Idioms

Expressões Idiomáticas

 
Expressões idiomáticas são frases que não devem ser traduzidas ao pé da letra. O significado de uma expressão idiomática é muito diferente do significado de cada uma das palavras separadamente. Por exemplo: "The red car caught my eye." Sabemos que um carro não pode agarrar e que um olho não pode ser lançado. Precisamos entender o significado da expressão “caught my eye” para compreender o que está sendo dito. Que nesse caso, quer dizer que "o carro vermelho chamou minha atenção".
 
Essa é uma lista de expressões idiomáticas com exemplos de como podem ser usadas:

 

A
about to
Peggy is about to leave.
in advance
We booked the tickets in advance.
alive and kicking
I love Berlin. It's alive and kicking.
all of a sudden
I went out in the sun. Then, all of a sudden, it started to rain.
all over the place
There are environmental problems all over
the place.
B
to go from bad to worse
My marks went from bad to worse last term.
to bag sb.
Tom bagged this special offer at an online-shop.
beat-up
Mark is too beat-up to play tennis this evening.
to do the best
He always does his best.
blabber
Don't listen to him, he's a blabber.
to blag sb.
Once in a while young Tim blags his father's cigarettes.
bloody
What a bloody day!
to be blue
She's been feeling blue all day.
bouncer
A bouncer's task is to keep out those who might cause trouble.
be broke
I can't go to the cinema with you, I'm broke.
to brush up on sb.
I have to brush up on my Spanish.
buck
You can buy a DVD player for less than 100 bucks (dollars).
butt
You're a pain in the butt.
buzz
Parachuting gives me a real buzz.
Buzz off!
Buzz off! I have told you not to come to my place anymore.
C
a close call
I had a close call. A stone almost hit me!
to catch sb.
Sorry, I didn't quite catch your telephone number.
to catch cold
I walked out in the rain, so I caught cold.
not to have a clue
I don't have a clue about repairing the faucet.
Come off it!
Come off it! This isn't the truth.
as far as I'm concerned
As far as I'm concerned, I'd like to watch the film.
cop
A big crowd of cops gathered in front of the Bank of England.
corner shop
Mother really liked corner shops when she was a child.
cram school
Many pupils have to go to a cram school in the afternoon.
on credit
I'd not buy the new TV on credit.
cut
Mr Brown made big cuts of $500 million.
D
damned
I hate going through that damned rush hour.
to dig in one's heels
If you take or express an opinion and refuse to change it, you dig in your
heels.
to disrespect sb.
Poor people shouldn't be disrespected.
to do one's best
He does his best to fix the car.
to do someone good
Let's go on a holiday. The sun will do us good.
to do without
If there's no milk for the tea, it'll do without.
down under
Down under will be my next destination.
E
to be up to one's ears
Sorry, I can't go out with you. I'm up to my ears in work.
every now and then
Every now and then I play the piano.
every other
He comes to me every other week.
to see eye to eye
World Bank and IMF see eye to eye on Asia
F
fair enough
Fair enough! Let's go out for dinner tonight.
fiddle
Especially fiddles are necessary to play folk music.
to keep the fingers crossed
I have to see the doctor for a checkup. - I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.
flutter
The old lady loves a flutter on the slot machine.
folk
We all are fond of the Irish folk.
for free
I was lucky. I got this CD for free.
freak out
Ron freaked out when he heard that Peter had broken his car.
fridge
Butter must be kept in the fridge.
G
to get a lot of stick
In his new job Jack gets a lot of stick.
to get cold feet
He wanted to speak to the boss, but he didn't. He got cold feet.
to get fed up with sb.
They get fed up with their neighbour's parties.
to get rid of sb.
We have to get rid of that old car.
to get sb.
Jason, did you finally get your exercise?
to take sth. for granted
I took it for granted the meeting was on Tuesday.
greasy spoon
I'd rather starve instead of eating at a greasy spoon.
groovy
This cocktail tastes groovy.
guy
Jennifer fell in love with the guy from the supermarket.
H
had better
You'd better go now.
on the other hand
Sue likes pop music, on the other hand she doesn't like discos.
to give a hand
Can you give me a hand with the cupboard?
hard graft
Building our house has been a hard graft.
by heart
My brother has to learn the poem by heart.
hip
Molly always knows what's hip.
to hold s.o.'s horses
Hold your horses," I said when John began to leave the room.
to be hooked on sth.
Bill is hooked on car racing.
J
to jump down sb.'s throat
The boss jumped down my throat because I was late for work.
K
knackered
What has happened? You look so knackered.
to keep an eye on sth./sb.
Will you keep an eye on my baby?
L
little by little
Andrew had an accident while playing ice-hockey. Little by little he begins to walk.
to look forward to sb.
I look forward to my holidays in Rome.
M
to make ends meet
She's been out of work for years. How can she make ends meet with four children?
to make friends easily
Chris makes friends easily.
to make oneself at home
Come in, please. Make yourself at home.
to make the most
Let's make the most of the last day of our holidays.
to make up one's mind up
Did you make your mind up to buy a new computer?
mash
I love Grandma's homemade mash.
What's the matter?
You look sad. What's the matter with you?
to be mean
Grandfather is mean with money.
to meet sb. halfway
I don't like his ideas, but I can imagine that we should meet halfway.
to mess around
The clown messed around to make the children laugh.
to mess up
Sandy has really messed up this time.



