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Vocabulary 4 Flashcards

(97 cards)

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1
Q

By the scruff of the neck ?

A

Take complete control of

Ex:

He took him by the scruff of the neck to warn him, this would be the last time he would try to pull such a stunt

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2
Q

Take smth with a pinch of salt ?

A

Be careful at something/not totally believe it

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3
Q

Coax out ?

Coax along ?

A

to persuade someone gently to do something or go somewhere, by being kind and patient, or by appearing to be:

Coax out : try to take something (not a person) physically out

Coax along: bring someone with you (she coaxed me along)

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4
Q

To enable ?

A

to make someone able to do something, or to make something possible:

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5
Q

To embody ?

A

To represent a role

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6
Q

Palatable

A

Good enough to drink or eat

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7
Q

Make a fruitless/vein endeavour to ?

A

Try to do something but fruitless

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8
Q

Give free rein to ?

A

to allow something to happen freely and completely:

Ex.

This is a post which will give your talents full rein.

It’s a task that requires you to allow full rein to your imagination.

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9
Q

To garner smth ?

A

To collect smth usually after much work of difficulty

Ex:

The album has garnered positive reviews

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10
Q

Sophisticated ?

A

having a good understanding of the way people behave and/or a good knowledge of culture and fashion:

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11
Q

Revamp ?

A

to change or arrange something again, in order to improve it:

Refurbish : to make a building look new again by doing work such as painting, repairing, and cleaning:

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12
Q

White-knuckle ?

A

A white-knuckle experience or activity makes you feel very frightened and often excited:

Ex:

a white-knuckle ride in a theme park

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13
Q

Steep ? (Hill/angle)

A

Raide or expensive

Ex:

London is pretty expensive

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14
Q

Muster up (courage/strength/resources) ?

A

If you muster up a feeling of courage or energy, you try hard to find that quality in yourself because you need it in order to do something:

[ + to infinitive ] She finally mustered up the courage to ask him for more money.

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15
Q

To coin a word/term/phrase

A

To create

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16
Q

Oppress ?

A

Oppresser

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17
Q

When it comes to the crunch ?

A

if/when a situation becomes extremely serious and a decision must be made:

Ex:

When it comes to the crunch and the absolute worst happens, you can stay with me and I’ll look after you

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18
Q

Perch on stm?

A

Sit in the edge of sth

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19
Q

Cumbersome ?

A

Annoying, awkward because of being large, heavy, or not effective:

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20
Q

Relegate to (secondary role) ?

A

to put someone or something into a lower or less important rank or position:

Ex:

She resigned when she was relegated to a desk job.

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21
Q

Tangible ? (Excitement/relief/fear)

A

real and not imaginary; able to be shown, touched, or experienced:

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22
Q

Deem ?

A

to consider or judge something in a particular way:

Their opinion were deemed to be crucial for the compagny

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23
Q

Speak volumes ? (Action/silence/result)

A

Convey a strong message without really using words (ex: Rosa Parks)

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24
Q

Ensue ? (Chaos/battle)

A

to happen after something else, especially as a result of it:

Ex:

My cats, when dinner time comes and my mum forgets to feed them chaos ensues.

