HOW FOOTBALL PLAYERS PLETUT KRUZHEVA: The functioning of the idiom plesti kruzheva in sport discourse

The meaning of the idiom plesti kruzheva ‘to tat’ differs considerably from the one given in dictionaries (e. g. ‘to flirt’, ‘to dally’, ‘to lie’). The present paper deals with the functioning of this phraseological unit in sports discourse. Besides, the problem of phraseological norm and description of specific meanings of phraseological units in dictionaries is considered.