Idioms/collocation Flashcards
Estar alerta
To keep your wits about sth
2o año consecutivo
2nd year running
Not to panic
To keep your head
Casi nada
I’ve precious little to do
Dejarse la piel
To play your hearts out
Hacer todo lo necesario para conseguir un objetivo-jugar bien tus cartas
To play your cards right
To propose
to present the argument for it
To put the case for something
Run out of energy
To run out of steam
Las emociones son muy intensas
Feelings are running high
Totally believe in something or someone
Tener fe en algo
To put on one’s faith in something
Sudden, Short pain
Twinge
I’ve got a slight twinge
Flexible, in good condition
Supple
You’re not allowed to do something
Ineligible
Little fights
Scrimmages
Fangoso, turbio
Murky
Persistently (incesantemente)
Relentlessly
Typical
Archetypal
Self regarding
Solipsistic
Argue about something trivial
Quibble
Levantar la prohibición
To relax the ban on something
Champion
Tittle holder
Dejarse la piel-pelear con uñas y dientes
To fight to the nail
Subcampeon
Runner up
Formacion, alineacion
Line up
Cooperate
To play ball
Tener un buen perder
To be a good sport
La pelota está en tu tejado
The ball is in your court
Ganarle en su propio terreno
To beat him at his own game
Igualdad de oportunidades
To be a level playing field
Supremacy
To lead the field
Very well developed
Finely honed
To attack
Assail
In a precarious or risky situation
Skate on thin ice
To be ready and able
To be on the ball
Strategy
Game plan
About to be reprimanded or punished
Be for the high jump
Coger el toro por los cuernos
Take the bull by the horns
To follow and respect rules and regulations
To toe the line
Donde las dan Las toman
Two can play at that game
Es lo normal
That’s par for the course
Independently
Off his own bat
To attract
To entice somebody
Tirar la toalla
Throw in the towel
Respaldar, dar la cara por alguien
Go to bat for someone
Empezar antes de tiempo
To jump the gun
Prosperar, medrar
To thrive
she seems to thrive on adversity parece que se crece en la adversidad
Regañar
Reprimand~scold~tell off
Reprimand you can use it in any context
Scold its for children and family
Tell somebody off: in any situation
Como estaba previsto
Debidamente
Duly
The visitors were duly impressed
the point was duly noted in the minutes
Can’t be defeated
Unassailable
To support
Underpin
He presented the figures to underpin his argument
To be elated
Fly high
They were flying high after their first child was born.
Que te engancha (película, libro)
A gripping film
Demostrar que es capaz de lidiar con un problema inesperado
To rise up to the challenge
En retrospectiva
In hindsight
In retrospect
Arrepentido
Contrite
he was very contrite~very apologetic
To accept
Come to terms with something/somebody
To delay, ir con pies de plomo
Drag somebody’s feet
It’s past the time when something should have happened
It’s high time
Una gota en el océano
A drop in the ocean
Dominio público
Common knowledge
Seguir sus propias leyes, propias normas. Ser un caso aparte
To be a law unto herself
Hacer una montaña de un grano de arena
To make a mountain out of a molehill
Quedarse como visitante más de lo debido
Outstay his welcome
Abrir una brecha
To drive a wedge between
Hacerse el tonto
Turn a blind eye
Appeared to be valid sound and reasonable (A statement, line of reasoning)
Hold water
Esconder la cabeza
Bury one’s head in the sand
to cause trouble
Put the cat among the pigeons
Uncertain, not decided
Open to debate
To damage ones hopes
Deal a blow to
Undecided
In the balance
Seriously
In earnest
To be intolerant with someone something
To be bigoted against
Desorden, confusión
Turmoil
Las bases de algo
The footing
Repartido, distribuido
Apportioned
Falso, fraudulento
Bogus
Inculcate
Instill
Instilling: poner una idea en la mente de alguien
Evitar decir directamente lo que uno quiere decir
To beat about the bush
En cierta época
At one time
En el momento cumbre
At their peak
Abundar, estar lleno de algo
To abound in
Doubtful
Dubious
Despectivo
Contemptuous
Have contempt for a person
Ausencia sin permiso
Truancy
There is no law, no regulation
Lawless
Lawlessness
Lawless person Rebelde, que rechaza la ley
Lawless country ingobernable, anárquico
Against the law, law forbids it
Unlawful
Unlawfulness
Lawful: legitimated, valid
To put something (a law) into effect
Enactment-to enact
El alcance y la profundidad de algo
The breadth and depth of something
Extenderse, impregnar, estar generalizado
Pervade
This must pervade our entire society
Pervasive
In recent times doping has become increasingly pervasive and insidious
To complain
To bemoan
People bemoan a situation
People moan about a situation
Revision
Overhauling
The system is widely outdated and needs strong overhauling
To put a limit to something
To curb
It is generally recognized that the long-term measures to curb the demand for illegal trade will have to be a concert of economic, political, security sector reform and rule of law programs.
