Шушунова Наиболее употребителные идиоматические 2011

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Шушунова Е.В. Наиболее употребительные идиоматические выражения в научной литературе. Пособие для аспирантов, изучающих экономику, финансы и менеджмент. М.: НИЯУ МИФИ, 2011. − 68 с.

Вданном пособии представлены некоторые употребительные английские фразеологизмы с их истолкованием и примерами употребления, взятыми из современных английских литературных, газетно-журнальных, научно-популярных текстов и из новостных радио- и телепередач. Толкования и примеры употребления даются на английском языке, что поможет читателю глубже понять нюансы значений и употреблений фразеологизма. Интересна в некоторых словарных статьях

иэтимологическая справка, дающая возможность узнать происхождение фразеологизма.

Впособии приводятся тексты, демонстрирующие использование идиом и предлагаются тесты для закрепления материала.

Пособие предназначено для аспирантов НИЯУ МИФИ, изучающих экономику, финансы и менеджмент, и будет полезно для всех изучающих английский язык.

Подготовлено в рамках Программы создания и развития НИЯУ МИФИ.

Оригинал-макет изготовлен С.В. Тялиной

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Introduction

In today’s global business world, where English is the lingua franca, you are likely to come across hundreds of idioms. Idioms are everywhere. You will find them in newspapers, books, magazines, on the radio, on the television, in everyday conversation and at work. Newspapers like the Wall Street Journal and business sections of daily newspapers are full of these idioms. Idioms are often confusing because the meaning of the words in the idiomatic expression has little and often nothing to do with the literal meaning of the words.

Idioms are common in all kinds of English, formal and informal, spoken and written. Idioms take many different forms or structures. Most idioms are fixed in their form, and cannot be changed or varied (except the tense of the verb). For example, to paint the town red. Others allow a different number of variants. For example, to take/ have/ enjoy forty winks.

One of the main difficulties for learners is knowing in which situations it is correct to use an idiom, i.e. the level of style. The book gives help with labels such as formal, informal, [AmE], [BrE]. Unmarked idioms are neutral and may be used in most situations. Informal idioms are used in everyday spoken English and in personal letters.

A further difficulty is knowing whether an idiom is natural or appropriate in certain situation. Examples of typical use in particular situations, such as in business contexts, are given and these should be studied carefully.

Idioms come from all different sourcesfrom the Bible to horse racing, from ancient fables to modern slang. Sometimes famous authors and storytellers such as Homer, Aesop, Geoffrey Chaucer, or William Shakespeare made them up to add spark to their writings.

How does American English differ from British English in the use of idioms? There are no radical differences in actual use. The main differences are in the situations where idiomatic expressions are used.

Idiomatic expressions in the English language are more and more based on American English. It adopts and creates new idioms at a much faster rate compared to British English. Also the idioms of American English origin tend to spread faster and further. Nowadays new British idioms tend to stay on the British Isles.

This short book covers some of idioms and expressions you’re likely to encounter in today’s business world. The book was written to help you understand and use idioms better. Idioms will add colour to your language. Using idioms will make you sound more like a native speaker. You will also understand more of what you read and hear.

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Unit 1

30 Idioms based on Money

(your) bread and butter

your livelihood or the source of your income; средства к существованию

• The conditions are bad, but this work is their bread and butter so make sure the workers have other jobs before you close down the factory.

a ballpark figure/ a ballpark estimate [BrE]

an approximate figure or quantity; примерная цифра / смета;

с потолка; на глазок

•We don't know the exact cost, but a ballpark figure would be around six million dollars.

•I know you can't tell me exactly when it'll be finished, but can you give me a ballpark estimate? Origin: From baseball, and probably having a history similar to that of the idiom "in the same ballpark" which means "approximately the same amount".

Variety: This idiom is typically used in American English but may be used in other varieties of English too.

a nest egg

money put away for the future; деньги , отложенные на черный день

•When Indira inherited some money from her grandpa, she didn't spend it. She decided it was time she had a nest egg so she put it into an investment fund.

