Word combinations to be learnt

Flotsam and Jetsam

By W. Somerset Maugham

Word combinations to be learnt

1. to take a roll-call of sb

2. to betoken poverty

3. to get along with sb

4. to press sb to do sth

5. at length

6. to shrug one’s shoulders

7. landing-stage

8. to catch a glimpse of

9. to butt in

10. a relief

11. with a bewildered cry he sank back

12. to plant oneself on sb

13. to impose oneself on sb

14. as weak as a rat

15. as shabby as a beachcomber

16. stubble of grey moustache

17. pugnacious (nose)

18. lightish

19. likeable

20. to be ill at ease ( with sb)

21. shifty little eyes

22. disconcerting

23. a disinterested curiosity

24. to give sb board and lodging

25. to seek sb’s company

26. a brow of a hill

27. tousled hair

28. dyed a vivid yellow

29. a dab of rouge

30. a smear of lipstick

31. to jerk one’s head

32. to beckon sb

33. twirl

34. a treat

35. to twitch

36. to keep sb from starvation

37. to be fed up with doing sth

38. to be bust

39. a wash-out

40. the long and short of it

41. to skip

42. stranded

43. to be at one’s wits’ end

44. to propose to sb

45. to make a packet

46. to get on ( I was getting on)

47. tempting

48. virile

49. to make nothing of sth

50. a medley of furniture

51. could not but feel

52. to account for

53. malaise

54. to huddle up

55. to start off

56. spit it out !

57. muddled thoughts

58. to hammer away in sb’s brain

59. chop-chop

60. to accept the compromise

61. a paroxysm of involuntary movement

62. cordial

63. for a sun-downer

64. to be startled

65. a quick-tempered, susceptible man

66. to inflict oneself on sb

67. a glimmer of cupidity

68. to be scared to death of sb

69. to distress sb

70. pretence

71. to yawn

72. to all appearances

73. a commonplace planter

74. to fall upon evil days

75. slump

76. mortgagee

77. relations

78. half-caste

79. to despise

80. a conceited person

81. self-complacent

82. sb’s exterior

83. a sinister being

84. revue

85. farce

86. dreary

87. a girl with no particular talent

88. to have influence on the stage

89. sordid

90. pathetic

91. to foreclose

92. to turn out

93. to be aghast

94. to give sb a keen look

95. a solitary life

96. to get on one another’s nerves

97. to keep it bottled up

98. week I and week out

99. What’s the odds ?

100. the inns and outs

101. coarse irony

102. anguish

103. dreadful occurrence

104. fear of consequences

105. to butt into what’s no business of mine

106. promise you on my word of honour

107. to hesitate

108. mistrust

109. animosity

110. to flash through sb’d mind

111. taciturn

112. a God-forsaken place

113. as fit as a fiddle

114. to turn in

115. a handsome gift

116. trimmed with cheap lace

117. to heave a great sigh of relief

118. repellent people

119. on the tip of sb’s tongue

120. a tragic tale of sin or folly

121. to hanker after sth

122. for donkey’s years

123. to give a house a woman’s touch

124. knick-knacks

125. to make a sacrifice

126. to cod sb

127. to grow bored

128. to give a chuckle

129. at sb’s disposal

130. to pop over and have a drink

131. beefy

132. slight

133. to take to sb

134. to feel at home with sb

135. to get to the bottom of

136. incoherently

137. promiscuous

138. to make oneself cheap

139. what the eye didn’t see the heart didn’t grieve over ( syn. Out of sight, out of mind )

140. a devastating passion

141. to long to

142. to irritate sb to frenzy

143. to run (awful) risks

144. an obstacle

145. to be pregnant

146. confinement

147. to send word

148. to splash about in the water

149. prying eyes

150. the bliss of their reunion

151. the agony of their separation

152. to be unconscious of time and place

153. a divine fire

154. a brutal shock

155. a deafening noise

156. his grip on her was spasmodic

157. to gasp

158. to sputter over

159. to push sb aside

160. to have a miscarriage

161. to alley suspicion

162. to look fishy

163. nervous affliction

164. on a freakish impulse

165. to daub

166. To hell with life !

Notes

Flotsam - wreckage found floating; jetsam - goods thrown overboard to lighten a ship

tapping (here) - drawing off a milky juice out of a rubber tree

electro-plate - silver-plated tableware (dishes, spoons, knives, etc. covered with silver by the use of electricity)

Dyak - a member of one of aboriginal tribes of Borneo

Chink - Chinese (vulgar term indicating a contemptuous attitude)

prahu - a native boat

Tuan - Master

Bacon, Francis (1561-1626) - an English writer and philosopher

baju - a kind of short jacket in Malay countries

Boswell, James (1740-1794) - Scottish writer, biographer of Dr Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), English writer, critic and lexicographer

Borrow, George (1803-1881) - English traveler and linguist

Lamb, Charles (1775-1834) - English essayist, poet and critic

we’re broke to the wide - we are completely ruined

Penang - an island in S.E. Asia, off the West Coast of the Malay Peninsula

arak - a kind of alcoholic drink

a long-house - a communal home or council hall among the native tribes

were for it (here) - were dying

Worcester Sauce - a piquant sauce made with soy, vinegar, spices, etc., orig. from Worcester, England

the Granges could ill afford the small expense he must be putting them to - even the small amount of money they were spending on him was too much for them

D. O. - District Officer

sparkler - siphon

the only way I can get back on him - the only way for me to take my revenge

for two pins - for a trifle; pin (here) - sth worthless or insignificant

she had hankered after for donkey’s years - she had longed for during many years

That would need a bit of handling - She’d have to think carefully how to explain that

neither of them was of a texture to sustain its exorbitant compulsion - neither of them could bear its excessive force

Date: 2016-01-05; view: 1510