■ be not about to do something - não ter intenção nenhuma de fazer algo; estar decidido a não fazer algo. :: My uncle knows a lot about cars and I'm not about to ignore his advice. • I'm not about to let Rose order me around as if I were a little child.

■ above all - acima de tudo, mais que tudo, antes de qualquer coisa; principalmente. • Paul misses the beach and the blue sky, but above all he misses his friends.

■ on account of - por causa de, devido a. • Most flights were delayed on account of the bad wather.

■ not on any account - em hipótese alguma, de modo algum. • Don't on any accpimt leave the baby alone in the house. :: On no account will I agree to these conditions.

■ play one's ace - lançar mão de seu melhor recurso. • When the competition started togain ground, we played our ace and offered three years free service with our cars.

■ spring into action - entrar em atividade, começar a trabalhar. • The emergency servoces spring into action as soon as they received news of the explosion. :: When his alarm clock rings, he springs into action immediately

■ clear the air - tirar a limpo, pôr em pratos limpos, esclarecer um mal-entendido.•  Stanley had been bad tempered for days, so, in an attempt to clear the air, I asked him what the matter was.

■ act up - pintar o sete; dar trabalho, dar problema. :: My car is acting up again. • Cassao always acts up when his parents don't buy him what he wants.

■ put on an act - fazer fita, falar ou agir com ostentação ou com fingimento. • When Andy is with his friends, he behaves completely unnaturally. He thinks he nedds to put on an act to impress them.

■ again and again - muitas vezes. • I told you again and again to lock the door, but you always leave it open.

■ in the air - anunciar-se, aproximar-se. • Spring is in the air.

■ walk down the aisle - casar-se, ir para o altor. • Tomorrow the day will finally come when they walk down the aisle.

■ a smart aleck - um sabe-tudo, um sabichão; um presunçoso. • Dont't let Abdul upset you, everybody knows that he's a smart aleck. :: Some smart aleck marked all the erros in our sales brochure in red and sent it back to us.

■ after all - afina, afinal de contas. • You got a good price for your car. It's five years old, after all.

■ a blind alley - resultado insatisfatório; situação cujo resultado não vai levar a nada positivo. • Many believe that these experiments are leading down a blind alley.

■ let alone - muito menos, sem falar em. • She didn't even apologize, let alone offer to pay for the damage.

■ ape - macaquear, imitar. • Children often like to ape adults to make fun of them.

■ the apple of one's eye - menina dos olhos, pessoa querida. • His daughter was the apple of his eye.

■ as long as your arm - imensa, sem fim. • When I asked Kevin what he wanted for Christmas, he produced a list as long as your arm.

■ have been around - ser vivido, ter muita experiência da vida, saber das coisas. • I find it really exciting to talk to Simon. He´s been around and knows lots of interesting stories.