Unit 17 Flashcards
think on one’s feet
React quickly, be mentally agile, as in Reporters bombarded him with difficult questions, but Bill was very good at thinking on his feet . This expression uses on one’s feet in the sense of “wide awake, alertly.” [First half of 1900s]
on the spur of the moment
- on impulse; without premeditation; “he decided to go to Chicago on the spur of the moment”; “he made up his mind suddenly”
suddenly
Snap decision
in a quick.without thinking of consequences.
Approach
- (= come near) [+ place] → acercarse a, aproximarse a; [+ person] → abordar, dirigirse a
he approached the house → se acercó or aproximó a la casa
a man approached me in the street → un hombre me abordó en la calle - (with request etc) → dirigirse a; (= speak to) → hablar con
have you tried approaching the mayor? → ¿has probado a dirigirte al alcalde?
have you approached your bank manager about the loan? → ¿has hablado con el gerente del banco sobre el préstamo?
he is difficult to approach → no es fácil abordarle - (= tackle) [+ subject, problem, job] → abordar
we must approach the matter with care → tenemos que abordar el asunto con mucho cuidado
I approach it with an open mind → me lo planteo sin ningún prejuicio
it all depends on how we approach it → depende de cómo lo enfoquemos - (= approximate to) (in quality) → aproximarse a; (in appearance) → parecerse a
here the colour approaches blue → aquí el color tira a azul
it was approaching midnight → era casi medianoche
the performance approached perfection → la interpretación rayaba en la perfección
he’s approaching 50 → se acerca a los 50
no other painter approaches him (fig) → no hay otro pintor que se le pueda comparar
to do something because you want to rather than for practical reasons Don’t let your heart rule your head. If you lend him that money you’ll never see it again.
means your making choices based on emotions and not your mind/logical thought
let your heart rule your head
to do something without worrying about the risk or negative results:
I threw caution to the wind and bought the most expensive one.
Pisar na jaca
throw caution to the wind/winds
Agonized over
you feel very anxious about it and spend a long time thinking about it.
Perhaps he was agonizing over the moral issues involved…
whereas
Enquanto que
Ao passo que
Já que
in addition to the bad thing already mentioned We missed the bus, and on top of that it started raining.
See also: of, on, that, top
on top of that
da mesma maneira
likewise
Além disso
moreover
mod. in a very difficult position; facing a hard decision. I’m between a rock and a hard place. I don’t know what to do.
between a rock and a hard place
lesser of two evils
the less bad thing of a pair of bad things. I didn’t like either politician, so I voted for the lesser of two evils. Given the options of going out with someone I don’t like and staying home and watching a boring television program, I chose the lesser of the two evils and watched television.
See also: evil, lesser, of, two
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Use this phrase when you’ve started to do something, and now it’s too late to stop doing it. For example, if you tell your boss that you’re quitting your job, you can say that “There’s no going back.”
There is no going back
To come before and after, or at both sides of.
Bookend
