A shot in the arm – поиск наркотика; стимул (перен.) a soft touch – обходительный человек; pie in the sky – журавль в небе, пустые посулы

to be up for grabs (to be ready for anyone to take or win) – быть доступным каждому желающему

to get nitty-gritty – иметь дело со скучной, неинтересной стороной проблемы

to go softy-softy / softie-softie – проявить мягкость по отношению к чему-либо

to stay put (to remain in one place, not to move) – оставаться неподвижным, замереть на месте, оставаться неизменным

He wants the Scottish government to give a shot in the arm to the tourist industry (Sky News)

The most frequent colloquial words are the following

ageism – discrimination of old people

bargers – those looking for bargains

bubble – champagne (This year is going to be bubblier – В этом году ожидается увеличе­ние объемов продаж шаманского)

to botch – to do something badly (a botched attempt)

couch potato(es) – low quality tv programmes (couch potato lifestyle)

a crony – friend or companion (cronism)

a fizzy drink / fizz – carbonated soft drink

flicks – cinema (to go to the flicks)

A flop – unsuccessful film or play gazumping – cheating a potential buyer of a house

a jab – injection

Nifty – very good or attractive (nifty fifties – «золотой возраст»)

cross – angry

to down – to force to the ground

frantic – hurried (frantic efforts)

glitch – small fault in operation (Everything went without a glitch)

goodies – goods

a gunner – a gunman

a para – a paratrooper

jitters – anxiety (jittery)

a hike – to increase suddenly (hiking up)

a jab – injection

a drip – infusion

to jiggle – to move from side to side with short light movements

a рal – friend (pen-pal)

quickie – something done in a hurry

posh – fashionable and expensive, typical of high social class

to revamp – to give a new form to something (house revamp)

raft – lots of (a raft of measures)

to sack – to fire somebody

scare – fear (scary)

show-biz – show business

a shot – a photo

to spell – to mean (It spells disaster to him)

a spook – ghost

to swap / swop – to exchange

telly – tv set

trendy – fashionable

cheeky – audacious

sweety – sweet

smelly – with unpleasant smell

wheely – a bin on wheels (контейнер для мусора на колесах)

upbeat – cheerful and full of hope (to be in an upbeat mood)

downbeat – gloomy, pesimistic

U-turn – complete revision of one`s previous views or ideas

weird – unusual and not acceptable (He sounds weird)

Some frequent colloquial phrasal verbs¹ are listed below

to add up – 1. иметь смысл, согласовываться; 2. подытоживать, складывать (the numbers don’t add up)

to beef up – усилить, увеличить (to beef up security / security was beefed up)

to cash in – нажиться, получить быструю прибыль

to gun down – застрелить

to stick around (to hang around; to hang out) – околачиваться, слоняться без дела

to stack up – складываться, быть в некотором состоянии

to tick off – ставить отметку, «галочку» (to tick off all the boxes)

to pop up – неожиданно появиться, возникнуть

to tot up – суммировать, складывать

to set off – приводить что-либо в действие (to set off an explosive device)

He used his Navy pension to get it off the ground, saying he wanted to step in where others have stepped away (Sky News).

The scramble is already on to snap up tickets (Sky News).

That policy doesn’t really stack up (Sky News).

Some shortened words and expressions

cash point (machine) / a hole in the wall – банкомат

4-star / leaded/unleaded (petrol) – марки бензина (четыре звезды, с добавлением свинца или без него)

welly boots – Wellington (rubber) boots – резиновые сапоги с высокими, до пояса, голенищами

the Chancellor – the Chancellor of the Exchequer

the Met (Metropolitan Police) – полиция Лондона

the Met Office – британская национальная метеослужба

the mid-terms (middle term elections) – выборы в Конгресс США, проводимые через два года после президентских выборов

satnav – satellite navigation (system)