Mots difficiles en anglais

kin

famille   « she has gone to live with her husband's kin. »        
kith and kin = parents et amis « his loyalty, he said, was first of all to his own kith and kin. »
next of kin = parent le plus proche « we have notified their next of kin (=nous avons avisé leurs proches).   »
"next of kin" (on forms) = "nom et prénom de votre plus proche parent".

weed

mauvaise herbe « the garden's full of weeds. »
désherber « mum was busy weeding the garden. »
marijuana « I'm spending the evening at home with some weed. »

aisle

allée centrale, nef
to walk down the aisle = se marier « He was in no hurry to walk down the aisle. »

to outsmart

se montrer plus malin que, se montrer plus futé que « she used her wits to outsmart the enemy. »
to try to outsmart (someone) = jouer au plus fin (= to have a battle of wits)

wit (=wittiness)

esprit « the girl laughed at his wit » = La fille riait de ses traits d'esprits.
with great wit = avec beaucoup d'esprit  
witty man = homme d'esprit   
witty woman = femme d'esprit  
to have the wit to do sth = avoir la présence d'esprit de faire qch « No one had had the wit to bring a bottle-opener. »
to wit = à savoir « we speak in a language they don't know: to wit, English. » «
»


wits = tête (fig.) to use one's wits to do sth = se servir de sa tête pour faire qch.
to have one's wits about one = avoir toute sa tête.        
to keep one's wits about one = garder la tête sur les épaules « she'd better learn to keep her wits about her. »
to pit one's wits against sb = rivaliser d'esprit avec qn  
to be at one's wits' end = ne plus savoir que faire « I'm at my wits' end. »

half-wit = idiot, imbécile

witty = spirituel, plein d'esprit.

witty remark = witticism = mot d'esprit, bon mot

stove

cuisinière « place the pan on top of the stove »
gas stove, electric stove = cuisinière à gaz / électrique  
camping stove = réchaud de camping

bend

virage « a road full of dangerous bends » = une route pleine de virages dangereux.
to go into a bend, to take a bend = prendre un virage  
blind bend = virage sans visibilité.

scavenger

charognard
éboueur

thrift

économie
thrift shop = petite boutique d'articles d'occasion gérée au profit d'œuvres charitables

to beckon

attirer.« All the attractions of the city beckon » = toutes les attractions de la ville nous attirent.
« Fame and fortune beckoned... » La gloire et la fortune (nous) attiraient...
to beckon to sb = faire signe à qn. « He beckoned to the waiter. »
to beckon sb over = faire signe de venir à qn « he beckoned her over » = il lui fit signe de venir. 

hue

teinte (couleur)
hue and cry = tollé « There would be a hue and cry if Robbie Williams forgot his songs. »

to moisturize

hydrater

to be overkill

être exagéré « such security measures may be overkill. »

edible

comestible « edible mushrooms » mangeable « barely edible » = à peine mangeable

bubbly

pétillant
fig.: plein de vitalité, pétillant

dramatic

spectaculaire

POTUS

President of the United States

puppy

chiot   « as a child, she'd always wanted a puppy for Christmas.  »

to delve into sth

fouiller dans qch « She delved into her rucksack and pulled out a folder. » fig.: « she delved into her mother's past. »

to bewilder

dérouter, déconcerter « The silence from Alex had hurt and bewildered her. »

to quench

éteindre [+flames]
to quench one's thirst = se désaltérer « He stopped to quench his thirst at a stream. »

ballot

scrutin, vote The result of the ballot will not be known for two weeks.
to hold a ballot = procéder à un vote « The council will have no choice but to hold a ballot if 5 per cent of residents back the move. »

makeover

relooking « She received a cosmetic makeover at a beauty salon as a birthday gift. » « The chance to give your living-room a makeover. »

to clutter

encombrer « I don't have much time for girls who overdose and clutter up the wards. »
fouillis, fatras « The rooms were full of clutter. » « There's too much clutter in here. »
cluttered = encombré « a dirty, cluttered room filled with the evidence of a sloppy man. »        
cluttered screen = écran rempli de fenêtres.

