Lexique des mots difficiles en anglais, Capes d'anglais, TOEFL, TOEIC

when in Rome, do as the Romans do

à Rome, fais comme les Romains (expression)

se serrer les coudes they would be far better off, emotionally, if they all pulled together. In times of crisis, we all need to pull together.
to pull o.s. together = se ressaisir She made an effort to pull herself together before going into the room.

baloney

idioties, balivernes

heinie

cul You have an absolutely breathtaking heinie!

dart

fléchette

shoddy

de mauvaise qualité shoddy workmanship = du travail mal fait a shoddy imitation = une piètre imitation

dowry

dot the car was offered as dowry for the marriage

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

amenities

agréments, équipements urban amenities

squirt

faire gicler (liquide), faire jaillir squirt some oil on the hinges = mettez quelques gouttes d'huile sur les gonds. they were squirting each other with water = they were squirting water at each other he squirted some soda water into his whisky.
giclée, jet [of mustard, ketchup, etc]
péj.: minus, avorton, mioche

forensics

médecine légale (=forensic science)

to foster

accueillir
placer -> the children were fostered (out) at an early age les enfants
foster child = enfant masculin placé dans une famille d'accueil
foster home = famille d'accueil
foster mother/father = mère/père de la famille d'accueil

to cut right to the chase

aller droit au but, ne pas y aller par quatre chemins. « Let's cut right to the chase »

steep

[hill, road] raide, abrupt, escarpé it's a steep climb to the village ; the plane went into a steep dive = l'avion se mit à piquer du nez
[increase, fall] fort a steep drop in share prices = une forte chute du prix des actions
[unreasonable] it's a bit steep asking us to do all that work by Friday! = c'est un peu fort or un peu raide de nous demander de faire tout ce travail pour vendredi
to steep = (faire) tremper, macérer, mariner fig.: I want to steep myself in the atmosphere of the place.

wart

verrue, excroissance
wart hog = phacochère

to peruse

lire attentivement, examiner, consulter « We perused the company's financial statements for the past five years. » « She found the information while she was perusing a copy of Life magazine. »

woe

malheur, infortune The woes of economic reform: poverty and income inequality.
a tale of woe = une histoire triste « a tale of woe with a happy ending »
a cry of woe un = cri de détresse
hélas woe is me! = pauvre de moi!

forgery

contrefaçon, falsification, faux.
to prosecute somebody for forgery = poursuivre quelqu'un pour faux (et usage de faux)

to befriend

prendre en amitié, se prendre d'amitié pour. He was befriended by a colleague.
venir en aide à, aider

hiya

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

breadth

largeur the stage is 60 metres in breadth = la scène a 60 mètres de large

seam

couture your coat is falling apart at the seams = votre manteau se découd. my suitcase is bursting at the seams = ma valise est pleine à craquer
joint, soudure
fig.: their marriage falling apart at the seams = leur mariage craque

seamless

sans couture
fig.: homogène, cohérent

to withhold

refuser to withhold payment = refuser de payer
taire, cacher to withhold the truth from somebody = cacher la vérité à quelqu'un.

ridge

crête, arrête, faite

shield

bouclier, écran protecteur he used his left hand as a shield against the reflecting sunlight = il se servit de sa main gauche pour protéger ses yeux de la lumière du soleil.
trophée our school won the sports shield last year.
to shield = protéger a parasol to shield her from the sun.

quaint

[concept, idea, word] désuet in 2015 information will only come in video, and text and images will become some quaint, outdated media, like engravings are now. quaint old 50s phrases. the Seventies disco craze now seems impossibly quaint and dated.
pittoresque quaint little shops and arcade restaurants.

tedious

fastidieux such lists are long and tedious to read.
[conversation] insipide

cumbersome

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

elation

allégresse the elation of victory.
exaltation

shimmer

miroitement, chatoiement
miroiter, chatoyer
shimmering = miroitement, miroitant

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.

thrifty

économe My mother taught me to be thrifty ; thrifty shoppers.

stutter

bégaiement « I didn't notice his stutter at first. »
to have a stutter = bégayer -> « He's got a stutter. »

thanks a bunch

Merci mille fois!

breadcrumbs

miettes de pain
chapelure, panure coated in breadcrumbs
web => fil d'Ariane

music theory

solfège.
staff = portée
key signature = armature
beam = lien (entre 2 ou plusieurs croches)
stem = hampe (barre verticale vers le haut ou le bas, sur ttes les notes sauf la ronde)
treble clef = clé de sol
bass clef = clé de fa
tuplet = triolet
whole (note) = ronde
half (note) = blanche
quarter (note) = noire
eighth (note) = croche
sixteenth (note) = double croche
thirty-second (note) = triple croche
sixty-fourth (note) = quadruple croche

Mots difficiles en anglais