consternation, désarroi much to my dismay = à ma grande consternation, à mon grand désarroi → « I discovered, much to my dismay, that the house was no longer there. »
critiquer to snipe at sb = critiquer qn → « the Spanish media were still sniping at the British press yesterday. » to snipe at sb/sth = tirer sur qn/qch sans se faire voir → « gunmen have repeatedly sniped at US Army positions. »
quitter (le travail) → « what time do you knock off? » piquer → « he was planning to knock off a few videos, but the boss found out. » knock it off! = ferme-la! → « Knock it off, I'm trying to concentrate. »
douteux → « predicting voting trends is a dodgy business. » louche →« he was a bit of a dodgy character → cash made in dodgy underworld deals » peu sûr → « you have to walk across this awfully dodgy rope bridge » to dodge = truc, combine (he tried all sorts of dodges to avoid paying) / = esquiver, éviter.
raide, rigide guindé to be stiff = avoir des courbatures [competition, laws, penalties] sévère → « competition is so stiff that he'll be lucky to get a place at all. » to be bored stiff = s'ennuyer à mourir x to be frozen stiff = être mort de froid to be scared stiff = être mort de peur to be worried stiff = être mort d'inquiétude
puant → « they were locked up in a stinking cell » infect → « you couldn't hide anything in this stinking little town. » a stinking cold = un rhume carabiné → « I've got a stinking cold coming on. » stinking rich = bourré de pognon.
coup sec → after a couple of yanks, the rope came free. to give sth a yank = tirer d'un coup sec sur qch to yank sth open = ouvrir qch d'un coup sec → she yanked open the drawer (=elle ouvrit le tiroir d'un coup sec).
[restaurant, hotel, car] classe bruisser → the curtains swished open (=les rideaux s'ouvrirent dans un bruissement). to swish its tail [horse, cow] = fouetter de la queue.
mettre, installer, organiser
→ A swish gala banquet had been laid on in their honour at the Imperial Hotel. They laid on a special meal (=ils ont organisé un repas soigné). mettre en place → they laid on extra buses (=ils ont mis en place un service de bus supplémentaire). étaler.
[+attention] = avoir un grand besoin de Teenagers crave attention. [+food, drink, cigarette, fresh air] = avoir envie de, avoir terriblement envie de, être avide de « she craved luxury. Baker was craving for a smoke. » = to gasp I'm gasping for a cigarette (je meurs d'envie de fumer une cigarette)
tolérer, supporter « → you're late, Shelly, and I won't put up with it. → She could put up with a lot, but she wouldn't tolerate such violence. → I'm not going to put up with it any longer. »
nul → a lousy movie, a lousy idea. I'm a lousy cook = Je suis nul en cuisine. to be lousy at sth = être nul en qch → he is lousy at public relations. infect → the food in the canteen is lousy.
assistance (=attendance) [+voters] participation it was a good turnout = il y a eu beaucoup de monde. a high turnout = une participation importante. a low turnout = une faible participation, une forte abstention.
[fury, passion, violence] déchaîner → « the fury unleashed by the proposals. » entraîner, déclencher → a ruling that could unleash a torrent of litigation.
locaux they're moving to new premises. » business premises = locaux commerciaux on the premises = sur place, sur les lieux the Director of the hostel lives on the premises. There is a kitchen on the premises. »
coup → « he went to hospital after a blow to the face. → it was a terrible blow when he was made redundant. » to come to blows = en venir aux mains → « the representatives almost came to blows » to be a blow to sth = être un coup pour qch → « a further blow to hopes of peace » to soften the blow, to cushion the blow = amortir le choc
that blows! = c'est archi-nul! → your project blows!
passage → « I first met her during my stint in Washington. » to have a stint as sth = faire un passage en tant que qch → « her brief stint as chief executive » to stint on sth = lésiner sur qch → « don't stint on the sugar. »
intimider → « he often takes on a workload that would daunt a journalistic Samson. » to feel daunted = se sentir intimidé daunting [tâche, projet] = intimidant
effet de levier → « you're going to have so much leverage it's going to pull the screw out. » influence to have leverage with sb = avoir une influence sur qn → « I have no leverage with the committee. » to have the leverage to do sth = pouvoir peser dans la balance pour faire qch.
to sneak in = entrer furtivement to sneak out = sortir furtivement → « that night I sneaked out of my dormitory. » to sneak up on sb = s'approcher de qn sans faire de bruit to sneak a peek at sth = to sneak a look at sth = regarder furtivement qch
truc, combine he tried all sorts of dodges to avoid paying. esquiver, éviter, éluder « he dodged military service by feigning illness. »« He is dodging the question, refusing to answer. »
démarrer → « the train was just pulling out when they arrived. » déboîter → « the car pulled out to overtake. »
se retirer se retirer (de qch) → « the World Bank should pull out of the project. »