General Flashcards
(someone) is buckled in
A “buckle” is the part of a belt where you attach the two ends to each other. The belts people wear on their pants have buckles. So do some shoes, straps for handbags and luggage, and seatbelts.
When an adult wears a seatbelt, you say that they’re “buckled up”. But when you put a child in a car seat, you buckle them in. The difference is that a person who’s “buckled in” has straps not only across the waist, but over both shoulders as well. Jet plane pilots also get “buckled in”.
put (one’s) hair up
“Putting your hair up” means styling your long hair in some way so that it’s not just hanging down on its own. Some different hair stlyes that are considered “putting your hair up” include:
- putting it in a ponytail
- putting it in a bun (moño)
- braiding it (trenzarlo)
The opposite action from “putting your hair up” is “letting your hair down”.
You can also “wear your hair up” or “wear it down”.
To look up to
Admire, esteem, respect sb
Admirar (a alguien)
“He always looked up to his father” (siempre admiró a su padre)
“Who do you look up to?” (a quién admiras?)
Fill Out (a form)
To “fill out” a form means to write answers into the blank lines or boxes.
come across (something)
to find something without really trying to look for it:
“But sometimes you’ll be flipping through the channels and come across something really interesting”.
“Aren’t these great? I came across them at a thrift shop a couple weeks ago”.
I take it (clause)
“I take it…” is a slightly formal phrase which means “It seems…”
For example, if you came home late in the evening, and there’s no dinner, you might say to your family:
” I take it you ate already?”
If you’re at a sports bar, and someone sitting next to you is watching a baseball game on the TV and cheering whenever the New York Yankees score a run, you can start a conversation by saying:
“I take it you’re a Yankees fan”.
try (something) out
The phrase “try ___ out” means to use something for the first time.
The phrase “try ___” is good for actions:
“I’d like to try skiing”
Or for eating things:
“Have you tried the crab cakes?”
But when you’re talking about using an object, like a tool, an electronic device, etc., “try out” is usually better.
stumble across/on/upon
tropezar con, dar un traspiés
(tb figuradamente)
“I was looking for movies and i stumbled across this one”
sign up for (something)
When you "sign up for" an event or activity, it means that you fill out a form that shows that you want to join. For example: - "I signed up for an aerobics class at the gym".
You can also “sign up” someone else (usually a child) for an activity:
- “Maybe we should sign Gavin up for violin classes”.
Where does (someone) stand on (an issue or debate)
English speakers often compare opinions to positions or locations in an imaginary space. For example, you can call a person’s official opinion their “position”:
“What’s your position on health care reform?”
And when you ask someone “Where do you stand?” it means “What’s your opinion?” or “What side of this debate are you on?” You identify the question or the topic with “on”:
- Where do you stand on gun control?
- It’s hard to tell where she stands on this topic.
There’s also a noun for talking about where someone stands on a topic. It’s “stance”:
- What’s her stance on the topic of immigration?
We use “stance” and “Where do you stand?” in business discussions, political discussions, academic debates, and other formal situations.
(stance-postura)
To Tell Off
Regañar.
“Telling people off isn’t always constructive”.
Pick it back up
This phrase means to continue doing something that you had stopped doing. This is useful for talking about work, lessons, games, or other things that continue for more than one day:
- “One thing I like about listening to audio books is that you can pause them and pick them back up later without searching for where you stopped”.
- “I didn’t speak English for a few years, but I was able to pick it back up with no problem”.
Another related phrase is “pick up where (one) left off”. This means to continue something from the same point that you stopped at last time:
- “OK, well it looks like time’s up, but we’ll pick back up where we left off tomorrow”.
Clean /out / off / out / away
You “CLEAN OUT” the inside of a space that has a large mess in it: clean out the refridgerator, clean out your car, clean out your desk
You “CLEAN OFF” a flat surface:
clean off the counter, clean off the whiteboard, clean off your windshield
You “CLEAN UP” a room or a larger area:
clean up your bedroom, clean up the city, clean up after the party, clean up your hard drive
“CLEAN AWAY” is different from the others because you only use it to talk about the messy things that you’re cleaning, not the space that those things are in:
clean away the dishes, clean away the mud, clean away the broken branches
What about just using the word “CLEAN” by itself? It usually means to clean the most obvious part of something. For example: clean the toilet: This means to clean the inside of the toilet bowl.
clean the floor: This means to clean the surface of the floor.
