Raising The Bar

be in a quandary:

ở tình thế khó xử

● I've had two job offers, and I'm in a real quandary about/over which one to accept.

be in/of two minds:

vừa thích làm cái này, vừa thích làm cái kia

● I was in two minds whether or not to come this morning.

be on the horns of a dilemma:

tiến thoái lưỡng nan, khó đưa ra quyết định

● Wendy is on the horns of a dilemma: she just wonders whether to go for a picnic with her friends or to stay at home with her family.

fall between two stools:

lưỡng lự giữa 2 lựa chọn thành ra xôi hỏng bỏng không

● The grammar guide falls between two stools - it's too difficult for a beginner but not detailed enough for an advanced student.

be between the devil and the deep blue sea:

tiến thoái lưỡng nan

● I was between the devil and the deep blue sea, for if I didn't take out another loan—and go deeper into debt—I could not pay off the debts I already owed.

double bind (n):

tình huống khó xử (giải quyết kiểu gì cũng gây ra rắc rối)

● The principal is caught in a double bind because whether she expels the student or lets him off, she still gets blamed.

be spoilt/spoiled for choice:

toàn cái tốt, chẳng biết chọn cái nào

● There's so much good theatre in New York City - one is spoilt for choice.

be (caught) between a rock and a hard place:

ở tình thế khó khăn, khó đưa ra quyết định

● You were really between a rock and a hard place when you had to choose between your career and your relationship.

be torn between something and something:

khó chọn giữa 2 khả năng

● She's torn between her loyalty and her desire to tell the truth.

walk/tread a tightrope:

đi trên dây, khó đưa ra quyết định

● Many manufacturers have to walk a tightrope between pricing their goods too high and not selling them, and pricing them low and losing money.

get cold feet:

chần chừ, chùn bước

● I wanted to enter the competition but at the last minute I got cold feet.

be (caught) in a cleft stick:

chọn làm cái gì cũng gây ra vấn đề

● Well, we're caught in a cleft stick now! Do we start pushing the car towards town, or hope that someone passes by with a can of petrol?

be at a crossroads:

đến ngã rẽ cuộc đời, phải đưa ra lựa chọn

● After earning my degree, I'm at a crossroads. I need to figure out which direction my life should take.

double whammy:

a situation when two unpleasant things happen at almost the same time

● Farmers have faced the double whammy of a rising dollar and falling agricultural prices.

blow hot and cold:

lúc thích, lúc không

● He's been blowing hot and cold about the trip to Brazil.

burn the midnight oil:

thức khuya đèn sách

● If you burn the midnight oil night after night, you'll probably become ill.

work your ass off (offensive):

(dùng khi bạn rất tức giận)

● I worked my ass off for that man.

work your fingers to the bone:

làm việc đến mức ngón tay gầy trơ xương

● She worked her fingers to the bone to provide a home and food for seven children.

hammer away at sth:

làm việc không ngừng nghỉ

● She spent all weekend hammering away at her novel.

pull an all-nighter:

thức trắng cả đêm để học, làm việc

● I pulled an all-nighter last night.

eager beaver (n):

a person who is willing to work very hard

busy bee (n):

con ong chăm chỉ

So sánh: be (as) busy as a bee: to be moving about quickly doing many things

~ di chuyển, đi lại liên hồi để làm việc

● My mom is (as) busy as a bee around Christmastime.

burn the candle at both ends:

làm việc từ sáng tới đêm, làm việc kiệt sức

● You'll wear out if you keep burning the candle at both ends.

spread oneself too thin:

ôm 1 lúc nhiều việc, không tính đến khả năng của mình

● I realized I'd been spreading myself too thin so I resigned as secretary of the golf club.

sweat over sth:

đổ mồ hôi làm việc gì đó

● She's been sweating over that essay all afternoon.

● I've been sweating over a hot stove (= cooking) all morning.

exert yourself:

tự mình nỗ lực

(cả tinh thần lẫn thể chất)

● I was too tired to exert myself.

pull your socks up:

nỗ lực cải thiện khuyết điểm

● He's going to have to pull his socks up if he wants to stay in the team.

apply oneself to something:

to work hard and diligently at something

● You should apply yourself to your studies.

work from dawn to/until dusk:

làm việc từ sáng sớm đến tối muộn

● We worked from dawn to dusk, seven days a week.

roll up your sleeves:

xắn tay áo lên mà làm việc đi

● There's a lot of work to do, so roll up your sleeves and get busy.

bash away at:

= SYN: slave away at: (mang tính chất nặng nề hơn)

vẫn tiếp tục làm việc gì

● I slave away over a hot stove all afternoon, and you can't even be bothered to finish what's on your plate?

can't be bothered to do sth:

chẳng buồn làm gì, chẳng muốn làm gì (vì lười, vì nghĩ nó nặng nhọc quá)

● She couldn't even be bothered to say hello. (cô ấy còn chẳng buồn nói lấy một lời chào ~ đến cả một lời chào mà cô ấy còn cảm thấy nặng nhọc)

give a hundred percent:

to try or work as hard as you can in order to

achieve something

● Everyone on the team gave a hundred percent.