Es de la máxima importancia
Its of the upmost importance
(=follow) seguir(se);
=result) resultar (from de
Ensued
In the discussion that ensued the following issues were raised
Insensible, cruel
Callous
Callous and cowardly
Callous disregard
Prevent sth to happen
To check
To check scarcity
Encourage relationships
Foster relationships
To humiliate
To pour scorn on sth
To be dismissive and cruel
To have a scornful attitude
Evitar la responsabilidad echando la culpa a otros
Pass the buck
Tener por delante una tarea complicada
To have your work cut out for
You’ll have your work cut out for you getting this presentation ready for Friday
Give up/stop
Call it quits
After 35 years he decided to call it quits
Very good job
Whale of a job
You’ve done a whale of a job with this
In Conclusion
Bottom line
The bottom line is that we needed
Boring, monotonous work
Donkey work
My boss is giving me all the donkey work
Ruthless competition
Dog eat dog
It’s a dog eat dog business
Puede hacer de todo
Jack of all trades
He’s a handyman he is a jack of all trades
Find something difficult to do
Have a job
I had a job finding this place
Assess a situation
Take stock
We need to take stock of the situation after his latest report
Compensación económica la jubilación
Golden handshake
Menos mal que
It’s a good job
It’s a good job you came
It’s a good job I had my umbrella with me
Es perfecto para algo
Just the job for something
These gadget is just the job for chopping carrots
To resign
Hand in a notice
Get fired
To be given the sack
Cero profit/cero balance
To break even
Trabajo en turnos
Shift work
The workforce
Shopfloor
To avoid something
Shy away from something
Viajar cada día el trabajo
To commute
Tener mucha experiencia
have a wealth of experience
Benefit officially included in the contract like a company car
Fringe benefit
A not official benefit
Perk
For a baker a perk of the job is to take bread home
Cadena de montaje
Assembly line
Relaciones laborales
Industrial relations
Comercio minorista
Retail trade
Mano de obra barata
Cheap labour
Salario mínimo
Minimum wage
Paro
Unemployment benefit
Pensión estatal
State pension
Deslocalizar
Offshore
An offshore service centre
La cola del paro
The dole queue
You’ve heard a rumour
To have got wind of
- Soborno
- pagar a plazos
- despedir
Pay off
Estar en número rojos
-Overdraft
to have an overdraft: tener la cuenta en descubierto
-To be overdrawn
your account is overdrawn (by £50)
Reembolso
Rebate
Proof of purchase is necessary to obtain a rebate
Anacronismo pintoresco
Quaint anachronism
Ser ganador/triunfar
Come out on top
Argentina could come out on top
Estruendo, estrépito
Clatter
Alejarse, retroceder, disminuir
Recede
Sonreír radiantemente
Beam
Mirada feroz
Glare
Sonrisa de satisfacción
Smirk
Mueca de dolor
Wince
Mueca
Grimace
Severo
Stern
Fruncir el ceño
Scowl
Abuchear, burlarse
Jeer
Sonreír tontamente
Simper
Mascar
Munch
Desorden, lío
Muddle
Mirar boquiabierto
Gape
Comerse con los ojos
Ogle-ogling
Ojear
Glance
Contar un secreto
Let you in on a secret
Decir una opinión sin consideración de sí ofende o no al contrario
Not mince somebody’s words
Por el boca-boca
By word of mouth
Decir lo que se piensa
Speak your mind
Hombre pocas palabras
A man of few words
Conversación de ascensor
Make small talk
Morderse la lengua
Hold your tongue
Ser la comidilla
Be The talk of the town
Hablar es barato
Talk is cheap
De las fuentes directas
Straight from the horse’s mouth
