Death – the last sleep? No, it’s the final awakening. (Walter Scott)
Nothing really important ever happened in my native village, an average small rural community on the plateau of Castile with hardly 2,000 inhabitants. True that a woman had had quintuplets one year, and that it had once rained frogs. But uncommon as these happenings may seem to some, they have been scientifically explained – one as a rare but still possible simultaneous fecundation of several ovules, and the other as having something to do with the sudden evaporation of a small nearby lake. Mine was indeed an ordinary village, where people went about their tasks during the day and quietly slept at night. Well, all except my uncle Nicolás, because my uncle Nicolás never got any sleep. And when I say that he didn’t get any sleep, I don’t mean that he suffered from chronic insomnia or anything like that. What I mean is that he never slept at all. Not an hour, not a minute of his life, ever since he had been born and had cried away in his cot for days and nights on end to his parents’ despair.
This singular inability to sleep on my uncle’s part can truly be said to be something unique, something extraordinary which, as far as I know, has never happened anywhere else in the world before. I once read about a Cuban who got no sleep for forty years. But in his case, there had been inflammation of the inner brain when he was thirteen, and the sleep mechanism had been damaged beyond repair. The Cuban was given drugs that made him drowsy, and he even dreamt sometimes, though his electroencephalograms registered the brain activity of a fully awake person. Moreover, he would feel awfully tired in the mornings, and had to wear dark glasses to protect his sensitive, overworked eyes. Nothing like that in my uncle’s case. He never felt tired, he was always as fresh as a daisy, and when he lay down to rest with closed eyes, he didn’t dream, or if he did, he dreamt awake.
Nicolás led a completely normal life, working in the fields during the day and having a few hours’ wakeful rest on his bed at night. He was the happy father of eight, had no enemies, and was known to be a hard-working, honest man, and one who would good-humouredly take the inevitable jokes about his strange condition. As a child, they would ask him at school if he had seen the Three Wise Men come on January 6th, and on his wedding day the youths kept winking at him, with blunt remarks about the sleepless night ahead. But he didn’t mind a bit, and laughed with the best of them, as he later did every time his wife gave birth to a new child, when they asked him if he had seen the stork arrive.
Uncle Nicolás was not really worried about his lack of sleep, but once, reluctantly, to please the family, he had consented to go to the capital, where a legion of eminent and not so eminent doctors had tried hypnosis, electroshock treatment, acupuncture and experimental drugs on him in order to give him the ability to sleep, but it had all been useless, and good old Nicolás had returned to the village as awake as always.
My uncle lived on for a few years yet, a loving husband and father, fully resigned to his permanent state of conciousness, and when he died of heart failure at the age of 58, though some jokes in bad taste were heard about his now being able to get as much sleep as he liked, he was sincerely mourned by all in the village. In fact, he was so popular that his memory was still alive ten years later when the customary exhumation of his mortal remains took place at the small local cemetery before the eyes of his family and a large group of curious people who had not wanted to miss the ceremony, and the truth is that nobody was actually much surprised when the coffin was opened and he was found to be intact and…wide awake.
