1500 русских и 1500 английских идиом, фразеологизмов и устойчивых словосочетаний - Анна Григорьева

отдавать Богу душу to meet one’s maker

отдавать должное (кому-л./чему-л.)

to do justice to someone/something

The meal was well cooked and we did justice to it.

отдавать жизнь

to lay down one’s life

He was ready to lay down his life for his country.

отдавать концы

to kick the bucket; to turn up one’s toes

I was so ill, I thought I was going to kick the bucket.

The dog turned up his toes last night. He was nearly fifteen years old.

отдавать сердце (кому-л.)

to lose one’s heart to someone

She lost her heart to the new teacher.

отделять плевелы от пшеницы to separate the wheat from the chaff

открывать глаза (кому-л. на что-л.)

to open someone’s eyes to something

I opened her eyes to her husband’s unfaithfulness.

откуда ни возьмись

out of the blue; all of a sudden

His brother appeared on my doorstep out of the blue.

They were speaking quietly when all of a sudden there was a deafening noise.

отогревать змею на груди to nurse a viper in one’s bosom

отодвигать на задний план (кого-л./что-л.)

to put someone/something in the shade

His tremendous success put us all in the shade.

отправляться на тот свет to go to the other side

отставать от времени

to be behind the times

Many of her ideas were behind the times.

падать духом

to lose heart

The garrison lost heart and surrendered.

падать на бесплодную почву

to fall on stony ground

Her appeal has fallen on stony ground.

падать с неба (кому-л.)

to drop into someone’s lap

She can’t stand people who don’t work and expect money to drop into their laps.

палец о палец не ударить

not to do a hand’s turn

The boy is very lazy. He has never done a hand’s turn in his life.

пальцем не пошевелить

not to lift a finger

His parents wouldn’t lift a finger to help us.

пан или пропал

sink or swim

It’s too late to help Helen. It’s sink or swim for her now.

пара пустяков

child’s play; a piece of cake

I found it child’s play to ride a bicycle.

That was easy, a piece of cake.

парень не промах

nobody’s fool

He was perfectly aware of what was happening, he was nobody’s fool.

перебегать дорогу (кому-л.)

to steal a march on someone

He has stolen a march on his competitors by starting the spring sales one week earlier than them.

перебиваться с хлеба на квас

to live from hand to mouth

I knew that his parents lived from hand to mouth during the war.

переводить дух

to catch one’s breath

After the game of tennis she had to sit down and catch her breath.

переворачиваться в гробу

to turn in one’s grave

If your uncle knew what you were doing with his favourite garden, he would turn in his grave.

перегибать палку

to overstep the mark

The director overstepped the mark when he shouted at his secretary.

перед лицом (чего-л.)

in the face of something

Caution was forgotten in the face of great danger.

перейти Рубикон to cross the Rubicon

перемывать косточки (кому-л.)

to pick someone to pieces

They started to pick Daniel to pieces as soon as he was out of the room.

пересчитать все ребра (кому-л.)

to beat the living daylights out of someone; to knock the stuffing out of someone

If I ever see you with my wife again, I’ll beat the living daylights out of you.

The neighbour caught Tom stealing fruits from his garden and knocked the stuffing out of the boy.

петь дифирамбы (кому-л.)

to sing someone praises

You must have made a good impression on her parents. They were singing your praises that evening.

Пиррова победа a Pyrrhic victory

пить горькую

to drink like a fish

The man drinks like a fish. He is drunk every night.

пища для размышлений

food for thought

His suggestions certainly provide food for thought.

платить втридорога

to pay through the nose; to pay the earth

I’ve got a ticket, but I had to pay through the nose for it.

I paid the earth for this joint of beef.

платить той же монетой (кому-л.)

to give someone a dose/taste of one’s own medicine

We will give him a taste of his own medicine for the wrongs he has done to us.

плечом к плечу

shoulder to shoulder

The soldiers were marching shoulder to shoulder.

плоть от плоти и кровь от крови

one’s own flesh and blood

Your sister has nowhere to live, so you have to take her into your house; after all, she is your own flesh and blood.

плыть в руки (кому-л.)

to drop into someone’s lap

All the best things in life must be worked for – they won’t drop into your lap.

плыть по течению

to drift with the tide

She was just drifting with the tide, relaxing and letting things happen.

плыть против течения

to swim/go against the tide

It’s better to live a quiet life than swim against the tide.

по горло (в чем-л.)

up to one’s ears/eyes/neck/eyeballs (in something )

Sorry, but I can’t come to your party. I’ve been up to my ears in work these past few days.

по правде говоря

to tell you the truth

What do you think of this book? – To tell you the truth, I haven’t read it yet.

по старой памяти

for old times’ sake

Do you want to meet for a drink sometime, just for old times’ sake?

по уши влюбиться

to fall head over heels (in love)

My brother fell head over heels in love with Mary.

Побойся Бога!

Have a heart!

Have a heart! We have to have a break sometimes.

повернуть колесо истории вспять

to put/turn the clock back

Times have changed and we can’t turn the clock back.

