TODAY'S IDIOM: TALK TURKEY

"TALK TURKEY"

 

 

If you talk turkey, you discuss something seriously, usually to do with business or money.

Example: I started to say something about the deal, but Mr Hamilton said, "Not now, my boy. We never talk turkey at the dinner table."

Hablemos de negocios.

Example sentences:

• After the owner had shown him around the apartment, Shane decided it was just what he wanted, so he said, "OK, I'm interested. Let's talk turkey." / Después de que el propietario le había mostrado todo el apartamento, Shane decidió que era justo lo que quería, así que dijo: "OK, estoy interesado. Hablemos de negocios."

• Before we could talk turkey about the deal, we had to see the samples / Antes de que podamos hablar de negocios sobre el acuerdo, tenemos que ver las muestras.

Additional examples:

• Okay, Bob, we have business to discuss. Let's talk turkey.

• John wanted to talk turkey, but Jane just wanted to joke around.

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TODAY'S IDIOM: LET'S CALL IT A DAY

"LET'S CALL IT A DAY"

Let us end what we are doing for the day

Example:

 

Mary: Well, that's the end of the reports. 

Nothing else to do. Sue: Let's call it a day.

 

Terminamos por hoy / Es todo por hoy

 

Example sentences:

 

• That's enough, let's call it a day and go home / Ya es suficiente.Terminemos por hoy y vayamos a casa.

 

• It's past five o'clock so let's call it a day / Ya pasan de las cinco,terminemos por hoy

 

Additional examples:

 

• After hiking for fifteen kilometers, we decided to call it a day

• We're getting nowhere with this – shall we call it a day and start again tomorrow? 

 

 

 

 

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TODAY'S IDIOM: NOTIFY SOMEONE OF SOMETHING

"NOTIFY SOMEONE OF SOMETHING"

Notify someone of something

Example: Can you notify my parents of my arrival at the airport?

Notificar/informar de algo a alguien

Example sentences:

• I need you to notify everyone about tomorrow's meeting / Necesito que notifiques a todos de la junta de mañana.

• I wasn't notified about this / No fui notificado acerca de esto.

Additional examples:

• We need to notify all personnel of the present hurricane condition.

• Your former dealer employer must notify the Board of your termination.

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TODAY'S IDIOM: FINISHING TOUCH(ES)

"FINISHING TOUCH(ES)"

A final adjustment of something; some effort or action that completes something.

Example: Norm is in his workshop putting the finishing touches on his latest project.

Toque(s) final(es)

Example sentences:

• The room still needed a few finishing touches / La habitación aun necesitaba algunos toques finales.

• You need to add the finishing touches / Necesitas añadir los toques finales.

Additional examples:

• Since they specialize in finishing touches, their experience truly pays out.

• Finishing touches are very crucial when you are decorating or for that matter even redecorating your house. 

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TODAY'S IDIOM: MERRY AS A CRICKET

"MERRY AS A CRICKET"

Very happy and carefree.

Example: Mary is as merry as a cricket whenever she has company come to call.

Feliz como una lombriz.

Example sentences:

• I felt as merry as a cricket as I waited for my friend to arrive at the airport / Me sentí feliz como una lombriz mientras esperaba a que mi amigo llegara al aeropuerto.

• What makes a maid as merry as a cricket? / ¿Qué hace a una dama feliz como una lombriz?

Additional examples:

• From morn to night our lives shall be as merry as a cricket!  

• He was as merry as a cricket, full of chat and very friendly and amusing. 

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TODAY'S IDIOM: COVER YOUR TRACKS

"COVER YOUR TRACKS"

If you cover your tracks, you make sure no-one can find evidence of what you've done.

Example: He's a smart guy and he knew how to cover his tracks so the police couldn't connect him to the crime.

Borrar las huellas.

Example sentences:

• Bob didn't cover his tracks well enough, and his wife found a romantic text message that a girl had sent to his phone / Bob no borró las hellas suficientemente bien y su esposa encontró un romántico mensaje de texto que una chica le envió a su teléfono.

• After stealing millions of dollars from the company accounts, he covered his tracks by destroying the computer files / Después de robar millines de dólares de las cuentas de la compañía, él borró las huellas eliminando los archivos de la computadora.

Additional examples:

• The robber failed to cover his tracks.

• She was able to cover her tracks up so that they couldn't pin the charges on her. 

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TODAY'S IDIOM: NO HOLDS BARRED

"NO HOLDS BARRED"

If something is done with no holds barred, it's done without restriction, rules or restraint.

Example: The final game was played with no holds barred. It was very rough football and the referee had a hard time keeping control of things.

Sin tabúes.

Example sentences:

• The election campaign turned into a no holds barred battle with each candidate trying to find information with which to damage their opponent's reputation / La campaña electoral se convirtió en una batalla sin tabúes con cada candidato tratando de encontrar la información para dañar la reputación de su oponente.

• Our boss is a tough businessman, so it's no holds barred when he negotiates a deal / Nuestro jefe es un duro hombre de negocios, por lo que es sin tabúes cuando negocia un acuerdo.

 

Additional examples:

 

• You can say whatever you like to me, there are no holds barred.

 

• I intend to argue it out with Mary, no holds barred.

• When Ann negotiates a contract, she goes in with no holds barred and comes out with a good contract.