- SYN: give sth your all ~ cố gắng hết sức

keep/put your nose to the grindstone:

to work very hard for a long time

● She kept her nose to the grindstone all year and got the exam results she wanted.

put your shoulder to the wheel:

bắt đầu làm gì với toàn bộ tâm lực

● We need to put our shoulders to the wheel if we're going to finish this on time.

SYN: knuckle down = buckle down

● You're going to have to really knuckle down (to your work) if you want to

pass your final exams.

● He'll have to buckle down (to his work) soon if he wants to pass his

finals.

put the pedal to the metal:

- to drive very fast: tăng ga, lái nhanh

- to work very quickly: "tăng ga" khi làm việc

● We are going to have to put the pedal to the metal if we want to finish on time.

drive/work/run yourself into the ground:

làm việc quá sức

● We ran ourselves into the ground to meet the July deadline.

blood, sweat, and tears (n):

máu, mồ hôi và cả nước mắt

● A lot of blood, sweat, and tears have gone into this victory.

fight tooth and nail:

to try very hard to get something you want

● We fought tooth and nail to get the route of the new road changed.

- SYN: go to great/any lengths: to try very hard to achieve something

● Some people go to great lengths to make their homes attractive.

sweat blood (also sweat your guts out):

to make a great effort

● We sweated blood to get the work finished on time.

with all one's might:

using all your strength

● Amos was tugging at the rope with all his might.

with a vengeance:

với 1 lực rất lớn, tràn đầy năng lượng.

● He's been working with a vengeance over the past few weeks to make up

for lost time.

● Flared trousers are back with a vengeance (= very popular again) this

summer.

(ở ví dụ 2: be back with a vengeance: quay trở lại và lợi hại hơn xưa)

work round/around the clock:

làm việc suốt ngày suốt đêm

● Doctors and nurses worked round the clock to help those injured in the train crash.

try one's best = do one's best = do sth to the best of your ability

cố gắng hết sức

● I promise to carry out my duties to the best of my ability.

pull out all the stops:

dồn hết sức lực cho 1 việc thành công

● They pulled out all the stops for their daughter's wedding.

stop at nothing:

không từ 1 thủ đoạn nào

● He'll stop at nothing to get what he wants.

give sth your best shot:

to do something as well as you can

● I gave writing my best shot, but I just don't think I can make a career out of it.

go to the trouble to do something (also take the trouble to do

something):

to make an effort to do something

● If the police had gone to the trouble of looking up his record, they

would not have released him.

- SYN: go out of your way: to try very hard to do something for sb

leave no stone unturned:

không để hoàn đá nào cản đường, dùng đủ mọi cách

● He left no stone unturned in his search for his natural mother.

be firing on all cylinders /ˈsɪl.ɪn.dɚ/:

hoạt động hết công suất

● Dawson will be firing on all cylinders after two months of fitness training.

not do things by halves:

chẳng bao giờ làm việc nửa vời cả; đã làm là phải đến nơi đến chốn

● "I didn't realize you were decorating the whole house." "Oh, we don't do things by halves around here."

pull your weight:

to work as hard as other people in a group

● The others had complained that Sarah wasn't pulling her weight.

bury/have your head in the sand:

giấu đầu dưới bãi cát, không muốn nghĩ về 1 vấn đề

● You've got to face facts here - you can't just bury your head in the sand.

shrug off your responsibility for sth:

rũ bỏ trách nhiệm

● You're a father and you can't simply shrug off your responsibility for your children.

abdicate (your) responsibility:

thoái thác trách nhiệm

● SYN: shirk your responsibilities/duties

● The government cannot abdicate responsibility for national security.

● If you shirk your responsibilities/duties now, the situation will be much

harder to deal with next month.

draw a veil over sth:

che giấu cái gì xấu, vì mình không dám nói

● Yes, well I think we'll just draw a veil over what went on last night.

not face the music:

không đối mặt với sự trừng phạt, chỉ trích

● We refused to face the music over our bold moves.

shift the blame/responsibility (onto somebody):

đổ trách nhiệm lên đầu ai

● It was a clear attempt to shift the responsibility for the crime onto the victim.

pass the buck:

đổ trách nhiệm lên đầu ai

● She's always trying to pass the buck and I'm sick of it!

do a runner:

chạy trốn, chuồn

● He stole all the money in the office and did a runner.

gloss over sth:

tránh nhắc đến việc gì xấu hổ

● She glossed over the company's declining profits.

skate over/around sth:

trốn tránh giải quyết việc gì

● Providing homeless people with somewhere to stay when the weather is cold only skates around the problem, it doesn't solve it.

turn a blind eye:

Management often turns a blind eye to bullying in the workplace.

