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делать честь (кому-л.)
to do someone credit
His honesty does him credit.
делать шиворот-навыворот
to put the cart before the horse
Isn’t it rather putting the cart before the horse to buy the furniture when you haven’t yet moved to your new house?
держать (свое) слово
to keep one’s word
You must keep your word if you promised to help him.
держать в ежовых рукавицах (кого-л.)
to keep a tight rein on someone; to rule someone with a rod of iron
The teacher kept a tight rein on his students.
His wife rules him with a rod of iron.
держать в неведении (кого-л.)
to keep someone in the dark
Peter kept his wife in the dark about his plans to buy a new car.
держать в руках (кого-л./что-л.)
to have someone/something in the palm of one’s hand
The politician has the local press in the palm of his hand.
держать в узде (кого-л./что-л.)
to keep a tight rein on someone/something
She had to keep a tight rein on her feelings.
держать на почтительном расстоянии (кого-л.)
to keep someone at arm’s length
Jack wanted to know my sister better, but she kept him at arm’s length.
держать на коротком поводке (кого-л.)
to have someone on a string
He has his poor wife on a string – she always does what he says.
держать под каблуком (кого-л.)
to have someone in the palm of one’s hand
My sister has her husband in the palm of her hand.
держать порох сухим
to keep one’s powder dry
We must act cautiously and keep our powder dry.
держать рот на замке
to keep one’s mouth shut; to button one’s lip(s)
Will he keep his mouth shut about the mistake we made?
Button your lip about me being late for work.
держать руку на пульсе
to keep one’s finger on the pulse
My father has retired from the company now, but he still likes to keep his finger on the pulse.
держать ухо востро
to keep/have one’s ear to the ground; to keep one’s eyes open; to keep a weather eye open
If you keep your ear to the ground you’ll soon find a good job.
Keep your eyes open and see if you can learn something.
A crisis is boiling up. Keep a weather eye open.
держать хвост пистолетом
to keep one’s chin up
Keep your chin up – things will get better.
держать язык за зубами
to hold one’s tongue; to keep mum
I don’t think he can be trusted to hold his tongue.
Please keep mum about my plans to go into medicine.
держаться за юбку (кого-л.)
to be tied to someone’s apron-strings
He can’t make any decisions himself because he is tied too much to his mother’s apron-strings.
держаться на ниточке
to hang by a thread
His chances to win the election were hanging by a thread.
детские игрушки
child’s play; kids’ stuff
My brother is an experienced mountaineer, so climbing that mountain was child’s play to him.
Making chairs is kid’s stuff to my father.
дешевле пареной репы
dirt cheap
He got that computer dirt cheap.
до второго пришествия
till kingdom come
I don’t want to wait till kingdom come for you to decide what to do.
до кончиков ногтей
to one’s fingertips
He is an artist to his fingertips.
до мозга костей
to the backbone; through and through
Your brother is a gentleman to the backbone.
She is a liar through and through.
до поры до времени
for the time being
I am staying at the hotel for the time being.
доводить до белого каления (кого-л.)
to make someone see red; to make someone’s blood boil
The sight of reporters standing outside her house made Helen see red.
His words really made my blood boil.
дойти до ручки
to be at the end of one’s tether
I am at the end of my tether, and if I hear that noise again, I’ll scream.
доходить до ушей (чьих-л.)
to come to someone’s ears
It has come to our ears that you have bought a new house.
дрожать как осиновый лист
to shake like a leaf
The boy stood in the corner shaking like a leaf.
дурной глаз
the evil eye
Nothing is going right for him – he is sure somebody put the evil eye on him.
дух захватывает (у кого-л.)
to take someone’s breath away
The girl was so beautiful she took my breath away.
душа нараспашку (у кого-л.)
to wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve
I think she was really disappointed about your absence, but she is not a person who wears her heart on her sleeve.
душа общества
the life and soul of the party
He is so quiet at work that you’d never think he was the life and soul of the party last night.
душа ушла в пятки (у кого-л.)
to have one’s heart in one’s boots; one’s heart sank to one’s boots
I had my heart in my boots when I went to see the director.
When I saw his face, my heart sank to my boots.
души не чаять (в ком-л.)
to think the world of someone
She thinks the world of her husband.
