203 Frases hechas y expresiones en inglés. Idioms

Fuente: http://www.eslcafe.com/idioms/

Página 1 de idioms - Página 2 de idioms - Página 3 de idioms - Página 4 de idioms - Página 5 de idioms - Página 6 de idioms

42. call it a day: stop work for the day.
(dar por terminado)
"It's late and you've accomplished a lot. Why don't you call it a day?"

43. can't make heads or tails of something: can't understand something at all;
(no entender nada, no entender ni jota)
find something confusing and illogical.
"I can't make heads or tails of your e-mail. Were you having problems
with your computer?"

44. catch one's eye: attract one's attention/interest.
(atraer la atención)
"This brochure about Tahiti caught my eye when I was at the travel agency."

45. catch some Zs: sleep for a while; take a nap.
(echar una siesta)
"You look tired, Dave. Why don't you catch some Zs?"

46. change one's mind: decide to do something different from what had been decided earlier.
(cambiar de opinión)
A: "Why are you working this week? I thought you were going to be on vacation."
B: "I changed my mind. I'm taking my vacation next month."

47. chicken (adjective or noun): cowardly.
(cobarde)
"Fred will never ask Lucy for a date. He's chicken / a chicken.

48. chow: food.
(comida)
"How's the chow in the university cafeteria?"

49. chow down: eat.
(comer)
"It's almost 6:00. Are you ready to chow down?"

50. a cinch: something that's very easy to do.
(algo que es pan comido)
A: How was the test?
B: It was a cinch. I finished it quickly and I know that all my answers were correct."

51. cool (also kewl): neat, special, wonderful.
(guay, especial, bonito, divertido)
"The ESL Cafe on the Web is really cool!"

52. Cool it!: calm down.
(calmarse)
"There's no need to be so upset. Just cool it!"

53. cost (someone) an arm and a leg: cost a lot; be very expensive.
(costar un ojo de la cara)
A: "Your new car is really nice."
B: "It should be. It cost (me) an arm and a leg!"

54. couch potato: someone who spends too much time watching TV.
(alguien que está sentado/tirado todo el día viendo la televisión)
"You're a real couch potato, Jay. You need to get more exercise!"

55. cram: try to learn as much as possible in a very short time.
(empollar)
"Sidney did well on the test because he crammed for it. However, he probably
won't remember any of the information a couple of days from now."

56. crash course: short course designed to give a lot of knowledge/information in a very short time.
(curso intensivo, curso acelerado)
"Tom's company is sending him to a business meeting in Istanbul.
Should he take a crash course in Turkish?"

57. Cut it out!: stop doing something (that's annoying).
(cortar algo, parar algo)
"You kids are making too much noise. Cut it out!"

58. Don't count your chickens until (before) they hatch (they've hatched).: Don't assume that something will happen until it has happened.
(el cuento de la lechera, no asumir que algo se ha conseguido hasta que haya ocurrido)
A: I'm sure that I'm going to win a lot of money in Las Vegas."
B: "Don't count your chickens until they hatch!"

59. dicey: uncertain; taking too much of a chance.
(peligroso, arriesgado)
A: A friend of mine says I can make a lot of moneyif I buy stock
in the XYZ company. Should I do it?
B: I wouldn't if I were you. The chances for success are too dicey."

60. ditch class: skip class/play hookey/play truant
(faltar a clase, hacer novillos, hacer pellas)
"You shouldn't have ditched class yesterday. We had an unannounced test."

61. do a bang-up job: do a very good job; do very well at something.
(hacer un gran trabajo)
"Have you seen Frank's home page? He did a bang-up job with it."

62. down in the dumps: depressed; "blue."
(estar deprimido, estar bajo de moral)
A: "Is something wrong?"
B: "Not really, but I feel kind of down in the dumps."

63. drop someone a line: write to someone.
(escribir a alguien)
"I haven't written to my parents for a long time. I'd better drop them a line
today or tomorrow."

64. drag one's feet: delay; take longer than necessary to do something.
(dar largas, retrasar algo)
"Joe should have finished his project a week ago. Why is he dragging his feet?"

65. an eager beaver: a person who is always willing to volunteer or do extra work.
(ser muy diligente, currante, inquieto)
"Jan is certainly an eager beaver. Any time there's work to be done,
she's the first to say she'll help."

66. Easy does it!: Be very careful! / Don't do anything too fast or too hard!
(hacer algo con cuidado, despacito y buena letra)
A: "I'm going to move the table just a little further from the window."
B: "Easy does it! If you move too fast, you might knock over the plant!"
67. an egghead: a very intelligent person.
"Jake didn't make very good grades in school, but his sister was a real egghead."

68. elbow grease: hard work; effort.
(trabajo duro)
"Yes, the car is pretty dirty, but it'll look nice again with a little elbow grease."

69. every other _____ : alternately; omitting the second one in each group of two.
(cada dos, ej: every other week: una semana sí y otra no)
"In your essays, please write on every other line. That will make the
essays much easier to read."

70. far-fetched: difficult to accept; difficult to believe.
(difícil de creer)
"That story's pretty far-fetched. Nobody's going to believe it."

71. feel blue: feel sad and depressed.
(sentirse triste o deprimido)
"I'm feeling blue because I haven't had any mail except bills for a long, long time."

72. fire someone: dismiss someone from a job because of poor performance.
(despedir a alguien)
"If you continue to be late for work, the company will fire you."

73. feel puny: feel unwell, ill.
(sentirse enfermo)
"Ted was feeling puny yesterday, so he decided not to go to work."

74. fender-bender: automobile accident.
(accidente de automóvil)
"Traffic was really slow on the freeway this morning
because of a fender-bender in one of the westbound lanes."

75. for ages: for a very long time.
(por largo tiempo)
"Where's Marie? I haven't seen her for ages."