[person] gavé (=full up) « But you're just so stuffed you won't be able to drink anything. » to be stuffed full = être bourré à craquer « his wallet was stuffed full. »
s'en mêler « It's best not to meddle. » to meddle in sth = se mêler de qch « What had induced the woman to meddle in his affairs? » to meddle with sth = se mêler de qch « I dared not meddle with my wife's plans. »
faux jeton, tire-au-flanc : « John called in sick to work again today. He's such a flake. »« Mary said she would do the research for our project, but it's been a week and she hasn't done a thing. She's such a flake. »
rusé, malin « on their second raid they were more cunning. » [device, idea] astucieux astuce , ruse (péj.) « they achieved their aim by stealth and cunning. »
étreinte, prise serrer fort the boy's mother was sitting clutching a handkerchief. to clutch at sth = se cramponner à qch Ella stood outside, vainly trying to clutch at the door handle (fig) sauter sur qch She would have clutched at any excuse to miss school for the day. [+car] embrayage (clutch pedal) « Gently release the clutch pedal until you feel the car trying to pull away. »
trop cool « That party was off the hook! » (=off the chain « this party is really off the chain!! ») to get off the hook = se tirer d'affaire « Government officials accused of bribery and corruption often get off the hook. » to let sb off the hook = laisser qn s'en tirer « the Opposition has let the government off the hook » to take the phone off the hook = décrocher le téléphone
implacable « the pressure now was relentless. The relentless heat of the desert. » (=la chaleur implacable du désert). [rain] continuel(le) [person, enemy, pursuit] implacable (=never giving up) « He was relentless in his pursuit of quality »« He was the most relentless enemy I have ever known »
masquer protéger « I moved in front of her trying to screen her. The house is screened from the road by high hedges. She screened her eyes from the wind. » [+film] projeter , diffuser « The series is likely to be screened in January. » [+candidates, employees] contrôler « The Secret Service screens several hundred people every week »« women screened for breast cancer » [+telephone calls] filtrer « I employ a secretary to screen my telephone calls »
[car, jacket, bag] qui a du chic, qui a de la classe (=stylish) [place] chouette « Bridgeport was a pretty nifty place » [gadget, tool] astucieux « this nifty Add-On lets you search our full database from your browser »« a couple of nifty tricks that I've seen scattered around the Internet. »
bousculade « There was a mad scramble for the back seat. » (=il y eut une folle bousculade pour la place du fond.) lutte « in their scramble for top spot in the charts » (=dans leur lutte pour la première place au hit-parade). the scramble for jobs = la ruée sur les emplois avancer péniblement « Tourists were scrambling over the rocks. » (= les touristes avançaient péniblement dans les rochers). to scramble for [+door, exit] se ruer vers « I scrambled for the door » to scramble for [+tickets, shares, prize] s'arracher « More than three million fans are expected to scramble for tickets. » [+signal, message] brouiller [+eggs] brouiller
crampe « I had the most excruciating cramp in my leg. » génant (=awkward) « when u get 2 people in a room who dont like each other, its cramp, for u and for them. »« I caught my brother havin sex... ahhhh, cramp! » to cramp sb's style = priver qn de ses moyens « He thinks marriage would cramp his style. »
on tiptoe = sur la pointe des pieds « They stretched their arms and stood on tiptoe. » to tiptoe= marcher sur la pointe des pieds « He tiptoed out of the room » (=il sortit de la chambre sur la pointe des pieds). « she tiptoed to the window » (=elle alla à la fenêtre sur la pointe des pieds).
[+rope, bandage] to wind sth around sth = enrouler qch autour de qch → « wind the wire round the screws. → She wound the bandage around his knee. » [+clock, toy] remonter → « he stopped to wind his watch. » [road, river] serpenter → to wind through sth = serpenter à travers qch → « The river winds through the town. → The road winds through the valley. »
[idea] excentrique, loufoque grincheux, revêche (=bad-tempered) there was no point in being cranky and not talking to him Why are you so cranky today? Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?
