Idiom Translation Example

Topic: People
be on the top of the world felspannolva After scoring the final goal, I was on the top of the world.

be out of sorts kimerült, fáradt With all these things, I’ve been feeling out of sorts all week.

drive sb up the wall az idegeire megy My sister has been driving me up the wall with her screaming.

feel blue szomorkodik When I’m feeling blue, I try to think of all the good things I have in my life

give sb a hard time nehéz helyzetbe hoz I wish my teachers would chill out a little and stop giving me a hard time.

have mixed feelings vegyes érzelmei vannak I have mixed feelings about my writing exam.

jumping for joy ugrál örömében My mum jumped for joy when she heard that I passed the exam.

It’s Greek to me ez nekem kínai You should stop talking about History, it’s Greek to me.

be green with envy megesz a sárga irigység I’m green with envy! You are so slim!

Topic: Work
be an up-and-coming nagy jövő előtt álló He is an up-and-coming employee and is expected to climb the career
ladder quickly.
(businessman) (üzletember)
be good on paper elméletileg jó It is good on paper but we should try it out.

be snowed under el van havazva I am snowed under with preparing the language exam.
be up to one’s ears sok a tennivaló I am up to my ears with preparing the language exam.

have one’s hands full nincs egy szabad perce I have my hands full, I can’t drink the coffee with you.

sem
be tied up teljesen leköti a munka He is tied up with his job, he can’t come to the party.

be the breadwinner kenyérkereső My mum has been the breadwinner in the family ever since my dad lost his
job.

climb the career ladder feljebb kerül a ranglétrán He is expected to climb the career ladder quickly.

get the sack felmondanak neki John got the sack the other day. He didn’t really work well.

make ends meet kijön a fizetéséből In order to do more than just make ends meet, you should be creative.

put sth on hold félretesz, megtakarít We’ve had to put the sale on hold while we figure out why the website
keeps crashing.
John put Ann on hold and started dating Mary.

think outside the box kreatívan gondolkodik Nowadays you have to think outside the box to get a well-paid job.

work 24/7 látástól vakulásig You shouldn’t work 24/7, you will burn out!

dolgozik
Topic: Family and social life
be at each other’s throats egymás torkának esnek Those two are always at each other’s throats.

be in sb’s good/bad books elégedett I’ve been in Lily’s good books ever since I taught her how to play chess.

valakivel/elégedetlen
valakivel
be on the same wavelength azonos hullámhosszon Even though he is much older than me, we are on the same wavelength.

vannak
fair-weather friend érdekbarát I can rely on Andy even in difficult times, he’s just a fair-weather friend.

fly the nest kirepül a fészekből Terry reached adulthood so he decided to fly the nest to be independent.

go back a long way nagy múltra tekint vissza My best friend and I go back a long way – we met in kindergarten.

have a crush on sb odavan valakiért I have a crush on my best friend!

have a heart-to-heart kiönti a szívét The newly-married couple sat down to have a heart-to-heart with each
other.

keep to oneself magának való Andrew stays away from big events and likes to keep to himself.

not give sb the time of day szóra sem méltat Our neighbours won’t give us the time of day since we quarrelled with
them.

one’s own flesh and blood vér szerinti rokona Even though it’s hard with him, he is her own flesh and blood.
through thick and thin jóban-rosszban True friends stick together through thick and thin.

Topic: Food
bear fruit meghozza a gyümölcsét After all these months of planning, our hard work is bearing fruit!

have a sweet tooth édesszájú Charlotte has a sweet tooth so we’d better plan for dessert as well.

have your cake and eat it A kecske is jóllakjon és a You can’t have your cake and eat it. If you want to take time off this
summer, you can’t take off any time now.
káposzta is megmaradjon
leave a bad taste in sb’s rossz szájízt hagy maga Hearing the awful way Jim spoke to his students has left a bad taste in my
mouth.
mouth után
the icing on the cake hab a tortán You wedding was fantastic and the band was just the icing on the cake.

Topic: Economy
be strapped for cash pénzszűkében van Could you cover the cost of the dinner? I’m a little strapped for cash at the
moment.

have money to burn felveti a pénz I don’t know what her job is but she certainly seems to have money to
burn.

make/spend/lost/cost a egy kisebb vagyont keres, Donna’s new flat cost a small fortune.

small fortune költ, veszít

pay the price for sth meglakol valamiért If you abuse your body now, you’ll pay the price when you’re older.
pay through the nose borsos árat fizet We paid through the nose to get the car fixed.

spend money like water kifolyik a pénz a keze Now that he’s got a steady job, he spends money like water.

közül
throw money down the kidobja a pénzt az My degree in English teaching so far feels like I’ve thrown money down
the drain.
drain ablakon
tighten one’s belt szorosra húzza a Now that they are both unemployed they’ll have to tighten their belt.

nadrágszíjat
Topic: Travelling and tourism
be a nervous wreck idegroncs valaki She was a nervous wreck after she came out the exam.