•Poor old Bill. He married a girl while he was in some foreign country and she got her hands on his nest egg, and now he's back here - with nothing.

a vested interest

a strong personal interest in something because you stand to gain from it;

•The Minister of Commerce is suspected of having vested interests

in several companies that have won big government contracts recently.

• As both a shareholder in a publishing company and a published author, the newspaper's book reviewer is seen as having vested interests in certain publishers.

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Note: This idiom is mostly used in reference to people who use their power or influence unethically for their personal benefit.

cook the books / cook the accounts

to keep inaccurate accounts for a business, usually in order to pay less tax ;

•Their accountant was charged with cooking the books, and now he's in jail.

•I found this website that shows you how to cook the accounts, but I'd never try doing it.

cost the earth/ a fortune / a bomb / charge the earth to cost a lot of money;

•Just having a cup of coffee costs the earth in there. It's ridiculously expensive.

•Don't have anything from the little fridge in your hotel room. They charge the earth for that stuff.

deep pockets

a lot of available money:

•It's a company with very deep pockets.

•Let's make a list of everyone we know with deep pockets, and see if any of them want to invest in our company.

dirt cheap very cheap;

•Be careful when you buy dirt cheap clothes. They could shrink easily or the colours could run when you wash them.

•Kevin is very tight with his money. If he has to buy someone a present, it's always something dirt cheap.

easy come, easy go (inf.)

used for saying that someone has spent money quickly, after getting it easily, and often that they should not worry because they have spent it;

легко нажитолегко прожито; как пришло, так и ушло;

• The share market's been falling recently, and I've lost a fair bit of money, but it's easy come, easy go, really, because it's just money I've earned from shares in the past.

easy money / pickings

money that you get without working hard. This expression sometimes shows that you think the money is obtained dishonestly.

• Lucinda decided to become a model because it looked liked easy money just walking down a runway or having your photo taken.

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• Many people thought they could make some easy money by selling things on the internet.

feather your own nest

use your position or your job illegally for personal gain; наживаться,

нагреть руки, набить себе карман

•Kelly says it's accepted in many developing countries that a government official will use their position to feather their own nest, and this is why government salaries are kept so low.

•In some countries a person who feathers their own nest isn't seen as being dishonest or corrupt; they're seen as being clever.

feel the pinch

to have less money than you need; испытывать финансовые затруднения; быть в очень трудном положении, в стесненных обстоятельствах

• With rising interest rates, many homeowners are beginning to feel the pinch.

for my money

You can say "for my money" to mean the same as "in my opinion".

• Leo reckons Sony make the best TVs, but for my money the new Panasonics are much better than Sonys.

go out of business

If a company goes out of business, it stops trading and closes down.

• A lot of companies went out of business during the economic recession.

grease someone's palm (inf.)

If you grease someone's palm, you pay them a bribe; дать взятку, ’подмазать’ кого-л., дать на лапу кому-л.

• The only way to get a government contract around here is to grease someone's palm.

in the black

with money in your bank account, or with more money than you owe;

•It's taken a long time, but we've paid off our loans and we're in the black again at last.

•If you rearrange your debts and save more than you spend, you could be in the black again within three years.

in the red

with more money being spent than there is available;

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•Even if we make a profit this year, we owe so much money that we'll probably still be in the red.

•I don't like being in the red, so I don't borrow money.

Note: This comes from the practice in accounting of using red ink to make entries into a "debits" column.

kill the goose that lays the golden egg

to destroy something that has made you a lot of money.

•The thing that attracted tourists to the island was the peace and quiet. But greedy developers have killed the goose that laid the golden egg by opening noisy nightclubs, and no-one goes there now.

•Parents and agents of successful child actors and singers often kill the goose that laid the golden egg by making the kids work too much, and the kids lose the magic spark that made them special in the first place.