дым коромыслом
all hell breaks loose
All hell broke loose in the house when the children started to play cowboys and Indians.
дырявая голова
to have a head/memory like a sieve
I can’t remember her name – I’ve got a memory like a sieve.
дышать на ладан (быть при смерти)
to have one foot in the grave
His children treat him as though he has one foot in the grave.
дышать на ладан (существовать последние дни)
to be on one’s last legs
My fridge is on its last legs – I’ve had it twenty years.
если бы да кабы
if wishes were horses, beggars would ride
если уж на то пошло
come to that
I haven’t seen Judy for a long time. Come to that, I haven’t seen her husband either.
ехать в Тулу со своим самоваром
to carry coals to Newcastle
Taking her flowers would be like carrying coals to Newcastle – she grows flowers in her own garden.
ждать, откуда ветер подует
to see how the wind blows; to see which way the cat jumps
Before we tell them about our plans, I think we should see which way the wind blows.
My husband always waits to see which way the cat is going to jump before making a decision.
жечь корабли
to burn one’s boats
I’ve burnt my boats by telling my boss that I was leaving, but I haven’t got another job.
Жив курилка!
there is life in the old dog yet
жив-здоров
safe and sound; alive and kicking
Her son returned safe and sound from the war.
The last time I saw John, he was alive and kicking.
живого места не оставить (на ком-л.)
to beat someone black and blue; to beat the living daylights out of someone
The man beat Tom black and blue for stealing.
If you do that again, I’ll beat the living daylights out of you.
жить как кошка с собакой
to lead a cat and dog life
She and her brother lead a cat and dog life. They are always quarrelling.
жить не по средствам
to live beyond one’s means
No wonder the Browns are deeply in debt; they have been living beyond their means for years.
жребий брошен
the die is cast
I’m not sure that I’ll find a better job but the die is cast – I’ve told my boss I wanted to leave.
за спиной (у кого-л.)
behind someone’s back
She has been saying unpleasant things about you behind your back.
за деревьями леса не видеть
not to see the wood for the trees
When people get stressed they often can’t see the wood for the trees.
за здорово живешь
for kicks
The boy said that he had stolen the car just for kicks.
за плечами (у кого-л.)
under one’s belt
Gerald has a lot of experience under his belt.
за решеткой
behind bars
He spent five years behind bars after being convicted of forgery.
забот полон рот (у кого-л.)
to have one’s hands full; to have a lot on one’s plate
He has her hands full looking after four children.
Sorry, I can’t help you – I’ve got too much on my plate at the moment.
заводить волынку
to harp on the same string
I wish you’d stop harping on the same string every time I light a cigarette. I won’t give up smoking.
заговаривать зубы (кому-л.)
to spin someone a yarn
He managed to spin me a yarn about being ill to explain his lateness.
загонять в угол (кого-л.)
to box someone into a corner
Her convincing arguments quickly boxed me into a corner.
задавать головомойку (кому-л.)
to haul someone over the coals
The teacher hauled the boy over the coals for being late for school.
задавать тон
to set the pace; to call the tune
His work sets the pace for future experiments.
The secretary calls the tune in the office.
задевать за живое (кого-л.)
to cut someone to the quick; to hit/touch a (raw) nerve
Her angry words cut me to the quick.
I think I touched a nerve when I asked him about his children.
задирать нос
to put on airs and graces
Because they have a big house she is always putting on airs and graces.
закатывать истерику
to have/throw a fit
She’ll have a fit when she knows you’ve broken her vase.
закидывать удочку
to put out feelers
They put out feelers to see if anyone was interested in buying the shop.
закон джунглей
the law of the jungle
закрывать глаза (на что-л.)
to close one’s eyes to something; to turn a blind eye to something
She chose to close her eyes to her son’s rude behaviour.
The director always turned a blind eye to her mistakes in order to prevent trouble.
закрыть лавочку
to shut up shop; to put up the shutters
They’d worked hard all morning and at half past three they decided to shut up shop and go home.
During the war many shops had to put up the shutters.
закусить удила
to take the bit between one’s teeth
There was a lot of work to be finished, so he took the bit between his teeth and stayed late at the office.
зализывать раны
to lick one’s wounds
Tom was still licking his wounds from his marriage break-up.
