overwrought, nervous, easily frightened, a nervous wreck

I had two big conflicts and would end the day a bag of nerves, not knowing whether I'd come home with anything.  BNCI

My speech impediment makes people think I'm a bag of nerves, but it's not true.  BNCI

The irony is that this month, while you're exuding such apparent confidence, you'll feel on the inside like a bag of nerves.  BNCI

a very intelligent person

Quizzes - see if you're a brain box! Google

Please if you want to chat on this subject or any other REMEMBER im not a brain
box ok... Google

More facts about Will Young! Will is a bit of a brain box - he went to Exeter University when he turned 19 and studied Politics. Google

an intelligent person

Little do they realise what a bright spark he must have been in his youth. Google

Be a bright spark – use electricity safely. Google

 Then, one day a bright spark will discover how to make a bright spark, and
the whole bloody saga will begin again...  Google

a fundamental or basic error, sin, likely to be accompanied by other errors

Combined with overestimation of potential customer interest, this appears to have been  a cardinal error.  WebC

Munich had been a cardinal error in French and British policy. WebC

The Americans also made what I consider a cardinal error in their assessment of the effects of daylight bombing operations on Germany. WebC

sb who is very clever

You are a clever boots, you
are.  Google

 I am sure Malgosia and co. would suggest your are a clever
boots dearie. Google

The central pdd confirms Marston as a clever
boots who people are wise to invest in.  Google

sb who is clever, smart, in a superficial or insolent way, always ready to correct others

He also attacked Brian Walsh, the chairman, whom he called `;a clever dick';, a somewhat foolhardy reference to a Queen's Counsel.  BNCI

 I made a bit of a speech and all that and er like a clever dick I went without me glasses .  BNCI

Other than the aforementioned hilarious moment at the end, which were really nothing more than a series of clever dick jokes, there's nothing here to recommend.  WebC

a handsomely produced and illustrated book that is easy to admire, suitable for casual study or entertainment

Not a children's book at all, but a modern illustrated coffee-table book with careful, delicate photographs. BNCI

The price of a large coffee-table book is in a number of cases twenty times higher than it was two years ago.  BNCI

£103 Glossy and evocative album format, coffee-table book.  BNCI

an organized course or plan for sth to be learnt much more quckly than is usual

If you've enjoyed this crash course on semiotics, or if you're not exactly sure what you've been listening to, try the website run by Daniel Chandler. WebC

This article is meant to be a crash course in Slackware security. WebC

It is a crash course in how to be poor - lessons long assimilated by the well-off, who have learned how to feel dissatisfaction with plenty, the inadequacy of excess.  WebC

a reasonable or permissible question

It is a fair question, and it deserves to be taken seriously.  BNCI

This was a fair question, although the same could have been asked about his relationship with Wimbledon Parish Church.  BNCI

It is a fair question, and allows of more than one answer.  BNCI

an indication of sucess, improvement that proves to be an illusion

It was a false dawn, replaced soon after by a now starless night that was blacker than the previous hours.  bNCI

It is our belief --; shared by a number of retailers --; that Christmas will prove to be yet another false dawn as far as reawakening consumer confidence is concerned.  BNCI

Nevertheless, it has proved in more than one respect to be a false dawn, realizing only a part of the promise looked for from it by so many of those who struggled to achieve it.  BNCI

a school where rich parents send their children to be ´finished´ , to acquire cultured tastes, social assurance and good manners

At one point, Roberts' character derides Wellesley as "a finishing school disguised as a college."  WebC

She later attended a finishing school in Paris, studying French and music. WebC

." They aimed to "give girls a serious education, not to be a finishing school."  WebC

an idea or opinion, not only firmly, but often obsessively held and unlikely to be affected by the argumentes of others

It was a question of wanting an entirely new thing, of undertaking a thoroughgoing renovation of yourself, `;in all simplicity, with the fixed idea: ça ira .';  BNCI

`;Give yourself up to the fixed idea: to become a painter.';  BNCI

He's come here with a fixed idea, which he's been looking forward to for half his life.  BNCI

an end, consequence, or result that is completely predictable

It was perhaps a foregone conclusion that he would go into the family firm founded by his great-grandfather, John Cadbury, in 1824, although he had two tempting offers from outside industry when he had completed his degree. BNCI

Some commentators and businessmen have suggested that the successful privatization of the National Freight Corporation was a foregone conclusion.  BNCI

Do not be deterred from exercising your right of appeal by the belief that the outcome will be a foregone conclusion.  BNCI

je těžké někooho následovat, být stejně dobrý jako on

And he should be, I guess, because he is a hard act to follow, to paraphrase
the first line of this review. Google

He did a wonderful job! The board has been active and efficient and
this is partly due to his leadership. He is a hard act to follow. Google

He is a hard act to follow, so it's encouraging
to see four candidates trying to do just that. Google

staying up late or all night, possibly on special duties, but esp. to drink, dance etc.

It’s been a hard day’s night And I’ve been working like a dog It’s been a
hard day’s night I should be sleeping like a log ... Google

A hard day’s night. It's hard to work when everyone around you is
having a good time.  Google

After hard day’s night, Santa and elves back
at PeaceCorner. Google