Poner palabras en boca de alguien
Put words in one’s mouth
Lo dejan claro, lo dicen todo de algo
Speak volumes
Their joy speak volumes about how respected he was
Morderse la lengua
Bite your tongue
Discutir con alguien
Have words with somebody
Habla sin parar durante mucho tiempo
Talk the hind leg off a donkey
Tener un pavo en la garganta
Have a frog in one’s throat
Hablar bien, persuasiva mente
To have the gift of the gab
Es obvio, no hace falta decirlo
Go without saying
Intern (hospital)
Houseman
Echarse atrás
Go back on one’s word
Director de tesis
Supervisor of your thesis
Los que corrigen un examen
Marker of an exam
Tutor personal
A private tutor
Los que avalan
An academic referee
Jefe de departamento
Head of the department
Asesor externo
External assessors
Orientador profesional
A career advisor
Internado
Boarding School
Master
Master’s degree
Vacaciones escolares
School holidays
Curso intensivo
Crash course
Tener un título universitario
Hold a degree
Dejar los estudios
School leaver
Hacer novillos
Play truant
Stay up late
Burning the midnight oil
He’s been Burning the midnight oil preparing for the exams
Managing on little money
Live on a shoestring
He’s been living on a shoestring since he lost his job
Homeless person
A down-and-out
She’s been living like a down-and-out
Solucionar
Suss out
I cant suss out this calculus problem
Avid reader
To be a bookworm
Go to bed early
Have an early night
I’m going to have an early night I’m tired
Brains, intelligence
Grey matter
This equation makes you use your grey matter
Darse prisa
Get a move on
You’d better get a move on or you’ll miss the bus
Abarcar más allá de las capacidades de uno
Bite off more than you can chew
She is bitten off more than she could chew by singing up to too many classes
Con vistas a hacer algo
With a view to doing something
She is studying medicine with a view to being a doctor
With great success
With flying colours
Passed his exams with flying colours
No entender nada, me suena chino
It’s all Greek to me
Make a greater effort
Pull one’s socks up
He’ll have to pull his socks up if he wants to pass the exam
Estar desprovisto de
To be bereft of
Engatusar
Coax
Obligar
Impel
I feel impelled to say something
Locutor de anuncios
Announcer
Comentarista
Commentator
Tópico, lugar común
Platitude
Political platitude
Comienzo, el principio
Inception
Tener un interés personal en algo
Have a vested interest in something
Abrigar (miedo, esperanzas), dar refugio
Harbour
Artículo de fondo
A feature
Magazine pequeño
Fanzine
Panfleto
Flyer
Locutor de noticias
Newscaster
Quedarse atras
Fall behind with
She has fallen behind with her work
Buy new equipment
Get something fitted out
We have to get the office fitted out
Seguir las cosas hasta el final
Follow things through
He then doesn’t follow things through
Amplia cobertura
Extensive/full coverage
Drama crudo, emocionante
Gritty/gripping drama
Comentarios en vivo
Live/running commentary
Prensa local, popular
Popular/local press
Hombre mujer del tiempo
Weather man/girl
Crudo, persona enérgica
Gritty
Pesado
Grinding
-the work was such a grind
el trabajo era tan pesado
-the daily grind
la rutina diaria
Emocionante
Gripping
Difficult to understand
Greedy
Grasping
grasping - understanding with difficulty; “the lecture was beyond his most strenuous graspings”
grasping - immoderately desirous of acquiring e.g. wealth; She is a grasping and manipulative young woman
irritating; abrasive:
Grating
a grating personality.
