CPE 5B

grey matter

[szare komórki]

→ Linda must be lacking in grey matter if she can’t understand this.

know sth like the back of one’s hand

[znać coś jak własną kieszeń]

→ She has lived here so long that she knows the town like the back of her hand.

hold your horses

[wyluzuj, chwila]

→ Hold your horses, I’ll be ready as soon as I can.

go to one’s head

[uderzać do głowy, np. sukces, woda sodowa]

→ All the praise he’s got from his teachers has gone to his head and he thinks he’s the best student in the school.

lend sb a hand

[pomóc, podać pomocną dłoń]

→ I’d appreciate it if you could lend me a hand with these bags; they are so heavy.

have one’s hands full

[mieć ręce pełne roboty]

→ Kristina had her hands full after giving birth to triplets.

lose heart

[stracić chęć, serce do czegoś]

→ When he failed the exam for the third time, he lost heart and decided to give up.

be hand in glove with sb

[być w zmowie z kimś]

→ Mary is hand in glove with her supervisor, so knows everything that’s going on in the office.

take to one’s heels

 [brać nogi za pas]

→ When they heard the sound of police sirens, the burglars took to their heels and escaped.

straight from the horse’s mouth

 [z pierwszej ręki]

→ I heard the news straight from the horse’s mouth; John himself told me he lost his job.

keep things under one’s hat

 [trzymać coś w tajemnicy, w zanadrzu]

→ I told her my secret, trusting she would keep it under her hat.

have so much time on one’s hands

 [mieć dużo wolnego czasu]

→ He has so much time on his hands now that he’s retired that he’s taken up several new hobbies.

off the cuff

[z marszu, bez przygotowania, np. przemawiać]
→ As the politician hadn’t had the chance to prepare a speech, he had to deliver one off the cuff.

have one’s heart in one’s mouth

 [mieć serce w gardle, mieć duszę na ramieniu (być bardzo podekscytowanym lub przestraszonym)]
→ She had her heart in her mouth all the time the firemen were trying to rescue her child from the building.

to come in handy

[okazać się przydatnym]
→ A torch comes in handy when you go on a camping trip.

to flog a dead horse

[trudzić się na próżno]
→ Talking this matter over again is just flogging a dead horse; we can’t have anything new to discuss.

get out of hand

 [wymknąć się spod kontroli]
→ Someone is going to have to do sth about the violence at football matches before the situation completely gets out of hand.

get the hang of sth

[połapać się w czymś; zrozumieć coś]
→ You have to drive a car a number of times before you get the hang of it.

takes sth to heart

 [wziąć sobie coś do serca]
→ You should be careful about criticising her as she always takes it to heart.

be a bit of a dark horse

 sb who has a surprising ability or skill [być czarnym koniem]
→ She was a bit of a dark horse; nobody knew she was a published poet.

strike gold

 [odkryć złoto, trafić na żyłę złota]
→ Everyone says Maria struck gold when she married her millionaire husband.

break the ice

 to ease the tension when one first meets people [przełamać lody]
→ When she introduced her two friends, she tried to break the ice by mentioning the interests they had in common.

the tip of the iceberg

the small evident part of a much larger concealed situation [wierzchołek góry lodowej]
→ The recent layoffs are just the tip of the iceberg; the company has bigger hidden problems.

be ill at ease

feeling embarrassed or uncomfortable [być skrępowanym, zażenowanym]
→ He was ill at ease at the party as he didn’t know anyone who was there.

the ins and outs

the details of an activity [tajniki, szczegóły czegoś]
→ Having worked for the firm for years, she knew all the ins and outs of company policy.

have many irons in the fire

to have a lot of plans or possibilities in progress at the same time [trzymać dwie sroki za ogon, zajmować się wieloma rzeczami jednocześnie]
→ George has so many irons in the fire that if he decides not to accept the sales job, he has the pick of at least seven other positions.

be in for the high jump

to be about to be punished [mieć kłopoty przez coś, co się zrobiło]
→ The children who broke the window will be in for the high jump when their father finds out.

have a job

to find sth difficult to do [robić z trudem]
→ She had a job making the pastry as she had no recipe to follow.

stew in one’s own juice

to suffer the consequences of one’s own actions [cierpieć z powodu własnych decyzji lub problemów]
→ It’s your own fault you got the sack; now you will have to stew in your own juice.

keep up with the Joneses

to compete with others in status or material goods [starać się dorównać innym, zwłaszcza pod względem materialnym]
→ Our neighbours do their best to keep up with the Joneses by buying the latest model car.

before one can say Jack Robinson

to happen extremely quickly [zanim się obejrzysz, bardzo szybko, w mgnieniu oka]
→ When someone threatened to report him to the police, Peter was out of the house before one could say Jack Robinson.

sound asleep

in a deep sleep [twardo spać]
→ Everyone was sound asleep when the fire broke out.

be in two minds about sth

undecided or unsure about something [mieć wątpliwości, być niezdecydowanym]
→ She is in two minds about marrying him.

