be something that sb cannot understand, especially talk or writing that is obscure, allusive

She leant across and said, `;This is all Greek to me.'; BNCI

If this is all greek to you and you want more information, all you need is a satellite digital receiver. WebC

If all this sounds more than a little confusing and inaccessible, anyone not well schooled in the Greek tale is indeed likely to be swept with a sense of "this is all greek to me." WebC

two people who are completely different from each other

Or in other words, the ways in which differences are described
in the USA and Britain are... like chalk and cheese. Google

At the root of this unhappy state of affairs is not just the fact that the
two sides are like chalk and cheese.  Google

Judaism and Christianity are like chalk and cheese. google

be physically very strong but not very intelligent

There is a perception that Domi is all brawn and no brains but that is the furthest thing from the truth. Google

He is all brawn and no brains but don't telll him that to his face, cause he might feed you a knuckle sandwitch.  Google

Someone who is all brawn and no brains....Fred Flintstone would fill that role for us for a solid 10 years. Google

to be very intelligent and able to think quickly

Neil Turner is as bright as a button and as sharp as a blade. Google

He is not yet fully house-trained but is as
bright as a button and quick to learn. He is a normal mischievous puppy.  Google

He is as bright as a button,
and has a gift of bringing a smile to the hardest of faces. Google

if your mind is not working effectively, you may be bored or very tired

 I am brain dead,cant get down load to work. google

 It never gave me a chance to demonstrate whether or not I am brain dead. Google

Had to work late today, and am brain dead.  Google

be very stupid

He is dead from the neck up; a thick,
jarhead tough-guy with no more personality than a bag of bricks. Google

Egalitarianism as a philosophy is dead from the neck up, insofar as
even its adherents do not and, indeed, cannot take it seriously.  Google

This project is dead from the neck up. google

be very tired

Sorry, not much to say but my brain is dog tired, I'm sure my boss hates me. WebC

Even though everybody is dog tired and thoroughly soaked.  WebC

Even now, my H works long hours (his unit is getting ready to deploy) and he is dog tired when he gets home.  WebC

být znechucen, otráven

I am fed up with my treatment by my employer and am thinking of resigning.
 Google

 I am fed up with Disposable Devices and You should be too! Google

 I am fed-up of playing games for fun only. Google

být v něčem o hodně lepší než ostatní  ve skupině

The young runner who won the last race is in a class of his own. Longman Dict. of E. Id.

My mother´s cakes are in class of their own. Logman Dict. of E. Id.

mít u někoho dobrou reputaci (dočasně), být v něčí přízni

He thinks highly of our family and uncle is in his good books. google

Anything and everything Spider-Man
is in his good books. Google

Ramu is not the sort to sign an actor just because he or she
is in his good books.  google

know about a lot about sth which most people do not know about

With skills to match their perseverance it’s only a matter of time before the
overground is in the know and flexing their fingers by pressing ‘play. Google

Everyone who is in the "know" knows their NASCAR. Google

Dan is the man who is in the know about birds of prey. Google

not know what to say

But when the moment came I was lost for words. Google

 I was lost for words, disappointed, devastated and felt jilted. google

I was so surprised to see him I was lost for words.
 google

you know it but you cannot quite remember it

It was on the tip of my tongue to say the boss was out. Google

The phrase "Eat me" was on the tip
of my tongue but I choked it back and left.  google

 Her name was on the tip of my tongue and she could see
I felt awkward that I couldn't remember it, so she told me. Google

be very drunk

He is out of his brain with happiness.  Google

 They met when she was 18 and he was out of his brain on cocaine and
amazingly they fell in love.  Google

John was actually a nice guy when he was out of his brain-washed robot self, as we
discussed rap music, playing basketball on lowered rims, and eating grapes. google

být zavalen (prací, povinnostmi...)

