Idioms used only or most commonly in the negative are listed in the negative. Most idioms presented in the negative can never be used without negation: HE ВЫХОДИТ (НЕ ИДЁТ, НЕЙДЁТ) ИЗ ГОЛОВЫ ‘s.o. can’t get sth. out of his mind’; HE ЗНАТЬ. ПОКОЯ ‘know no peace’; HE ОСТАВАТЬСЯ/НЕ ОСТАТЬСЯ В ДОЛГУ ‘pay s.o. back (in kind)’. Some idioms, however, while generally negative, can occasionally be used without negation; they are described as “used without negation to convey the opposite meaning.”
Collocates and Case Government
For idioms with a limited range of collocates, the collocates (or the most typical of them) are listed, for example: С ВЕРХОМ налить, наполнить, насыпать что ‘(fill, pour sth.) to the brim’. When collocates differ for different senses of a
polysemous idiom, they are listed separately in each sense, as at H-240 НОСОМ К НОСУ:
1. ~ столкнуться, встретиться. (to meet, run into one
another) right up close, facing one another.
2. увидеть кого-что и т.п. ~ (to see s.o. or sth.) at close
proximity .
Case government for both the main entry and its collocates is shown by the forms кого-чего, кому-чему, к кому, к чему, etc. Кого, кому, etc., must be replaced by human (or, occasionally, animal) nouns, whereas чего, чему, etc., can be replaced by inanimate or collective nouns, as: HE ПАРА кому ‘one is not a (good) match for s.o.’; ПО СЕБЕ (sense 1) найти, выбрать кого-что ‘(to find, choose s.o. or sth.) coinciding with one’s taste, of one’s preference, commensurate with one’s abilities, status etc’.
In instances when the main entry includes two or more synonymous idioms with the same government or collocates, the collocates and government are shown with the first idiom only, implying that they carry over to successive idioms. For example, Г-94 contains three synonymous idioms with the same government and collocates:
ПУЩЕ ГЛАЗА беречь кого-что, хранить что; ПАЧЕ
ГЛАЗА (ОКА) obs.
If the verbal government differs for variants or synonyms, it is provided for each one, as: ПОКАЗЫВАТЬ (УКАЗЫВАТЬ, ТЫКАТЬ) ПАЛЬЦЕМ. (на кого-что); ТЫКАТЬ ПАЛЬЦЕМ. в кого.
The head matter for verbal idioms does not include related noun phrases; these are shown after the verbal equivalents following the symbol о.
Proverbs and Sayings
Proverbs and sayings are given in their canonical forms. If part of a saying is used as an independent idiom, it is presented as a separate entry. For example, the saying ЛУЧШЕ СИНИЦА В РУКАХ, ЧЕМ ЖУРАВЛЬ В НЕБЕ ‘a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush’ has two offshoot idioms: СИНИЦА В РУКАХ ‘the proverbial bird in the hand’ and ЖУРАВЛЬ В НЕБЕ ‘(like) the proverbial two birds in the bush’. The full saying is given as one entry (at C-220), and each of its offshoots is entered separately (C-221, Ж-92) with a note referring the user to the full saying.
Usage Labels
Usage labels are provided for Russian idioms only. When provided, usage labels follow the idiom to which they refer, whether it is located in the head matter of the entry or only at a given sense. The label or labels apply as well to any lexical variants, morphological variants, or synonymous idioms that appear in angle brackets. For example, in K-65 НА КАПЛЮ (HA КАПЕЛЬКУ). coll ‘(hardly) an ounce (of.)’, the label coll refers to both КАПЛЮ and the КАПЕЛЬКУ variant. If synonymous idioms that are separated by a semicolon take the same usage label, it is preceded by the word “both” (for two variants) or “all” (for three or more variants). For example, the label all coll at C-527 refers to all four cited variants of the idiom:
ПО СОВЕСТИ2; ПО СОВЕСТИ ГОВОРЯ (СКАЗАТЬ, ПРИЗНАТЬСЯ) all coll. speaking openly .
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A label is placed within the angle brackets when it refers only to the variant inside those brackets. For example, the label obs at Л-71 refers only to the variant В РЕКУ ЗАБВЕНИЯ:
КАНУТЬ В ЛЕТУ (В РЕКУ ЗАБВЕНИЯ obs) lit… to
disappear completely, be forgotten forever.
Usage labels fall into three main categories: temporal, stylistic, and emotive-expressive.
Stylistic and emotive-expressive labels should be seen as general, not absolute, guidelines for the interpretation and use of an idiom, since the nuances that an idiom can convey depend largely on contextual factors. One exception in this regard is the type of label attached to expletives. To help English speakers correctly understand the sociolinguistic usage of phrases that go far beyond the boundaries of standard literary Russian, the dictionary provides a number of “prohibitive” labels.
Temporal labels indicate an idiom’s standing in relation to contemporary usage. These are the temporal labels used in the dictionary:
obs (obsolete) – The idiom is not generally used in contemporary literary or colloquial Russian; it may be used strictly for stylization purposes. obsoles (obsolescent) – The idiom is used rarely in contemporary literary or colloquial Russian and is perceived as becoming out of date. old-fash (old-fashioned) – The idiom is used only or chiefly
by older people. rare – The idiom is used rarely and may be perceived as
somewhat unusual. recent – The idiom is typically perceived as relatively recent.
Stylistic labels indicate the stylistic register of an idiom. Russian idioms presented without a stylistic label are stylistically neutral, meaning that they can be used under any circumstances and with any interlocutor. Two major factors have been considered in the assignment of stylistic labels: first, the circumstances in which an idiom can typically be used (a friendly conversation or letter, an official gathering, etc.); second, the ages and relative social status of the speaker, his interlocutor, and the person(s) referred to. While no stylistic labels are provided for English equivalents, an effort was made to find equivalents that are as close as possible to the stylistic register of the Russian. The following stylistic labels appear in the dictionary:
coll (colloquial) – The idiom is used in casual or informal
speech and writing. highly coll (highly colloquial) – The idiom is used in very casual speech and writing and is often colored by the speaker’s emotive attitude; highly colloquial idioms are inappropriate in formal or semiformal situations. substand (substandard) – The idiom is characterized by a deviation from grammatical or syntactical standards and/or by having a vernacular word as one of its components; it is used by less educated or uneducated people.
slang – The idiom has come into the spoken language from, or is still used predominantly in, the speech of a specific social group, profession, age group, etc. Such idioms are used in extremely casual speech; they are often metaphorical and sometimes sexually suggestive.
euph (euphemism) – The idiom is used as an inoffensive substitute for a vulgar, blasphemous, or shocking expression.
iron (ironic) – The idiom is used in a meaning opposite to
its direct meaning. lit (literary) – The idiom is characteristic of educated, well-read people and is used mainly, albeit not exclusively, in learned conversation and formal speech and writing (public speeches, scholarly essays, etc.). rhet (rhetorical) – The idiom is used with the intention of producing a certain effect on the listener(s) or reader(s). It occurs mainly, but not only, in declamatory speech or in exhortative speech and writing. elev (elevated) – The idiom is used in exalted (sometimes
stilted) writing or very formal speech. offic (official) – The idiom is used in formal, official contexts and/or belongs to bureaucratic jargon. special – The idiom is used only or predominantly in specialized contexts. folk poet (folkloric poetic) – The idiom comes from popular lore, especially folk tales, and preserves to some degree or other its folkloric, poetic overtones. vulg (vulgar) – The idiom is socially or aesthetically in bad