1. Expressions with run, look and catch
Expression Meaning Italiano
Look on the bright side Be cheerful/optimistic Vedere il bello della
vita, vedere tutto rosa
Never look a gift horse in Be ungreatful for what you A caval donato non si
the mouth are given guarda in bocca
Look down your nose at Feel superior to Guardare qn dall’alto in
basso

2. Expression Meaning Italiano
Look like a drowned rat Be completely soaked Essere bagnato come un
pulcino, essere bagnato
fradicio
Catch someone’s eye 1. To establish eye contact Attirare l’attenzione di
with someone; to attract qn, dare nell’occhio
someone's attention
2. To appear and attract
someone's interest
Catch somebody red- Apprhend sb in the act of Prendere, catturare sul
handed doing sth colpo

3. Expression Meaning Italiano
Run a business Manage a company Condurre/amministrare
un’azienda
Run off with To steel sth and take it Correre via dopo aver
away rubato qc, andarsene di
corsa
Run out of Have no more left Rimanere senza
Run short of Have an insufficient Rimanere a corto di
supply of

4. Idioms connected with aspects of people’s personality
Idiom Meaning Italiano
A new broom A new person in charge Un nuovo direttore o una
who makes changes persona con delle
responsabilità che
apporta subito dei
cambiamenti
A wet blanket Someone who does not Guastafeste
want to join in and spoils
the fun for everybody else
A stuffed shirt A pompous, self- Essere un pallone
opinioned person gonfiato
A couch potato S/o who like to sit in Sedentario, pantofolaio
comfort and do nothing

5. Expression Meaning Italiano
A fair wheater friend S/o who stands by you Chi è amico solo quando
only when things are le cose vanno bene, un
going well amico inaffidabile, un
opportunista
A noisy parker A gossip who wants to Qn a cui piace
know everything that spettegolare/sparlare su
happens to other people qn
An armchair critic S/o who expresses Critico incompetente
opinions about things
they know very little
about
A rolling stone S/o who doesn’t like to Una persona a cui non
stay in one place piace stare nello stesso
posto; un vagabondo

6. A rolling stone gathers no
moss:
1- A person who never settles
in one place will never be
successful
2- A person who does not
keep active will grow mouldy
Pietra mossa non fa muschio:
1- Chi cambia continuamente
attività non fa fortuna
2- Chi non è attivo, vive
nell’ozio o sta sempre nello
stesso luogo “fa la muffa”

7. Expressions with time
Expression Meaning Italian
For the time being As a temporary measure Per il momento
Time will tell Sth you will only know in
the future
Kill time To pass the time; to spend Ingannare il tempo,
the time doing sth that is ammazzare il tempo,
not important while passare il tempo
you’re waiting for sth else
to happen
Just in the nick of time With only seconds to Proprio nel momento
spare; at the precise giusto
moment
Do time To spend time in prison
Buy Time Delay things (an event/a Guadagnare tempo
decision)

8. Expressions with Book
Expression Meaning Italiano
To throw the book at To punish sb who has Incriminare/accusare qn;
someone committed an offence as farla pagare cara
severely as possible
To turn over a new leaf To change Girare pagina, cambiare
To do something by the Following rules and Correttamente, secondo le
book instructions in a very strict regole
way
To take a leaf out of To copy somebody’s Seguire l’esempio di qn
someone’s book behaviour and do things in
the same way that they do
because they are
successful
To be in someone’s To say that sb is Andare a genio a qn;
good/bad books pleased/annoyed with you (essere nel libro nero di
qn); essere nelle grazie di
qn

9. Expressions with do
Expression Meanings
Do wonders for Help significantly; Fare miracoli
improve a situation
drastically
Do the donkey work Being responsable for all Fare il lavoro più ingrato,
the hard work faticoso
Do more harm than good Cause more problems Fare più male che bene
rather than improving the
situation
There’s no harm in trying used to say that something Tentar non nuoce
(Prov.) seems reasonable

10. Different ways of looking at something
Verb Meaning
Glimpse A look at sb/sth for a very occhiata, sguardo veloce
short time, when you do intravedere, vedere di
not see the person or sfuggita
thing completely
Gaze To look steadily, intently, sguardo m. fisso; fissare
and with fixed attention con ammirazione,
contemplare
Stare To look at sb/sth for a Fissare qn, qc
long time
Glance To look quickly at sb/sth. Occhiata, sguardo rapido

11. Blink Close the eyelids battito m. di ciglia;
rapidly.Es: in the blink of in the ~ of an eye in un
an eye = very quickly batter d'occhio
Weep Cry Piangere
Wink Close one eyelid only strizzare l’occhio, sbattere
le ciglia, ammiccare
Glare Look in an angry way To stare fixedly and
angrily
Peep To look quickly and Sbirciare
secretely at sth
Peer Look closely at (as if Fissare qc da vicino
trying to see more clearly)

12. Expressions with light and dark
Light at the end of the A sign that a difficult Vedere la luce in fondo al
tunnel period will finish “tunnel” , un periodo
difficile che sta per finire
Keep someone in the dark Withold information Non dire i dettagli su qc
from s/o intenzionalmente
Make light of something Not take sth seriously Non prende qc
seriamente
Go out like a light Fall asleep immediately Addormentarsi di colpo
A leep in the dark A risk with unknown Un salto nel buio
consequences

13. Expression Meaning Italiano
The bright lights The excitement and Agitazione,
entertainment of the city intrattenimento,
divertimento della città
Come to light Be revealed Essere rivelato
See the light Understand and realise “Aprire gli occhi su qc”,
you have been wrong. accorgersi
A dark horse A mysterious person; a Una persona misteriosa.
person who doesn’t tell Qn che non parla molto
other people much about di se stesso, ma sorprende
oneself, and who gli altri avendo delle
surprises people by interessanti qualità
having interesting
qualities.