SEMANTIC ANALYSIS (for help go here)
2.2.1 LEARNING NEW WORDS AND PHRASES
acupuncture (acupuntura)
as far as I know (que yo sepa)
to be beyond repair (no tener arreglo)
to be mourned (ser llorado)
coffin (féretro) (for other death-related terms, see 2.2.4c)
to cry away (llorar sin parar)
electroshock treatment (tratamiento de electrochoque, electroterapia)
exhumation (exhumación)
for days and nights on end (durante días y noches sin fin)
frog (rana) (for animals, see 4.2.6 d and f)
good-humouredly (de buen humor)
happenings (sucesos)
he laughed with the best of them (se reía como el que más)
heart failure (fallo cardiaco)
hypnosis (hipnosis)
in bad taste (de mal gusto)
inner brain (parte interna del cerebro)
insomnia (insomnio)
to live on (seguir viviendo)
moreover (además)
mortal remains (restos mortales)
nearby (cercano)
overworked eyes (ojos cansados)
plateau (meseta)
quadruplets (cuatrillizos)
quintuplets (quintillizos)
stork (cigüeña) (for birds, see 9.2.7a)
the Three Wise Men (los Tres Reyes Magos)
to his parents’ despair (para desesperación de sus padres)
triplets (trillizos)
twins (mellizos)
wakeful (despierto, desvelado, en vela)
wide awake (completamente despierto)
2.2.2 SYNONYMS AND NEAR-SYNONYMS
awfully (very, extremely, terribly, frightfully, dreadfully)
to be worried (to be concerned, to be upset, to be anxious, to be anguished)
blunt (direct, brusque, abrupt, indelicate)
cot [cradle, crib (AmE)]
moreover (besides, furthermore)
ordinary (average, normal, common, usual, conventional)
rare (unusual, uncommon, infrequent)
reluctant (unwilling, disinclined, averse)
to repair [to mend, to fix (up)]
singular (strange, odd, peculiar, curious, bizarre)
2.2.3 ANTONYMS
average (exceptional)
drowsy (wakeful)
eminent (unimportant, unknown)
good-humoured (grumpy, bad-tempered, ill-humoured, irritable)
honest (dishonest)
ordinary (extraordinary, unusual, unique, exceptional, rare)
rare (common, ordinary, usual, frequent)
reluctant (willing, eager, ready)
sensitive (insensitive, callous, unfeeling)
sincere (insincere, hypocritical, two-faced)
2.2.4 LEXICAL FIELDS
- a) the weather:
a bolt of lightning (un rayo)
a clap of thunder (un trueno)
a clear sky (cielo despejado)
a flash of lightning (un relámpago)
blizzard (ventisca)
blustery (mucho viento)
breeze (brisa)
chilly/nippy (un poco fresco, frío)
clammy (húmedo y frío)
to clear up/brighten up (aclarar el tiempo)
cloudy (nublado)
cold (frío)
cold wave (ola de frío)
cool (fresco)
cyclone (ciclón)
downpour (chaparrón)
drizzle (llovizna)/drizzling (chispeando)
drought (sequía)
dry (seco)
fine (bueno, buen tiempo)
flood (inundación)
fog/foggy (niebla/con niebla)
freezing (mucho frío, helando)
frost (helada, escarcha)
frosty (cubierto de escarcha)
gale (vendabal)
hail/hailstone (granizo)
hailing (granizando)
hazy/a haze (neblinoso, neblina/calima, gen. causada por el calor)
heatwave (ola de calor)
hot (calor)
humid (húmedo)
hurricane (huracán)
lightning (relámpagos, rayos)
to melt (derretirse)
mild (suave, agradable)
mist/misty (ligera niebla, neblina/neblinoso)
monsoon (monzón)
overcast (cielo totalmente cubierto)
pouring down (diluviando)
rain (lluvia)
rainbow (arco iris)
raining (lloviendo)
a ridge of high/low pressure (área de altas/bajas presiones)
scattered clouds (nubes dispersas)
scorching/boiling/sweltering/roasting/stifling (mucho calor, calor abrasador/asfixiante)
shower (aguacero)
sleet (aguanieve)
slush (nieve derretida y sucia)
smog (smoke + fog) (aire sucio contaminado que parece niebla mezclada con humo, frecuente en algunas grandes ciudades) (for other blends, see 12.2.10)
snow (nieve)
snowdrift (ventisquero)
snowing (nevando)
snowy (cubierto de nieve)
to stop raining/to let up (dejar de llover/escampar)
storm/thunderstorm (tormenta)
sultry/muggy/heavy/close/oppressive (bochornoso)
sunny (soleado)
(to) thaw (deshelarse, deshielo)
thunder (truenos)
tornado (tornado)
torrential rain (lluvia torrencial)
tropical storm (tormenta tropical)
typhoon (tifón)
violent downpour (tromba de agua)
warm (calor agradable)