- SYN: close/shut your eyes to sth: to ignore something bad and

pretend it is not happening

fall on deaf ears:

(lời đề nghị, cảnh báo,...) không lọt vào tai

● Their appeals to release the hostages fell on deaf ears.

turn a deaf ear:

to ignore someone when they complain or ask for

something

● In the past they've tended to turn a deaf ear to such requests.

shun (v):

ignore or avoid something regularly

● After the trial he was shunned by friends and family alike.

snub/slight:

insult someone by ignoring them or treating them as if they are not important ('slight' is more formal than snub)

● I didn't mean to snub him - I genuinely didn't see him come into the room.

give someone the cold shoulder:

ngó lơ ai

● I thought she really liked me, but the next day she gave me the cold shoulder.

SYN: cut sb dead = look right through someone

leave sb in the lurch:

bỏ mặc ai khi họ cần mình giúp đỡ

● He said he would help with the rent, but he left me in the lurch.

tune out (something/someone):

to stop paying attention to something or someone

● She tends to tune out her parents' advice and make her own decisions.

look the other way:

to ignore something bad or someone on purpose ~

quay ra chỗ khác

● All these predators got away with it because administrators just looked the other way and pretended it wasn't happening.

turn one's back on sb/sth:

quay lưng với ai/cái gì

● He said the nation had turned its back on the poor for many years.

pay no heed to sth/sb = take no heed of sth/sb:

không chú ý đến cái gì

● He paid no heed to my warning.

the blame lies with (also the blame rests with):

trách nhiệm nằm, thuộc về ai

● Some of the blame lies with investors.

through no fault of her/my etc own:

không phải lỗi của ai

● In my opinion Anna acted more childishly but through no fault of her own.

blame somebody for something = put/lay/pin/place the blame on

somebody for something:

đổ lỗi cho ai

● Health officials put the blame for the disease on (= say that the reason

for the disease is) poor housing conditions

hold someone responsible:

to blame somebody for something

● If anything goes wrong, I will hold you responsible.

apportion blame:

đổ trách nhiệm cho 1 tổ chức, bộ phận, nhóm người

● The investigation into the air crash would inevitably apportion blame to certain members of the crew.

only have yourself to blame (also have nobody/no one to blame but

yourself):

chẳng đỗ lỗi cho ai ngoài bản thân cả

● If you lose your job, you'll only have yourself to blame.

be to blame for something:

là nguyên nhân gây ra việc gì

● The hot weather is partly to blame for the water shortage.

- SYN: be at fault, be sb's fault

● She was at fault for the error.

● This is all my fault.

blameworthy = culpable (adj) (formal):

có tội, có lỗi

● He was held culpable (= blamed) for all that had happened.

the finger of blame/suspicion:

sự tình nghi

● The inquiry pointed the finger of blame at the driver of the crashed coach.

fall on one's sword:

đổ nhào về thanh gươm của mình; tự mình nhận lỗi

● The CEO fell on his sword when widespread corruption in the company was exposed.

be left holding the baby (also be left holding the bag):

bị bắt "đổ vỏ", bị người khác đổ mọi trách nhiệm lên đầu mình

● The other investors pulled out of the project and we were left holding

the baby.

have a lot to answer for:

phải chịu nhiều trách nhiệm

● The company executives have a lot to answer for.

be brought/called to account:

bị mang ra ánh sáng, phải chịu tội

● We must ensure that the people responsible for the violence are brought to account.

sore (adj):

angry because you feel you have been unfairly treated

● He accused me of being a sore loser (= someone who does not accept defeat well).

● sore loser: người háo thắng

livid (adj):

extremely angry

- SYN: apoplectic /ˌæp.əˈplek.tɪk/: extremely angry

furious: extremely angry

incensed /ɪnˈsenst/: extremely angry

mad: very angry or annoyed

seething (adj):

rất tức giận nhưng không bộc lộ rõ ra bên ngoài

● The town is seething with indignation about this little boy's case.

ruffle sb's feathers:

làm ai xù lông lên

● She knows how to ruffle his feathers.

beside yourself with:

lấp đầy bản thân mình với 1 trạng thái cảm xúc nào đó

● Beside herself with rage, she threw the plate on the floor.

up in arms:

angry or upset

● People are up in arms over plans to close the local swimming pool.

cross (adj)

annoyed or angry

● I'm cross with you for not telling me where you were going cross

make one's blood boil:

làm máu ai sôi lên, khiến họ vô cùng tức giận

● It still makes my blood boil to think of all the time we wasted on this.

throw a wobbly:

to become very angry or upset

● My little girl loves the telephone, and she threw a wobbly when I wouldn't let her play with it.

hit the ceiling/roof:

to become extremely angry

● SYN: go through the roof

- Dad'll hit the ceiling when he finds out I've left school.

enrage sb (also become enraged):

làm ai tức giận hoặc trở nên tức giận

● Plans to build a new nightclub in the neighbourhood have enraged local

residents.

lose your temper:

to get angry

● She never lost her temper, never raised her voice.

see red:

to become very angry

● I had a hairbrush in my hand and I just saw red and hit him with it.

fly into a rage/passion:

to suddenly become very angry

● I never saw him fly into a rage or treat anyone cruelly.