The article tries to sketch a tentative rationale for descriptive translation studies, by putting forward a set of ordered principles and guidelines for its establishment and operations. The step by step exposé of the principles themselves is accompanied not only by some small scale illustrations, but also by a corresponding step by step presentation of an exemplary 'study in descriptive studies', focusing on one famous type of phenomenon the way it presents itself in translation into Hebrew during the last decades (article written in 1982): the use of binominals of synonyms and near-synonyms.