bataille → « a contractual wrangle between a football club and a player → he was involved in a legal wrangle with his cousin. » to wrangle = se disputer → to wrangle with sb over sth (=se battre contre qn au sujet de qch) → « she had wrangled bitterly with her ex-husband over contact with their children. »
confiture « strawberry jam » [+shoppers] cohue traffic jam = bouchon to be in a jam = être dans le pétrin « I'm in a real jam, I've got an important meeting at 9 and the damned car won't start. »« He finds himself in exactly the same jam as his brother was in ten years ago. » to get sb out of a jam = « tirer qn du pétrin » encombrer, obstruer, saturer crowds jammed the streets. « The office phone lines are jammed by callers opposed to the sale. TV viewers jammed BBC switchboards to complain. »
tremper → « water came in the tent and soaked both sleeping bags. » [+dishes, pots] faire tremper, laisser tremper → « soak the material in bleach for several hours. »
c'est une attrape; il y a anguille sous roche « you can fly Skybus for 10 bucks, but there's a catch! » cf.: pitfall piège, chausse-trape « The pitfalls of working abroad are numerous. »
cocher → « he ticked off our names on the list. » passer un savon à qn → « She ticked me off for being late. » mettre qn en rogne → « I just think it's rude and it's ticking me off. » to be ticked off at sb = être en rogne contre qn → « she's still ticked off at him for brushing her off » (brush off = envoyer balader).
froid → she turned on the fire to take the chill from the air. coup de froid → she caught a bad chill. frisson → The sound sent a chill down my spine. faire frissonner → the marble floor was beginning to chill me. spine-chilling : à vous glacer le sang
chill out = se relaxer chilled out = décontracté → « I'm a lot more chilled out now than I used to be. → a club with a chilled-out atmosphere. »
rester en travers de la gorge (fig.) → I've tried very hard to forget it but it still rankles. to rankle with sb → his behaviour rankles with me still = sa conduite me reste encore en travers de la gorge.
avoir envie de « do you fancy a cup of tea? »« I fancy an ice cream »« do you fancy going to see a movie sometime? » plaire « he fancies her » = elle lui plaît. de luxe, huppé, chic (=swiwh) « I have eaten in every fancy restaurant in this town »« they sent me to a fancy private school. » fantaisie,imagination « is it fact or fancy? » Est-ce réel ou imaginaire? « He paints whatever his fancy suggests. » to have a fancy (that) = avoir l'idée que « I have a slight fancy that the trophy will stay in Scotland this time. » croire « he fancied that he saw a shadow pass close to the window. » a passing fancy = un caprice « She did not suspect that his interest was just a passing fancy. » a childhood fancy = un rêve d'enfance « It was just a childhood fancy »« I had a childhood fancy that I would one day be famous. » to take a fancy to [+person] se prendre d'affection pour to take sb's fancy, to catch sb's fancy = plaire à qn « He bought a vase that had taken his fancy. »« It took my fancy »= ça m'a plu.
avoir mal au cœur, avoir envie de vomir (=to feel nauseous) « I started feeling dizzy and nauseous. » nauseous = nauséabond, écœurant « he found her Sixties idealism nauseous. » ◊ prononcer NOSHOUS
dans le sens des aiguilles d'une montre → « he pushed the bolt (verrou) back in and twisted it clockwise. » counterclockwise (direction) = dans le sens inverse des aiguilles d'une montre → « the dance moves in a counterclockwise direction. »
scintiller, briller → « her jewellery glittered under the spotlight → The Palace glittered with lights → His eyes glittered with amusement. » éclat → « the glitter and glamour of her life » paillettes → « Christmas cards covered with glitter »
déposer → « we dumped our stuff at the hotel. » jeter abandonner → « the car was dumped on the motorway. » to dump waste = déverser des déchets →« the company dumped the waste in the river. » vendre à bas prix plaquer → « he's just dumped his girlfriend. »
au poisson, de poisson « this will help to eliminate any fishy odours. » suspect, louche (=dodgy)
there's something fishy = il y a quelque chose de louche ; il y a anguille sous roche
se glisser « they watched the boy creep towards the bush. » to creep across sth = traverser qch à pas de loup
saligaud, sale type « leave me alone, you creep » he's a creep (c'est un sale type)
to give sb the creeps = donner la chair de poule, faire froid dans le dos It gives me the creeps (ça me fait froid dans le dos). to creep up = grimper « interest rates were creeping up »
creepy = qui fait frissonner, qui donne la chair de poule (=frightening) « his creepy old house may be haunted » [person] sinistre « what secrets is their creepy landlord hiding? »