Н

нет худа без добра - Every cloud has a silver lining: “Robert has lost his wife, which is a blow to him, but he met Jane who became his real helper. Every cloud has a silver lining.”

на бегу - on the run: “She took a sandwich and ate on the run.”

на безрыбье и рак рыба - better one small fish than an empty dish

на верху блаженства - on the top of the world: “Nobody expected Sarah would win this competition; she is on the top of the world.”

на вес золота - worth one’s weight in gold: “You are worth your weight in gold. I wish you’d let me pay you.”

на всякий случай - just in case: “She dialed her own number, just in case.”

на голодный желудок - on an empty stomach: “You must take these pills on an empty stomach.”

на грани порядочности - to sail close to the wind: “The couple sailed close to the wind. Guests felt uneasy looking at them.”

на днях - one of these days: before long

на должной высоте - up to par: “His work is not up to par this week.”

на кончике языка - on the tip of one’s tongue: “The name of the city was on the tip of my tongue just now; it will come back to me.”

на пальцах можно сосчитать - to be able to count on the fingers / on the fingers of one hand: “You can count on the fingers of your hand the number of times I approached him with any request.”

на пару слов - to have a word with someone: “Would you come up to my room, Alice? I’d like to have a word with you.”

на посошок - one for the road: a final drink before one leave a social gathering

на почтительном расстоянии - at arm’s length: “Paul wanted to get to know Jenny better, but she kept him at arm’s length.”

на пределе - on the edge: “The weekends went a little better, but his nerves were definitely on the edge by the time Friday arrived.”

на распутье дорог - at the parting of the ways: “It’s time for us to stop and think. We are at the parting of the ways.”

на свой страх и риск - off one’s hat: “Mr. Lewis took this decision off his hat.”

на сносях - near her time: approaching the moment when her baby will be born

на том свете - the world to come: the life after death

на ухо (по секрету) - a word in the ear: “I was told about this like by a word in the ear.”

на четвереньках - on one’s hands and knees: “Since we do not want anybody see us we might be better if we crawl on our hands and knees.”

на широкую ногу - in a big way: “His house is always full, he is so generous and does everything in the big way.”

набить руку - to gain one’s hand in: “After a couple of games you’ll soon get your hand in this game. It is not difficult.”

набить цену - to jack up the price: “The man tried his best to jack up the price, but all in vain.”

наболевший вопрос - sore subject/sore point: “It id better not to speak about his failure, his sore subject.”

набор слов - gibberish: “Now, the phrases would be meaningless, more fragments in the gibberish that passed for conversations, but once they would have meant everything.”

набраться храбрости - to screw up one’s courage: “Mark screwed up his courage and asked his boss for the rise in his wage.”

наверстать упущенное - to make up for lost time: “Maybe Sam was making up for lost time or may be something else, I don’t know.”

наводнить рынок - to flood the market: “Chinese goods flooded the market.”

навострить уши - to prick up one’s ears: “He pricked up his ears when they mentioned his name.”

нагреть руки - to feather one’s nest: “He is not going to feather his nest at our expense.”

надевать маску - to sail under false colours: to assume a false identity and to conceal one’s true purposes

надеяться на чудо - to hope against hope: “We all hoped against hope that he would become better.”

нажимать на тайные пружины - to put strings: “I wanted her to be happy in what she was doing, and I was prepared to put strings to help her on her way.”

называть вещи своими именами - to call a spade a spade: “In our family we don’t use a flowery language we call a spade a spade.”

накладывать на себя руки - to kill oneself, to commit suicide

налиться/наливаться кровью - to become bloodshot: “His eyes became bloodshot, it was clear that he was angry indeed.”

намотать себе на ус - to make a mental note of: “ Alex made a mental note of everything he had heard in that room.”

намылить голову - to chew someone out: “He was ready to chew her out over a boy she might have teased in the hallway.”

наотрез отказаться - to refuse pointblank: “She loathed coziness and she’d always refuse pointblank to discuss anything to do with their respective jobs.”

напрашиваться на комплимент - to fish for compliments: “You are so pretty, do not try to fish for compliments.”

напрягать все силы - to strain every nerve: “Living with two other men in one cell was a great strain on all our nerves.”

напрямую - fair and square: “I told Margaret fair and square what I thought of her friend.”

напугать до смерти - to frighten someone out of one’s wits / to scare to death: “You scared me helf to death. Why didn’t you just knock?” / “That dog frightens me out of my wits, they should keep it chained.”

напускать туману - to confuse the issue: “Don’t every try to confuse the issue, nothing will come out of it.”

наступать на (любимую) мозоль - to tread on someone’s corns / to step on somebody’s toes: “You trod on his corns last night when you asked him about his son. Don’t you know, that he is in prison?” / “He stepped on her toes by his tactless remark.”

