Read and learn the idioms. Find their Ukrainian equivalents.

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 386.

an act of God – an event caused by natural forces which people cannot control or prevent, for example a hurricane, earthquake, etc: The insurance policy covers your house against all types of damage, excluding those caused by acts of God.

a balancing/ juggling act – a process in which sb tries to please two or more people or groups who want different things: The UN must perform a delicate balancing act between the different sides involved in the conflict.

be/get in on the act (informal) –be/become involved in a particular activity only after it has become successful: Sales of “ green” products have increased dramatically and now a lot of manufactures are trying to get in on the act.

do/ perform/ stage a disappearing/vanishing act (informal) – go away or be impossible to find when people need or want you: Ian always does a disappearing act when it's time to wash the dishes.

get your act together; get sth/it together (informal) –manage organize or control sth ( better than you have done previously): If Sally got her act together she'd be a great musician.

He's been trying to get his life together.

a hard/ tough act to follow – a person or a group that is so good or successful at sth that it will be difficult for anyone else who comes after them to be as good or successful:

The last head teacher achieved a lot – she'll be a hard act to follow.

act/be your age (informal) – (often used as a command) stop behaving in a childish way :

Paul, act your age or I won't take you to the cinema again!

act/ play the fool – behave in a stupid way to make people laugh, especially in a way that may also annoy them: It's impossible to have a decent game of tennis with Frank – he acts the fool the whole time.

act/play the goat (informal) –deliberately behave in a silly or foolish

way :Stop acting the goat or I'll send you out! I'm warning you.

act/ behave as if you own the place (also think you own the place) (disapproving) – behave in a very confident way that annoys other people, for example by telling them what to do:

What does she think she's doing, coming in here acting as if she owns the place!

catch sb in the act (of doing sth) – find sb while they are doing sth they should not be doing:

She turned round to catch him in the act of trying to run upstairs.

clean up your act (informal) – start behaving in a moral or responsible way:

He cleaned up his act and gave up the cigarettes and alcohol.

a piece/ slice of the action ( informal) – a share or role in an interesting or exciting activity, especially in order to make money: Foreign firms will all want a piece of the action if the new airport goes ahead.

act as someone – to perform in the capacity of someone, temporarily or permanently:

This is Mr. Brown. He'll act as manager from now on.

I'll act as your supervisor until Mrs. Smith returns from vacation.

act high and mighty (informal) – to act proud and powerful:

Why does the doctor always have to act so high and mighty?

act up – to misbehave; to run or act badly:

My car is acting up. I could hardly get it started this morning.

act sth out AND act out sth – to perform an imaginary event as if one were in a play:

The psychiatrist asked Bill to act out the way he felt about getting fired.

Actions speak louder than words – a proverb meaning that it is better to do sth about a problem than just talk about it: Mary kept promising to get a job. John finally looked her in the eye and said, “Actions speak louder than words!”

bring/call/put sth into play -make sth begin to work or operate; involve sth in sth:

The exercise brings many skills into play. This latest decision calls many new factors into play.

come into play -(begin to) operate or be active; have an effect or influence: It's time for the first part of our plan to come into play. A lot of different factors came into play in making this decision.

have (got) money, time, etc. to play with (informal) -have plenty of money, time, etc. for doing sth: We need to make a decision now, as we haven't got much time to play with.

in/out off play - (of the ball) in/out of a position where it can be played according to the rules of the game: The defender kicked the ball out of play. The ball's in play, so play on.

make great, much, etc. play of/with sth - put a lot of emphasis on sth; behave as if sth is very important: The English love of gardening is some­thing he makes great play of in his latest book.

He always makes great play of the fact that he went to a famous school.

make a play for sb/sth (especially AmE) - make a well-planned attempt to get sth you want:

He was making a play for a top government pos­ition. If you want to make a play for her, send her flowers.

play your ace -use your best argument, etc. in order to get an advantage in a situation:

I think it's time we played our ace, which is the fact that without us they wouldn't be able to run this place.