1273. Be on one's legs, to див. В-1268, 2).

1274. be on (або upon) one's lips, to кру­ титися на язиці, майже зірватися з язика (про слова, вислови тощо);

It was on his lips to console her with the spoken thought that he would be out of the way of that beastly divorce... (7. Galsworthy).

1275. be on (або down on) one's marrow­ bones, to стояти, бути навколішках;

Your native American is down on his marrow­bones (Th. Dreiser).

1276. be on one's mettle, to виявляти за­ пал, завзяття; рватися в бій;

...If they were made to work alone, each of them would be on his mettle (R. Tressell).

1277. be on one's mind, to [тж. to have (something) on one's mind] 1) займати чиїсь думки, захопити чиюсь увагу;

To-night, however, more than elementary trigono­metry was on his mind (A. Cronin).

It seemed that he had several-times opened his mouth when alone with Richard, after dinner, as if he had something on his mind; but had always shut it again, to Richard's extreme confusion, with­out saying anything (Ch. Dickens).

2) обтяжувати чиєсь сумління, непокоїти когось;

Something was on his mind, perhaps the thought that he was losing a passenger for whom he had a sincere regard; perhaps a deeper thought than that (A. Cronin).

1278. be on one's neck, to [тж. to have (one) on one's neck] нападати на когось, лаяти когось; всипати перцю комусь;

They've been on my neck for the expenditures on the lab and other things (M. Wilson).

Of course, you haven't had Willoughby on your neck, so you were lucky (S. Heym).

1279. be on one's oath, to (тж. to be on oath) бути зв'язаним клятвою;

They were on oath to bring him back to face diggers' justice (K. S. Prichard).

1280. be on one's own, to бути на самоті;

Or are you telling me you'd rather be on your own? (M. Wilson).

1281. be on one's own ground, to займати­ ся добре знайомою справою, бути в своїй стихії.

1282. be (або sit) on one's own shoulders, to бути на чиїхсь плечах, на чиїйсь відпові­ дальності; див. тж. В-1286;

Or he might call a conference. Talk it all out, get some fresh views, see what the general feeling is. At least, if some conclusions were reached, the whole burden wouldn't sit on his own shoulders! (S. Heym).

1283. be on one's pay roll (або pay-roll, payroll), to 1) бути у когось на утриманні; 2) одержувати гроші від когось;

She was on your pay roll, wasn't she? (S. Heym).

1284. be on one's pins, to розм. бути на ногах;

І ben [= have been] on my pins a little over three or four days, now, but I can't walk more'n [= more than] a mile, Tom — least I don't think I could (M. Twain).

1285. be on one's p's and q's, to див. M-1129.

1286. be on one's shoulders, to бути на чиїхсь плечах, на чиїйсь відповідальності; див. тж.' В-1282;

"She's strong," said Soames; "we'll take the risk."

The doctor looked at him very gravely. "It's on your shoulders," he said; "with my own wife, I couldn't" (J. Galsworthy).

1287. be on one's toes, to 1) бути життє­ радісним; 2) бути збудженим; 3) бути ді­ яльним;

"Your official duties are never over," Masters cut in rudely. "This is a whole-time job. We pay you to be on your toes twenty-four hours of the day, not to sneak off and shut yourself with a lot of germs" (Л. Cronin).

4) бути рішучим;

The copper [= the policeman] on the beat'll be on his toes after those other jobs we did (F. Hardy).

1288. be on one's tongue, to крутитися на язиці; див. тж. В-518;

It was on his tongue to inquire nervously if she enjoyed walking, but he nipped the gauche futility in time (A. Cronin).

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110

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1289. be on one's track, to (так. to be on the track of one) напасти, натрапити на чийсь слід, переслідувати когось; перен. до­ відатись про факти, що проливають світло на щось;

Butteridge would be a terrible person to be on any one's track (H. Wells).

1290. (be) on (або upon) one's uppers, to [тж. (to be) down on one's uppers] 1) (хо­ дити) в стоптаному взутті; 2) перен. (бути) в скрутному матеріальному становищі, (бу­ ти) без грошей;

"Old Forsyte was right," he thought; "they're

on their uppers after all" (7. Galsworthy).

And you're back again upon your uppers (A. Cronin).

1291. be on pins and needles, to див. В-258.

1292. be on record, to бути записаним, за­ реєстрованим, відомим;

And it is on record of her, that, on the same day on which Madame de Cricri got five Napoleons from her in support of the poor persecuted Jesuits, who were at that time in very bad odour in France. Lady Budelight put her down in her subscription-list for the Rev. J. Ramshorn (W. Thackeray).

