Russian for All Occasions: A Polythematic Russian-English Dictionary of Collocations and Expressions. The Authors Reflect on the Idea Behind the Dictionary, the Problems Encountered and How They Were Solved

ABSTRACT The authors discuss the problems of compiling a bilingual dictionary ‘for all occasions’. The first part of the article deals with the aims and the concept of the dictionary within a wider lexicographical tradition. Among the problems discussed are: what type of entries it should have, which topics to include and how to organise them to make the dictionary usable and useful, how best to divide the dictionary into different units and sub-units, what sources to use, what range of styles to cover. The second part discusses the principles used in compiling the English entries of the dictionary and the differences between the two languages which this process revealed, as well as the need to provide additional explanations in the form of notes.