EViU | Chapters: 86-101

to be more important, useful, or valuable than something else

to outweigh

explain: overhanging

sticking out over something that is at a lower level (e.g. the overhanging branches of a tree)

explain: to overshadow

1. to prevent light from shining directly on something, 2. to make someone or something seem less important compared to someone or something else

explain: understaffed

lacking staff

explain: underhand (adj)

secret and dishonest (= oszukańczy, podstępny)

explain: an upturn

a change for the better / an increase in something such as business or economic activity (e.g. Last month saw an unexpected upturn in property prices.)

to quickly increase in number or amount

to proliferate

explain: to commiserate

to express sympathy to someone who is unhappy about something

explain: to congeal

if a substance such as blood or fat congeals, it becomes thick and almost solid

to replace the buildings in an area with new ones

to redevelop

a person of low rank and little authority who works for someone more important

an underling (e.g. She surrounded herself with underlings who were too afraid of her to answer back.)

to talk about something in a way that makes it seem more important, impressive, or serious than it really is.

to overstate

explain: undercarriage

the wheels of a plane/car and the whole structure that supports it (= podwozie)

on the other side of the page

overleaf (adverb), e.g. See overleaf for a list of abbreviations.

explain the -conscious suffix

combines w/ nouns to form adjectives that describe people who consider one aspect of their lives esp. important (e.g. health-conscious person, safety-conscious company)

explain the -minded suffix

combines with adjectives or nouns to form new adjectives describing people with particular characters, opinions or attitudes,.e. g like-minded, money-minded, etc.

explain the -ridden suffix

used to describe people or things with a lot of that noun, e.g. guilt-ridden person, crime-ridden city

to become red

to redden

explain: masterly (adjective)

done extremely well (e.g. a masterly performance)

explain: a monograph

a long article or a short book on a single subject that the writer has studied for a long time

explain: retroactive law

taking effect from a date in the past

explain: a guesstimate

an approximate calculation of the size or amount of something when you do not know all the facts

to return to an older and worse state

to retrogress [formal]

to make a government, area, or political group lose power or control, or to make a political or economic situation less strong or safe, by causing changes and problems

to destabilise

explain: a freeware

computer programs that you can often copy from the internet and do not have to pay for

provide a formal word for vocabulary

a lexicon

explain: a loanword = a borrowing

a word taken from other languages

explain: a roster

a list of people’s names that shows when each of them must work and what they have to do (= grafik, harmonogram)

something that is intended to impress and interest you but is really not at all useful

a gimmick

a small bed with high sides that a baby sleeps in

cot [BrE] / crib [AmE]

explain: a palaver

a situation that causes you a lot of unnecessary trouble or work

a disease that mainly affects children in which the neck becomes swollen and painful

a mumps (= świnka)

explain: false friends

words that look like words in other languages but have a different meaning

explain: to intervene

to become involved in a situation in order to try to stop or change it

explain: to interfere in sth

to involve yourself in sth [negative and critical]

very frequently

continually (often negative)

without stopping

continuously

out of the sun, pleasant connotation

in the shade of (e.g. a tree)

explain: in the shadow of sth/sb

dominated by sb/sth

explain: to complement

to make sth more complete or attractive in combination

slightly wet

1. moist 2. damp (-> in an unpleasant way)

to move into a vertical position

to upend

explain: to uphold

to confirm/support

to do better than...

to outdo

explain: to do out

1. to make a room, cupboard, or drawer thoroughly tidy and clean, 2. to decorate a room

coś czy coś innego (ten czy inny)

something or other

explain: dingy (adjective)

a dingy place or object is rather dark in an unpleasant way and often looks dirty

the fact of having more than one meaning

polysemy

the work that you do to keep your house clean and tidy

housework (= prace domowe) | don't confuse with 'homework'

someone who only wants to be your friend when things are going well for you

fair-weather friend

light in skin colour

fair-skinned

what's the meaning of '5 minutes flat'?