Origin: This idiom is derived from one of the fables attributed to Aesop. In this tale, a man and his wife had the good luck to own a goose that laid a golden egg every day. They soon began to think they were not getting rich fast enough and, thinking the bird must be full of gold, they killed it to get all the gold at once. But when they cut the goose open, there was no gold inside. If they hadn't been greedy and killed the goose, it would have kept laying a golden egg every day.

made of money very rich

•When I was in poor countries, everyone thought I was made of money because I could afford to take time off work and travel so far to their country.

•That guy Howard acts as if he's made of money, but I know for a fact that he's actually quite poor.

make a killing

to make a lot of money very quickly;

•My aunt made a killing when she bought some shares in a company as soon as they were issued, and sold them a few weeks later for three times what she paid.

•Lots of people made a killing when property values went so high back in the nineties.

make ends meet

to earn just enough to pay for a place to live and your daily expenses;

сводить концы с концами;

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•My wife and I both have to work full-time just to make ends meet these days.

•Does the government really think elderly people can make ends meet on their pensions?

pay the price

to have to deal with the bad effects of something you have done;

расплачиваться

•One day you will all pay the price for your selfish behaviour.

•You mightn't feel the effects of smoking cigarettes while you're young, but you'll definitely pay the price when you're older.

pay through the nose (inf.)

to pay a price that is much higher than it should be; переплатить,

платить втридорога за что-л.

•I know I pay through the nose for my dental work, but the dentist I see is supposed to be the best, so I don't mind paying more than usual.

•We had to pay through the nose for our room because it was a long weekend and most of the hotels were fully booked.

pick up the tab / pick up the bill (inf.) to pay for yourself and your friends in a restaurant or a bar ; pay for something; платить по счету/

чеку; взять расходы на себя, платить за угощение.

•When people go out to celebrate a birthday in Thailand, whoever's having the birthday picks up the tab.

•In general in Asia, the person with the highest status picks up the bill in a restaurant.

rags to riches used for describing a situation in which someone who has been very poor becomes very rich; из нищих в богачи, нувориш, из грязи да в князи

•My grandfather went from rags to riches when his dishwashing liquid became very popular. He started out making it at home, but in less than a year he had his own factory.

•Most of these young guys in professional basketball came from poor neighbourhoods and they all have the same rags-to-riches story.

Note: If used as a modifier before a noun or a noun phrase, hyphens must be added, as in "a rags-to-riches story".

talk turkey to discuss something seriously, usually to do with business or money; говорить прямо, откровенно, начистоту ; вести деловой разговор;

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•After the owner had shown him around the apartment, Shane decided it was just what he wanted, so he said, "OK, I'm interested. Let's talk turkey."

•I started to say something about the deal, but Mr Hamilton said, "Not now, my boy. We never talk turkey at the dinner table."

tighten you belt to try to spend less money; затянуть пояс потуже

•I'll have to tighten my belt for a while so I can pay off my debts.

•Pablo says his family have had to tighten their belts because everything costs much more now.

under the table [BrE] / counter [AmE]

done secretly, usually because it's illegal or unethical; тайно, из под полы, нелегально;

•If you make under-the-table payments to customs officials, you can get goods through the port without having them inspected.

Note: If this idiom is used to qualify a noun or a noun phrase, hyphens must be used, as in "under-the-table payments".

Origin: Probably related to the fact that if a package or an envelope is passed under a table, other people cannot easily see what's going on. Variety: This idiom is typically used in American English but may be used in other varieties of English too.

wheeling and dealing

If you're wheeling and dealing, you're involved in the complex world of making deals and exchanging favours in business or politics, or both;

хитрить и изворачиваться

•You'll need to be good at wheeling and dealing if you want to do well in politics.

•The amount of wheeling and dealing that's needed to sort out a contract with the local government is incredible.

worth its weight in gold

extremely valuable or extremely useful; на вес золота

•A personal recommendation from someone like Professor Clark is worth its weight in gold. You'll be able to get a job anywhere you like with that.

•Your grandmother's stories are worth their weight in gold, so you should try to record them or write them down.

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