idioms are arranged alphabetically word by word rather than letter by letter. For example, the entries for idioms with the key word МЕСТА are arranged as follows:
ВЗЯТЬ. С МЕСТА
ЖИВОГО МЕСТА НЕТ.
МЕСТА НЕ СТОЛЬ ОТДАЛЁННЫЕ
НЕ НАХОДИТЬ. (СЕБЕ) МЕСТА
НЕ СОЙТИ МНЕ. С (ЭТОГО) МЕСТА
НЕ СХОДЯ С МЕСТА НЕТ МЕСТА НИ С МЕСТА [etc.]
For the purposes of alphabetization, the Russian letters E and Ё are treated as the same letter.
Each element in a hyphenated entry is treated as a separate word, as:
ЧТО ТАМ ЧТО-ТО НЕ ТАК ЧТО ТЫ! ЧТО-ЧТО, А.
Optional elements in parentheses are counted in determining alphabetical order in the dictionary proper, as:
(В) ПЕРВОЕ ВРЕМЯ (В) ПОСЛЕДНЕЕ ВРЕМЯ В СВОЁ ВРЕМЯ В ТО ВРЕМЯ КАК В ТО ЖЕ ВРЕМЯ
A slightly different approach has been taken in the Index, which is explained at the introduction to the Index.
Lexical, morphological, and orthographic variants in angle brackets are not counted in determining alphabetical order, as:
ПЕСЕНКА (ПЕСНЯ) СПЕТА ИЗ ПЕСНИ СЛОВА НЕ ВЫКИНЕШЬ
For verb phrases used in both aspects, only the imperfective, which is given first, is counted in determining alphabetical order.
To ensure that the user can easily find any entry, the corpus of the dictionary is followed by an alphabetical Russian index. Each Russian entry is listed in the Index for each of its content words, and each content word is listed in the same form in which it occurs in the idiom. Verbs—both imperfective and perfective forms—are listed in the infinitive. Sayings are listed under each of the first three content words plus all other particularly important words.
THE DICTIONARY ENTRY
Each dictionary entry has the following elements: a letter-number indicator, the head matter proper (rendered in boldface capital letters), grammatical information, a definition, and one or more English equivalents. The head matter proper includes variations and optional elements that constitute the idiom(s) being presented. Most entries include some or all of the following as welclass="underline" collocates; an indication of case government; style and usage labels; a usage note; a Russian pattern or patterns (for verb phrases and selected other idioms); illustrations (literary citations and/or invented examples); and an etymological note.
Head Matter
All entries are presented in their canonical variant(s), that is, in the form or forms common in Standard Russian. Regular word
stress is marked for all polysyllabic words in the head matter, in synonyms presented in the various senses, and in related noun phrases. When a word or phrase allows two possibilities for stress, both are indicated: НАДЕВАТЬ. ПЕТЛЮ НА СЕБЯ!; НА СЕРДЦЕ. Stress may be marked on monosyllabic words to denote phrasal stress in interjections (НУ И НУ! ‘how do you like that!’) or to indicate unusual emphatic stress patterns (Я ТЕБЕ! ‘I’ll teach you!’).
Idioms that are synonymous with only one of the senses of a polysemous idiom do not appear in the head matter, but, rather, are listed at the applicable sense after the word “Also.” For example, МЕДНАЯ ГЛОТКА ‘(s.o.) has a lot of lung power’ is synonymous with sense 2 of Г-148 ЛУЖЁНАЯ ГЛОТКА, and so is presented at the latter as: 2. Also: МЕДНАЯ ГЛОТКА.
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Noun and Adjective Phrases
Noun phrases used only in the singular or in both the singular and the plural are listed in the nominative singular: КОСОЙ ВЗГЛЯД ‘sidelong glance’. Noun phrases used only or commonly in the plural are listed in the pluraclass="underline" МЁРТВЫЕ ДУШИ ‘dead souls’; РАБОЧИЕ РУКИ ‘manpower’; АХИ И ОХИ ‘ohs and ahs’. Adjective phrases used only in the singular or in both the singular and the plural are listed in the nominative singular, masculine: ВЕРНЫЙ САМОМУ СЕБЕ ‘true to o.s.’
Verbal Idioms
Verbal idioms used in finite forms and in all or some of the nonfinite forms (the infinitive, participles, and verbal adverbs) are listed in the infinitive: ДУТЬ В ДУДКУ ‘play s.o.‘s tune’; РВАТЬ И МЕТАТЬ ‘rant and rave’. If an idiom is used in both the imperfective and the perfective aspects, the imperfective is entered first, followed by a slash and the perfective: РАЗМАЗЫВАТЬ/РАЗМАЗАТЬ ПО СТЕНКЕ кого ‘wipe the floor with s.o.’. If only one aspectual form is listed, it means that the other aspect is not used in the given idiom or that the verb does not have an aspectual partner. For example, БИТЬ БАКЛУШИ ‘twiddle one’s thumbs’ is listed only in the imperfective and НАВЯЗНУТЬ В ЗУБАХ ‘bore s.o. to death’ is listed only in the perfective, because neither of these verbs has an aspectual partner. Verbal idioms that are used only in finite forms are generally listed in the third-person singular present and perfective past forms (and have sentential definitions): БРОСАЕТ/БРОСИЛО В КРАСКУ. ‘s.o. flushes out of shame, embarrassment’. If no restrictions are stated, such idioms can be used in the future tense as well. Future-tense forms are presented in the head matter only for idioms that are used exclusively or predominantly in the future tense (usually the perfective future): НЕДОРОГО ВОЗЬМЁТ ‘one won’t (wouldn’t) think twice about doing sth.’ Idioms used only in one finite form are listed in that form: HE КАПЛЕТ ‘s.o. is not in any rush’; БОЮСЬ СКАЗАТЬ ‘I’m not sure’. Idioms with one component functioning as the subject are presented in sentential form: ДУША УХОДИТ/УШЛА В ПЯТКИ ‘s.o.‘s heart sinks into his boots’; УДАР ХВАТИЛ кого ‘s.o. had a seizure’.
An idiom containing the word НЕТ used as a predicate is described as a verb phrase (shown as VP). Numerous idioms with НЕТ are presented only in their present-tense form: ИЗНОСУ НЕТ чему ‘sth. doesn’t wear out’. If no restrictions are stated for such idioms, they can be used in the past (не было) and future (не будет) tenses as well.