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25
Stuffy - unstuffy ?
A stuffy room or building is unpleasant because it has no fresh air: Ex: a stuffy office It's really hot and stuffy in here - let's open the window.
26
Causalities ?
Victims Ex: Children are the casualties of war
27
Give/ have kudos (informal)
the public admiration that a person receives as a result of a particular achievement or position in society:
28
Smth goes the way of the dodo
Something is going to disappear
29
Have pockets of (languages/communities/resistance)
Have groups of
30
X is a good jumping off point
a point from which to start a journey or activity
31
A last ditch attempt/effort
Last effort
32
Change tack
Change direction Ex: My students weren’t getting the grammar, no matter how many times I told them, so I changed tack and we just played a game that helped them get the concept
33
To coast through something/sail through
to succeed very easily in something, especially a test: Ex: Rachel sailed through her finals and got A's in everything. You can't expect to just sail through without doing any work.
34
In the pipelines
Being planned
35
Go through the motions
Following something but without being really involved in to do something without thinking it is very important or having much interest in it: Ex: He says he's been investigating my complaint, but I feel he's just going through the motions
36
Pipe dream ?
Unattainable dream
37
Demise of something ?
End of something
38
Forge bonds
Forger des liens
39
Ah overriding theme ?
A thème that occurs often
40
To mitigate (risk/damage/the impact of/threats/hazards)
to make something less harmful, unpleasant, or bad Ex: It is unclear how to mitigate the effects of tourism on the island.
41
Strive to do ?
to try very hard to do something or to make something happen, especially for a long time or against difficulties: Ex: Mr Roe has kindled expectations that he must now strive to live up to. In her writing she strove for a balance between innovation and familiar prose forms.
42
Plagued with (problems/anxiety)
Suffer from
43
Be at your wits end
When you are done/so tired of something Ex: I was at my wits end with my thesis
44
There is no harm in ?
Pas de mal à
45
Fall short of expectations
Disappointment
46
Take priority over ?
If something takes priority over something else, it is more important:
47
Give food for thought
Make you think
48
I have every intention of
J’ai toute l’intention de
49
Have a serious effect on
Avoir un effet sur
50
Can be relied on to
Se reposer sur
51
It never occurred to me to ask
Ne m’a pas traversé l’esprit de demander
52
He was given a life sentence for
Peine à vie pour
53
Is apt to
Est apte à
54
Is subject to change
Est sujet à changement
55
Have a command of (ex: German)
Master something
56
To nail
Succeed very well
57
Will be exempt from
Exempté de
58
Cold beyond belief
Very cold
59
In the mood for v-Ing
D’humeur à
60
Show their disapproval of
Montrer son désaccord
61
Has his hands full
to be very busy or involved with something:
62
Put someone’s life in jeopardy
Put someone in danger
63
By the look of something
Au regard de
64
It springs to mind
Ça saute à l’esprit
65
Come to mind
Vient à l’esprit
66
Call someone out
to criticize someone or ask them to explain their actions: Ex: Jenny always calls out students for being in their phones when they should be concentrating
67
Bounce (ideas/suggestions) off each other ?
If you bounce something off someone, you tell someone about an idea or plan in order to find out what they think of it: Ex: Can I bounce a couple of ideas off you?
68
To grate on ?
to have an annoying or painful effect: Ex: Something that my mum always does that grated on me is asking way too many questions when I’m trying to concentrate
69
To rub someone the wrong way
to annoy someone without intending to: Ex: As soon as they met they started to rub each other the wrong way. His joke really rubbed me the wrong way
70
Cause friction between
Causer une friction
71
To rant
to speak, write or shout in a loud, uncontrolled, or angry way, often saying confused or silly things: Ex: He's always ranting (on) about the government.
72
Jump the gun ?
Done something earlier / sauter les étapes
73
Jump on the bandwagon
to become involved in an activity that is successful so that you can get the advantages of it yourself: Ex: The success of the product led many firms to try to jump on the bandwagon.
74
Jump through hoops
to do a lot of difficult things before you are allowed to have or do something you want
75
Come on leaps and bounds
To improve a lot
76
Spring sthm on someone ?
to suddenly tell or ask someone something when they do not expect it:
77
Leap to conclusions (about/after/on)
Jump to conclusions
78
Know no bounds (after/between)
If someone has a quality that knows no bounds, it is extreme: Ex: Her generosity knows no bounds.
79
Spring into action
To act immediately
80
Jump for joy
to be extremely happy:
81
Jump down someone’s throat/neck (at/with)
to react angrily to something that someone says or does:
82
Gloss over (information)
to avoid considering something, such as an embarrassing mistake, to make it seem not important, and to quickly continue talking about something else: Ex: She glossed over the company's declining profits. The documentary glossed over some important issues.
83
A waking dream ?
A dream in reality
84
A dark horse ?
a person who keeps their interests and ideas secret, especially someone who has a surprising ability or skill:
85
Palpable ?
You can almost touch it Ex: Palpable tension between 2 people
86
Get a slap on the wrist
a small punishment when a more severe punishment is deserved: Ex: They rob someone on the street and they get a slap on the wrist – thirty days in jail.
87
Up-and-coming (artist/area/trend) ?
likely to achieve success soon or in the near future: Ex: up-and-coming young actresses
88
Precarious (house/job/situation)
Précaire
89
Give leeway
freedom to act within particular limits:
90
To skirt around sthm?
To avoid talking about something because it’s difficult or embarrassing Ex: He won’t tell me if he wants to go out with me or not directly he just tends to skirt around answering
91
Hard-pressed to do sthm
having a lot of difficulties doing something, especially because there is not enough time or money: Ex: The latest education reforms have put extra pressure on teachers who are already hard-pressed. Because of shortages, the emergency services were hard-pressed to deal with the accident. Most people would be hard-pressed (= would find it difficult) to name more than half a dozen members of the government.
92
Inevitable
Inevitable
93
Sedentary
involving little exercise or physical activity:
94
Tag along
to go somewhere with a person or group, usually when they have not asked you to go with them: Ex: I don't know her, she just tagged along with us.
95
Thrive on
to grow, develop, or be successful/ Ex: She seems to thrive on stress. She seems to thrive on hard work.
96
Sink your teeth into sth
Put really hard work in something
97
Take to like a duck to water
to discover when you start to do something for the first time that you have a natural ability to do it: Ex: He took to fatherhood like a duck to water.

Vocabulary (13 decks)

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