The article discusses the problem of studying the semantics of the word “cowardly” in the Russian language of the 18th and 19th centuries. The meaning of this lexeme has radically changed over time – this is evidenced by contexts from various sources (both documentary, scientific, and artistic).
The article presents the analysis of substandard vocabulary that is used in Russian newspapers of various types. It describes these words’ functions, frequency of occurrence and ways of introducing them.
