albatross (around someone's neck) помеха на пути к успеху Jack's lack of a proper education is an albatross around his neck, and it prevents him from getting a good job.
as a duck takes to water естественно, как рыба в воде Sofia plunged into the water and started to swim easily and naturally, just as a duck takes to water.
as bald as a coot совершенно лысый (похожий на птицу лысуху) My Uncle Robert is as bald as a coot.
as crazy as a loon псих My next door neighbor, Miss Darling, is as crazy as a loon.
as dead as a dodo мёртвый (как вымершая птица дронт) A car hit a cat, and it was as dead as a dodo after the accident.
as easy as duck soup очень легко, без усилий Persuading my father to buy a new computer was as easy as duck soup.
as free as a bird свободный как птица I am through with my exams, and now I am as free as a bird.
as graceful as a swan грациозный как лебедь The ballet dancer was as graceful as a swan.
as happy as a lark очень счастливый, весёлый Maria looked as happy as a lark when she got engaged to Mark.
as hoarse as a crow охрипший I had to talk very much that day and was as hoarse as a crow by the evening.
as mad as a wet hen взбешённый Peter suspected that Joanna had deceived him and was as mad as a wet hen.
as naked as a jaybird голый, "в чём мать родила" Jeremy had a swim in the lake, and when he got out of the water he was as naked as a jaybird.
as proud as a peacock очень гордый Ms. Bobtail's son was a good musician, and she was as proud as a peacock of him.
as scarce as hen's teeth/scarcer than hen's teethскудный или несуществующий Good hotels in this small town were as scarce as hen's teeth.
as silly as a goose очень глупый No wonder nobody takes Julia seriously; she is as silly as a goose.
as soft as down мягкий как пух The little girl's fair hair was as soft as down.
as the crow flies напрямик, кратчайшим путём (так же прямо, как летит птица) As the crow flies, it is not more than three miles between his house and the station.
as wise as an owl очень мудрый (как сова) I often ask my Granny's advise because she is as wise as an owl.
bat out of hell очень быстро, мгновенно "What happened? Why did the man left the room like a bat out of hell?"
bats in the belfry сумасшедший, эксцентричный I guess my friend has bats in the belfry; his plans are absolutely crazy.
bird brain очень глупый, "куриные мозги" Miss Davidson, the secretary, is a bird brain, and she is always making mistakes at work.
bird in the hand is worth two in the bush Одна птица в руках стоит двух в кустах. (пословица) "I think you shouldn't spend your money so recklessly until you are able to earn more. Remember that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."
birds and bees птички и пчёлки, дети в капусте (объяснение ребёнку, откуда берутся дети) The time comes when it is necessary to tell the children about birds and bees.
birds of a feather flock together Рыбак рыбака видит издалека. (Пословица) "Do not complain about your relatives. Remember that birds of a feather flock together. You are very similar to them."
birds-eye view взгляд с высоты птичьего полёта They had a birds-eye view of the stage from their seats high up in the gallery.
chicken and egg situation ситуация, при которой не ясно, где причина, а где следствие It was a chicken and egg situation; I didn't quite understand what caused problems with the computer.
chicken feed небольшая сумма денег "What you are giving me is chicken feed. I need a lot more money."
chicken out of (doing something) струсить, не сделать что-либо из-за страха Sarah chickened out of skiing in the mountains.
chicken-livered трусливый, малодушный Mark is chicken-livered; he is easily scared.
chickens come home to roost беда бедою отзовётся (то плохое, что желаете другому, вернётся к вам) Margaret's chickens have come home to roost, and she has to take responsibility for what she has done.
clip (someone's) wings ограничивать или сдерживать кого-либо, "подрезать крылья" The company decided to clip the manager's wings and took away his expense account.
cock of the walk важная персона, хозяин положения (употребляется иронично) John thinks that he is cock of the walk and that everyone must do what he wants.
cold turkey резкое прекращение употребления наркотиков Collin must have stopped using drugs cold turkey because he looks very sick.
cook (someone's) goose подпортить, погубить свою репутацию Pat cooked her goose, and now she has no opportunity of getting good education.
count one's chickens before they're hatched делать преждевременные выводы, "цыплят по осени считают" "You'd better not count your chickens before they're hatched. After all you haven't got that job yet.
dead duck конченный (человек ) или вышедшая из употребления вещь My television set is very old; it is in a hopeless situation, in fact it's a dead duck.
duck soup лёгкий, не требующий усилий Our final exam in History was duck soup.
eagle eye пристально следящий взгляд, зоркий глаз (как у орла) Alan kept an eagle eye upon all Carry's activities.
early bird ранняя пташка (о человеке, привыкшем рано вставать или рано начинать что-либо) "I hate getting up early; I am not an early bird, I must confess."
early bird catches the worm кто рано встаёт, тому бог подаёт (Пословица) Getting up early proved to her the truth of the old saying that the early bird catches the worm; she was able to do a lot of work.
eat crow проглотить обиду, смириться "I guess I'll have to eat crow if I am defeated."
