linguistic expressions Flashcards

1
Q

I am feeling under the weather

A

je ne me sens pas dans mon assiette

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2
Q

The ball is in your court

A

La balle est dans ton camp

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3
Q

Spill the beans
I knew he would end up spilling the beans about the party

A

vendre la mèche/cracher le morceau
Je savais qu il finirait par vendre la mèche concernant la fête

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4
Q

Break a leg

A

Bonne chance/ Merde

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5
Q

Come rain or come shine

A

Quoi qu’il advienne

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6
Q

Go down in flames

A

Descendre en flames

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7
Q

Jump on the bandwagon

A

Prendre le train en marche/ suivre le mouvement

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8
Q

Miss the boat

A

Rater le coche

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9
Q

By the skin of your teeth

A

A un cheveu pres

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10
Q

Give the benefit of the doubt

A

Accorder le bénéficie du doute

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11
Q

Break the ice

A

Briser la glace

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12
Q

In the heat of the moment

A

dans le feu de l’action

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13
Q

Take it with a pinch of salt

A

Prendre quelque chose avec des pincettes

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14
Q

When pigs fly

A

Quand les poules auront des dents

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15
Q

Kill two birds with one stone

A

faire d’une pierre deux coups !

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16
Q

Cost an arm and a leg

A

couter les yeux de la tete

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17
Q

There’s no use crying over spilled milk

A

ce qui est fait est fait

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18
Q

Once in a blue moon

A

tous les trente-six du mois

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19
Q

Make a long story short

A

Pour faire court

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20
Q

A piece of cake

A

du gâteau

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21
Q

A blessing in disguise

A

un mal pour un bien

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22
Q

The best of both worlds

A

le beurre et l’argent du beurre !

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23
Q

You can say that again!

A

un peu, mon neveu/C’est le moins qu’on puisse dire !

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24
Q

The apple doesn’t fell far from the tree

A

Tel père, tel fils

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25
Q

It is not rocket science

A

Ce n est pas compliqué

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26
Q

He works around the clock

A

Il travaille 24h sur 24

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27
Q

to go the extra mile

A

Faire un effort supplémentaire

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28
Q

To be in the black

A

faire des profits/ être bénéficiaire

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29
Q

to be in the red

A

être déficitaire/ être à découvert

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30
Q

I cut my teeth

A

Je me casse les dents

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31
Q

a stone’s throw

A

A deux pas

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32
Q

Everything we have been through

A

Tout ce qu on a vécu

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33
Q

I didn t know no pain

A

Je ne connais pas la douleur

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34
Q

I believe in forever

A

Je crois en l éternité

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35
Q

I ll give it a shot

A

Je vais essayer/ je vais tenter le coup

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36
Q

to take it easy

A

y aller doucement/ relax/ se la couler douce

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37
Q

beat around the bush

A

tourner autour du pot

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38
Q

learn the ropes

A

apprendre les ficelles

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39
Q

to turn up out of the blue

A

arriver à l improviste

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40
Q

To weather the storm

A

Affronter la tempête /tenir le coup

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41
Q

to give it my all

A

pour tout donner

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42
Q

to numb the pain

A

atténuer la douleur

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43
Q

What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger

A
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44
Q

to go off the deep end

A

Perdre les pedales
Sortir de ses gonds/ piquer une crise/ faire un caca nerveux/ peter les plombs

45
Q

to cut a rug

A

dancer (guincher)

46
Q

to cut (so) to the quick

Her thoughtless remark cut him to the quick.

A

Piquer (qqu un) au vif

47
Q

to score points off (so)

He’s always trying to score points off people and it’s really irritating.

A

marquer des points face à qqu un( clouer le bec)

48
Q

a bitter pill

A

un truc dur à avaler (au sens figuré)

49
Q

Achilles’ heel

A

un talon d’Achille,

50
Q

from A to Z

A

de A à Z, en entier

51
Q

proud as a peacock

A

fier comme un paon

52
Q

put the cart before the horse

A

mettre la charrue avant les boeufs

53
Q

don’t judge a book by its cover

A

ne pas se fier aux apparences

54
Q

add insult to injury

A

aggraver une situation

55
Q

all ears

A

tout ouïe

56
Q

cross one’s fingers

A

croiser les doigts

57
Q

it’s not my cup of tea

A

ce n est pas la tasse de thé

58
Q

put all your eggs in one basket

A

mettre tous ses oeufs dans le même panier

59
Q

like taking candy off a baby

A

très facile à faire

60
Q

to do something for Britain

A

faire une chose à fond, s’investir

61
Q

every cloud has a silver lining

A

il y a toujours du positif dans une situation négative

62
Q

play it by ear

What will we do tomorrow? Let’s play it by ear.

A

avancer à l’aveuglette, au hasard, improviser

Je ne sais pas trop ce qu'on fera demain, on improvisera.
63
Q

to get cold feet

I don’t know why I often get cold feet.

A

être inquiet, angoissé, regretter,
avoir les petoches

Je ne sais pas pourquoi j’ai souvent la frousse.

