Mots difficiles en anglais

hackneyed

banal, vu et revu, rebattu  « the hackneyed approach of the Conservative government is no longer working. »
hackneyed expression = cliché

hag

(=ugly woman) vieille sorcière some old hag of an actress
(=nasty woman) chameau, harpie

hallmark

marque de fabrique He showed an early streak of political pragmatism that was to become his hallmark.

hand-to-mouth

to live a hand-to-mouth existence = vivre au jour le jour

handler

[+animal] dresseur
baggage handler = bagagiste
tuteur
gestionnaire (programme informatique)
dog handler = maître-chien

hangover

gueule de bois to have a hangover
a hangover from the past = un vestige du passé the official trade union, a hangover from the Soviet past.

hanky-panky

galipettes (relations sexuelles)
entourloupes, magouilles

harness

harnais
to harness [+resources, power, potential] = exploiter « Scientists are trying to harness that power for human medecine »
« Autonomy's range of Virage products enables media companies to harness the true value of their rich media assets »

hassles

(=fuss) histoires « Make that call right now get squared away, no hassles no call backs no telemarketing »
to hassle = enquiquiner
hassle-free : [experience, holiday, journey] peinard

hasten

accélérer, précipiter « This could well hasten the collapse of the country's industry. » « There is no question that Napoleon's doctors hastened his death. »
se hâter, s'empresser  « She hastened back to the house. » « He hastened to assure me that there was nothing to worry about. » « He hastened to say that nobody was hurt. »

hasty

[departure, return] précipité « a hasty departure »  « his hasty return to work after his hospital stay »  
[decision, conclusion] hâtif « I don't want to make any hasty decisions about my future. » « don't be hasty » (=ne prend pas de décision hâtive)
to beat a hasty retreat = prendre ses jambes à son cou

haul

saisie, prise, butin
long-haul = long-courrier the unpleasant side-effects of long-haul flights.

havoc

ravages, dégâts « After the havoc of the war, England had to be rebuilt. »
to cause havoc = semer le chaos « Rioters caused havoc in the centre of the town. »
to wreak havoc = faire des ravages « Invaders will wreak havoc on our cities. »  « Stress can wreak havoc on the immune system. »

haystack

botte de foin « it's like looking for a needle in a haystack » = cela revient à chercher une aiguille dans une botte de foin

haze

1- brume → they vanished into the haze near the horizon → the sun smouldered through a thin summer haze. 2- nuage → he smiled at him through a haze of smoke and steaming coffee → a haze of cigarette smoke. >> hazy = brumeux, vague → a warm, hazy summer → she had only a hazy idea of Britain's prison problems.

head over heels

éperduement
« to fall head over heels in love » = tomber éperduement amoureux

heads or tails

pile ou face We might toss up for it, if it's heads, then we'll talk.

headscarf

foulard, voile. Islamic headscarf.

heap

heaptas, monceau, pile « a heap of clothes » « a heap of coal » « a heap of work » « a heap of problems ».
a rubbish heap = un tas d'ordures  
to be at the bottom / top of the heap = être en bas/haut de l'échelle « if you want to stay on top of the heap. »
heaps = des tas « Is ther misery in your country ? Heaps. »
heaps of = beaucoup de « I've got heaps of work to do » « We've got heaps of time » « a job that might suit someone with heaps of experience. »
to heap = entasser, amonceler « They heaped the dead leaves in the corner of the garden. »        
to heap praise / gifts on sb = couvrir qn d'éloges / de cadeaux  

hearts, clubs, diamonds, spades

coeurs, trèfles, carreaux, piques (cartes) « The ace of hearts, the king of clubs, the queen of diamonds and the jack of spades » : l'as de coeur, le roi de trèfle, la reine de carreau, et le valet de pique

heck

oh heck! = oh zut!  
why the heck ... ?  = pourquoi diable ... ?
what the heck! = et puis zut!  
a heck of a lot of = une sacrée quantité de

hectic

trépidant « I have a very hectic life. »
mouvementé « It has been pretty hectic during the past couple of years. »

heebie jeebies

la frousse (=the creeps) this place gives me the heebie jeebies

heinie

cul You have an absolutely breathtaking heinie!

heinous

odieux, atroce. Heinous crime = crime odieux

heist

hold-up, casse

heist

hold-up, casse, cambriolage. « Jewelry heists happen surprisingly often. What's less common is that the perpetrators get caught. » to heist = faire un casse, un hold-up, braquer, cambrioler

heist

hold-up, casse, braquage, cambriolage. Bank heist ; heist movie.
to heist : faire un casse ; faire un hold-up ; braquer.

hélice d'avion

plane propeller
propeller aircraft = avion à hélice

hem

ourlet

herald

héraut
précurseur « this festival is the herald of a new age. »
annoncer « his rise to power heralded the end of an era. »        
to be heralded as sth = être salué comme qch « Tonight's clash between Real Madrid and Arsenal is being heralded as the match of the season. »

hiccup

(=hiccough)
hoquet
contretemps, petit problème => « The free market system is wonderful, even if once in a while we have a hiccup as we're having right now »

high

défoncé, bourré : « Parker's habit was to cause him to miss gigs and to be fired for being high. »
to be high on sth = être sous l'emprise de qch, être défoncé à qch.
to get high = se défoncer → smoking cannabis to get high
to get high on crack = se défoncer au crack.