the weather forecast (el pronóstico del tiempo)
wet/damp (húmedo)
whirlwind (torbellino, remolino de viento)
windy (con viento, ventoso)
- b) (minor) health problems:
to be a bit off-colour/under the weather/out of sorts/to feel poorly (estar un poco pachucho, no estar muy católico)
to be a hypochondriac (ser hipocondríaco)
to be carsick/seasick/airsick (marearse en un coche/barco/avión)
to be constipated (estar estreñido)
to be hard of hearing (ser duro de oído)
to be hoarse (estar ronco)
to be itching all over (picar todo el cuerpo)
to be sick (devolver, vomitar)
to be/get injured (estar lesionado/lesionarse)
to bleed (sangrar)
to break/fracture a/one’s leg/arm (fracturarse/romperse una pierna/un brazo)
to break out in a cold sweat (cubrirse de sudor frío)
to come/break out in spots (salir granos)
to experience/get/have (got) discomfort (tener molestias); to cause discomfort (causar molestias)
to feel dizzy (tener vértigo)
to feel faint (estar mareado)
to feel nausea (sentir náuseas)
to feel sick (tener ganas de devolver/vomitar)
to feel the sting of (sentir el escozor de); a bee/wasp sting (una picadura de abeja/avispa); to be stung by an insect (ser picado por un insecto)
to get/have (got) (a) cramp (tener un calambre/calambres)
to get a scrape/graze/scratch (hacerse un rasguño/arañazo)
to get/have (got) cramps (tener fuerte dolor de barriga, esp. durante la menstruación)
to get pins and needles [sentir hormigueo (cuando se quedan dormidos piernas o brazos)]
to get (bad) sunburn (quemarse por estar demasiado tiempo al sol)
to get sunstroke (coger una insolación)
to get/have (got) diarrhoea/the runs (colloq.) (entrar/tener diarrea)
to get/have (got) pimples/spots (salir/tener granitos, espinillas)
to have (got) a nosebleed (sangrar por la nariz)
to have (got) (a) stomachache (tener dolor de estómago)
to have (got) (a) toothache (tener dolor de muelas)
to have (got) /suffer from indigestion (estar empachado); to get indigestion (empacharse)
to have (got) a blocked nose (tener la nariz taponada)
to have (got) a boil (tener un forúnculo)
to have (got) a bruise (tener un cardenal, un moratón, una magulladura)
to have (got) a bunion (tener un juanete)
to have (got) a cold (estar resfriado)
to have (got) a corn (tener un callo en el pie)
to have (got) a cough (tener tos)
to have (got) a dripping nose (gotear la nariz)
to have (got) a gumboil (tener un flemón)
to have (got) a headache (tener dolor de cabeza), to suffer from headaches (padecer de jaqueca); my head’s throbbing (me va a estallar la cabeza)
to have (got) a lump (tener un bulto)
to have (got) a pain in the chest/in one’s side/in the leg (doler el pecho, el costado, la pierna)
to have (got) a rash on one’s chest (tener sarpullidos en el pecho)
to have (got) a sore throat (doler la garganta)
to have (got) a stiff neck (tener tortícolis)
to have (got) a temperature (tener fiebre)
to have (got) aches and pains (tener achaques)
to have (got) an ulcer (tener una úlcera)
to have (got) an upset stomack (tener el estómago revuelto)
to have (got) backache (tener dolor de espalda)
to have (got) blisters (tener ampollas)
to have (got) callosities (tener callos en las manos)
to have (got) decayed teeth/tooth decay (tener caries)
to have (got) earache (tener dolor de oído)
to have (got) painful joints (tener dolor en las articulaciones)
to have (got) serious/severe/minor burns (tener graves/severas/pequeñas quemaduras)
to have (got) sores (tener llagas, úlceras)
to have (got) the hiccoughs/hiccups (tener hipo)
to have (got) high/low blood pressure (tener la presión alta/baja)
to have (got) one’s arm in a sling (tener el brazo en cabestrillo)
to have (got) one’s arm/leg in plaster (tener el brazo/la pierna escayolados); to have one’s arm/leg put in plaster (escayolarle a uno un brazo/una pierna)
to hurt oneself (lastimarse, hacerse daño)
to itch (picar)
to pull a muscle (sufrir un tirón en un músculo)
to remove a wart (quitarse una verruga)
to sneeze (estornudar)
to sprain one’s ankle (torcerse el tobillo)
to suffer from haemorrhoids/piles (colloq.) (padecer de hemorroides/almorranas)