64
Q

to keep an eye on something

A

surveiller, garder un oeil sur quelque chose

65
Q

to go over one’s head

Martin’s explanation was too complicated; it went over my head.

A

ne pas comprendre quelque chose/ passer au dessus de la tête

L’explication de Martin était trop compliquée : elle m’a dépassé (or: elle a dépassé ma compréhension).

66
Q

work one’s fingers to the bone

I did not spend my entire life working my fingers to the bone so that you could move up, only to have you toss it all away.

A

travailler d’arrache-pieds

Je n’ai pas passé ma vie entière à travailler d’arrache-pied pour te faire accéder à mieux, seulement pour te voir tout jeter

67
Q

to catch (so) red-handed

I caught the thief red handed stealing my jewels.
A

prendre quelqu’un la main dans le sac

J’ai pris le voleur la main dans le sac en train de voler mes bijoux.

68
Q

to bite off more than you can chew

A

avoir les yeux plus gros que le ventre :

69
Q

to butter someone up

A

passer de la pommade

70
Q

sleep with the fishes

A

être au ciel/ être mort

71
Q

to come on the heels of (so)
to follow on the heels of (so)
The young singer wanted to follow on the heels of his famous father

A

être sur les talons de
marcher sur les traces de
le jeune chanteur voulait marcher sur les traces de son père célèbre

72
Q

to pass with flying colours / to sail through

A

réussir haut la main/ réussir avec brio

73
Q

I have to be frank

A

Pour dire les choses franchement

74
Q

He speaks ill of someone

A

Il dit du mal de quelqu’un

75
Q

I probably agree with (so)

A

Il y a de fortes chances que je sois d’accord avec quelqu’un

76
Q

pull the rug out (from under someone)

pull the rug out from under someone’s feet

I do not think this is the time to pull the rug from under their feet.

A

couper l herbe sous les pieds de quelqu un

Je ne pense pas que le moment soit bien choisi pour leur couper l’herbe sous le pied.

77
Q

to swallow your pride

He was forced to swallow his pride and ask if he could have his old job back.

A

ravaler sa fierté

Il a été obligé de ravaler sa fierté et de demander si il pouvait récupérer son ancien travail

78
Q

against the grain

This could be first referendum result to go truly against the grain.

A

contre nature/ à contre sens

Ce référendum pourrait être le premier à aller à contre-courant.

79
Q

speak truth

speak truth to power

Grant us the courage needed to continue to speak truth to power.

A

dire la vérité

Donne-nous le courage nécessaire pour continuer à dire la vérité au pouvoir.

80
Q

to touch base

A

faire le point

81
Q

to put something on the back burner

A

mettre qqchose de côté

82
Q

to give someone the green light

A

donner le feu vert à quelqu’un

83
Q

to blow a deal

A

rater une opportunité

84
Q

to drive a hard bargain

A

négocier dur

85
Q

to mean business

A

être sérieux en affaire

86
Q

to cut a deal

A

conclure un accord

87
Q

to axe someone

A

virer une personne

88
Q

back to salt mines

A

retourner au travail après une pause

89
Q

it is a dog-eat-dog world

A

c est un monde de requins

90
Q

bust one’s buns

work one’s butt/ass/arse off

“I really had to ‘Bust My Buns’ In Order To Have The Shipment Ready for UPS Pickup!

A

travailler d arrache pied / bouger le cul

91
Q

to take an exam/ to sit an exam/ to do an exam

A

se présenter/ passer un exam

92
Q

to mess things up

You want to mess things up making crazy accusations?

A

tout gâcher/ tout faire foirer

Tu veux tout foutre en l’air avec tes accusations

93
Q

he worshipped as a child

A

il adorait quand il était enfant

94
Q

bad puns

A

mauvais jeux de mots

95
Q

to toot your own horn/ to blow your own horn

A

se jeter des fleurs/ se lancer des fleurs/ se vanter

96
Q

hat trick

A

coup du. chapeau ( marquer 3 points)

97
Q

to leave out in the cold

The companies felt that they had been left out in the cold by their own President.

A

écarter /Mettre à l’écart

Ces entreprises se sont senties lâchées par leur propre président

98
Q

nefarious contest

A

concours infâme

99
Q

To the victor go the spoils

A

le vainqueur rafle la mise

100
Q

to feel let down

A

être déçu/ être désappointé

101
Q

to look the other way

A

fermer les yeux

102
Q

all bets are off

A

tout est possible/ les paris sont ouverts

103
Q

the casualties would have been worse

A

les conséquences auraient été pires

104
Q

don t put words in my mouth

A

ne me fait pas dire ce que je n ai pas dit

105
Q

the grass is (always) greener (on the other side)

A

l herbe est (toujours) plus verte ailleurs

106
Q

Have a heart of gold

A

etre bon comme du bon pain

107
Q

have time to kill

A

avoir du temps a tuer

108
Q

to kick the bucket

A

casser sa pipe
passer l arme à gauche