заметать следы
to cover one’s tracks
The criminals have covered their tracks very cleverly.
замолвить словечко (за кого-л.)
to put in a good word for someone
My father is going to put in a good word for me in the hope that the boss will give me another chance.
запеть на другой лад
to change one’s tune
She said she liked travelling by car, but when she saw the road she changed her tune.
запретный плод
forbidden fruit
Forbidden fruit is always the most desirable.
заразительный смех
an infectious laugh
His laugh was so infectious that we all joined in.
заснуть вечным сном
to be called to one’s eternal rest
застигать врасплох (кого-л.)
to take someone by surprise; to catch someone with one’s pants/trousers down
The news took us by surprise.
He asked me where I’d been last night and I was caught with my pants down.
застигать на месте преступления (кого-л.)
to catch someone red-handed; to catch someone in the act
The police caught the burglars red-handed.
The thief was caught in the act of breaking into the shop.
затаить дыхание
to hold one’s breath
She held her breath as she watched the attempt to save the drowning child.
заткнуть за пояс (кого-л.)
to run rings round someone; to put someone to shame
Jane is good at French but her brother David can run rings round her – he can speak Dutch and German as well.
I thought I was in good shape for this race but my friend Tom, who was much older than me, put me to shame.
затыкать рот (кому-л.)
to shut someone’s mouth
They threatened to shut his mouth if he talks to the police.
затянуть пояс потуже
to tighten one’s belt
If the crisis gets worse, we shall just have to tighten our belts.
заходить (слишком) далеко
to go too far; to overstep the mark
He has always been a bully but this time he went too far and even his parents were ashamed of him.
You overstepped the mark when you shouted at the director.
звонить во все колокола
to shout it from the rooftops
If I’d known you were going to shout it from the rooftops, I wouldn’t have told you about my work.
здоров как бык
(as) sound as a bell
At the age of eighty her grandfather was as sound as a bell.
зеленая улица
the green light
The government gave the green light to the minister’s plan for the new road.
злой как черт
(as) cross as two sticks; like a bear with a sore head
The man was as cross as two sticks when his wife left without waiting for him.
When my brother has to get up early, he’s like a bear with a sore head.
змея подколодная
a snake in the grass
Don’t be deceived by his friendliness – he’s a real snake in the grass.
знать в лицо (кого-л.)
to know someone by sight
I know Gregory by sight but I’ve never met him.
знать свое дело
to know one’s stuff/onions
He is a good worker and knows his stuff. I’d be sorry if he left our company.
We’ve worked with him in the past. He is a man who knows his onions.
знать как свои пять пальцев (что-л.)
to know something like the back of one’s hand; to know something inside out
He knew Manchester like the back of his hand.
He is a very good plumber who knows his job inside out.
знать свое место
to know one’s place
I knew my place and kept silent.
знать, что к чему
to know what is what
You don’t have to worry about him – he knows what’s what.
золотая середина
a happy medium
You can surely find some happy medium between exercising all the time and doing nothing.
золотое дно
a gold-mine
The report represents a gold-mine of useful information.
золотое правило
the golden rule
The golden rule of teaching is to be clear.
золотое сердце
a heart of gold
His wife is a lovely woman. She has a heart of gold.
золотой телец
the golden calf
зондировать почву
to put out feelers
I wanted to get a new job, so I put out some feelers with our competitors.
и глазом не успел моргнуть
before you can say Jack Robinson
I’ll catch a train and be there before you can say Jack Robinson.
и дело с концом
that’s that
You are not going to the party alone, and that’s that.
И не говорите!
you are telling me
It’s hot today, isn’t it? – You’re telling me.
(и) туда и сюда
back and forth; up and down; to and fro; backwards and forwards
The wind moved the leaves gently back and forth.
We’ve been driving up and down the street looking for you.
She walked to and fro in the room waiting for the news.
The pendulum was moving slowly backwards and forwards.
играть в кошки-мышки (с кем-л.)
to play cat and mouse with someone
If you continue to play cat and mouse with your boyfriend, he’ll break up with you.
играть вторую скрипку
to play second fiddle
He was tired of playing second fiddle to his older brother.
играть на руку (кому-л.)
to play into someone’s hands
I had an uncomfortable feeling that by leading my men into the valley I had played into the enemy’s hands.
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