There are a plenty of (other) fish in the sea.
meaning: there are other choices (refers to persons)
magyarul: van más is a világon, van még hal a vízben
example: It’s too bad that she broke up with you, but there are plenty of fish in the sea. – Kár, hogy szakított veled, de van más is a világon!
to get/find/have one’s sea legs
meaning: the ability to adjust to a new situation
magyarul: belejönni valamibe
example: She’s only had two lessons, she hasn’t found her sea legs yet. – Még csak két órát vett, még nem jött bele.
a spit/drop in the ocean
meaning: an inconsequential amount
magyarul: csepp a tengerben
example: Many companies donated medicine to help survivors, but it was just a drop in the ocean. – Sok vállalat adományozott gyógyszert a túlélőknek, de ez csak csepp volt a tengerben.
to boil the ocean
meaning: to waste one’s time
magyarul: pazarolni az időt felesleges tevékenységgel
example: You can’t get him to change. You’re just boiling the ocean. – Nem tudod megváltoztatni. Csak az idődet pazarlod.
between the devil and the deep blue sea
meaning: having only two bad choices
magyarul: két tűz között, csak két rossz közül tudni választani
example: I was caught between the devil and the deep blue sea, when my father asked me to mow the lawn and my mother wanted me to write my homework. – Két tűz között voltam, apám azt akarta, hogy nyírjam le a füvet, anyám pedig azt, hogy írjak leckét.
to be at sea
meaning: confused
magyarul: tanácstalan
example: We had a lot to do, but with no Internet connection, we were at sea. – Sok dolgunk volt, de internetkapcsolat nélkül tanácstalanok voltunk.
to make waves
meaning: to cause difficulty, disturbance, controversy
magyarul: szándékosan problémát teremteni, hullámokat verni
example: We’ve finally settled, please don’t make waves. – Végre megállapodtunk, kérlek, ne csinálj problémát!
a sea change
meaning: a complete change
magyarul: óriási változás
example: The data represent a sea change in the corporate environment. – Az adatok óriási változást mutatnak a vállalati környezetben.
The coast is clear.
meaning: it is safe to go somewhere or do something because no one is watching or listening
magyarul: tiszta a levegő
example: You can come out of the bedroom now, the coast is clear. – Most már kijöhetsz a hálószobából, tiszta a levegő.
to have a whale of a time
meaning: to really enjoy yourself
magyarul: nagyon jól érezni magát, állatira élvezni valamit
example: We had a whale of a time at the pub yesterday. – Állatira élveztük a tegnap estét a pubban.
to rock the boat
meaning: to create a problem that wasn’t there, to challenge the status quo
magyarul: megzavarni a kialakult nyugalmat, megbillenteni a hajót
example: I think I should tell her the truth, but I don’t want to rock the boat. – Azt hiszem, el kellene mondanom neki az igazságot, de nem akarok bajt.
oceans of something
meaning: a very large amount
magyarul: sok, jelentős, rengeteg
example: After two weeks of vacation, there was an ocean of work to catch up with. – Két hét vakáció után tengernyi munkát kellett behozni.
I. Fill in the gaps with the idioms from the table.
between the devil and the deep blue sea |
to rock the boat |
to have a whale of a time |
a spit/drop in the ocean |
the coast is clear |
to find one’s sea legs |
1. It took only a day on the boat …………………. I got used to it very quickly.
2. Both choices seem quite bad, Jen is …………………….
3. Everyone seems contented now. You shouldn’t …………….., I don’t like controversy.
4. A thousand dollars may seem a lot, but it’s only ………………. compared to the millions that need to be spent.
5. Brad waited outside until ……………..
6. This was probably the party of the year. I had ……………..
II. Match each idiom to its definition.
1 |
a sea change |
a |
a large amount of something |
2 |
oceans of something |
b |
to be confused, lost |
3 |
to be at sea |
c |
to waste time attempting the impossible |
4 |
There are plenty of (other) fish in the sea. |
d |
to cause a disturbance |
5 |
to boil the ocean |
e |
a complete change |
6 |
to make waves |
f |
there are many other good choices |
Answers:
I. 1-to find my sea legs 2-between the devil and the deep blue sea 3-rock the boat 4-a spit/drop in the ocean 5-the coast was clear 6-a whale of a time
II. 1-e 2-a 3-b 4-f 5-c 6-d