 

 

 

 

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TODAY'S IDIOM: MUSIC TO YOUR EARS

"MUSIC TO YOUR EARS"

If something is music to your ears, it's just what you want to hear. 

Example: After I'd done my final dive, the judges all said 9.9 or 10 and the crowd cheered. It was music to my ears! 


Música para tus oídos.


Example sentences:

• When Halle heard Jason say "I do" at their wedding, it was music to her ears / Cuando Halle escuchó a Jason decir "Acepto" en su boda, fue como música para sus oídos.

• The accused man said it was music to his ears when the judge said not guilty / El acusado dijo que fue como música para sus oídos cuando el juez declaró no culpable.

Additional examples:

• Here's your paycheck for this month. Ah, that's music to my ears!

• The decision to restore the old building is music to my ears.

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TODAY'S IDIOM: MORE HASTE, LESS SPEED

"MORE HASTE, LESS SPEED"

 

 

Act quickly, but not so quickly that you make careless mistakes.

Examples: More haste, less speed. I suggest you go back.

Vísteme despacio que tengo prisa.

Example sentences:

• Why are you throwing your clothes around the room? You told me to get my things packed in a hurry. Yes, but more haste, less speed / ¿Porqué tiras tu ropa en la habitación? Tú me dijiste que empacara mis cosas rápido. Si, pero vísteme despacio que tengo prisa.

• My mum always says "More haste, less speed". She is my pedant in chief so I take this version to be the one / Mi madre siempre dice "Vísteme despacio que tengo prisa". Ella es mi sabelotodo en jefe así que tomo esta versión para ser la número uno.

Additional examples:

• We'll have to spend an hour cleaning up the mess you make. I know you want to finish that sweater by Joe's birthday, but you're knitting so fast that you make mistakes. More haste, less speed.

• There are limits to the number of problems that can be solved by legislation alone, and I think that the first package is evidence of more haste, less speed.

 

 

 

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TODAY'S IDIOM: TAKE THE MICKEY / MICK OUT OF SOMEONE

"TAKE THE MICKEY / MICK OUT OF SOMEONE"

If you're taking the mickey out of someone, or taking the mick out of them, you're making fun of them or copying their behaviour for a laugh.

Example: When I moved to the U.S., I upset a few people by taking the mickey out of them. They didn't understand that it was just for fun, and I wasn't being mean to them.

Burlarse / Tomar el pelo.

Example sentences:

• Taking the mick out of someone can help them to learn how not to take themselves too seriously / Burlarse de alguien puede ayudarles a aprender a como no tomarse las cosas demasiado en serio.

• Clyde is great at taking the mickey out of people. He can be really funny / Clyde es genial en tomarle el pelo a la gente. Él realmente puede ser muy gracioso.

Additional examples:

• They used to take the mick out of him because of the way he walked.

• I thought you were being serious. I didn't realise you were taking the mickey.

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TODAY'S IDIOM: ACROSS THE BOARD

"ACROSS THE BOARD"

If something is across the board, it relates to all without exception. 

Example: The company has promised to increase salaries across the board, so everyone will get a pay rise.

A todos por igual.

Example sentences:

• The tax cuts will only apply to low and middle-income families, so they won't be across the board / Los recortes de impuestos sólo se aplicarán a las familias de ingresos bajos y medianos, por lo que no se aplicará a todos por igual.

• The staff cuts will be across the board, so staff will be cut from every department / El recorte de personal se aplicará a todos por igual, por lo que el personal será recortado en cada departamento.

Additional examples:

• The computer company decided to give the workers an across-the-board increase in their salary. 

• When we see improvement across the board, that’s the way we want to be going

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TODAY'S IDIOM: BEHIND THE EIGHT BALL

"BEHIND THE EIGHT BALL"

If you're behind the eight ball, you're in a difficult or dangerous position.

Example: The economic recession has really put our new business behind the eight ball. Nobody's spending money.

Llevando las de perder.

Example sentences:

• Carlo is behind the eight ball now because his final exam is in two days and he still hasn't started studying for it / Carlo está llevando las de perder ahora porque su examen final es en dos días y no ha empezado a estudiar.

• The report is due tomorrow morning, and Nayomi is behind the eight ball because her computer crashed and she can't print it / El reporte se vence mañana por la mañana y Nayomi lleva las de perder porque su computadora se estrelló y no puede imprimir.

Additional examples:

• I'm behind the eight ball again and can't see how to relieve my dilemma.

• John is behind the eight ball because he started writing his term paper far too late.

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TODAY'S IDIOM: PAY THE PRICE

"PAY THE PRICE"

You pay the price for doing something when you experience the unpleasant results of doing it.

Example: Martin thinks that growing up means knowing that you have to pay the price for doing certain things, and then making good choices based on that knowledge.

Pagar el precio.

Example sentences:

• You mightn't feel the effects of smoking cigarettes while you're young, but you'll definitely pay the price when you're older / Es posible que no sientas los efectos de fumar cigarrillos mientras eres joven, pero definitivamente pagarás el precio cuando seas mayor.

• I've got a bad headache this morning. I guess I'm paying the price for drinking too much alcohol last night / Tengo un fuerte dolor de cabeza esta mañana. Supongo que estoy pagando el precio por beber demasiado alcohol anoche.

Additional examples:

• If this is the quality of goods that you require, you will have to pay the price.

• Professional athletes often pay a price for the beating their bodies have taken.

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