1500 русских и 1500 английских идиом, фразеологизмов и устойчивых словосочетаний. А. И. Григорьева

ong>ад кромешный

      (a) hell on earth

      The wounded soldiers described the battle as ‘hell on earth’.

      альфа и омега

      the alpha and omega

      ангельское терпение

      the patience of Job

      You need the patience of Job to deal with customers like that.

      Ахиллесова пята

      Achilles’ heel; a chink in someone’s armour

      His Achilles’ heel is that he always wants to be right.

      The lack of experience may be a chink in his armour.

      бабушкины сказки

      an old wives’ tale

      It is an old wives’ tale that drinking milk prevents cold.

      бабье лето

      an Indian summer

      бальзам на душу

      music to someone’s ears

      What he said was music to my ears.

      бедный как церковная крыса

      (as) poor as a church mouse

      My uncle was as poor as a church mouse.

      без всякого преувеличения

      to say the least

      Her behaviour towards her boss was very rude, to say the least.

      без обиняков

      straight from the shoulder

      John told me, straight from the shoulder, that he was not at all pleased with my work.

      бить баклуши

      to twiddle one’s thumbs

      Don’t sit around twiddling your thumbs. Get down to work!

      бить в цель

      to hit the mark

      His remarks hit the mark perfectly and really provided an important message for the graduating students.

      бить мимо цели

      to miss the mark

      His speech missed the mark and he failed to gain support from the audience.

      бить ниже пояса (кого-л.)

      to hit someone below the belt; to be below the belt

      In the run-up to the election, he won’t hesitate to hit his opponent below the belt.

      Her remarks about my money problems were a bit below the belt.

      биться головой о стену

      to bang one’s head against a brick wall

      He was banging his head against a brick wall trying to teach that dog to obey.

      биться не на жизнь, а на смерть

      to fight tooth and nail

      They fought tooth and nail to defend their son against the false accusations.

      благодарить судьбу

      to thank one’s lucky stars

      You can thank your lucky stars that she was there to help you.

      блаженное неведение

      a fool’s paradise

      You are living in a fool’s paradise if you think that the business will recover shortly.

      бледный как полотно

      (as) white as a sheet

      He looked as white as a sheet after the accident.

      блуждать в потемках

      to be in the dark

      I’m totally in the dark about what’s going on.

      Бог его знает

      God knows!

      Will we ever win? – God knows!

      боевое крещение

      baptism of fire

      He was given a very important project to carry out in his first month. It was a real baptism of fire.

      Боже мой!

      good God/gracious/grief!; oh dear!; dear me!

      Good God! You’ve finished the work already!

      Oh dear! I’ve lost my keys.

      Dear me! I forgot to phone him.

      Боже упаси!

      God/heaven forbid!

      I hope we won’t have any trouble with the car. – God forbid!

      бок о бок

      side by side

      They walked along the river side by side.

      более или менее

      more or less

      The distance is ten miles, more or less.

      Have you finished yet? – More or less.

      большая шишка

      a big cheese/gun/noise/shot/wheel

      Bill’s father is quite a big shot in the government.

      бояться собственной тени

      to be afraid of one’s own shadow

      Jane never goes anywhere – she seems to be afraid of her own shadow.

      брать быка за рога

      to take the bull by the horns

      I decided to take the bull by the horns and asked my boss for a holiday.

      брать верх (над кем-л./чем-л.)

      to get the upper hand (over someone/something)

      Our team managed to get the upper hand in the end.

      брать голыми руками (кого-л.)

      to beat someone hands down

      The last time we played chess he beat me hands down.

      брать за душу

      to tug at the heartstrings

      The story of a lost child was one that really pulled at the heartstrings.

      брать свои слова обратно

      to eat one’s words

      You shouldn’t say that to me. I’ll make you eat your words.

      брать себя в руки

      to get a grip on oneself; to pull oneself together

      Come on, get a grip on yourself and tell me what happened.

      She started to panic but managed to pull herself together.

      брать