The article explores the problems in the studies of Pushkin’s language, in particular, his typical word usage. In his polemic with critics (M. Epstein is among them), who accuse Pushkin of inaccuracies and historical blunders, the author reconstructs the historical context for certain words and justifies their specific usage in Pushkin’s works. The study focuses on such words as ‘zaperet’’ [‘to shut/lock’], ‘tasovat’sya’ [‘to socialize with’], etc. Thus the paper proves that Pushkin’s vocabulary may at times differ significantly from the modern usage (there is no shortage of such examples in the studies by the renowned linguist A. Penkovsky), or coincide with contemporary meanings (which is mostly the case), or sometimes astonish us with how it directly anticipates the phraseology we consider a modern invention. Here, as with any aspect of Pushkin’s work, rushed conclusions are out of place.