to suffer from insomnia (padecer de insomnio)
to suffer from migraine (padecer de migraña)
- c) death:
body (cuerpo)
burial (entierro)
to bury (enterrar)
casket (AmE) (ataúd, feretro)
cemetery (cementerio)
coffin (ataúd, féretro)
coroner (juez de instrucción)
corpse (cadáver)
to cremate (incinerar)
crematorium (crematorio)
churchyard (cementerio alrededor de una iglesia)
to enbalm (embalsamar)
enbalmer (embalsamador)
epitaph (epitafio)
to express/offer/send one’s condolences (dar el pésame)
family vault (panteón familiar)
forensic scientist/doctor/surgeon (forense)
funeral (funeral)
funeral service (honras fúnebres)
grave/tomb (tumba)
gravedigger (sepulturero)
gravestone (lápida)
graveyard (cementerio cerca de la iglesia)
hearse (coche fúnebre)
in mourning (de luto)
to lay out (amortajar)
mortician/funeral director (director de pompas fúnebres)
mortuary/morgue (depósito de cadáveres, morgue)
mummy (momia)
obituary (esquela)
to perform a post-mortem/an autopsy (realizar una autopsia)
to ressuscitate (resucitar)
to shroud (amortajar)
shroud (sudario, mortaja)
stiff [fiambre (medical jargon)]
undertaker (empleado,-a de pompas fúnebres)
undertaker’s (funeraria)
wake (velatorio)
wreath (corona mortuoria)
2.2.5 ANALYSIS BY DISTINCTIVE SEMANTIC FEATURES
- a) hurting and damaging:
to hurt [ + cause physical or mental pain, injure sb or oneself; suffer pain or harm] (hacerse daño; hacer daño físico en un accidente, etc. o moral; doler)
to damage [ + cause physical harm to sth, (fig) have a bad effect on] [dañar (coche, motor, mobiliario, cosecha, tejado, valla; perjudicar (salud; reputación)]
to injure [ + cause physical harm or damage to sb, (fig) do wrong to sb, damage sb’s pride, self-esteem or reputation] [causar daño físico, lesionar; (fig) herir (orgullo), perjudicar (reputación)]
to harm [ + cause damage to sth or sb] [hacer daño a algo o alguien, hacer mal, perjudicar (medio ambiente, plantas; salud; reputación, imagen]
to wound [ + injure part of the body, making a cut or hole in the skin with a weapon; (fig) hurt sb’s feelings] [herir con un arma o instrumento cortante; (fig) herir los sentimientos de alguien]
to ache [ + feel a continuous but not sharp pain in a part of your body; (fig) (to be aching for sth/to do sth) desire greatly to do or have sth] [doler parte del cuerpo; (fig) estar deseando (hacer) algo]
to impair [ + damage, make sth worse] (perjudicar, dañar, afectar negativamente, discapacitar)
to smart [ + feel a stinging pain in a part of your body, (fig) feel upset because sb has hurt, offended, criticised you, etc.] [escocer, picar (herida, ojos), dar punzadas (dolor), (fig) dolerse por, escocer (crítica, comentario)]
to spoil [ + ruin sth, diminish the value of; (fig) give a child everything he/she asks for] (estropear; mimar)
to pain [ + sadden] (doler moralmente: it pains me to…)
- b) sleeping:
to sleep (dormir)
to doze [ + lightly, for a short time] (echar una cabezada/siestecita, adormilarse)
to nap/to snooze [ + for a short time, during the day] (echar una siestecita, un sueñecito, descabezar un sueño)
to drowse [ + be half asleep] (adormilarse)
to have forty winks [ + for a short time, during the day] (dar una cabezadita)
to kip [ + esp. for a short time] (dormir, echar un sueñecito)
to slumber [ + literary style, (placidly)] [dormir (plácidamente – lit y fig.) (estilo literario)]
2.2.6 POLYSEMOUS TERMS
to take [tomar, coger; llevar; aceptar modo de pago; tardar; tener cabida para, caber; gastar, usar (talla); funcionar con; aguantar, soportar; tomar como ejemplo; comer ficha (en ajedrez); agarrar (injerto, vacuna); prender (el fuego)]
2.2.7 LEXICAL COLLOCATIONS
to take
to take sth: to take an umbrella (tomar/coger algo: coger un paraguas)
I can’t take it any more (no aguanto más)
I take it that… (supongo que…)
I take your knight/pawn/bishop/castle/queen (te como el caballo/peón/alfil/torre/dama)
I’ll take the blue one (me llevo el azul)
it takes courage to do sth (hacer falta valor para hacer algo)
take it easy! (¡tómatelo con calma!)
