The book by the famous linguist Academician N.M. Shansky is a kind of introduction to the science of the Russian language. Interesting and entertaining, almost detective stories about the meaning, structure and origin of words, phrases and “difficult lines” from the works of Russian classics will enable the reader to understand many issues of lexicology, phraseology, etymology, spelling, spelling, poetics and linguistic analysis of literary text. Tasks under the heading “Decide for yourself” will allow you to test yourself and evaluate the level of your knowledge. Many notes in the book can be read as separate fascinating stories about the life of words.