Por escrito
In black-and-white
I didn’t believe it until it appeared in black-and-white
De improviso, sin preparar
Off the cuff
He did an off the cuff remark
Hacer cualquier cosa
Go to any lengths
He will go to any lengths to get his story
Acalorarse
Get a bit hot under the collar
The politician got a bit hot under the collar
Creas una reputación
Make a name for oneself
Steve jobs made a name of himself as a genius
Estar equívocado
Bark up the wrong tree
He was barking up the wrong tree with his critics
Dejar de emitir
Off the air
This series was pulled off the air
La punta del iceberg
The tip of the iceberg
The scandal turned up to be the tip of the iceberg
Estar nervioso, tener mariposas en el estómago
Have butterflies in one’s stomach
I was so nervous I had butterflies in my stomach
Disminuir con el tiempo
Die down
This is not going to die down overnight
Hacerse pesado e interminable
Drag on
The speech is really dragging on
Un salvavidas
Something to fall back on
I had those savings to fall back on
Inflexible
Unyielding
- Ceder, rendirse
2. producir
Yield
- to yield to sb
- the shares yield 5%
Expertos
Pundit
Reunir
Muster
People mustered outside
Cuidadosamente seleccionados
Hand-picked
Supervisar
Oversee
Pasar por alto
Overlook
Look over-supervisar
Chaparrón
Downpour
Volcarse
Tip over
I tipped my cup of coffee over
To be full of something, especially something unpleasant or bad
To be riddled with
The old regime was riddled with corruption
Contratiempo
Mishap
We have a slight mishap
Bajo ningún concepto
By no stretch of the imagination
Estrecho/periodo de tiempo
Stretch
Walk a 7 km stretch
For a long stretch of time
Legar
Bequeath
Legado
Bequest
Descongelar
Thaw
Become more friendly
Thaw out
Saliente (balcon, ramas)
Overhanging
Emphasise
Underscore
Girar en torno a algo
To revolve around
Transatlántico
Ocean liner
Cubierta superior
Upper deck
Sala de espera aeropuerto
Departure lounge
Patinar el coche
Skid on ice
Dar la vuelta conduciendo, andando
Reverse round a corner
Anular un anticipo
Reverse a down payment
Dar vueltas rápidas
Twirl
Espiral
Coil
Carril exterior/central
Outside/middle lane
Arcén
Hard shoulder
Ramal, carretera de acceso
Slip Road
Intersección
Junction
La mediana
Central Reservation
Quitamiedos
Crash barrier
Adelantar
Overtake
Overtake on the right
Dar intermitentes
Put the hazard lights on
Apartaderos
Lay-by
Señalizar
Signal
Dar paso
Give way
Ser tremendamente aburrido
To be bored stiff
En ninguna circunstancia
For love nor money
Los ánimos se caldearon
Tempers fray
Desalentar, impedir
Deter
Elemento disuasorio
Deterrent
These penalties are not deterrents to me
No te preocupes
Don’t fret
A la larga
In the long run
Getting a new car will be a good decision in the long run
Irritar mucho
Drive somebody up the wall
He’s behaviour drives me up the wall
Undecided
Up in the air
My plans for this summer are still up in the air
Dirigiendo algo
In the driving seat
My mum was in the driving seat during the trip
Get fired
Get your walking papers
She got her walking papers last Friday
Hacer lo indecible
Go the extra mile
She went the extra mile to make us feel okay
Rehearsal
Dry run
The dry run of the new system went well
Poner pies en polvorosa
Take to one’s heels
The pickpocket took to his heels
Negociaciones duras
Drive a hard bargain
The council drove a very hard bargain
Estamos en la misma situación
In the same boat
We all were in the same boat
Engañar
To take somebody for a ride
He took us for a ride when he sold us the tickets
Estar exultante
To walk on air
I’m walking on air with my new job
Hacer lo máximo posible
