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одному Богу известно

God/heaven knows

She never had any money. How she lived, God knows.

оказаться на высоте положения

to rise to the occasion

It was a difficult task, but she rose to the occasion.

осиное гнездо a hornet’s nest

оставить в покое (кого-л.)

to get off someone’s back

I’m tired of your criticism. Why don’t you get off my back and let me do my work!

оставляет желать лучшего

to leave a lot to be desired

His wife’s cooking leaves a lot to be desired.

оставлять в дураках (кого-л.)

to make a fool of someone

He made a fool of me by pretending to be a capable musician, but he couldn’t play a note.

острый язычок

a sharp tongue

She was known for her sharp tongue.

от «а» до «я»

from ‘A’ to ‘Z’

He knows his job from ‘A’ to ‘Z’.

от всего сердца

from the bottom of one’s heart; with all one’s heart and soul

The boy was very helpful and I thanked him from the bottom of my heart.

She loves her husband with all her heart and soul.

от горшка два вершка

knee-high to a grasshopper

I haven’t seen your brother since he was knee-high to a grasshopper.

от греха подальше

out of harm’s way

She parked her car off the road – out of harms way.

от силы

at the most; at the (very) outside

It will take two hours at the most to get there.

It’ll take 45 minutes, an hour at the very outside.

отбиваться от рук

to get out of hand

‘Don’t let the children get out of hand!’ Mother warned me.

отбирать хлеб (у кого-л.)

to take the bread out of someone’s mouth

If he opens his shop next door to mine, he’ll be taking the bread out of my mouth.

отводить душу

to pour out one’s heart

She came to my room and poured her heart out to me.

отдавать Богу душу to meet one’s maker

отдавать должное (кому-л./чему-л.)

to do justice to someone/something

The meal was well cooked and we did justice to it.

отдавать жизнь

to lay down one’s life

He was ready to lay down his life for his country.

отдавать концы

to kick the bucket; to turn up one’s toes

I was so ill, I thought I was going to kick the bucket.

The dog turned up his toes last night. He was nearly fifteen years old.

отдавать сердце (кому-л.)

to lose one’s heart to someone

She lost her heart to the new teacher.

отделять плевелы от пшеницы to separate the wheat from the chaff

открывать глаза (кому-л. на что-л.)

to open someone’s eyes to something

I opened her eyes to her husband’s unfaithfulness.

откуда ни возьмись

out of the blue; all of a sudden

His brother appeared on my doorstep out of the blue.

They were speaking quietly when all of a sudden there was a deafening noise.

отогревать змею на груди to nurse a viper in one’s bosom

отодвигать на задний план (кого-л./что-л.)

to put someone/something in the shade

His tremendous success put us all in the shade.

отправляться на тот свет to go to the other side

отставать от времени

to be behind the times

Many of her ideas were behind the times.

падать духом

to lose heart

The garrison lost heart and surrendered.

падать на бесплодную почву

to fall on stony ground

Her appeal has fallen on stony ground.

падать с неба (кому-л.)

to drop into someone’s lap

She can’t stand people who don’t work and expect money to drop into their laps.

палец о палец не ударить

not to do a hand’s turn

The boy is very lazy. He has never done a hand’s turn in his life.

пальцем не пошевелить

not to lift a finger

His parents wouldn’t lift a finger to help us.

пан или пропал

sink or swim

It’s too late to help Helen. It’s sink or swim for her now.

пара пустяков

child’s play; a piece of cake

I found it child’s play to ride a bicycle.

That was easy, a piece of cake.

парень не промах

nobody’s fool

He was perfectly aware of what was happening, he was nobody’s fool.

перебегать дорогу (кому-л.)

to steal a march on someone

He has stolen a march on his competitors by starting the spring sales one week earlier than them.

перебиваться с хлеба на квас

to live from hand to mouth

I knew that his parents lived from hand to mouth during the war.

переводить дух

to catch one’s breath

After the game of tennis she had to sit down and catch her breath.

переворачиваться в гробу

to turn in one’s grave

If your uncle knew what you were doing with his favourite garden, he would turn in his grave.

перегибать палку

to overstep the mark

The director overstepped the mark when he shouted at his secretary.

перед лицом (чего-л.)

in the face of something

Caution was forgotten in the face of great danger.

перейти Рубикон to cross the Rubicon

перемывать косточки (кому-л.)

to pick someone to pieces

They started to pick Daniel to pieces as soon as he was out of the room.

пересчитать все ребра (кому-л.)

to beat the living daylights out of someone; to knock the stuffing out of someone

If I ever see you with my wife again, I’ll beat the living daylights out of you.

The neighbour caught Tom stealing fruits from his garden and knocked the stuffing out of the boy.