be in the same boat ugyanabban a hajóban She’s always complaining that she doesn’t have enough money, but we’re
all in the same boat.
eveznek
show sb the ropes betanítani valakit Lynn spent an afternoon showing the new girl the ropes.

steer clear of sb/sth elkerül valakit, valamit They warned their children to steer clear of drugs.

be on the right/wrong track a helyes/téves úton jár These results suggest that we are on the right track.

be / get back on track visszatér a helyes útra The train schedule seems to be back on track after those delays this
morning.

go off the rails letér a helyes útról He went off the rails in his first year at university.
run out of steam kifogy a szuszból The peace talks seem to haver un out of steam.

be off the beaten track ott van, ahol a madár se The farmhouse we stayed in was completely off the beaten track.

jár
do a U-turn az ellenkezőjét teszi The prime minister did a quick U-turn in response to all the questions.

hit the road elindul, útra kel It’s time to hit the road, we will be late!

life in the fast lane két végén égeti a gyertyát Parties and women – he was living life in the fast lane.

prepare the ground előkészíti a terepet The leaders of both countries are preparing the ground for the peace talks.

Topic: Art and culture

be an open book nyitott könyv valaki Charlie is an open book; you always know if she’s had good news or if
something is troubling her.

be music to one’s ears zene füleinek After a hard days’s work, I can’t wait to go home to my children. The
sound of their voices is music to my ears.

dance to sb’s tune úgy táncol, ahogy a As an employee, you have no alternative but to dance to your employer’s
tune.
másik fütyül
face the music szembenéz a If she lied to me, then she’ll just have to face the music.

következményekkel
have one’s head buried in a beletemetkezik egy James is very studious and always has hist head buried in a book.
book könyvbe
have sth down to a fine art művészi szintre fejleszt I’m the mother of three kids, so I’ve got lunch-making down to a fine art.

valamit
put on an act szerepet játszik, színlel When my father became ill, he put on an act so that the rest of the family
wouldn’t know how serious the situation was.

steal the show minden babért learat My daughter was used to stealing the show but now there’s a new baby in
the family.

You can’t judge a book by Ne a látszat alapján ítélj! He looks ugly but don’t judge a book by its cover; he is a pretty good
company!
its cover.
Topic: Health
as fit as a fiddle egészséges, mint a makk My grandfather is eaghty but he’s as fit as a fiddle.

be dead to the world alszik, mint a bunda Fran is dead to the world; I don’t think she’ll wake up until lunchtime.

be under the weather rosszul érzi magát Joe is feeling under the weather today – he has probably caught a cold.

bored out of one’s mind megöli az unalom The children were stuck indoors and were bored out of their minds.

on the road to recovery gyógyulófélben van He’ll take a while to be as strong as he used to be, but he’s on the road to
recovery.

recharge one’s batteries feltöltődik I’m going to stay at home tonight and recharge my batteries.

sick to death of sth torkig van valamivel; I’m sick to death of hearing about her holidays in Majorca.
 halálosan un valamit
take one’s mind off sth keveri a fejéből Let’s watch a comedy and take our minds off the news the doctor gave us.

Topic: Nature
add fuel to the flames / fire olajat önt a tűzre Thomas added fuel to the flames by telling me that the argument had been
all my fault.

be a breath of fresh air felüdülést jelent Angela was a breath of fresh air for the company; she had great and new
ideas!

be a down-to-earth person reálisan gondolkodó, Diane is such a down-to-earth person; I love spending time with her.

józan személy
be a drop in the ocean egy csepp a tengerben A small donation to a charity may seem like a drop in the ocean, buti f
everyone contributes we can make a difference.

be in deep water szorult helyzetben van I was in deep water after I lost my job as I couldn’t meet the expenses.

be over the moon repdes örömében My best friend was over the moon to hear about my engagement.

get wind of sth tudomására jut I don’t want my colleagues to get wind of the fact that I’m leaving.

hit rock bottom padlót fog, a lehető The whole city hit rock bottom after the tornado, but the residents began to
rebuild their lives almost immediately.
legmélyebbre süllyed
play with fire tűzzel játszik I told Marilyn that she was playing with fire when she had cursed in the
staff room.
spread like wildfire gyorsan elterjed The new gossip spread like wildfire about you and Carl.

to the ends of the Earth a világ végére Mark would go to the ends of the Earth to make sure his son has everything
he needs.

Topic: Society
be a law unto oneself öntörvényű Some teachers are a law unto themselves, they close the door and teach
what they want.

be one’s own worst enemy saját maga ellensége You are your own worst enemy. Stop smoking!

bend the law / rules csűri-csavarja a törvényt Can’t you bend the rules a little? I was only a few minutes late.

caught in the crossfire két tűz között van My friend told be that he was caught in the crossfire of the exams.

fight a losing battle szélmalomharcot vív Teachers nowadays are fighting a losing battle to teach children manners.

have a fighting chance van esélye When the teacher said he had a last question, I knew I had a fighting
chance.

the boys in blue a rendőrség We always like to show our support for the boys in blue by donating to
police charities.

the straight and narrow becsületes, tisztességes út The threat of a good beating should keep him on the straight and narrow.