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

Григорьева А. И.

1500 русских и 1500 английских идиом, фразеологизмов и устойчивых словосочетаний

От составителя

Фразеологизм, или идиома, – это устойчивое выражение, значение которого не определяется отдельными значениями составляющих его слов.

В настоящем словаре представлено около 1500 русских фразеологизмов с их наиболее точными эквивалентами в британском варианте английского языка, а также около 1500 английских фразеологизмов с их русскими эквивалентами или, при отсутствии соответствующих русских идиом, переводом их значения. Русско-английская часть словаря снабжена дополнительно примерами употребления английских фразеологизмов в современном разговорном языке.

Все фразеологизмы приводятся в алфавитном порядке.

Надеемся, что словарь окажется полезным и удобным для всех, кто будет им пользоваться.

Русско-английские идиомы

ад кромешный

(a) hell on earth

The wounded soldiers described the battle as ‘hell on earth’.

альфа и омега the alpha and omega

ангельское терпение

the patience of Job

You need the patience of Job to deal with customers like that.

Ахиллесова пята

Achilles’ heel; a chink in someone’s armour

His Achilles’ heel is that he always wants to be right.

The lack of experience may be a chink in his armour.

бабушкины сказки

an old wives’ tale

It is an old wives’ tale that drinking milk prevents cold.

бабье лето an Indian summer

бальзам на душу

music to someone’s ears

What he said was music to my ears.

бедный как церковная крыса

(as) poor as a church mouse

My uncle was as poor as a church mouse.

без всякого преувеличения

to say the least

Her behaviour towards her boss was very rude, to say the least.

без обиняков

straight from the shoulder

John told me, straight from the shoulder, that he was not at all pleased with my work.

бить баклуши

to twiddle one’s thumbs

Don’t sit around twiddling your thumbs. Get down to work!

бить в цель

to hit the mark

His remarks hit the mark perfectly and really provided an important message for the graduating students.

бить мимо цели

to miss the mark

His speech missed the mark and he failed to gain support from the audience.

бить ниже пояса (кого-л.)

to hit someone below the belt; to be below the belt

In the run-up to the election, he won’t hesitate to hit his opponent below the belt.

Her remarks about my money problems were a bit below the belt.

биться головой о стену

to bang one’s head against a brick wall

He was banging his head against a brick wall trying to teach that dog to obey.

биться не на жизнь, а на смерть

to fight tooth and nail

They fought tooth and nail to defend their son against the false accusations.

благодарить судьбу

to thank one’s lucky stars

You can thank your lucky stars that she was there to help you.

блаженное неведение

a fool’s paradise

You are living in a fool’s paradise if you think that the business will recover shortly.

бледный как полотно

(as) white as a sheet

He looked as white as a sheet after the accident.

блуждать в потемках

to be in the dark

I’m totally in the dark about what’s going on.

Бог его знает

God knows!

Will we ever win? – God knows!

боевое крещение

baptism of fire

He was given a very important project to carry out in his first month. It was a real baptism of fire.

Боже мой!

good God/gracious/grief!; oh dear!; dear me!

Good God! You’ve finished the work already!

Oh dear! I’ve lost my keys.

Dear me! I forgot to phone him.

Боже упаси!

God/heaven forbid!

I hope we won’t have any trouble with the car. – God forbid!

бок о бок

side by side

They walked along the river side by side.

более или менее

more or less

The distance is ten miles, more or less.

Have you finished yet? – More or less.

большая шишка

a big cheese/gun/noise/shot/wheel

Bill’s father is quite a big shot in the government.

бояться собственной тени

to be afraid of one’s own shadow

Jane never goes anywhere – she seems to be afraid of her own shadow.

брать быка за рога

to take the bull by the horns

I decided to take the bull by the horns and asked my boss for a holiday.

брать верх (над кем-л./чем-л.)

to get the upper hand (over someone/something )

Our team managed to get the upper hand in the end.

брать голыми руками (кого-л.)

to beat someone hands down

The last time we played chess he beat me hands down.

брать за душу

to tug at the heartstrings

The story of a lost child was one that really pulled at the heartstrings.

брать свои слова обратно

to eat one’s words

You shouldn’t say that to me. I’ll make you eat your words.

брать себя в руки

to get a grip on oneself; to pull oneself together

Come on, get a grip on yourself and tell me what happened.

She started to panic but managed to pull herself together.

брать слово

to take the floor

Mr Smith took the floor to talk about the government’s new plans to reduce unemployment.

браться за ум

to come to one’s senses

John, you should come to your senses and stop gambling.

бросать в лицо (что-л. кому-л.)

to throw something in someone’s face

She was always throwing her husband’s clumsiness in his face.

бросать деньги на ветер

to throw money down the drain

Don’t gamble on the horses. That’s just throwing money down the drain.

бросать камень (в кого-л.)

to throw stones at someone

Many politicians seem to spend too much time throwing stones at each other.