exactly 5 minutes

explain: be more than a match for someone

to be better, stronger, cleverer etc than someone who you are competing against

a tall metal structure with a long horizontal part, used for lifting and moving heavy objects

a crane (= dźwig, żuraw)

explain: five-a-side football

po pięciu w drużynie

explain: formidable

very impressive in size, power, or skill and therefore deserving respect and often difficult to deal with (e.g. The company has built up a formidable reputation for quality.)

przejdźmy do kolejnego punktu...

let's move on to the next point

explain: to remember rightly

to remember correctly/well

explain: appalling [adjective]

shocking and very bad (e.g. Prisoners were kept in the most appalling conditions.)

explain: dismal [adjective]

sad and without hope / very bad

distasteful

unpleasant and unacceptable OR tasting unpleasant (niesmaczny, wstrętny, obrzydliwy, np. żart albo film)

explain: fatuous (adjective, formal)

stupid

explain: raise a family

to take care of children while they are growing up (e.g. For most parents, raising a family is a positive challenge.)

a slow and non-energetic walk

a leisurely walk

explain: doleful [adjective]

looking sad

formal word for the things that belong to you [formal]

personal effects

not good enough to achieve the intended result

feeble (e.g. excuse, attempt/effort)

explain: bewildered

confused and not certain what to do

explain: to sharpen your appetite (for sth)

to increase your desire to have sth or know about sth

zepsuć apetyt

spoil your appetite

make one's life brighter and happier

to light up one's life

explain: to be on the ball

to be very aware of things and ready to act

keep sb/sth on a tight rein

to have a lot of control over sb/sth

to have an ability to notice something

to have an eye for sth (e.g. She has a good eye for detail.)

explain: to have an ear for sth

If someone has an ear for music or languages, they are good at hearing, repeating, and understanding these sounds

explain: to keep an eye on sb/sth

watch sb/sth very carefully

what's a rule of thumb?

a practical and approximate way of doing or measuring something (e.g. A good rule of thumb is that a portion of rice is two handfuls.)

what a bright/dim person means?

a clever/less intelligent person

explain: to see the light

If you see the light, you suddenly understand something you didn't understand before

explain: to cast light on sth

to make it easier to understand

what does it mean to blow hot and cold?

to be enthusiastic at one time and not at another

explain: hotheaded (adj)

to react quickly on the basis of your feelings without thinking first

coldhearted

without feelings

to say that someone is similar to or has the same qualities as someone else

to liken sb/sth to sb/sth

explain: to take sth on board

to understand or accept an idea or a piece of information (e.g. Banks need to take on board the views of their customers.)

to accept someone or something without considering whether they really are what they claim to be

to take (or accept) sb/sth at face value

go smoothly / with no difficulties

go/run like clockwork

on the point of starting to work well

to fall into place

if sth is looking up, it's...

looking very positive

explain: that's all we need/needed!

in response to news that makes current problems even worse

That's the last thing I wanted to hear!

in response to news that fulfill your worst fears

What a pain!

Used very generally, in response to any situation that causes you difficulty

what's a complete shambles?

totally disorganised and chaotic

what does this mean: "it's a mystery to me how..."

= it's sth I cannot understand

explain: to get your wires crossed

When people get their wires crossed, they have a different understanding of the same situation

expression: "I'm not with you"

= you've lost me there = what you've said has confused me

explain: be in element/made for

to be ideally suited for

to be fed up to the back teeth (with sth)

be extremely unhappy, disappointed

what does it mean 'be down in the dumps/down in the mouth'

to be depressed

explain: 'to walk on air'

to feel extremely excited or happy (e.g. After the delivery of her baby, she was walking on air.)

to connect someone or something in your mind with someone or something else

to associate

extreme and severe and not likely to change

hard-line [adj] (e.g. a hard-line politician or stance)

explain: a dog's life

very unhappy and unpleasant life

to use information or your knowledge of something to help you do something

to draw on sth (e.g. She had a wealth of experience to draw on.) = wykorzystywać informacje, sięgać do zasobów

explain: cowboy builder

builders who are not careful or trustworthy

what does 'ratty' mean? [adjective][BrE][informal]

in a bad mood, or easily annoyed

explain: fishy [adjective]