повернуться негде

not enough room to swing a cat

Their house is very small. There isn’t enough room to swing a cat.

повисать в воздухе

to be up in the air

Our plans are up in the air.

под башмаком (у кого-л.)

under someone’s thumb; in the palm of someone’s hand

Tom is completely under his wife’s thumb.

They would never dare contradict her. She’s got them in the palm of her hand.

под боком (у кого-л.)

at one’s elbow

I have all the books I need at my elbow.

под крылышком (у кого-л.)

under someone’s wing

I wasn’t doing well in mathematics, so the teacher took me under her wing.

под мухой

under the influence; to have had one too many; to have had a few (too many)

The police stopped him, because he was driving under the influence.

He looks as if he has had one too many.

She’s had a few; you should take her home and put her to bed.

под ногами (у кого-л.)

under someone’s feet

They don’t seem to mind having three children under their feet all the time.

под носом (у кого-л.)

under someone’s nose

This all went on under her nose, without her noticing anything.

под рукой (у кого-л.)

close/near at hand; on hand; at one’s elbow

Have you got a pen near at hand?

We had plenty of food on hand.

John has always a pot of coffee at his elbow.

подводить под монастырь (кого-л.)

to get someone into hot water

Your carelessness got us into hot water.

подготавливать почву (для чего-л.)

to pave the way for something; to set the stage for something

The government needs to pave the way for the introduction of the new monetary system.

His work set the stage for the development of computer technologies.

поджав хвост

with one’s tail between one’s legs

He went off with his tail between his legs when everybody found out what he had done.

поджилки трясутся (у кого-л.)

to shake in one’s shoes

He shook in his shoes when he heard that noise.

подкладывать свинью (кому-л.)

to do the dirty on someone

I know who did the dirty on me. He won’t get away with it.

подливать масла в огонь

to add fuel to the fire

Jane just added fuel to the fire by laughing at his threats.

поднимать на смех (кого-л./что-л.)

to make fun of someone/something

Please stop making fun of his appearance. It hurts his feelings.

поднимать перчатку to pick up the gauntlet

поднимать руку (на кого-л.)

to raise one’s hand against someone

Don’t you ever raise your hand against your brother again!

подопытный кролик

a guinea pig

Try your experiments on someone else. I don’t want to be a guinea pig.

подрезать крылья (кому-л.)

to clip someone’s wings

His wife has decided against having children. She thinks they would clip her wings.

подсластить пилюлю to sugar the pill

позолотить ручку (кому-л.)

to cross someone’s palm with silver

Cross my palm with silver and I’ll tell you everything you want to know.

поймать с поличным (кого-л.)

to catch someone red-handed; to catch someone in the act

The police caught the thief red-handed when he was breaking into the shop.

I know who broke the window. I caught him in the act.

показать, где раки зимуют (кому-л.)

to give someone what for; to give someone something to remember one by

The teacher gave her what for because she was so late.

If they don’t stop that noise I’ll give them something to remember me by!

показывать когти

to show one’s teeth

She has always been such a nice woman, but when I accidentally scratched her car she really showed her teeth.

показывать нос (кому-л.)

to cock a snook at someone; to thumb one’s nose at someone

As soon as the teacher turned his back, the boy cocked a snook at him.

She married a very rich man and thumbed her nose at those who previously looked down at her.

показывать пальцем (на кого-л.)

to point the finger (at someone )

I don’t want to point the finger at anyone, but somebody has to answer for the expenses.

показывать пятки

to show a clean pair of heels; to take to one’s heels

The thief quickly showed a clean pair of heels when the police found him breaking into a shop.

The boy saw me and took to his heels.

показывать свое настоящее лицо

to show one’s true colours

It is hard to tell what he is thinking. He never shows his true colours.

покупать кота в мешке

to buy a pig in a poke

Are you sure you are not buying a pig in a poke?

положить на обе лопатки (кого-л.)

to beat someone hollow

He is bad at tennis and you can beat him hollow on the court.

получать по мозгам

to get it in the neck

The boy got it in the neck for being late.

поменяться ролями (с кем-л.)

to turn the tables on someone

In the first game they beat us, but in the next game our team turned the tables and won 5–1.

попадать в переплет

to get into deep water

Kate had a premonition that she was getting into deep water.

попадать в точку

to hit the nail on the head; to hit the bull’s-eye; to hit the mark

You are one hundred percent correct, you’ve hit the nail on the head.

Your idea really hit the bull’s-eye.

It was a random guess, but it had hit the mark.

попадать впросак

to put one’s foot in it; to drop a clanger

She is always putting her feet in it, talking without thinking.

I think I dropped a clanger when I called her by her ex-husband name.

попадать не в бровь, а в глаз

to hit the nail on the head; to hit the bull’s-eye; to hit the mark

The moment he said it he knew he had hit the nail on the head.

Paul could usually hit the bull’s eye.

You certainly hit the mark when you said that the girl was very lazy.

попадать пальцем в небо

to be wide of the mark

His calculation was wide of the mark. He undervalued our car by nearly half.