бросать на произвол судьбы (кого-л.)

to leave someone in the lurch

Soon after their son was born he went off and left her in the lurch.

бросать перчатку

to throw down the gauntlet

He threw down the gauntlet by challenging my conclusions.

бросаться в глаза (кому-л.)

to catch someone’s eye; to stick out like a sore thumb

His shiny black car caught my eye.

The dinner is formal; if you wear old jeans you’ll stick out like a sore thumb among all the well-dressed guests.

бряцать оружием

to rattle one’s sabre

He may rattle his sabre at his enemies in public, but then will bend over backwards to agree behind closed doors.

буква закона

the letter of the law

There was the danger that the judge may follow the letter of the law rather than its spirit.

буря в стакане воды

a storm in a teacup

This isn’t a serious problem – just a storm in a teacup.

была не была

here goes

‘Well, here goes!’ shouted the parachutist and jumped out of the plane.

быть беде

the fat is in the fire

The fat’s in the fire now that she has discovered about her husband’s lover.

быть на высоте

to give a good account of oneself

John gave a good account of himself during the match.

быть навеселе

to have had one too many; to have had a few (too many)

He looks as if he has had one too many.

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

быть на побегушках (у кого-л.)

to fetch and carry (for someone ); to be at someone’s beck and call

She is so lazy because her husband is always there to fetch and carry for her.

I had to be at his beck and call 24 hours a day.

быть нечистым на руку

to have light fingers

The employee on the till had light fingers and got fired.

в бегах

on the run

The jail-breakers were on the run from the police.

в глубине души

in one’s heart of hearts

In her heart of hearts, she knew that she wasn’t cut out to be a surgeon.

в здравом уме

in one’s right mind

No one in his right mind would go there.

в интересном положении

in the family way

I’ve heard that Martin’s wife is in the family way.

в кулаке (у кого-л.)

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

My sister is completely under her husband’s thumb.

The mayor had the local press in the palm of his hand and was never criticised by any of them.

Most of the officials in that country are in the pocket of a few very rich businessmen.

в курсе дела

in the know

Let’s ask Paul. He’s in the know.

в лицо (кому-л.)

to someone’s face

He wouldn’t dare say it to my face!

в лучшем случае

at best

The buses were all late and at best I could only hope to be home before midnight.

в любом случае

in any case/event; at any rate

In any event, I’ll see him on Tuesday.

At any rate we must go tomorrow.

в мгновение ока

in the twinkling of an eye

The new machine can do all the calculations in the twinkling of an eye.

в общем и целом

on the whole; all in all; first and last

On the whole, this was a very good journey.

All in all we haven’t done badly.

She is, first and last, a hard worker.

в объятиях Морфея

in the land of Nod

She was in the land of Nod and I didn’t want to wake her.

в одно ухо входит, а в другое выходит

to go in one ear and out the other

Everything she says to her son seems to go in one ear and out the other.

в одной лодке

in the same boat

When I told her that I was broke she said that she was in the same boat.

в первую очередь

in the first place

In the first place, I don’t have enough money to buy a new house.

в подметки не годиться (кому-л.)

cannot hold a candle to someone

She can’t hold a candle to her mother when it comes to cooking.

в полном разгаре

in full swing

The party was in full swing.

в порядке вещей

all in a day’s work

Dealing with complaints from quests is all in a day’s work to anyone working in a hotel.

в поте лица

by the sweat of one’s brow

I can proudly say that whatever I achieved was by the sweat of my brow.

в своей стихии

in one’s element

She is in her element when she’s singing.

в своем уме

in one’s right mind

You’re not in your right mind! That sounds crazy!

в стельку пьяный

as drunk as a lord

When he came home last night, he was as drunk as a lord.

в ус не дуть

not to give a damn

She was unemployed, but she didn’t give a damn.

в форме

on form

John was back on form and nobody could beat him.

в хороших руках

in good hands

This hospital is excellent – your mother will be in good hands.

в худшем случае

if the worst comes to the worst

If the worst comes to the worst, we’ll have to stay in the hotel for another night.

в чем мать родила

in one’s birthday suit; in the buff/altogether/raw

I used to go down to the beach and swim in my birthday suit.

He always sleeps in the raw.

в шкуре (кого-л.)

in someone’s skin

I wouldn’t want to be in your skin.

важная птица

a big cheese/gun/noise/shot/wheel

She is one of the directors of our company – a big noise.

валится из рук (у кого-л.)

to be all fingers and thumbs

I’m all fingers and thumbs today. Can you thread this needle for me?

валить с ног (кого-л.)

to lay someone low

The blow laid him low.

I was laid low by the flu for about two weeks.

валиться с ног

to be ready/fit to drop; to be on one’s last legs

After walking several miles I was ready to drop.

I worked all day in the garden and felt like I was on my last legs.

валять дурака

to play the fool

My father told me to stop playing the fool and start working hard for my examinations.