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

backcloth

= backdrop = toile de fond (sens propre et fig.)

hanky-panky

galipettes (relations sexuelles)
entourloupes, magouilles

tenure

bail
occupation (d'un poste) during his tenure as chairman = pendant qu'il occupait le poste de président
to have tenure (university) = être titulaire

wtf

initiales de "what the fuck". Wtf, where have they been?!!

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

blooper

gaffe, faux pas

binge

to go on a binge (=spree) = faire la bringue
they went on a shopping binge = ils sont allés dépenser du fric dans les magasins
an eating binge = une grosse bouffe
beuverie bringue (cf.: binge drinking)

hélice d'avion

plane propeller
propeller aircraft = avion à hélice

hopscotch

marelle to play hopscotch

slumber party

soirée entre copines (au cours de laquelle on regarde des films, on discute et on dort toutes ensemble).
slumber = sommeil

to proofread

corriger, relire

embers

braise

foghorn

corne de brume
a voice like a foghorn = une voix tonitruante / de stentor

murky

noir, sombre
boueux, trouble the murky waters of politics
sale
fig.: a murky episode = une histoire trouble. A murky past = un passé trouble.

little girl's room

toilettes where's the little girl's ?

to quell

[revolt, opposition] réprimer, étouffer
[emotion] dompter, maîtriser
[pain] apaiser, soulager I married her to give the illusion of meaning, to quell the panic.
[doubts, fears] dissiper

washout

[party, plan] fiasco, échec
[person] raté he's a big washout!

midget

nain, minuscule

banter

badinage He invited me for a coffee and just had banter, you know, like flirty talk...

one's bark is worse than one's bite

expression signifiant que les mots d'une personne dépassent souvent sa pensées et sont souvent pires que ses actions.
You shouldn't worry about her :her bark is worse than her bite and she is really a very nice person.

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)

simpleton

nigaud

limp

boiter, fait de boiter she was limping badly = elle boitait beaucoup. because of his limp = parce qu'il boite. the accident left him with a limp = depuis son accident il boite.
mou « adding volume and lift to limp hair. »

safekeeping

(bonne) garde she was given the documents for safekeeping

to lash out

donner des coups -> she lashed out in all directions = elle se débattit de toutes ses forces
fig.: fustiger -> he lashed out at his critics = il a fustigé ses détracteurs

loot

piller
looting = pillage

pickle

cornichon
pétrin to be in a pickle = être dans le pétrin, être dans de beaux draps

grim

sévère, dur, inistre, lugubre

Tits Mcgee

fille à grosse poitrine

when in Rome, do as the Romans do

à Rome, fais comme les Romains (expression)

to pull together

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.

Mots difficiles en anglais