Mots difficiles en anglais

call off

annuler, [+engagement] rompre → « the strike was called off after three days. »

cameltoe

slang term that refers to the outline of a woman's vulva when seen through tight, form-fitting clothes

candid

franc, sincère « a candid discussion » « many politicians are still not willing to be candid about this affair. »
candid camera = caméra cachée

carb

glucide (=carbohydrate) « I'd rather get my carbs from eating a banana than an energy bar. »        
a low-carb diet = un régime pauvre en glucides.

carol

chant joyeux
Christmas carol = chant de Noël
carol singer = chanteur de chant de Noël
to chanter = chanter

cartwheel

roue de charrette
to turn a cartwheel = faire la roue

case in point

(to be a) case in point = être un bon exemple Lack of communication causes relationships to fail. Your parents' marriage is a case in point.

cast

[+glance] jeter « he kept casting worried glances over his shoulder. »
[+shadow] projeter « The smoky fires cast shadows over the wide circle of faces. »
(fig) to cast a shadow over sth = jeter une ombre sur qch « this case cast a shadow over the 2004 Olympics »
to cast one's eye over sth = jeter un œil sur qch « early in the evening the men don't even cast an eye over the girls. »
to cast doubt on sth = jeter le doute sur qch « the Minister had cast doubt on some of the beliefs of his party. »
to cast a spell on sb = envoûter qn « she cast a spell on the whole audience. »
to cast aside = rejeter « a notion which has been cast aside in anger and indignation. »

castaway

naufragé

catch 22

situation inextricable It's Catch 22. Nobody wants to support you until you're successful, but without the support how can you ever be successful?

catchy

air qui trotte dans la tête, facile à retenir
facile à retenir

catwalk

passerelle
podium (de défilé de mode) « models pouting on the catwalk ».
a catwalk show = un défilé de mode

caveat

mise en garde There was one caveat : he was not to enter into a merger or otherwise weaken the Roche family's control of the firm.

chandelier

lustre

changeling

enfant substitué à un autre

cheat sheet

antisèche (littéralement : "feuille de triche").
feuille de référence (ex: en informatique, liste des points essentiels d'un langage)

cheeky

[preson, smile, remark] insolent, culotté, provocateur don't be cheeky! = Ne sois pas insolent! a cheeky smile

cheer

hourra, bravo I heard a cheer go up = j'ai entendu des acclamations three cheers for the winner! = un hourra pour le gagnant!
bonne humeur, gaieté
to cheer = acclamer, pousser des acclamations cheering Crowd
remonter le moral à, réconforter

cheetah

guépard

chickenpox

varicelle

chill

froid → she turned on the fire to take the chill from the air.
coup de froid → she caught a bad chill.
frisson → The sound sent a chill down my spine.
faire frissonner → the marble floor was beginning to chill me.
spine-chilling : à vous glacer le sang

chill out = se relaxer
chilled out = décontracté → « I'm a lot more chilled out now than I used to be. → a club with a chilled-out atmosphere. »

chill

froid « he turned on the fire to take the chill from the air. »        
coup de froid « she caught a bad chill. »        
frisson « the sound sent a chill down my spine. »        

to chill = refroidir, faire frissonner « the marble floor was beginning to chill me. » « There was a coldness in her that chilled him. »
to be chilled to the bone = être transi de froid

to chill out = se relaxer

chin

menton

choke

1- étouffer → Philip choked on his drink → he choked on a fishbone. 2- étrangler → a woman was found choked to death 3- boucher, obstruer → a canal choked with old tyres and dead dogs → the centre of the city was choked with cars. 4- starter → the car is on full choke and it still won't start.

chubby

potelé, rondelet, obèse

chubby

potelé
chubby-faced = joufflu

chuckle

glousser « the joke made me chuckle
»

chunk

gros morceau, gros bout, paquet (fig.) => « they were given chunk of money »
[+bread] quignon  m

chunk

[+meat] gros morceau → to cut the meat into chunks
[+bread] quignon

clockwise

dans le sens des aiguilles d'une montre → « he pushed the bolt (verrou) back in and twisted it clockwise. »
counterclockwise (direction) = dans le sens inverse des aiguilles d'une montre → « the dance moves in a counterclockwise direction. »

closed captioning

sous-titres (=cc)

clover

trèfle  four-leaf clover = trèfle à quatre feuilles
to be in clover = être comme un coq en pâte
à ne pas confondre avec "clubs"(aux cartes) « the king of clubs »

clutch

étreinte, prise
serrer fort the boy's mother was sitting clutching a handkerchief.   
to clutch at sth  = se cramponner à qch Ella stood outside, vainly trying to clutch at the door handle
  (fig)  sauter sur qch She would have clutched at any excuse to miss school for the day.   
[+car] embrayage (clutch pedal) « Gently release the clutch pedal until you feel the car trying to pull away. »

coarse

grossier, épais, dru. Coarse cloth, skin, hair, grass.
grossier, vulgaire (=foul-mouthed) « He objected to her coarse and offensive remarks » « A rather coarse fellow. »
coarse fishing = pêche à la ligne.

