Bachiller

* Stony-broke
Quiere decir "Sin un centavo". I went to the races and the horses left me stony-broke. Fui a las carreras y los caballos me dejaron sin ni un centavo.
* Fall flat on your face
Literalmente esta frase implica caerse y golpearse la cara, pero en realidad tiene el significado de "fracasar en algo".
Don't blame me if you fall flat on your face!
* Wooden Spoon
Esta frasehace referencia a un premio real o imaginario otorgado a un competidor que obtiene las más bajas calificaciones en su grupo o en su clase. Never will you see John with the wooden spoon: Nunca se verá a John último.
Aparentemente es una expresión vieja, pero no está de más conocerla.
* Plain Clothes
Significa "Ropa de civil". I was with two plain clothes detectivs in a police car. Iba con dosdetectives vestidos de civil en el patrullero.

bad-mouth: say unkind, unflattering, embarrassing (and probably untrue) things about someone.
A: "I don't believe what Bob said. Why is he bad-mouthing me?"
B: "He's probably jealous of your success."

be a piece of cake: be very easy.
A: "Bob said the test was difficult, but I thought it was a piece of cake.""

be all ears: be eager tohear what someone has to say.
A: "I just got an e-mail message from our old friend Sally."
B: "Tell me what she said. I'm all ears!"

be broke: be without money.
"No, I can't lend you ten dollars. I'm completely broke until payday."

be fed up with (with someone or something): be out of patience (with someone or something);
be very tired of someone or something.
"Bill, you're too carelesswith your work. I'm fed up with
apologizing for your mistakes!"

be in and out: be at and away from a place during a particular time.
"Could we postpone our meeting until tomorrow? I expect to
be in and out of the office most of the day today."

be on the go: be very busy (going from one thing or project to another).
"I'm really tired. I've been on the go all week long."

be on the road:be traveling.
"You won't be able to contact me tomorrow because I'll be on the road."

be over: be finished; end.
"I can't see you until around 4 o'clock. My meetings won't be over until then."

be up and running: (for a technological process) be operational; be ready to use .
"Dave's ESL Cafe on the Web has been up and running since December 1995."

be used to (+Ving/noun): be accustomedto; not uncomfortable with.
"It won't be hard to get up at 5:00 AM. I'm used to getting up early."

beat: exhausted; very tired (adj.).
"This has been a long day. I'm beat!"

beat around the bush: evade an issue; avoid giving a direct answer.
"Quit beating around the bush! If you don't want to go with me, just tell me!"

beat one's brains out: try very hard to understand or do something."Can you help me with this problem? I've been beating my brains out with it,
but I just can't solve it."

Beats me: I have no idea.
A: "What time's the party?"
B: "Beats me!"

before long: soon.
A: "I'm really tired of working."
B: "Just be patient. The weekend will be here before long."

bent out of shape: needlessly worried about something.
"I know you're worried about your jobinterview, but don't get bent out of shape.
You'll do just fine."

bite off more than one can chew: take responsibility for more than one can manage.
"I'm really behind with my project. Can you help me? I'm afraid I
bit off more than I could chew!"

blabbermouth: a very talkative person--especially one who says things that should be kept secret.
"Don't say anything to Bob unless you want thewhole office to know.
Bob's quite a blabbermouth."

blow one's top: become extremely angry.
A: "Was your father upset when you came home at 3 AM?"
B: "He was more than upset. He blew his top!"

boom box: portable cassette/CD player.
"Don't forget to bring your boom box to the picnic!"

the bottom line: the most essential information.
"The discussion lasted many hours. The bottom line...