take it or leave it! (¡lo tomas o lo dejas!)
take the first on the right/left (coge/toma la primera a la derecha/izquierda)
the fire didn’t take (el fuego no prendió)
the graft/vaccine didn’t take (el injerto/la vacuna no agarró)
this car can take five people (este coche tiene capacidad para 5 personas/en este coche caben 5 personas)
to be taken ill (ponerse enfermo, enfermar)
to have a photo(graph)/picture taken (hacerse una foto)
to have one’s blood pressure taken (tomarse la presión)
to take a bath/a shower (tomar un baño/una ducha)
to take a bend (tomar una curva)
to take a break/rest (hacer una pausa/tomarse un descanso)
to take a degree in (licenciarse en)
to take a holiday (tomarse unas vacaciones)
to take a house/a flat (alquilar una casa/un piso)
to take a job (aceptar un trabajo)
to take a liking/a dislike to sb (coger afecto/antipatía a)
to take a penalty/corner/a free kick (tirar un penalti/sacar un córner/un libre directo)
to take a photo(graph)/picture (sacar una fotografía)
to take a seat (tomar asiento)
to take a walk (dar un paseo)
to take action (against) (tomar medidas contra)
to take an exam (hacer un examen)
to take an interest in sth (tomarse interés en algo)
to take care of (cuidar de)
to take coffee/tea/a medicine/drugs (tomar café/té/una medicina/drogas)
to take credit cards/traveller’s cheques (aceptar tarjetas de crédito/cheques de viaje)
to take hold of sth (agarrar, coger)
to take into account (tener en cuenta)
to take notes (tomar notas)
to take offence (ofenderse)
to take one’s drink (aguantar bien la bebida)
to take one’s time to do sth (tomarse su tiempo para hacer algo)
to take part in (tomar parte en)
to take pity on sb (compadecerse de alguien)
to take place (tener lugar)
to take pleasure in doing sth (disfrutar haciendo algo)
to take sb by the neck (coger/agarrar por el cuello)
to take sb prisoner (hacer a alguien prisionero)
to take sb/sth somewhere (llevar a alguien/algo a alguna parte)
to take sb’s advice (aceptar/seguir/hacer caso a un consejo)
to take sb’s arm/to take sb by the arm (coger del brazo)
to take sb’s pulse/temperature/blood pressure (tomar el pulso/la temperatura/la presión arterial/sanguínea)
to take sth for granted (dar por supuesto)
to take sth seriously/lightly (tomarse algo en serio/a la ligera)
to take sugar in one’s coffee (tomar azúcar con el café)
to take the biscuit/the cake (llevarse la palma)
to take the blame (for sth) (asumir la culpa por algo)
to take the bus/train/plane/a taxi (coger el autobús/tren/avión/un taxi)
to take the lead (tomar la delantera)
to take time to do sth (llevar tiempo hacer algo)
to take to heart (tomarse a pecho)
what size shoes do you take? (¿qué número de zapatos gastas/calzas?)
you can take it from me that… (puedes creerme cuando te digo que…)
2.2.8 GRAMMATICAL COLLOCATIONS
to be resigned to (resignarse a)
to consent to (consentir en)
to dream about/of (soñar con)
to mind + -ing form (importar hacer algo): do you ming shutting the window? ¿Te importa cerrar la ventana?