To go to great lengths
To go to any length
To go the extra mile
The staff went to great lengths to ensure that everything was okay
Deja que pase un tiempo
To let things ride
Don’t take action now. just let things ride
Tejemanejes
Wheeling and dealing
There has been a lot of wheeling and dealing behind-the-scenes
Vuelve loco alguien
To drive somebody round the bend
She was driving me round the bend yesterday
Perder la paciencia de repente
To fly off the handle
Don’t understand why she flew off the handle
Molestar, agitar
To rock the boat
I’ll stay silent, I don’t want to rock the boat
Hardly any
Little if any
To focus on
To home in on
I cant understand
I cant fathom you
Fundamentalmente distintos o incompatibles
Just chalk and cheese
Autoritario, despótico
Overbearing
Arremeter contra alguien
To lash out at somebody
Mofa, burla
Derision
Derisively: burlonamente
Completamente
Well and truly
As well as
Over and above
All of them
Each and every
De forma que
In such a way as to …
The moving parts of machinery must be designed and constructed in such a way as to prevent risks
Tirar el dinero
Throw your money down the drain
Húmedo
Damp
Añoranza
Wistful
Pensive
Defectos
Shortcoming
Despistar,
Sidetrack
The conversation got sidetracked
Si a caso
If any
Tener reputación de algo
To be reputed to be
De no ser por
But for
Todas y cada una de las veces
Each and every time
En caso de
In the event of
It is of no consequence to me
I don’t mind
It’s only a matter of time before…
One day she will do…
De una manera u otra
One form or another
Ya sea…o…
Whether…or
Lo último q el quiere su madre es q el…
The last thing her mother wants is for him…
Algo intermedio
Something in between the two
Alla en 1950
As far back as 1950
En todo caso
If at all
Mientras
Whereas
Por lo tanto
Therefore
En eso
Therein
Therein lies the danger
Ademas
Furthermore
In addition
Besides
Mientras tanto
Meanwhile
Despues de todo
After all
Al lado de
Alongside
Hasta ahora
To date
Until now
Hitherto
Por la presente
Hereby
De hoy en adelante, en lo sucesivo
Henceforth
From now on
In future
As from today
Con la presente
Herewith
I enclose herewith a letter
Aca y acullá
Hither and thither
Por lo tanto
Hence
Hence my letter
Hence the fact that
2.from now
Five years hence
De aca para alla
Back and forth
To and fro
En adelante
Forth
From this day forth
Y asi sucesivamente
And so forth
Medios
Ways and means
O algo x el estilo
In some such idea
Tal o cual
Such and such
She lives in such and such a street
A la vista de esto…sería una buena idea
On the face of it…it world be a good idea…
One advantage
One plus factor
Someone that plays the same role as you in other part
Counterpart
No tiene ninguna objeción a que…
He has no objection to our leaving work early on Friday
Permits me concluir
Let me draw to a close
As I draw to a close (para concluir)
Intervenir
Take part
Mediate, intercede
Sea como fuere
Be that as it may
In general
By and large
To find the time to do sth
Get round
Pase lo q pase
Come what may
Inconveniente
Drawback
Aparcar en doble fila
Double park
The police have asked that parents not block traffic by double parking to pick up their children
Fuerzas armadas
Cuerpos de seguridad
Armed forces
Security forces
Policía
►police force N cuerpo m de policía
►policía antidisturbios riot police ►policía de barrio community police ►policía de tráfico, policía de tránsito (LAm) traffic police
►policía municipal local police (in charge of traffic and local matters)
- (=take over) adquirir, apoderarse de
* (=obtain) procurarse, conseguir
Get hold of sth
Dar un paso adelante
Take a step forward/back