be injurious to

harmful or damaging [być szkodliwym, mieć negatywny wpływ na coś]
→ She sued the newspaper as their article about her had been injurious to her reputation.

beside oneself with anger

furious [być wściekłym, nie móc opanować gniewu]
→ Jerry was beside himself with anger when he saw the damage to his car.

lead to sth

[prowadzić do czegoś, skutkować czymś]
→ His neglect of his work led to his dismissal.

be the exact double

look exactly like sb [wyglądać identycznie jak ktoś inny]
→ She’s the exact double of her mother.

get over

to recover from something [przezwyciężyć, pokonać]
→ In spite of the severity of his illness, he managed to get over it.

give sb their word

to promise sth [dać komuś słowo, obiecać coś komuś]
→ They gave me their word they would come.

now and then

[od czasu do czasu]
→ A cream cake now and then won’t do you any harm

take exception to sth

 to be offended by something [poczuć się urażonym]
→ He took exception to the way she spoke to him.

at half-hour intervals

occurring every thirty minutes [co pół godziny]
→ There is a bus to the station at half-hour intervals on Saturdays.

be put off by sth

be discouraged or repelled by sth [zniechęcić się czymś, stracić zainteresowanie z powodu czegoś]
→ We were put off by her manner.

no amount of

no quantity of sth can affect a situation [żadne ilości, nic z tego nie pomoże, bez względu na ilość]
→ No amount of criticism affected his confidence.

involve a lot of

 to require or include many of something [wymagać wiele, wiązać się z dużą ilością]
→ Jane’s job involves a lot of travelling abroad.

have implications on sth

 to affect sth [mieć wpływ na coś]
→ What implications will the changes have for the company?

be a mystery to someone

sth that is not understood by someone [być zagadką dla kogoś, być niezrozumiałym dla kogoś]
→ It’s a mystery to them why Lena resigned.

be given insufficient time

not enough time to do sth [mieć za mało czasu]
→ We were given insufficient time to finish the work.

result in

to lead to a particular outcome [skutkować]
→ The strike resulted in the concert being cancelled.

catch a glimpse of

to see someone or something briefly [rzucić na coś okiem]
→ I caught a glimpse of James as he walked past the door.

have a go at doing sth

to try to do something [podjąć próbę, próbować coś zrobić]
→ He had a go at solving the equation, but he couldn’t do it.

gain ground

 make progress/become more popular [odnosić coraz większe sukcesy, zyskać popularność]
→ For busy people in today’s society, lifestyle management is gaining ground.

beat sb at their own game

to defeat/do better than sb in an activity considered their strength [ograć kogoś w jego własną grę, pokonać kogoś jego własną bronią]
→ John managed to beat his colleague at their own game by mastering the project he was leading.

give the game away

reveal a secret or one’s feelings [zdradzić sekret, wygadać się]
→ She accidentally gave the game away when she mentioned the surprise party in front of him.

throw down the gauntlet

challenge sb [wyzywać na pojedynek, rzucić rękawicę]
 → By challenging the reigning champion to a rematch, he threw down the gauntlet, daring anyone to test their skills against him.

gild the lily

spoil sth beautiful by additions [przedobrzyć]
→ The designer refuses to gild the lily, preferring clean, simple lines for his creations.

fit like a glove

 fit perfectly [pasować jak ulał]
→ This lovely new dress fits like a glove.

move the goalposts

change the rules or demands of a situation [zmieniać reguły gry]
→ Every time the government meets their demands, the union leaders move the goalposts.

have a lot going for you

 have a lot of advantages in your favour [mieć komuś wiele do zaoferowania]
→ With her impressive qualifications and experience, Maria has a lot going for her in the job market.

as good as

practically, very nearly [tak dobry jak]
→ He’s as good as done for; there’s no chance of him recovering from this setback.

up for grabs

available to those who are interested [być do wzięcia (np. nagroda, miejsce pracy)]
→ During pioneer days, a lot of land in the United States was up for grabs.

dig one’s own grave

cause one’s own failure [kopać swój własny grób]
→ He dug his own grave by constantly ignoring the rules and guidelines at work.

grind to a halt

slowly stop/come to an end [zatrzymywać się, wyhamować]
→ With fuel in short supply, machinery in the factory slowly ground to a halt.

come/get to grips with

consider seriously and start to take action [zmierzyć/uporać się z czymś]
→ He needed time to get to grips with the new software before he could use it effectively.

get off the ground

begin or start functioning [zacząć odnosić sukcesy, zainicjować coś]
→ The new project finally got off the ground after months of planning and preparation.

come to grief

sth is unsuccessful [lec w gruzach, przegrać]
→ The company’s new marketing campaign came to grief when the product failed to meet customer expectations.

make a go of sth

have some success [uczynić coś sukcesem]
→ Despite the tough market conditions, they managed to make a go of their new business.

for good

permanently [na dobre, na zawsze]
→ David decided that smoking was ruining his health, and so he gave it up for good.

stick to one’s guns

keep to your opinion [upierać się przy swoim, np. zdaniu]
→ The teacher was adamant and stuck to his guns about the date of the final exam.