Expresiones idiomáticas en inglés.

Expresiones idiomáticas en inglés.
Hay muchas expresiones en inglés que oímos día a día. Algunas son idiomáticas y no
tienen una traducción exacta al español, pero otras vienen a querer decir lo mismo
que nosotros sabemos. Por ejemplo, a nadie en su sano juicio se le ocurriría decir en
español: "Están lloviendo perros y gatos". Sí en cambio diríamos que "está lloviendo a
cántaros". La razón de esto es que son expresiones idiomáticas, típicas del idioma.
Aprender a entenderlas es clave para poder escuchar una conversación en inglés y no
quedarnos a cuadros.
1. So far, so good. Esta expresión podría traducirse más o menos como "De
momento bien" o "Por ahora, bien". Suele ser la respuesta a algo o alguien que
nos pregunta cómo marcha un asunto en concreto. Por ejemplo: "How are your
studies going?". Y el niño responde: "So far, so good". Lo que indica que de
momento va bien, pero no sabemos cómo desembocará la cosa al final.
2. It is a piece of cake. Literalmente significa "Es un pedazo de pastel". En
español diríamos por ejemplo "es pan comido". Hace referencia a algo que
resulta muy tierno y suave, que no requiere demasiado esfuerzo. Utilizamos
cuando decimos que algo es enormemente fácil.
3. Pull someone's leg. Significa tomar el pelo a alguien. En inglés utilizan una
expresión completamente distinta y no tengo idea de por qué. Literalmente
significa algo así como "tirar de la pierna de alguien". Ejemplo: "Don't pull my
leg" (No me tomes el pelo).
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4. By all means. Aunque la traducción literal es "por todos los medios", se
puede utilizar en diferentes contextos y viene a significar algo así como "en
cualquier caso", "de todos modos", "no faltaría más", etc. Me gusta cómo lo
explican en el foro de Wordreference.
5. To be on the carpet. "Carpet" significa literalmente "alfombra" (no es una
carpeta, es un false friend). La expresión "estar sobre la alfombra" es un tanto
curiosa, pero la usamos también en español de otra manera, cuando decimos "el
asunto está sobre la mesa" o "el tema está sobre el tapete". Un ejemplo en
inglés sería: "This matter will be on the carpet at todays press conference".
Algunas expresiones y frases agrupadas por palabras claves
as
as a rule / as usual / as a matter of fact / …
at
at a loss / at least / at large / at length / …
beyond beyond question / beyond doubt / …
by
by all means / by and large / by chance / …
down
down and out / down to earth / …
for
for certain / for free / for good / for once / …
from
from now on / from scratch / from side to side / …
in
in a hurry / in advance / in abeyance / in brief / …
of
of age / of late / of course / of benefit / …
off
off and on / off duty / off guard / off season / …
on
on and on / on behalf of / on duty / on foot / …
out
out and about / out cold / out of breath / out of hand / …
over
over and over / over the hill / over the top / …
so
so far / so long / so much / so to speak / …
to
to and fro / to date / to some extent / to the letter / …
under
under arrest / under control / under the counter / …
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up
up and around / up and away / up front / up in years / …
when
when least expected / when the chips are down / …
Algunas expresiones y frases agrupadas por verbos claves
to be
to be on the carpet / to be slow on the uptake / …
to beat
to beat around the bush / to beat the rap / …
to bite
to bite the bullet / to bite the dust / …
to blow to blow a fuse / to blow the lid off / …
to break to beak even / to break loose / to break the news / …
to bring to bring down the house / to bring home the bacon / …
to call
to call a spade a spade / to call it a day / …
to carry to carry the ball / to carry the torch for / …
to cast
to cast doubt on / to cast the first stone / …
to catch to catch red-handed / to catch off guard / …
to come to come alive / to come clean / to come to an end / …
to cut
to cut class / to cut corners / to cut the chase / …
to do
to do a double take / to do one's duty / to do the trick / …
to draw to draw fire / to draw a blank / to draw the line / …
to drop to drop a bombshell / to drop a line / to drop a brick / …
to eat
to eat crow / to eat dirt / to eat one's words / …
to fall
to fall asleep / to fall in love / to fall into place / …
to get
to get a break / to get a grasp of / to get a raw deal / …
to give
to give birth to / to give chase / to give rise to / …
to go
to go astray / to go broke / go at it / to go bad / …
to hang to hang loose / to hang tough / to hang by a thread / …
to have to have a big mouth / to have a word with / …
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to hold
to hold a grudge against / to hold court / to hold good / …
to jump to jump all over someone / to jump the gun / …
to keep to keep a stright face / keep one's cool / …
to lay
to lay an egg / to lay low / to lay waste to / …
to let
to let off steam / to let bygones be bygones / …
to lose
to lose face / to lose one's cool / to lose heart / …
to make to make a fuss / to make a fool / to make a killing / …
to pay
to pay one's dues / to pay through the nose / …
to play
to play fair / to play hooky / to play it safe / …
to pull
to pull a boner / to pull oneself together / …
to put
to put an end to / put on airs / to put the blame on / …
to run
to run a risk of / run an errand / to run low on / …
to set
to set fire to / set one`s mind at rest / to set sail / …
to stand to stand a chance of / to stand to reason / …
to take
to take place / to take a bow / to take pride in / …
to throw to throw a fit / to throw in the towel / …
to turn
turn a blind eye to / to turn one's back on / …
Some more examples
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ravy train = an activity from which people can make money without much effort.