1293. be on safe ground, to бути в безпеці;

In this matter Mr. Ronalds did not interpose.

Pring was on safe ground here. If he choose to

wait to be sued for the money, well and good (W. Maxwell).

1294. be on sale, to див. В-712.

1295. be (або go) on short commons, to

погано харчуватися, «постити»; див. тж. Р-1639 та S-903;

A workman here would refuse to go on short commons and sweat in order that the idle and rich should be idler and richer (B. Shaw).

1296. be on space, to амер. одержувати відрядковий гонорар (про репортера).

1297. be on strike, to [тж. to come out (або go, walk out) on strike; to strike work] оголосити страйк, застрайкувати, страйку­ вати; див. тж. D-727;

The men are on strike to secure the re-employ­ment of a porter who was sacked following the back-to-work after the recent major dispute in the markets (D. W. L., Oct. 8, 1957).

There were over fifty boys doing men's work lor their old pay, and every single one agreed to come out on strike when the signal was given (G. Trea.se).

What' a dreadful calamity it would be for the world and for mankind if all these brain workers were to go on strike (R. Tressell).

3. be on tap, to бути готовим до негай­ного вжитку; бути готовим до виконання чогось;

"Well, what am I supposed to do?" she deman­ded. "Unless I'm on tap every minute of the day, he thinks I don't care" (M. Wilson).

1299. be on tenter-hooks, to див. В-258.

1300. be on terms with one, to бути в дружніх відносинах, стосунках з кимсь; див. тж. В-1246;

1301. be on the air, to 1) працювати (про радіостанцію);' 2) виступати по радіо (тж. to go on the air);

By the time the war broke out in 1939. .Mercer was on the air three times a week, and had built up for hirrrself a wide listening audience, over a network of five northern stations (D. Carter).

He came down with a bad case of 'flu. and couldn't go on the air again for weeks (D. Carter).

1302. be on the alert, to бути насторожі, напоготові, в стані повної готовності;

...Erik was on the alert for an opening (M. Wil­son).

Everywhere the workers are on the alert, ready to meet each challenge from the employers and to fight to maintain and, improve their .conditions (L. M., March, 1956).

1303. be on the anxious bench (або seat), to див. B-25S.

1304. be on the band wagon (або band­ wagon), to сл. (переважно амер.) мати мож­ ливість впливати на хід політичних подій.

1305. be on the beach, to 1) бути в скрут­ них обставинах, розоритися; 2) мор. жарт. бути у відставці;

In accounting for their being "on the beach," I received the same story from each and all, and from my knowledge of sea affairs this story rang true (7. London).

1306. be on the beat, to обходити дозором, робити обхід.

1307. be (або sit) on (або be raised to) the bench, to бути суддею або епіскопом; одержати посаду судді або сан епіскопа.

1308. be. on (або tread, walk) the boards, to [тж. to be on (або tread) the stage] ви­ ступати на сцені, грати, бути артистом;

They need not know for a long time where Sarita was, or that she had been on the stage (F. Danby).

1309. be on the books, to бути в списках' (членів клубу тощо); бути занесеним (до закону, постанови);

...The word "stranger" being, of course, used in contradistinction to the twenty poor widows who were on the books as the charity's recipients (H. Wood).

The scab "right-to-work" law is on the books in eighteen States [of the USA] (The Worker, Nov. 2, 1958).

be on

be on

1310. be on the booze (або bottle), to див. В-1395.

1311. be on the brink of, to стояти, бути на краю (могили, - безодні, загибелі, розо­ рення тощо);

Не felt that he was on the brink of a horrible danger (O, Wilde).

1312. be on the broad grin, to див. В-1334.

1313. be on the bum, to 1) амер. блукати, тинятися, бродяжити (тж. to go on the bum);

"Parents both dead?" the cop asked. "His mother is," Blessy replied. "The old man's on the bum somewhere" (A. Maltz).

2) жити на чужі кошти (тж. to go on the . bum);

"I'm On the bum, you know." "No!"

"Yes, Malcolm, old man, I'm on the breadline!" (D. Carter).

3) сл. бути не в порядку, несправним;

I'm afraid your art education is on the bum (O. Henry).

1314. be on the buy, to робити значні за­ купки.

1315. be on the carpet, to 1) дістати до- 'гану, прочуханку;

' То my mind, Desert is on the carpet.— not For apostasy, but for the song he's made about it (1. Galsworthy).

' 2) розглядатися, обговорюватися (про пи­тання).

1316. be on the climb, to робити кар'єру, намагатися зробити кар'єру.

1317. be on the crave, to палко бажати, жадати чогось; '

"І know that boys' stomachs are always on the crave for anything that's good," retorted Dobbs (H. Wood).