Step Up
Increase in Status (progreso, ascenso)
When someone has taken a greater responsibility on a team and done the work that was needed, you can say that they’ve “stepped up”. For example: You can’t always depend on other people. You’ve got to step up and do it on your own.
“Stepping up” is always positive.
Strike Up
(a conversation)
initate / Entablar, comenzar (una conversacion)
To “strike up” a conversation means to begin talking to someone who you were not talking to before. We usually use this phrase to describe starting a conversation with a stranger.
“Striking up a conversation” sounds friendly and relaxed.
To Win Over (someone)
to gain the support or consent of (someone) Also win round (convencer a alguien)
We won him over to our cause. - Le convencimos a pasar a nuestro bando.
Catch up on (something)
To “catch up on” something means to do something that you missed, or that you’re late on. For example, you can: catch up on some episodes of a TV show that you missed; catch up on work that you couldn’t do because you were on vacation for a few days; catch up on homework that you missed because you were sick…
- “I can’t go to that party. I have a lot to catch up on”.
There’s a related phrase, “catch up with (someone)”, which means to talk to someone who you haven’t seen in a long time and share news about your lives.
send (something) out
When you add “out” to the verb “send”, it suggests that you are sending it to more than one person:
- We sent out our wedding invitations 6 months before the wedding.
(a vehicle) breaks down
When a vehicle like a car, truck, motorcycle, etc. stops working, we say that it has “broken down”.
- “Hey, can you come pick me up? My car broke down on the side of the road”.
Speak Up
Hablar más alto.
Would you like me to speak up a little? - ¿Quieres que hable un poco más alto?
Go Through (something)
People use the phrase “go through ___” to describe negative experiences. “Go through” means to experience something negative or difficult. Some examples include: go through a divorce, go through a tough time, go through a period of weak sales, go through childbirth
There are some other totally different meanings of “go through”. One is to search and examine things in a list or a collection:
- We should sit down and go through the details later this week.
Another meaning of “go through” is to use a person or agency to do something for you instead of doing it directly yourself:
- Are you going through a recruitment agency?
Keep (something) In Check
This phrase means to keep something in control.
Imagine something that you don’t want to happen, like crime. We can’t completely stop crimes from happening, but we can “keep it in check” so that people are safe most of the time.
Other things that you might “keep in check” include:negative emotions, alcohol use, weeds in your garden
Example: You’re having a picnic in your back yard. It’s almost dark. You see a bat flying around. Your neighbor is worried about it, but you like bats. You explain why: “You know, bats are actually good to have around ‘cuz they keep the mosquitos in check”.
(mantener a raya)
Set Up (something)
“set up” means to get something ready to begin. You can use “set up” to talk about: starting a company, organizing a meeting, creating a bank account, making an appointment
Like other separable phrasal verbs, you can use “set up” in two ways:
- set up (something)
- set (something) up
Short pronouns like “it” and “them” need to come between “set” and “up”: Can you set it up for me?
If the object is long and complicated, it needs to go at the end: Why don’t we set up a time to meet and discuss that.
Otherwise, most objects can come either between or after:
- My dad helped me set the account up.
- My dad helped me set up the account.
To Get Over With
Acabar/Terminar
‘Let’s get it over with’ (acabemos con esto de una vez)
Get Wrapped Up In (something)
“Getting wrapped up in” something means that you pay a lot of attention to it.
This can be something like an interesting story:
- I’m on the third episode of the season. I’m getting really wrapped up in it.
It can also mean becoming involved in something that you don’t want to pay attention to:
A: They seem to be having a lot of problems. Do you think we should help them?
B: It’s best not to get wrapped up in it.
You’re talking to a friend about your job. Some people that you work with are sneaky and try to get promotions by impressing the boss and making other employees look bad. You explain that you’re not like this:
- I don’t get wrapped up in office politics.
To Settle Down
calmarse / tranquilizarse
Wait for the audience to settle down before you start your speech. - Espera a que la audiencia se calme antes de empezar tu discurso.
Chat Up (uk)
to talk to someone in a flirtatious way to show you are attracted to them, and to make them interested in you.
- Mike chatted Lucy up at the bar while she was ordering her drink.
(camelar, ‘trabajarse’ a alguien (hablando))