натянутые отношения - relations are rather strained: “Since this terrible accident, the relations between these two countries have been rather strained.”

находиться в скользком положении - to be out on a limb: “As soon as the organizers saw they were out on a limb, they cancelled their campaign.”

начать с азов - to start from scratch: “Let’s start learning German from scratch.”

нащупывать почву - to get the lay of the land / sound out the possibilities: “It was obvious that they were trying to get the lay of the land by asking different questions.”

не в ладах - at odds (with): “The neighbours were at odds with each other.”

Не ваше дело! - Mind your own business!

не верить своим глазам/ушам - not to believe one’s eyes / not to believe one’s ears: “When my sister returned from the beauty parlour, she so changed so much that I could not believe my eyes.”

не видеть дальше своего носа - not to see beyond the end of one’s nose: “He has no imagination. He can’t see beyond the end of his nose.”

не видеть деревьев из-за леса - not to see the wood for the trees: not to see essential because of all the details

не вчера родился - not born yesterday: “You won’t fool me with this trick. I wasn’t born yesterday.”

не выдавить слезу - you can’t get blood out of a stone: “It’s no use appealing to Uncle Paul. You can’t get blood out of a stone.”

Не дай Бог! - God forbid! Heaven forbid!

не иметь ничего общего - to be as different as cheese and chalk: “My husband and Max were like cheese and chalk.”

не иметь под собой почвы - not a leg to stand on: “Mark accused the doctor of negligence, but when he admitted he hadn’t taken the medicine prescribed, he hadn’t a leg to stand on.”

не иметь понятия - not to have a clue: “Robert hadn’t a clue where the cans had come from and didn’t care.”

не к месту - out of place: “The elegantly dressed woman felt out of place at the party where all the other women were wearing jeans.”

не мудрствуя лукаво - without beating about the bush: “Let’s start the discussion without beating about the bush.”

не от мира сего - from (or living in) a different world / in a world of one’s own: “I don’t think she is able to understand our problems, she is from the different world.”

не откладывая дела в долгий ящик - not to let the grass under one’s feet: to waste no time in getting a task done

не первой молодости - getting on in year / no spring chicken: “She is no spring chicken to be dressed like that.”

не попробуешь - не узнаешь - the proof of the pudding is in the eating: “The yacht has elegant lines all right, but how will she sail? The proof of the pudding is in the eating.”

не тронь лихо, пока оно тихо - to let sleeping dogs lie: “You must have known that mentioning his ex-wife would upset him. You should let sleeping dog lie.”

не уступить ни на йоту - not to budge an inch: “Emilia was not going to budge an inch in this matter.”

неписаный закон - the unwritten law: “a law which is generally recognized, although it has not been committed to writing.”

нести вздор - to talk root: “Tom says that the company is almost bankrupt. It seems to me that he is talking rot.”

нести крест - to bear one’s cross: “To e under-estimated by men is the biggest cross I have had to bear.” (Barbara Tailor Bradford, Woman of Substance).

нести чушь - to talk through one’s hat: to talk nonsense

не иметь ни малейшего представления - to have not the furriest idea: “I have not the foggiest idea what you are talking about.”

нечестная игра - foul play: “It was foul play on his side.”

ни в грош не ставить - not to give two cents for: “I don’t care two cents what he thinks about me.”

ни в жизнь - not on your life: “They think you need to go to the hospital.” - “Not on your life.”

ни гроша в кармане - no more shots in the locker: “It was hard to believe that there were no more shots in the locker. Something has to be done.”

ни жив ни мертв - more dead than alive: “Look at him. He seems to be more dead than alive.”

ни за какие деньги (коврижки) - not for love or money: “The hotels at the coast are booked out at this time of the year; you can’t get a room for love or money.”

ни за что - not for nuts

ни за что на свете - not for all the world: “My mother wouldn’t leave Paris for all the world.”

ни рыба ни мясо - neither fish, flesh, fowl nor good red herring: “This is neither  game of chance nor skill. It is neither fish, flesh, fowl nor good red herring.”

ни с того ни с сего - without rhyme or reason: “It seemed strange to me that she could start crying without rhyme or reason but later I understood why.”

ничего особенного - nothing to write home about: “Alice plays the piano quite well but she’s nothing to write home about.”

новая метла чисто метет - new brooms sweep cleaner: “She lavished special favours on the rising stars; as a direct consequence she’d survived being swept away by countless administrative new brooms.”

ног под собой не чуять - to walk/dance on air: “Since Tom and Mary were engaged they have been walking on air.”

Ноев ковчег - Noah arc: place of safety, a means of rescue