1318. be on the decline, to бути в стані занепаду, занепадати, виходити з ужитку;

Football in the Argentine has been on the decline, and the chairman of the Argentine F. A. [=Football Association] stated that their team would have to win the Cup to save their game (D. W. L., June 3, 1958).

1319. be on the declining (або losing) hand (або side), to заст. занепадати, погіршува­ тися, втрачати, програвати, відставати; див. тж. В-1337;

Не was sure he would have cracked under a constantly hammering threat of being on the losing side (S. Heym).

1320. be on the defensive, to див. А-110.

1321. be on the dodge, to амер. сл. хова­ тися від правосуддя.

1322. be (або go) on the dole, to одержу­ вати дотацію, допомогу;

I'll swear every timber-cutter in Australia was on the dole (D. Cusack).

1323. be on the drink (або on the drunk), to пити запоєм, безпробудно пиячити; див. тж. D-848.

1324. be on the ebb, to убувати, спадати (про приплив, воду); перен. убувати, спа­ дати, зменшуватися, занепадати;

The day was enticingly beautiful, and the tide was on the ebb (W. Collins).

1325. be on the end of one's (або the) tongue, to див. В-518.

1326. be on the fair road (або way) to something, to [тж. to be in a fair way to do something; заст. to be in а (або on the) fair way of doing something; заст. to be in the fair way to something] бути на шляху до чогось, мати шанси на щось.

1327. be (або ride, sit) on the fence, to амер. [тж. амер. to climb a ferice; to sit on the hedge (або rail); to straddle the fence} бути нейтральним, дотримуватися нейтралі­ тету, не втручатися, вагатися між двома рішеннями, вичікувати; див. тж. S-325 та С-749;

The Minister in his White 'Paper tries to sit on the fence, leaning over towards progress (L. M., Aug.. 1S56).

1328. be on the field, to бути на полі бою, битися, воювати; перен. боротися, воювати, ворогувати;

Because the busmen were on the field, because there was a danger of the strike spreading, wage increases were conceded, both in nationalised and private industries, to other sections of the workers (D. W. L., June 20, 1958).

1329. be on (або upon) the gad, to бути в русі, переходити з місця на місце; тиня­ тися, вештатися.

1330. be on the gaze, to див. В-416.

1331. be on the go, to розм. І) бути в русі; 2) збиратися іти; 3) заст. бути в стані за­ непаду, бути на краю загибелі; 4) сл. бути, напідпитку, під чаркою.

1332. be on the grab, to бути користолюб­ ним, зажерливим; прагнути наживи.

1333. be on the gridiron, to due. B-258.

1334. be on the grin, to [тж. to be on the broad (або заст. high) grin] посміхатися (на весь рот);

Everybody cannot be always on the grin like-yon and me (R. Broughton).

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112

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1335. be on the grind, to вчити щось, вби­ вати собі в голову, зубрити щось; настир­ ливо працювати;

"І must be back presently," said Smith." I am hard on the grind at present" (A. Doyle).

1336. be on the ground, to заст. битися на дуелі.

1337. be on the growing (або thriving) hand (або side), to зростати, збільшуватися, кращати, поліпшуватися, процвітати; див. тж. В-1319.

1338. be on the hazard, to бути поставле­ ним на карту, бути під загрозою; див. тж. В-477.

1339. be on the high grin, to див. В-1333.

1340. be on the (або one's) high horse, to 1) пишатися, набирати поважного вигляду, ^ задирати, дерти носа [тж. to get on (або get up on, mount, ride) the high horse] [ви­ раз виник в зв'язку з тим, що феодали- вершники презирливо дивилися на піхоту, що складалася з найманців і простого на­ роду}; див. тж. А-697 та С-1012;

She appeared to be on her high horse to-night; both her words and her air seemed intended to excite not only the admiration, but the amazement of her auditors (Ch. Bronte).

Now, don't get on the high horse. You and me could be very good friends; but I can be a very nasty enemy (J. Galsworthy).

2) див. В-257, 1).

1341. be on the high ropes, to 1) див. B-257, 1); 2) див. А-697; 3) бути в підне­ сеному настрої.

1342. be on the horns of a dilemma, to див. B-563.

1343. be on the houses, to просити мило­ стиню, подаяння, жебракувати;

Не gave away no grey blankets that winter, the itinerant poor who were "on the houses" often went empty from his door (H. Caine).

1344. be on the increase, to збільшуватися; зростати, рости;

These annual migrations from farm to farm were on the increase here (Th. Hardy).

His popularity in the village, and in the sur­rounding country, was on the increase (E. Yates).