to suffer from (padecer de)
to wink at (guiñar a)
2.2.9 FALSE FRIENDS
actual does not mean ‘actual’ (current/present), but ‘real, verdadero’
actually does not mean ‘actualmente’ (at present), but ‘de hecho, en realidad’
bigot does not mean ‘bigote’ (moustache), but ‘beato,-a’
deception does not mean ‘decepción’ (disappointment), but ‘engaño’
dismayed does not mean ‘desmayado’ (fainted), but ‘consternado’
embarrassed does not mean ‘embarazada’ (pregnant), but ‘desconcertado, incomodo, violento’
gracious does not mean ‘gracioso’ (funny), but ‘amable, atento, cortés’ (exception: her Gracious Majesty su Graciosa Majestad)
ordinary means ‘ordinario’ in the sense of ‘normal’, ‘usual’, but not in the sense of ‘vulgar’ (vulgar)
rare means ‘raro’ in the sense of ‘poco frecuente’, but not in the sense of ‘extraño’ (strange, odd, bizarre)
to resume does not mean ‘resumir’ (to summarize), but ‘reanudar’
sensible does not mean ‘sensible’ (sensitive), but ‘sensato’
(for other false friends, see 5.2.15, 6.2.12 and 9.2.11)
2.2.10 WORD FORMATION
prefixes:
out- (main meanings: bigger/greater/better, etc. than sb/sth else; outside or beyond sth; external): to outlive (sobrevivir a/vivir más tiempo que), to outdo (superar, ser mejor que), outlaw (proscrito, foragido), to outnumber (superar en número); outdoor (al aire libre, de exterior), out-patient (paciente externo), out-tray (bndeja de salida), etc. (see also 3.2.12)
over-(main meanings: too much/in excess; above; additional): to overdo (exagerar, pasarse), overdose (sobredosis), overhead (elevado, por encima de la cabeza), to overload (sobrecargar), to overpay (pagar demasiado), to overeat (comer demasiado), to overfeed (sobrealimentar), to overrate (sobrevalorar), to overlook (tener vistas a; no darse cuenta, pasar por alto; dejar pasar, hacer la vista gorda), oversensitive (extremadamente susceptible), to oversleep (quedarse dormido, pegársele a alguien las sábanas), to overtake (adelantar a un vehículo), overtime (horas/tiempo extra), to overwork (trabajar demasiado), etc.
under-(main meanings: less than needed or desired; less important or lower in rank; inside or beneath other things): underclothes/underwear (ropa interior), to underrate (infravolar, menospreciar), underdeveloped (subdesarrollado), underwater (bajo el agua, submarino), underground (subterráneo), underdone [ (demasiado) poco hecho], underfed (subalimentado, desnutrido), understaffed (falto de personal), etc.
(for negative prefixes, see 4.2.10).
2.2.11 IDIOMS
similes:
as bald as a coot – completamente calvo
as black as coal/soot – negro como el carbón
as black as pitch/ink – oscuro como boca de lobo
as blind as a bat – que no ve tres en un burro
as bold as brass – muy osado, caradura
as brave as a lion – valiente como un león
as bright as a button – listo y divertido, brillante
as brown as a berry – muy moreno
as busy as a bee – muy atareado/ocupado
as calm as a millpond – como una balsa de aceite (dicho del agua del mar)
as clean as a new pin – limpio como los chorros del oro
as clean as a whistle – limpio/inocente (argot policíaco)
as close as an oyster – poco comunicativo
as common as dirt/muck – muy corriente
as cool as a cucumber – más fresco que una lechuga
as cross as two sticks – de un humor de perros
as cunning as a fox – astuto como un zorro
as dead as a dodo – muerto, pasado de moda, olvidado
as dead as a doornail – muerto, que no funciona
as dead as mutton – completamente muerto
as deaf as a post – sordo como una tapia
as different as chalk and cheese/as day and night – diferente como de la noche al día
as drunk as a lord – borracho como una cuba
as dry as a bone – muy seco, reseco
as dry as dust – muy aburrido
as dull as ditchwater – aburrido, sin interés
as dumb as a fish – tonto, ingenuo
as easy as ABC/as pie/as winkink/as falling off a log – muy fácil, pan comido
as fast as a deer/hare – muy rápido