coax

to coax sb into doing sth = amadouer qn pour qu'il fasse qch You just coax them into doing it. » he'd finally been coaxed into leaving the armed forces »

cobblestone

pavé « the narrow cobblestone streets of the Left Bank. »

comb

peigne, peigner. A hair comb. « I must comb my hair. »

comprehensively

1- complètement → the house was comprehensively rebuilt → the government has comprehensively rejected the UN resolution 2- à plate couture → England were comprehensively beaten by South Africa. L'Afrique du Sud a battu l'Angleterre à plate couture.

con

escroquerie the whole thing was a big con.

to con = arnaquer, escroquer she's been conned.
to con sb into doing sth = tromper qn pour lui faire faire qch
to con sb out of sth = soutirer qch à qn he goes around conning people out of their money. He conned investors out of up to $1000 each.

con man = conman = escroc A few years ago she was the victim of a con man.

condone

fermer les yeux sur, approuver (tacitement) You cannot condone baby buying

conjuror

prestidigitateur, illusionniste

contractor

entrepreneur  building contractor = entrepreneur en bâtiment

conundrum

énigme, devinette, casse-tête. « The conundrum was what would happen if the program had succeeded. »

conversely

inversement, réciproquement, au contraire « I was a contented child. Axel, conversely, was a very unhappy boy. »

coop

poulailler
to coop up = cloîtrer, enfermer

cot

cotlit d'enfant ; lit de camp
cot death = mort subite du nourrisson

couchy

paresseux, douillet couchy life

covenant

contrat, engagement.
to covenant £200 per year to a charity = s'engager à verser 200 livres par an à une œuvre de bienfaisance 

cover up

[+truth, facts] dissimuler He was trying to cover up why the Mexican president ran off about speaking to the media
to cover up for sb = couvrir qn

coy

faussement effarouché, faussement timide
séducteur a coy little smile.
évasif to be coy over sth, to be coy about sth « The Chancellor was coy over the deal with the Prime Minister. »

cradle

berceau → « from the cradle to the grave = du berceau à la tombe »
bercer → « She cradled a child in her arms. »

cramp

crampe  « I had the most excruciating cramp in my leg. »
génant (=awkward)  « when u get 2 people in a room who dont like each other, its cramp, for u and for them. »  « I caught my brother havin sex... ahhhh, cramp! »
to cramp sb's style = priver qn de ses moyens « He thinks marriage would cramp his style. »

crane

crane = grue (engin ou oiseau) « A gigantic crane collapsed on the houses. » crane driver, crane operator = grutier

cranky

[idea] excentrique, loufoque
grincheux, revêche (=bad-tempered) there was no point in being cranky and not talking to him Why are you so cranky today? Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?

crap

1-(=nonsense) conneries → What a load of crap! 2- nul → Their new album is really crap 3- to have a crap = to crap = chier → Someone had crapped on the doorstep.

crappy

nul

crassness

grossièreté

craving

(for food, cigarettes) envie irrésistible smokers feel cravings roughly an hour after the last cigarette

craze

à la mode the latest craze = le dernier cri, la dernière trouvaille pointy ears is the latest craze

creep

se glisser « they watched the boy creep towards the bush. »
to creep across sth = traverser qch à pas de loup

saligaud, sale type « leave me alone, you creep » he's a creep (c'est un sale type)


to give sb the creeps = donner la chair de poule, faire froid dans le dos It gives me the creeps (ça me fait froid dans le dos).
to creep up = grimper « interest rates were creeping up »


creepy = qui fait frissonner, qui donne la chair de poule (=frightening) « his creepy old house may be haunted » 
[person] sinistre « what secrets is their creepy landlord hiding? »

cripple

boiteux (=lame), infirme
handicaper, paralyser (sens propre et figuré) « Several painful falls that crippled him. » « Much of the developing world is crippled by debts. »

cub

cub petit (d'un animal). Lion cub, fox cub, bear cub. « A lion and her cubs. »
cub reporter = journaliste stagiaire. « He had been a cub reporter for the Kansas City Star. »

cub

cubpetit (d'un animal). « A lion and her cubs. »
lion cub = lionceau
bear cub = ourson
fox cub = renardeau

cuckold

cocu. « But how can you be a cuckold, you don't even have a wife?! »

cue

signal
that's my cue to = c'est le signal pour que je... When she coughs, it's my cue to get up out of the chair.
on cue = au bon moment

cult

culte, secte « The cult leader was convicted of sex crimes. » « The Beatles became the heroes of a world-wide cult. »

cumbersome

(objet) encombrant a cumbersome piece of machinery.
[procédure, système] lourd the increasingly cumbersome bureaucracy.

cunning

rusé, malin « on their second raid they were more cunning. »  
[device, idea] astucieux
astuce , ruse (péj.) « they achieved their aim by stealth and cunning. »

cunt

chatte, foufoune
salaud
cunt nugget : amas de sang séché, résidu de la menstruation connard

curfew

couvre-feu => « the city is under curfew » => « they stayed so late outside that they were breaking curfew. »

curiosity killed the cat

la curiosité est un vilain défaut Just out of curiosity = par curiosité (JOOC)

curse

malédiction they believe that there is a curse fallen on their village
to call down / to put a curse on = maudire quelqu'un
the town is under a curse = la ville est sous le coup d'une malédiction
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