A remarkable master of the Russian word, K. G. Paustovsky paid special attention to definitions. He believed that the epithet "should be accurate, fresh and stingy." This statement also applies to the epithet oily, which is found in Paustovsky's published works 27 times, 16 of which fall on the "final" autobiographical "Tale of Life" (1946-1963). Buttery is a suffix adjective with the meaning "containing or similar to what is named in the basis of the motivating word" (Grammar of the modern Russian literary language. Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow, 1970, § 465), i.e. it has different meanings: similar to oil (as if covered with it: glossy, slippery) and soaked in oil. Explanatory dictionaries cite several isolated cases of the use of the epithet oily by Russian writers: N. Nekrasov, M. Saltykov-Shchedrin, L. Leonov, A. Kuprin, M. Gorky, K. Fedin, M. Sholokhov. The Dictionary of Epithets of literary Russian speech by A. Zelenetsky (1913) does not record it, nor does any of the dictionaries of synonyms of the Russian language. There is an explanation for this. The fact is that the adjective oily was not perceived for a long time (perhaps, even now it is not always perceived) as an artistic, and even more poetic epithet due to the fact that it has either a pronounced "technical" or satirically negative connotation (see Saltykov-Shchedrin: "the face is covered with oily mucus"). Examples of the poetic use of this epithet in fiction are extremely rare: "Oily wine" (Nekrasov), "oily leaves" (Fedin). None of our dictionaries gives examples of the use of the adjective oily by I. Bunin. Meanwhile, already in his first major work, Romantics, Paustovsky refers to him: "Bunin read his stories. His hollow voice, without intonation, was soporific. The coat was buttoned up to the neck.. . But behind this coat, hot Judea suddenly bloomed, and the Russian language sparkled like a newly found treasure of gold coins." Later in " The Tale of page 28 He once again recalled Buni ... Read more