Mots difficiles en anglais

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[concept, idea, word] désuet in 2015 information will only come in video, and text and images will become some quaint, outdated media, like engravings are now.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

pond

bassin  « we've got a pond in our garden. »
étang  « ponds attract migrating birds. »   
a duck pond  = une mare aux canards
lily pond = mare aux nénuphars
the pond = l'Atlantique

water lily

nénuphar

gateway

passerelle

scaffolding

échafaudage

bootstrap

amorce, amorcer

kinky

[behaviour] farfelu
[sexually] vicieux, pervers he likes kinky sex = il a des goûts sexuels un peu spéciaux
olé olé kinky rubber underwear = des dessous olé olé en latex
[rope, cable] entortillé, emmêlé
[hair] crépu, frisé

yonder

là-bas The road back ta town runs yonder over them hills.

hose

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

to beef up

renforcer a campaign to beef up security Both sides are still beefing up their military strength.   
étoffer

busty

à la poitrine plantureuse

worrisome

inquiétant « These are indeed worrisome times. »

to build up

remonter build her up with kindness and a sympathetic ear I'm trying to build up his morale.   
don't build your hopes up = ne te fais pas d'illusions.

dork

ringard, pauvre type « family holidays are for dorks! »

stealth

célérité wild animals demand secrecy and stealth from the photographer.
by stealth = furtivement
stealth aircraft = avion furtif

to fondle

caresser He tried to fondle her

dare

défi Is that a dare?   
to do sth for a dare = faire qch pour relever un défi The two students murdered her for a dare.
double dare = double défi

to shun

éviter, fuir

romp

ébats (sexuels)
to romp = s'ébattre dogs and little children romped happily in the garden

doomsday

le Jugement dernier

whack job

dingo, taré You see that guy trying to make water flow uphill? He's a real whack job

heist

hold-up, casse

to be a bombshell

faire l'effet d'une bombe His resignation after thirteen years is a political bombshell.

scam

arnaque, escroquerie

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.

stool

tabouret
bar-stool = tabouret  m  de bar She fell off a bar stool when she was drunk.
piano stool =  tabouret de piano

quirk

bizarrerie. Be aware of quirks like this.
by some quirk of fate = par un caprice du hasard
manie  He was fascinated by people's quirks.

trinket

bibelot
colifichet

to huddle

se blottir we huddle out of the cold in a small, warm room   
to huddle around a fire = se blottir autour d'un feu
to huddle together = se blottir les uns contre les autres
a huddle = un petit groupe they collapsed in a huddle. 

in the lap of the gods

entre les mains du destin (littéralement : sur les genoux des dieux)

to be out of one's league

ne pas être de taille, être hors de portée
Don't even try it, she's way out of your league!
Her success has taken her out of my league : son succès l'a rendue inaccessible aux gens comme moi.

cheeky

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

bait

appât (sens propre et figuré) « he lured the youngsters by using his own children as bait. »
to bait = amorcer, appâter, provoquer « the defense lawyers tried to bait him and get him to act aggressively » « he delighted in baiting his mother. »

jocular

jovial, enjoué, facétieux

mack

séducteur, homme à femmes the mack = the boss Roney Binepal is a Mack.
to mack = flirter, séduire I'm gonna go mack on some fine ass bitches right now.

underrate

sous-estimer « the most underratted aspect of SEO is video »

legwork

travail de terrain
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