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бабушка надвое сказала - that remains to be seen: “ Paul might decide that someone was being paranoid about Mrs. Hungtington and gave up the assignment. Or he might not. That remains to be seen.”

бабье лето - an Indian summer: a period of great happiness that comes late in a person’s life

бабьи сказки - an old wives’ tale: “He knowledge of health care seems to rest on old wives’ tales.”

бальзам на душу - music to one’s ears: “To hear such news must be a music to your ears.”

банановая республика - a banana republic: a republic whose governments are repeatedly overthrown and replaced by new ones, equally unstable

башня из слоновой кости - an ivory tower: “Living in your ivory tower at Harvard, it is not fair to judge other people with quite different opportunities.”

без страха и упрека - without fear or favour: “It is expensive go to law, but one thing you can be certain of that your case will be heard without fear or favour.”

без сучка, без задоринки - without a hitch: “The negotiations went without a hitch.”

белый как полотно - as white as a sheet: “You might have seen a ghost. Your face is as white as a sheet.”

бередить старые раны - to open old sores: “Why did you talk to Fred about Father’s will? What was the point of opening old sores?”

беседа за круглым столом - a round-table conference: “We had a lot of newspapermen at our last round-table conference.”

битый час - a whole good hour: “Many spent a whole good hour waiting for him to finish his conversation with his mother.”

бить баклуши - to twiddle one’s thumbs: “We had to twiddle our thumbs for an hour while James was getting dressed.”

бить в набат - to hit the mark: “ Cerise’s comments hit the mark every time.”

бить мимо цели - to be wide of mark: “The auctioneer’s estimate was wide of the mark. He overvalued the picture by nearly half.”

бить по карману - to put a hole in one’s pocketbook: “New prices for the materials which I needed to finish my project put a hole in my pocketbook.”

биться головой об стенку - to knock one’s head against a brick wall: “He couldn’t possibly spent time trying to find Mary knocking his head against a brick wall, trying to make things right.”

биться как рыба об лед - to struggle to keep body and soul together: ”When Dan came to New York, work was difficult to find, and he earned hardly enough to keep body and soul together.”

блудный сын - the prodigal son: “Are you going to kill the flatted calf for the prodigal son, Tom?”

Бог его знает - God knows!

Бог миловал - There, but for the grace of God, go I.

бок о бок - side by side: “Working side by side with this wonderful man was a real pleasure for Bob.”

более или менее - more or less: “What’s gone wrong?” - “Everything, more or less.”

больное место - a sore spot: “You shouldn’t have mentioned his relatives. You touches a sore spot with him.”

бояться собственной тени - to be afraid of one’s own shadow: “The poor girl is in such a state now that she is afraid of her own shadow.”

брать (свои) слова обратно - to break one’s word / to go back on one’s word: “You can’t go back on your word now; without your help we shall be in trouble.”

брать быка за рога - to take the bull by the horns: “Alec took a bull by the horns and asked hes boss for a rise.”

брать за сердце - to touch someone’s heart: “The melody touches her heart so much that tears filled her eyes.”

браться за ум - to come to one’s senses: “You should speak to Paul that you will stop his allowance unless he behaves himself; then he will come to his senses.”

браться по оружию - brothers in arms: “They became brothers in arms during the last war.”

бросать в лицо - to throw in someone’s face: “John threw his father’s disgrace in his face.”

бросать тень - to cast a cloud over: “The news of his father’s illness cast a cloud over their honeymoon.”

бросаться в глаза - to catch the eye: “Everything that catches the eye looks beautiful to him”

будет и на нашей улице праздник - every dog has his day: “Don’t be upset, nobody knows what life has in store for him. Every dog has his day.”

будьте как дома - make yourself at home: “Please, come in and make yourself at home”

бур в стакане воды - a storm in a tea-cup: “Mary was so angry at her son for his bad behaviour and promised to punish him, but they were soon friends again. It was all a storm in a tea-cup.”

Была не была! - Come what may be!

быть в доме хозяином - to wear the trousers: “From her wedding day until her death she wore the trousers. “

быть в здравом уме - to be in one’s right mind: “No one in his right mind would do a thing like that!”

быть в интересном положении (быть беременной) - to be in the family way

быть в курсе дела - to be in the swim: “You do not know the results of the elections. That you can’t be in the swim any more.”

быть в курсе событий - to keep track of: “I try to keep track of all my old school friends, but it isn’t easy.”

быть в одной лодке - to be in the same boat: “We are affected by the same crisis, we are all in the same boat.”

быть в своей стихии - to be in one’s element: “Huts half-built, timber everywhere, no proper sanitation, people sitting on the ground, nothing to eat but porridge and toast. But Dave was in his element! There was nothing that could stop him.”

быть в черном списке - to be in (someone’s) black books / to be on the black list: to be on a list of persons under suspicion or incurred the disapproval of the authorities.

быть в чьей-то шкуре - to be in someone else’s skin: “I was in his skin once and I know what he can feel after this accident.”

быть в щекотливом положении - to skate on thin ice: “You were skating on thin ice, when you praised his brother’s book. Don’t you know they have nothing to do with each other.”

быть голодным как волк - to be as hungry as a hunter: “After having worked in the garden he was as hungry as a hunter.”

быть за решеткой - to be behind bars: “David would know. He’d been behind bars once. Her mother had put him there.”

быть козлом отпущения - to be a scapegoat (to be punished for the sins and mistakes of the others): “They made him a scapegoat and made fun of him.”

быть на крючке - to be on tenterhooks: “We’ve been on tenterhooks the whole morning waiting for the results of the X-rays.”

быть на пределе - to be on the edge: “His nerves were on the edge from the constant noise coming from his neighbour’s room.”

быть на седьмом небе от счастья - to be in (the) seventh heaven / to be on Cloud Nine: “Since her engagement to Paul, Alice has been on Cloud Nine.”

быть на чьем-то месте - to be in another shoes: “You failed your examination! Nobody would like to be in your shoes now. What will you do?”

быть настороже - to watch out (for): “Watch out for cars when crossing the street.”

быть не в своем уме - to be out of one’s head/mind/senses: “Marshal must have been out of her mind to tell her boss about that.”

быть нечистым на руку - to be light-fingered: “They are ashamed that their son is light-fingered, he steals whenever an opportunity arises.”

быть похожими как две капли воды - to be as like as two peas: “The twin girls are as like as two peas.”

быть себе на уме - to know which side one’s bread is buttered: “He won’t do anything for you against Paul; he knows which side his bread is buttered.”

быть толстокожим - to be thick-skinned / to have a thick skin: “Do not worry, you won’t hurt his feelings. He is very thick-skinned.”