1. not completely right, honest, or legal, 2. tasting or smelling like fish

_____ words, especially speech, are unkind because they are intended to hurt someone

catty

improve knowledge of sth already learnt but partly forgotten

to brush up on sth

to give an impression of being unfriendly

to come across / come over as unfriendly

to rush into a decision

to make a hasty decision

to propose a plan

to put forward a plan

to happen successfully

to come off

to travel to one place from another

to come over from somewhere

to come over sb

to influence sb to behave in a particular way

what does it mean to come under sth?

experience sth [usually unpleasant]

to have to deal with (a problem or difficulty)

to come up against sth (e.g. obstacles)

what does it mean to dwell on sth?

to keep thinking about, usually sth unpleasant

to talk at length about sth

to go on about sth

explain: to urge sb on

to encourage someone to do or achieve something (e.g. The crowd was cheering and urging her on all through the race.)

to continue in a determined way

to press on

to call sth off

to cancel sth

to start doing sth with great energy

to throw oneself into sth

to become familiar with somewhere new, such as a new house, job, or school, and to feel comfortable and happy there

to settle in (e.g. Once we've settled in, we'll have you over for dinner.)

to put together (e.g. a report)

to prepare by collecting info from several sources

explain: do away with sth

to get rid of or destroy something (e.g. The governor is proposing to do away with the state transportation department.)

mind you [spoken]

it's a discourse maker, used to bring attention to an important point

now then [spoken]

discourse maker, used to get people's attention when you want to ask or tell them sth

short for umbrella

brolly [informal]

kitty-corner

diagonally opposite (= po przekątnej)

to take a left [AmE] - what's the BrE equivalent?

to turn left

what's the interstate?

it's a major motorway in the US connecting different states

AmE - an intersection; BrE -?

a junction

to back up (a car) [AmE] - BrE?

to reverse (a car)

freshman -> sophomore -> junior (provide BrE equivalents)

first year -> second year -> third year (students)

to major in French [AmE] - provide BrE

to do honours in French OR to do a French honours degree

elementary/high school [AmE] - provide BrE equivalents

primary/secondary school [BrE]

to handle roughly, using force

to manhandle

explain: foreman

supervisor

explain: girlie/girly

used to describe things that girls and young women often enjoy without men, esp. involving clothes/makeup, etc.

used to describe unpleasant behaviours thought to be typical of young men in a group, esp. drinking alcohol

laddish

what does 'disused' mean?

no longer being used (e.g. Many disused railway tracks are now used by cyclists.)

artificial in other words

man-made

explain: to hit the headlines

to suddenly receive a lot of attention in the news

what are tabloid newspapers?

a type of popular newspaper with small pages that has many pictures and short, simple reports:

behaving in a wild or strange way, especially because of strong emotions or extreme pain

crazed (e.g. He became crazed with anger/jealousy/pain.)

provide ways to describe people who cause trouble (nouns, informal)

thug = yob = lout

to move in a destructive way

to rip through (e.g. town)

the tube in the body that carries air that has been breathed in from the upper end of the throat to the lungs

a windpipe (= tchawica)

explain: be curtains for [informal]

used for saying that someone or something will die, end, or be in serious trouble (e.g. One more mistake and it’ll be curtains for him.)

feeling extremely shocked or upset after an unpleasant experience

shell-shocked

explain: to attain

1. to succeed in achieving something, especially after a lot of effort, 2. to reach a particular age, amount, or level

explain: to bestow [formal]

to give something as an honour or present

w odniesieniu do czegoś

by reference to sth

explain: adjoining

next to (e.g. the garage adjoining your property)

the person who wrote this letter is the...

undersigned

not fair, or not based on any good reason

unjustified

what does it mean to rectify? [forma]

to correct a problem or mistake, or to make a bad situation better

what does it mean to cease operations?

to stop functioning (about a company)

the closest relative in other words is...

the next of kin (= najbliższy krewny)

to acknowledge the receipt of sth

to inform sb that you have received sth

asap in formal way

at your earliest convenience

more of an explanation is needed in formal way

further clarification is required