P
from now on
From now on I'm going to drive more carefully.
old fart
Bob isn't an entertainer, he is an old fart.
pint
"A pint for me, please."
to be pissed off
Leave me alone, I'm pissed off!
plonk
Plonk often causes a bad headache.
to come to the point
Don't talk for hours. Come to the point.
to pop in
I won't be back early. I'll pop in at Max's.
to put in a word for sb.
My mother doesn't let me go out. Can you put in a word for me, please?
pretty much
They earn pretty much money together.
out of the question
We can't come to the party. This is out of the question.
Q
quid
A quid is a pound in British currency.
R
red tape
Too much red tape takes everything longer.
right as rain
Your baby is right as rain.
S
to sack sb.
Fred was sacked because he had lost his driving licence.
scruffy
Her apartment is very scruffy.
to see about
Let's have a party on Saturday. I'll see about the drinks.
sharpish
After a quarrel Mike left sharpish.
to be in someone's shoes
I don't want to be in Peter's shoes.
to shut up
Shut up or disappear before I get furious.
can't stand
I can't stand the rain.
in the sticks
During their holiday the Bakers lived in the sticks. Far away from towns.
to stick sth./sb.
I can't stick more of this.
stroppy
Jimmy is a stroppy child.
stuff
Where is all that stuff I bought at Oxfam's yesterday?
T
Take it easy.
Take it easy.
telly
You're a couch potato. All you can do is sit in front of the telly.
thick
Are you thick? This is the right number.
Think nothing of it.
Think nothing of it.
to be on time
Please be on time.
to take one's time
Take your time.
tipple
After walking through the cold rain everyone enjoyed a tipple.
to loose track
Do you know where Fred lives? - I've lost track of him.
to take turns
My sister and Anne take turns babysitting.
W
Watch your step.
You'd better watch your step if you don't want trouble with your boss.
to wear many hats
You've got to wear many hats if you want to run your own hotel.
when push comes to shove
When push comes to shove you'd rather accept the job.
to feel under the weather
I think, I'll stay at home tonight. I'm feeling a little under the weather.
no wonder
No wonder he is ill. He went out in shorts in winter.
a word in your ear
Could I have word in your ear?
Words fail me.
Did you hear about Sue and Pat? - Words fail me.
to eat one's words
I'm sorry. I'll eat my words.
in other words
In other words, you can't answer the question.
to have words with sb.
I had words with the headteacher of my son's school
would rather
Would you like to spend your holidays in the North? No - I'd rather fly to Mexico.
to wow sb.
His appearance at the party wowed me.
Z
to zing through sth.
The arrow zinged through the trees as fast as lightning.