When you go back to the kitchen to ask the cook for it, he is snowed
under with orders, so he screams at you to come back later. Google

He places an advertisement and, very soon, he is snowed under with candidates.
 Google

But, since he started this job and he is snowed under with work, I will
gladly give him a break if it means his stress level is lowered.  google

be the person who organizes sth, esp. sth successful

The Prosecution had long claimed that Federman
was the "brains" behind the Bat Ayin plot. Google

Bob McTavish was the brains behind the shortboard revolution
coming out of Australia in the late 60s.  Google

There, he was the brains behind the building of the Colossus code-breaking
computer which was used to decipher enemy messages. Google

be very drunk

Maybe somebody is three sheets in the wind, just totally drunk and shouldn't even be behind the wheel. WebC

He goes up Tower Hill to-morrow night at nine o'clock, walking very slow and very unsteady on 'is pins, and giving my two beauties the idea that 'e is three sheets in the wind. WebC

There was much merry chat in the booking hall as we queued for tickets, until a character whom I suspected, nasty though this may seem, of being a politician of some description suddenly appeared. He was quite obviously three sheet in the wind, and accompanied by a smug-looking chauffeur. WebC

to be too confident of your own intelligence in a way that annoys other people

Everything about the show is too clever by half, especially the clichéd story setup,
which composer, lyricist, and writer Anne Nygren-Doherty tries to redeem . Google

Usually, word play is too
clever by half and not nearly relevant enough or fresh enough.  Google

Sherlock's Home is too clever by half, but the beers are terrific ...
 google

be too energetic or troublesome an activity, sport, pastime etc. for somebody to want to do

Anything bigger than this is too much like hard work.';  BNCI

It was all too much like hard work. BNCI

(De-rigging the spinnaker had sounded too much like hard work.)  BNCI

to be acting as you do when you are working as a teacher, lawyer etc., which may be different from the way you act in other situations 
 

I was wearing my teacher's hat at the meeting. (Cambridge International Dict. of Id.)

Wearing my teacher's hat I am excited by some of the modular schemes available at A-level, particularly those which enable the modules to be examined throughout the course and points aggregated for a grade at the end. WebC

When I was wearing my teacher´s hat, I was in a classroom with 16 students working on degrees in teachimg English as foreign language. Google

show results

This is still an isolated case but it shows that our steadfastness will bear fruit and that, with your support, ultimately we will prevail. WebC

I can truly say that the response was overwhelming and will bear fruit for many years to come. WebC

Web-based design tools bear fruit for engineers. WebC

puzzle, think very hard in order to solve a problem

A contemporary coinage by the press, I suppose, beats my brains in establishing any possibility of a coherence in between the constituent words and the meaning. WebC

Though why the young should do so beats my brains. WebC

My 68 MGB beats my brains out driving at 70 mph. WebC

there is no absolute standard of beauty  

Art is supposed to be subjective, it's beauty lies in the eye of the beholder.  WebC

Let it never again be said that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, yet let it be said that beauty lies in the work of Jim Mountford.  WebC

While it is said that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, a flattering hairstyle and the right touch of makeup can play up your best features to draw attention to them. WebC

usual success at the start of learning to do something

podprůměrný, pod průměrem

Dominican Internet penetration rate is 9% below average for Latin America. (Google)

About 70 per cent of water supplies in the south come from underground sources and levels are currently well below average for almost all sources, particularly in Sussex and Kent. (Google)

Seasonal rains will be below average, says meteorological dept. (Google)

an excuse or apology for one´s lateness

It was better late than never for the 12 lucky winners of a tennis holiday at the Sport Hotel in Eilat, Israel. BNCI

She could have sent that message earlier, but better late than never.  BNCI

I meant to pop the enclosed in a drawer of the chest of drawers to thank you for its removal --; better late than never, and the card early to save a stamp.  BNCI

may you succeed on some future occasion

There was no question of saying to myself `;better luck next time'; --; there might not have been a next time.  BNCI