lush

luxuriant « a rather pretty town, surrounded by lush fields and woods. » « I love the rich lush sounds of jazz piano. »

nitty-gritty

« to get down to the nitty-gritty » = en venir au fond du problème  
« the nitty-gritty of politics » = la dure réalité de la politique
« nitty-gritty of life » = dures réalités de la vie

shrub

arbuste

to intersperse with

parsemer de. « To intersperse flowers among shrubs. Tp intersperse a dull speech with interesting anecdotes. »

to soothe

apaiser, calmer. « Amandine's voice is very soothing. »
soothing balm : baume apaisant. « A soothing balm for jangled nerves. »

scalp

cuir chevelu

bashing

dénigrement
union-bashing = campagne de dénigrement contre les syndicats  
Paki-bashing = ratonnade
queer-bashing = brutalités ou expéditions punitives contre des homosexuels « an outburst of violent gay-bashing in New York. »

goose bumps

chair de poule
to come out in goose bumps = avoir la chair de poule  
fig.: to get goose bumps = avoir des frissons « Even now, I get goose bumps just thinking about it. »

to conceal

cacher, dissimuler « The scarf concealed a revolver ; about 3kg of cocaine was found concealed in his luggage » ; « The duke might be concealing a secret from me » ; « They are trying to conceal the truth. »

post haste

en toute hâte the pilot decided to land post haste. 

badass

cool, admirable.
Being a badass goes hand-in-hand with being self confident, secure and uninhibited « he thinks he's such a badass » ; « that action movie was so badass. »

to grind

écraser « Ushiba ground his cigarette beneath his heel. »
aiguiser « The blade had been ground to a sharp edge. »
to grind one's teeth = grincer des dents « she grinds her teeth in her sleep. »
to grind to a halt = s'immobiliser « The truck ground to a halt after a hundred yards » « The peace process has ground to a halt while Israel struggles to form a new government. »
corvée « the long grind of revision. »
the daily grind = le train-train quotidien.

AFAIK

As Far As I Know

tripe

idioties « You expect me to read tripe like that? » 

no-no

it's a no-no = ça ne se fait pas  
impossible « we all know that cheating on our taxes is a no-no »

shady

ombragé
louche, véreux « shady financiers » « He made money in various shady ways. »

rogue

fripouille, voyou « a rogue trader »

herald

héraut
précurseur « this festival is the herald of a new age. »
annoncer « his rise to power heralded the end of an era. »        
to be heralded as sth = être salué comme qch « Tonight's clash between Real Madrid and Arsenal is being heralded as the match of the season. »

nothing whatsoever

absolument rien There's nothing whatsoever we can do about it.
none whatsoever : absolument aucun "Do you have any regrets?" "none whatsoever."

gravy

sauce (au jus de viande)
gravy boat = saucière

rake

râteau, ratisser I watched the men rake leaves into heaps.
fig.: balayer (with machine gun, lights) enemy searchlights raked the sea. Planes raked the beach with machine gun fire.

haul

saisie, prise, butin
long-haul = long-courrier the unpleasant side-effects of long-haul flights.

puny

chétif
dérisoire « our budget was puny compared with the resources of the oil company.  »

slot

fente I dropped a coin in the slot and the music started.
slot machine = machine à sous, distributeur automatique
créneau, plage horaire) visitors can book a slot up to a week in advance. a TV show in the popular 8 p.m. slot.
time slot = créneau horaire
to slot sth into sth = encastrer qch dans qch, insérer qch dans qch

throng

foule I walked through the throng.
prendre d'assaut The street was thronged with shoppers.
affluer (fig.) The crowd thronged into the streets.

in lieu of

au lieu de. « We gave money to charity in lieu of sending flowers to the funeral. »
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