as fat as a pig – gordo como un cerdo
as fit as a fiddle – como las propias rosas, de primera
as flat as a pancake – liso como una tabla
as free as a bird/the air – libre como los pájaros/como el aire
as fresh as a daisy- como las propias rosas, fresco como una rosa
as good as gold – más bueno que el pan (referido esp. a niños o animales de compañía que se comportan bien)
as happy as a lark – muy feliz
as hard as nails – duro como una piedra (sentimientos)
as heavy as lead – más pesado que el plomo
as hungry as a hunter – muy hambriento
as keen as mustard – muy entusiasta por algo
as large as life – de tamaño natural, en persona
as light as a feather- ligero como una pluma
as like as two peas (in a pod) – iguales, como dos gotas de agua
as mad as a hatter/a March hare – más loco que una cabra
as mad as a wet hen – furioso
as meek as a lamb – dócil como un corderito
as obstinate/stubborn as a mule – terco como una mula
as old as Methusaleh – más viejo que Matusalén
as old as the hills – muy antiguo
as pale as death – muy palido (por enfermedad o miedo)
as patient as Job – más paciente que Job
as plain as a pikestaff/the nose on your face – más claro que el agua
as pleased as Punch – contento como unas pascuas/castañuelas
as poor as a church mouse – pobre como una rata
as proud as a peacock – orgulloso como un pavo real
as quick as lightning – rápido como una centella
as quiet as a mouse – más callado que en misa
as regular as clockwork – que funciona con gran regularidad
as right as rain – perfectamente bien/correcto
as round as a barrel – gordo, redondo como un tonel
as safe as houses – seguro, a salvo, sin peligro
as sharp as a needle – muy agudo/ingenioso
as sick as a cat/dog – con vómitos violentos
as silent as the grave/tomb/dead – callado como una tumba/un muerto
as silly as a sheep – tonto de capirote
as slippery as an eel – escurridizo como una anguila
as slow as a tortoise – lento como una tortuga
as snug as a bug in a rug – más a gusto que un guarro en una charca
as sober as a judge – a) sobrio; b) serio
as sound as a bell – más sano que una pera
as sour as vinegar – agrio de carácter
as steady as a rock – firme como una roca
as stiff as a poker – más tieso que un palo
as strong as a horse/an ox – fuerte como un roble
as sure as eggs is eggs – tan seguro como que dos y dos son cuatro
as sure as fate/hell – cierto, seguro, sin la menor duda
as sweet as honey – dulce como la miel
as thick as thieves – uña y carne
as thin as a rake – muy flaco
as timid as a rabbit – muy tímido
as tough as leather – duro,-a (a.- carne; b.- persona fuerte)
as true as steel – a) fiel hasta la muerte; b) muy cierta (una afirmación)
as ugly as sin – más feo que Picio
as warm as toast – muy calentito
as wet as a drowned rat – empapado, hecho una sopa
as white as a sheet – blanco como la pared/cera
as wise as an owl – muy sabio
2.2.12 PHRASAL VERBS
to cry away (llorar sin parar)
to go about sth (ocuparse de algo)
to lie down (tumbarse)
to live on (seguir viviendo)
2.2.13 CULTURAL NOTES
Walter Scott (1771-1832) – famous Scottish historical novelist.
2.3 GRAMMAR REVISION
2.3.1 Inversion of as in concessive clauses
…but uncommon as these happenings may seem to some…
2.3.2 That nominal clauses
…when I say that he didn’t get any sleep…
I don’t mean that he suffered from chronic insomnia…
2.3.3 That relative clauses
he was given drugs that made him drowsy
2.3.4 Conjuncts (adverbs/adverbials that show how what is said in the sentence containing them connects with what has been said in a previous sentence)
Moreover, he would feel awfully tired in the mornings…
2.3.5 Infinitive of purpose (see also 6.3.1)
…had to wear dark glasses to protect his sensitive, overworked eyes
…when he lay down to rest…
…to please the family…
…in order to give him the ability to sleep…
2.3.6 To-infinitive as nominal clause
…had not wanted to miss the ceremony…