Better luck next time… but the doctor told me there would be no next time. BNCI

And if you didn't win, better luck next time.  BNCI

internátní škola

Most issues abound in stories of high interest to the stereotypical young girl - boarding schools, French lessons, ballet, etc. BNC

That´s really why Aleena, who´s only thirteen, goes to boarding school in Sandestown. BNC

I´d asked my mum and dad if I could go to a boarding school - the one in Edinburgh Andy was at. BNC

knihomol

1. Kathy’s not going to the beach with us. She's such a bookworm she'll probably be reading homework all afternoon! (google)

2. My sister is a bookworm and is always reading a book. (google)

3. Bookworm is a popular generalization for any insect which supposedly bore through books. (google)

born, reared and educated

A picture came to her of the shaggy wanderers huddling together in the bus shelter at the top of the road where she had been born and bred.  BNCI

Although born and bred in the country and reinstalled there for the past 30 years, I fear I am not a proper countryman; London has dished me.  BNCI

For a girl born and bred in the slums of Clerkenwell she showed surprising embarrassment at the discreet mention of his hopes.  BNCI

restrain oneself from speaking too frankly, too rudely

He who bridles his tongue will not give a licence to his hand. WebC

This man who guards or bridles his tongue also guards the actions of his whole body by keeping it in subjection to the Holy Ghost.  WebC

James apparently means
that the man who bridles his tongue does not stumble in speech
and is able also to control his whole body with all its passions. WebC
 

cause you to think of sb or sth

Recently, something happened that brought it to mind
and made me think I really should post it. Google

What brought it to mind was something my wife said this weekend.  Google

One of my favorite all-time books and the
scene you painted here brought it to mind. Google

osvětlit, přivést na světlo

Little known chapter in Irish history was brought to light. google

The restoration work has brought to light tricks of the Gibbons trade.  BNCI

Hoover concluded that consumer preferences must be met by providing models for national markets that incorporated the specific features market research had brought to light.  BNCI

introduce it for the first time

Loath as Nigel was to cut into the flow of praise, he felt he ought to broach the subject of going home. BNCI

Reasons against: There'll be an awful row if I broach the subject.  BNCI

Maybe he was sweating, or nervous, or wondering how to broach the subject.  BNCI

imperfect English, as spoken by sb to whom it is a foreign language not yet mastered

Then with an exchange of broken English and French, the Captain saw four large brandy barrels being handed over to Jake and his gang.  BNCI

Laughing and fighting him ineffectually, his grandmother roared pleasantries at him in a mixture of Ruthenian and broken English.  BNCI

We chatted in broken English while they were waiting at stances.  BNCI

unintentionally, as the result of carelessness, mishap

I just hoped Karen wouldn't go any further, that she wouldn't get so drunk that she tried to mount some leering admirer who happened to step on her toe by mistake.  BNCI

Tommy set fire to some of Donald's hair by mistake.  BNCI

Take great care not to connect any other pin by mistake .  BNCI

because of sth, as a result of sth

Nothing appears to me more striking, as an illustration of the far-reaching effects of traditional prejudice, than the errors into which some of our ablest contemporary scholars have fallen  by reason of their not having studied Paine. WebC

For industries not yet established, the ITC may also be asked to determine whether the establishment of an industry is being materially retarded by reason of  the dumped or subsidized imports. WebC

The Commission initiate an investigation to determine whether an industry in the United States is likely to be materially injured by reason of imports of the subject merchandise if the order is revoked.  WebC

using a process of adjusting methods, eliminating errors, until the correct answer, method, solution is found

Unfortunately, most people learn about towing trailers by trial and error, which can prove to be a very expensive way of doing things.  BNCI

Young children nearly always put puzzles together by trial and error, `;trying out'; each piece against another until it fits.  BNCI

 Looking at the objects available is of little help, as it's only by trial and error that the problem can be solved.  BNCI