English Flashcards
(35 cards)
To go sour
Tourner au vinaigre, se dégrader
(Litt. f you leave the milk outside, it’ll go sour
Fig. The idea of Jurassic Park went sour the minute they let strangers in.)
Sim. To go sideways (= déraper, got out of hand).
To be up to par
To be of the usual or expected standard
(Certain elements of the screenplay weren’t up to par)
Doesn’t live up to = To be as good as something else. Etre à la hauteur.
Stale
- Lacking energy (The beginning of the movie was a bit stale)
- Lost its taste (The bread has staled, stale bread = Pain rassis)
- Ecusé, usé, vieux
- Odeur de renfermé (The air had become stale)
Sugar-coat
- Edulcorer, adoucir (soften the blow), dissimuler quelque chose de désagréable.
Riveting
Fascinant, captivant
Blatant
Flagrant
To dwell
Demeurer, résider,
“He dwells in the realm of the mystic…”
Creed
Credo, croyance (plus rare: Principe)
Precipitous
Very steep
(A precipitous montain path)
A precipitous fall in prices (Fast)
To fall prey to
Succomber à
Dead on
Completely accurate or correct
Beset
To trouble consistently
(The problem that besets the UK)
Link with upset
having a lot of trouble with something, or having to deal with a lot of something that causes problems:
Out of whole cloth
From pure fabrication or fiction.
Dismal
Sad and without hope
You can’t separate the wheat from the chaff
Séparer le blé de l’ivraie
The magazine describes many different products and then separates the wheat from the chaff.
to judge which people or things in a group are bad and which ones are good
Let your hair down
Relax, drop one’s inhibition and reserve.
To talk rings around someone
To be more at ease speaking, more articulate or eloquent.
She’s spoken for
Elle est prise
Woefully
Lamentablement
Sparing
Moderate, economical
Plugging along
To continue making progress (in some endeavor) at steady, consistent pace, especially in the face of difficulties, challenges, setbacks, etc
A smidgeon of
Une infime parcelle de
To pan
To critique (the movie was panned by critiques)
hogwash
foutaises
