(a) hell on earth
The wounded soldiers described the battle as ‘hell on earth’.
альфа и омега
the alpha and omega
ангельское терпение
the patience of Job
You need the patience of Job to deal with customers like that.
Ахиллесова пята
Achilles’ heel; a chink in someone’s armour
His Achilles’ heel is that he always wants to be right.
The lack of experience may be a chink in his armour.
бабушкины сказки
an old wives’ tale
It is an old wives’ tale that drinking milk prevents cold.
бабье лето
an Indian summer
бальзам на душу
music to someone’s ears
What he said was music to my ears.
бедный как церковная крыса
(as) poor as a church mouse
My uncle was as poor as a church mouse.
без всякого преувеличения
to say the least
Her behaviour towards her boss was very rude, to say the least.
без обиняков
straight from the shoulder
John told me, straight from the shoulder, that he was not at all pleased with my work.
бить баклуши
to twiddle one’s thumbs
Don’t sit around twiddling your thumbs. Get down to work!
бить в цель
to hit the mark
His remarks hit the mark perfectly and really provided an important message for the graduating students.
бить мимо цели
to miss the mark
His speech missed the mark and he failed to gain support from the audience.
бить ниже пояса (кого-л.)
to hit someone below the belt; to be below the belt
In the run-up to the election, he won’t hesitate to hit his opponent below the belt.
Her remarks about my money problems were a bit below the belt.
биться головой о стену
to bang one’s head against a brick wall
He was banging his head against a brick wall trying to teach that dog to obey.
биться не на жизнь, а на смерть
to fight tooth and nail
They fought tooth and nail to defend their son against the false accusations.
благодарить судьбу
to thank one’s lucky stars
You can thank your lucky stars that she was there to help you.
блаженное неведение
a fool’s paradise
You are living in a fool’s paradise if you think that the business will recover shortly.
бледный как полотно
(as) white as a sheet
He looked as white as a sheet after the accident.
блуждать в потемках
to be in the dark
I’m totally in the dark about what’s going on.
Бог его знает
God knows!
Will we ever win? – God knows!
боевое крещение
baptism of fire
He was given a very important project to carry out in his first month. It was a real baptism of fire.
Боже мой!
good God/gracious/grief!; oh dear!; dear me!
Good God! You’ve finished the work already!
Oh dear! I’ve lost my keys.
Dear me! I forgot to phone him.
Боже упаси!
God/heaven forbid!
I hope we won’t have any trouble with the car. – God forbid!
бок о бок
side by side
They walked along the river side by side.
более или менее
more or less
The distance is ten miles, more or less.
Have you finished yet? – More or less.
большая шишка
a big cheese/gun/noise/shot/wheel
Bill’s father is quite a big shot in the government.
бояться собственной тени
to be afraid of one’s own shadow
Jane never goes anywhere – she seems to be afraid of her own shadow.
брать быка за рога
to take the bull by the horns
I decided to take the bull by the horns and asked my boss for a holiday.
брать верх (над кем-л./чем-л.)
to get the upper hand (over someone/something)
Our team managed to get the upper hand in the end.
брать голыми руками (кого-л.)
to beat someone hands down
The last time we played chess he beat me hands down.
брать за душу
to tug at the heartstrings
The story of a lost child was one that really pulled at the heartstrings.
брать свои слова обратно
to eat one’s words
You shouldn’t say that to me. I’ll make you eat your words.
брать себя в руки
to get a grip on oneself; to pull oneself together
Come on, get a grip on yourself and tell me what happened.
She started to panic but managed to pull herself together.
брать