Privatization isn't usually the gravy train that the government promises.
 a good egg = a good trustworthy person.
You can trust Mary, she's a good egg.
 hard-boiled = tough, not showing any emotions.
My boss is really hard-boiled. He's impossible to fool.
 fishy = suspicious.
I think that man's behaviour is a bit fishy. Call the police, please.
money for jam = money earned from a task that is very easy.
Mark has a very easy job. In fact, it's money for jam.
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salt-and-pepper = hair that is becoming grey.
Some women like men with salt-and-pepper hair. They think it looks
distinguished.
easy as pie = very easy.
Learning English is easy as pie.
in a stew = confused or worried about a difficult situation.
When David's girlfriend was late, he got into a stew.
to be in the soup = to be in trouble.
When Harry lost his job, he was really in the soup.
 to be in a pickle = be in a difficult situation and not know
what to do.
When Mark lost his passport, he was in a pickle.
 to be packed like sardines = be crowded tightly together in
a small space.
People on the evening train are packed like sardines.
to beef up something = improve something, add force to something.
The green party needs to beef the campaign up.
to get a roasting = to be told off for something wrong.
The player got a roasting from angry fans.
to make a hash of something = make a mess of something, do something very
badly.
Fred made a real hash of his exams.
a sunny smile = a happy and friendly smile.
The air hostess greeted the passengers with a sunny smile.
a stormy relationship = a relationship full of strong and angry feelings.
They had a stormy relationship so they decided to get divorced.
a storm in a teacup = a lot of fuss about something unimportant.
That's a storm in a teacup, stop fussing about it, you can do it.
a storm of protest / criticism = a situation in which people suddenly protest
about or criticize something, showing very strong feelings.
The government plan to raise the taxes provoked a storm of protest.
to weather the storm = to experience a difficult period and reach the end of it
without being harmed too much.
We're undergoing a difficult situation, but I will weather the storm.
to dance / sing up a storm = do something with energy.
The schoolgirls were singing up a storm.
to be on cloud nine = to be very happy about something.
When she realised that she had won the lottery, she was on cloud nine.
to have one's head in the clouds = to think about something that is unpractical.
Come on, you always have your head in the clouds. It's time to get back to
reality!
to be under a cloud (of suspicion) = to be suspected of doing something wrong
or illegal.
She left the company under a cloud of suspicion.
a cloud on the horizon = something that might spoil a happy situation.
The only cloud on the horizon was the final exam in June.
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every cloud has a silver lining = there is something good even in a difficult or
sad situation.
See, you lost your job but now you will start working for a better company. Every
cloud has a silver lining.
to flood the market = to produce and a sell a large number of one type of thing,
so that its price goes down.
They have the intention to flood the market with their new mobile phones.
to be flooded with something = to receive so many letters or inquiries that you
cannot deal with all of them.
We've been flooded with letters, but we will try to answer them all.
in floods of tears = crying a lot.
The little girl arrived in floods of tears.
to shower somebody with something = to give somebody a lot of something.
Her family showered her with birthday presents.
to shower something on / over something = to scatter something on / over a
place.
Hundreds of leaflets were showered over the streets.
to rain on somebody's parade = to spoil somebody's plans.
I'm sorry to rain on your parade, but you can't enter the park with food.
to take the wind out of somebody's sails = to make somebody lose their
confidence, especially by saying or doing something unexpected.
She was ready to tell him that the relationship was over, but he appeared with a
big bunch of flowers. That took the wind out of her sails.
a hail of bullets / stones = a large number of bullets / stones.
The tanks were met by a hail of bullets.
to not have the foggiest idea = to not know something at all.
None of us had the foggiest idea about how to use the computer.
a frosty look / stare / tone = an unfriendly look / stare / tone.
I arrived late and the teacher gave me a frosty look.
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