eat like a bird очень мало есть, "есть как птичка" The child probably eats like a bird; she is so thin.
feather one's nest разбогатеть, поживиться за чей-либо счёт, "нагреть руки" Paul, her only brother, was eager to feather his own nest at the expense of his sister and her family.
fly the coop удрать, убежать The criminal was able to fly the coop because the guard hadn't been watching him properly.
for the birds это не серьёзно, это не для меня Doing a lot of work in the office is for the birds.
foul one's own nest выносить сор из избы", разглашать семейные тайны, стараться очернить близких "Don't foul up your own nest; remember your own kin helped you out!"
get one's ducks in a row привести свои дела в порядок I got my ducks in a row before I quit my job.
go to bed with the chickens рано ложиться спать When I stayed with my grandparents, I had to go to bed with the chickens.
gone goose пропавший, исчезнувший, убежавший (человек) Nick is a gone goose. He won't come to the office again today.
goose bumps мурашки по коже The water in the lake was very cold, and I immediately got goose bumps when I started to swim.
in fine feather в хорошем расположении духа My cousin is in fine feather today as if he had won a million dollars in a state lottery.
kill the goose that lays the golden egg уничтожить источник собственного благополучия; "убить курицу, несущую золотые яйца" "Why have you quarreled with Wendy? Do you know that you have killed the goose that lays the golden egg?"
kill two birds with one stone убить двух зайцев", выполнить два действия сразу He decided to kill two birds with one stone by purchasing a computer and having it serviced.
lay an egg провалиться, не заинтересовать (зрителей), не иметь успеха The film was awfully poor, and no wonder it laid an egg with the audience.
like water off a duck's back всё ни почём, "как с гуся вода" It is absolutely useless criticizing Jenny; the criticism falls away like water off a duck's back.
little bird told me мне стало известно по секрету, "сорока на хвосте принесла" A little bird told me that my Mom would give me a nice present for my birthday.
look like the cat that swallowed the canary выглядеть очень довольным Jeremy looked like the cat that swallowed the canary when he told me about his success.
lovely weather for ducks дождливая погода "Lovely weather for ducks," I thought, walking to my car in the rain.
neither fish nor fowl ни то, ни сё; "ни рыба, ни мясо" (о нерешительном человеке) Mike is neither fish nor fowl, and he doesn't really fit into any of the student group.
night owl сова (человек, привыкший ложиться спать поздно) I am a night owl and my husband is an early bird.
no spring chicken (человек) не первой молодости "If I were you, I wouldn't work so much. Don't forget you are no spring chicken."
one's goose is cooked погубить себя, пострадать от собственных козней, вырыть себе яму My brother's goose is cooked. Soon my father will discover that Paul has damaged his car.
pecking order неофициальная иерархия, сложившийся порядок подчинения Poor Jim! He is at the bottom of pecking order and is dominated by everybody.
play chicken играть в опасные игры (посмотреть, кто первым испугается) A few boys were playing chicken on the playground.
rare bird необычный, неординарный (человек) I think Bob is a rare bird; his ideas are always unusual.
ruffle (someone's) feathers расстраивать или раздражать кого-либо "I do not want to ruffle your feathers, but there are policemen who have come to see you."
ruffle its feathers взъерошить перья A cat was looking at the bird which was sitting on a branch and ruffling its feathers.
rule the roost распоряжаться, задавать тон, хозяйничать There's no doubt who rules the roost in this house.
run around like a chicken with its head cut off бегать как сумасшедший, метаться Joe spent the day running around like a chicken with its head cut off when he discovered that he had lost important documents.
spread one's wings стать независимым, расправить крылья Sam decided to become independent; he wants to spread his wings and try to do something on his own.
swan song лебединая песня This film was a swan song of the great actress.
take (someone) under one's wings взять кого-либо под своё покровительство, "под крылышко" Diana took Moira, who was just out of high school, under her wing.
talk turkey серьёзно обсуждать что-либо It's necessary to talk turkey as far as her future plans are concerned.
try out one's wings пытаться сделать что-либо, чему только что научился Tina has had only ten German lessons, but she wants to try her wings by speaking with our visitors from Germany.
ugly duckling гадкий утёнок Nancy was the ugly duckling in her family until she grew up.
under the wings of (someone) быть под защитой кого-либо, "под крылом у кого-либо" Sue has been under the wings of one of the supervisors since she started to work here.
watch (someone or something) like a hawk зорко следить за кем-либо, не спускать глаз "You've got to watch these guys like a hawk; they are not reliable."
what's good/sauce for the goose is good/sauce for the gander что подходит одному, должно подходить и другому "You needn't complain about the discomforts; after all what's good for the goose is good for the gander."
wild goose chase бессмысленная погоня или сумасбродная затея Jealousy sent Rena on a wild goose chase of a mysterious woman who had been seen entering her husband's office.
wing it делать всё возможное в трудной ситуации I was not prepared to talk to
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WAY-UP ENGLISH
Усенко Снежана Васильевна
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