Mots difficiles en anglais

to dent

[+car] cabosser I dented my car.   
ébranler (fig.) That sort of thing dents your confidence. 

trump

atout she played a trump = elle a joué atout.
[+card] couper
(=outdo) surenchérir sur The Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank has trumped Lloyds by raising its offer   
to turn up trumps (=succeed against expectation) = créer la surprise Sylvester Stallone has come up trumps at the US box office with his new movie Cliffhanger   
trump card = atout, carte maîtresse

bootleg

de contrebande bootleg record (=bootlegged) = enregistrement pirate
bootlegger = contrebandier

flotsam

morceaux d'épave
flotsam and jetsam morceaux d'épave et détritus
the flotsam and jetsam of society = les laissés-pour-compte de la société

jetsam

objets jetés à la mer et rejetés sur la côte

titbit

friandise
potin a juicy titbit about sb = une belle sur qn she told me a juicy titbit about Claire.  

off the record

officieusement

upfront

[person] franc they tended to have a much more up-front attitude you should be up front about it.

internecine

[conflict, war, quarrel] mutuellement destructeur
internecine feud = querelle intestine
internecine rivalry = rivalité intestine

gambit

tactique a clever political gambit.
opening gambit the opening gambit in an internecine war

in a nutshell

en résumé,en un mot

uptown

quartiers résidentiels, quartiers chics
huppé
uptown girl = bourgeoise

anchor

[+TV, radio] présentateur (= anchorman)
to anchor = présenter

to lure

attrait the lure of rural life keep him away from the lure of other women.
attirer par la ruse to lure sb into sth : they were being lured into a trap he had lured her into his room.   
[+customers] attirer to lure sb into [+shop, restaurant] = attirer qn dans they use low prices to lure customers into their superstores.

to tout

to tout for sth = chercher qch An attempt to tout for a sponsor   
to tout for business = chercher du travail
faire l'article pour an US election campaign, with slick television ads touting the candidates the practice of using celebrities to tout products   
to be touted as sth = être présenté comme qch The product is touted as being completely natural.

slick

sophistiqué, très au point There's a big difference between an amateur video and a slick Hollywood production.   
fluide a slick gear change.
[person, speech] mielleux slick politicians. 
oil slick = nappe de pétrole, marée noire The oil slick is now 35 miles long.

to partake

participer, prendre part à you will probably be asked about whether you partake in vigorous sports
to partake of [+food, drink] prendre He refused to partake of the modest meal she had prepared.

swallow

hirondelle

chubby

potelé, rondelet, obèse

frantic

(=out of one's mind) affolé(e)  
A bird had been locked in and was by now quite frantic   
to go frantic  être dans tous ses états 
I was going frantic.  J'étais dans tous mes états. 
to be frantic with worry  être fou d'inquiétude 
We were frantic with worry.   
  (=hectic) frénétique 
... a frantic week of high-level discussions.   
  [efforts, activity] frénétique 
Ambulancemen made frantic efforts to revive him   
  (=desperate) 
[need, desire] effréné(e)

to lay sth bare

mettre qch/qn à nu the newspaper laid bare the TV star's drug excesses Berlusconi laid bare

tit-for-tat

oeil pour oeil, dent pour dent. donnant donnant.
It's tit for tat: c'est un prêté pour un rendu.
To give tit for tat: répondre du tac au tac.
To give somebody tit for tat: rendre la pareille à quelqu'un.
a series of tit-for-tat expulsions =  une escalade des expulsions

edible

comestible edible mushrooms   
mangeable  some of the food was barely edible. 

whopping

exorbitant he will do it for a whopping fee.
spectaculaire whopping pay increases.
[lie, mistake] énorme sometimes a whopping mistake in your writing is completely invisible to you until you print it out

to buckle

boucler, attacher « he hadn't buckled his safety belt »  
voiler « the car clipped my bicycle wheel and badly buckled it the door was beginning to buckle from the intense heat. »
céder « the parents would have buckled under that sort of pressure  » 
[leg, knee] céder « his knees buckled and he fell backwards »

demise

décès « Smoking was the cause of his early demise. »  
mort, fin « the demise of the reform movement  »

to stagger

chanceler , tituber I staggered to the nearest chair.
stupéfier an event that staggered the world.
[holidays] étaler, échelonner The summer holidays are staggered.

to holler

brailler

the hoi polloi

la plèbe

tweezers

pince à épiler => a pair of tweezers

bouncer

videur

to gallivant around

se balader (=to go gallivanting) I can't go gallivanting like a youngster A girl's place is in the home, not gallivanting around and filling her head with nonsense.

Oprah rich

être aussi riche qu'Oprah Winfrey now I'm Oprah rich

to give sb a tongue-lashing

houspiller After a cruel tongue lashing, he threw the girl out of the group.

cunt

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

spoof

parodie « a spoof of a popular movie »
canular (=hoax)

to parch

dessécher The hot sun parched the bare earth.

break-a-leg

merde! (dans le sens : "bonne chance!")

blister

ampoule, cloque

to make up for

compenser I'm sorry I broke your vase - I'll make up for it. What the country lacks in natural resources it makes up for in bright ideas.

swine

pourceau, porc swine flu
salaud he realised what a swine he had been.

gruesome

horrible There has been a series of gruesome murders in the capital.

raving mad

fou à lier
ravings = divagations

kith and kin

parents et amis Why did no one think to mention that Van Garretts are kith and kin to the Van Tassels?

to cling to

se cramponner, s'accrocher à The human baby is too weak to cling to its mother The adults cling to old emotional values.

to (be on the) rampage

se déchaîner Hundreds of fans went on the rampage after the match.   
se livrer à des saccages gangs of youths rampaged on the fringes of the demonstration They went rampaging through the town.

whizz

to whizz along = filer à toute vitesse
to whizz past = passer à toute vitesse Ten minutes later, the rest of the cyclists whizzed past.
whizz kid = petit prodige a financial whizz kid.

changeling

enfant substitué à un autre

spitfire

(fig.) furie, hystérique with a few pricey gifts you'll be able to tame that little spitfire.

tame

apprivoisé « They've got a tame hedgehog. »
[story, style, match, film] fade « Some of today's political demonstrations look rather tame.    »
apprivoiser, dompter, dresser « The Amazons were the first to tame horses. »
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