high-end

haut de gamme « Mortgage market turmoil is starting to hit buyers of high end homes as interest rates surge on Jumbo loans ».

high-rise

tour d'habitation « I live in a high-rise (building). »
block of high-rise flats = high-rise apartment block = barre, grand ensemble (d'appartements)
high-rise office buildings = tours de bureaux.

hindrance

obstacle Being the daughter of a famous film star can be more of a hindrance than a help in getting your career off the ground.

hint

allusion
to drop a hint = faire une allusion
to give a hint that = laisser entendre que...
  to give a strong hint that =  laisser clairement entendre que... « The Minister gave a strong hint that the government had changed its mind. »
give me a hint (=clue) = mettez-moi sur la voie, donnez-moi une indicatio
to take the hint = comprendre l'allusion
I can take a hint! =  L'allusion ne m'a pas échappé !

to hint (that) = laisser entendre que... « He hinted that he might soon be considering retirement »

hiss

siffler → « the locomotive stood immobile, steam hissing out of its vents → the snake hissed → the audience hissed at the play. »
feuler (chat)→ « my cat hissed when I stepped on its tail. »
grésiller → « droplets of fat hissed in the flames. Des gouttelettes de graisse grésillaient dans les flammes. »
sifflement, grésillement → « the CD banished for ever all the hisses and crackles that had plagued disc recordings until then. Le CD a banni à jamais tous les grésillements et craquements qui étaient jusqu'alors la plaie des enregistrements musicaux. »

hive

(for bees) ruche
(fig) a hive of activity = une véritable ruche « in the morning the house was a hive of activity. »

hives = urticaire « school is giving me hives. »

hiya

salutation informelle (contraction de  hi + you). Hiya love, how's you?

hobo

vagabond you look like a hobo !

holdout

principal obstacle. France has been the holdout in trying to negotiate an end to the dispute.

homemaker

femme au foyer. « His father is a government official and his mother is a homemaker. »

homie

ami (d'enfance)

hood

capuche "Robin Hood" signifie littéralement "Robin la Capuche" et non "Robin des bois".
capot « Let's take a look under the hood. »
truand (=hoodlum) 
Little Red Riding Hood = Le Petit Chaperon rouge

hop

sauter, sauter à cloche-pied
to hop out of bed = sauter du lit
hop in! = montez!

Hop-o'-My-Thumb

Le Petit Poucet

hopscotch

marelle to play hopscotch

hose

tuyau -> a garden hose = un tuyau d'arrosage

hot stuff

sexy she's hot stuff!      
osé his love letters are hot stuff

hound

poursuivre avec acharnement → the newspapers hounded him → to be hounded by the press = être harcelé par la presse
chien de meute
the hounds = la meute

howdy

salut. « Howdy folks! » « Howdy, I'm Tom, we saw each other at the mall. »

HTH

"Hope That Helps" (abréviation utilisée sur les forums)

huckleberry

airelle

huddle

[of people] petit groupe
tas, amas, enchevêtrement
x to go into a huddle (informal) = se réunir en petit comité

to huddle = se blottir they huddled round the fire = ils se sont blottis autour du feu
se recroqueviller, se blottir she was huddling under a blanket
to huddle together = se serrer, se blottir les uns contre les autres
huddled =  blotti, pelotonné, recroquevillé Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses (extrait du poème "The New Colossus" de Emma Lazarus, gravé sur le socle de la Statue de la Liberté)

hue

teinte (couleur)
hue and cry = tollé « There would be a hue and cry if Robbie Williams forgot his songs. »

hug

hugétreinte
to hug = étreindre

hummingbird

hummingbirdcolibri, oiseau-mouche. « Hummingbirds are the smallest birds in the world. »

hump

bosse « The path goes over a large hump. »
(verbe) baiser « She looked so hot he really wanted to hump her. »

humungous

énorme, monstre (fig) « Barbra Streisand is such a humungous star. »

hunch

intuition → « He then had to wait to see if carbon-dating tests showed his hunch to be right. »
my hunch is that = quelque chose me dit que → « My hunch is that the euro will get even weaker »
to have a hunch that = avoir comme une vague idée que
to act on a hunch = suivre son intuition → « Watson had acted on a hunch. »

to hunch one's shoulders = se voûter → « Wes hunched his shoulders and leaned forward on the edge of the counter. »

hunch

intuition → the tests showed his hunch to be right
my hunch is that... = quelque chose me dit que... → My hunch is that the euro will get even weaker
to have a hunch that = avoir comme une vague idée que
to act on a hunch = suivre son intuition

hunchback

bossu « Quasimodo's the hunchback of Notre Dame. »

hustler

prostitué(e) Hi Snoop. What'chu wanna be when you grow up? I wanna be a motherfuckin' hustler !
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