A |
about to |
Peggy is about to leave. |
in advance |
We booked the tickets in advance. |
alive and kicking |
I love Berlin. It's alive and kicking. |
all of a sudden |
I went out in the sun. Then, all of a sudden, it started to rain. |
all over the place |
There are environmental problems all over
the place. |
B |
to go from bad to worse |
My marks went from bad to worse last term. |
to bag sth. |
Tom bagged this special offer at an online-shop. |
beat-up |
Mark is too beat-up to play tennis this evening. |
to do the best |
He always does his best. |
blabber |
Don't listen to him, he's a blabber. |
to blag sth. |
Once in a while young Tim blags his father's cigarettes. |
bloody |
What a bloody day! |
to be blue |
She's been feeling blue all day. |
bouncer |
A bouncer's task is to keep out those who might cause trouble. |
bowl of cherries |
Marriage it's not always bowls of cherries. |
be broke |
I can't go to the cinema with you, I'm broke. |
to brush up on sth. |
I have to brush up on my Spanish. |
buck |
You can buy a DVD player for less than 100 bucks (dollars). |
butt |
You're a pain in the butt. |
buzz |
Parachuting gives me a real buzz. |
Buzz off! |
Buzz off! I have told you not to come to my place anymore. |
C |
a close call |
I had a close call. A stone almost hit me! |
to catch sth. |
Sorry, I didn't quite catch your telephone number. |
to catch (a) cold |
I walked out in the rain, so I caught (a) cold. |
not to have a clue |
I don't have a clue about repairing the faucet. |
Come off it! |
Come off it! This isn't the truth. |
as far as I'm concerned |
As far as I'm concerned, I'd like to watch the film. |
cop |
A big crowd of cops gathered in front of the Bank of England. |
corner shop |
Mother really liked corner shops when she was a child. |
cram school |
Many pupils have to go to a cram school in the afternoon. |
on credit |
I'd not buy the new TV on credit. |
cut |
Mr Brown made big cuts of $500 million. |
D |
damned |
I hate going through that damned rush hour. |
to dig in one's heels |
If you take or express an opinion and refuse to change it, you dig in your
heels. |
to disrespect sb. |
Poor people shouldn't be disrespected. |
to do one's best |
He does his best to fix the car. |
to do someone good |
Let's go on a holiday. The sun will do us good. |
to do without |
If there's no milk for the tea, it'll do without. |
down under |
Down under will be my next destination. |
E |
to be up to one's ears |
Sorry, I can't go out with you. I'm up to my ears in work. |
every now and then |
Every now and then I play the piano. |
every other |
He comes to me every other week. |
to see eye to eye |
World Bank and IMF see eye to eye on Asia |
F |
fair enough |
Fair enough! Let's go out for dinner tonight. |
fiddle |
Especially fiddles are necessary to play folk music. |
to keep the fingers crossed |
I have to see the doctor for a checkup. - I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. |
flutter |
The old lady loves a flutter on the slot machine. |
folk |
We all are fond of the Irish folk. |
for free |
I was lucky. I got this CD for free. |
freak out |
Ron freaked out when he heard that Peter had broken his car. |
fridge |
Butter must be kept in the fridge. |
G |
to get a lot of stick |
In his new job Jack gets a lot of stick. |
to get cold feet |
He wanted to speak to the boss, but he didn't. He got cold feet. |
to get fed up with sth. |
They get fed up with their neighbour's parties. |
to get rid of sth. |
We have to get rid of that old car. |
to get sth. |
Jason, did you finally get your exercise? |
to take sth. for granted |
I took it for granted the meeting was on Tuesday. |
greasy spoon |
I'd rather starve instead of eating at a greasy spoon. |
groovy |
This cocktail tastes groovy. |
guy |
Jennifer fell in love with the guy from the supermarket. |
H |
had better |
You'd better go now. |
on the other hand |
Sue likes pop music, on the other hand she doesn't like discos. |
to give a hand |
Can you give me a hand with the cupboard? |
hard graft |
Building our house has been a hard graft. |
by heart |
My brother has to learn the poem by heart. |
hip |
Molly always knows what's hip. |
to hold s.o.'s horses |
"Hold your horses," I said when John began to leave the room. |
to be hooked on sth. |
Bill is hooked on car racing. |
J |
to jump down sb.'s throat |
The boss jumped down my throat because I was late for work. |
K |
knackered |
What has happened? You look so knackered. |
to keep an eye on sth./sb. |
Will you keep an eye on my baby? |
L |
little by little |
Andrew had an accident while playing ice-hockey. Little by little he begins to walk. |
to look forward to sb. |
I look forward to my holidays in Rome. |
M |
to make ends meet |
She's been out of work for years. How can she make ends meet with four children? |
to make friends easily |
Chris makes friends easily. |
to make oneself at home |
Come in, please. Make yourself at home. |
to make the most |
Let's make the most of the last day of our holidays. |
to make up one's mind |
Did you make up your mind to buy a new computer? |
mash |
I love Grandma's homemade mash. |
What's the matter? |
You look sad. What's the matter with you? |
to be mean |
Grandfather is mean with money. |
to meet sb. halfway |
I don't like his ideas, but I can imagine that we should meet halfway. |
to mess around |
The clown messed around to make the children laugh. |
to mess up |
Sandy has really messed up this time. |