Nab Nattering nabobs of negativ­ism — 1) набоб, наваб (на­местник провинции в Мон­гольской империи) 2) нуво­риш, выскочка Nad Roosevelt led America from the nadir of economic distress to the zenith of power; The na­dir of his career — упадок, де­градация; to be at the nadir of one’s hope — терять всякую надежду Nag Something else […]

Mac It was, said one commenta­tor, a “danse macabre” of Croatian society — мрач­ный, страшный, ужасный, жуткий, макабрический The Macbeth effect — she desperatly tried to wash phan­tom bloodstains from her hands after encouraging her husband to murder the king Oratorical machismo — му­жественность; мужское на­чало; мужская энергия In contrast, the “macropru­dential supervisor” would rec­ognise […]

Lab Streamlining the labyrin­thine process — запутанный, сложный, трудный для по­нимания Lac This is a rather lackadaisi­cal thesis that fails to connect the underlying problem inher­ent with the system; He took a lackadaisical approach — томный; преувеличенно сентиментальный, жеман­ный; апатичный, бездея­тельный, вялый Reformists set aside as lack­eys — подхалим, лизоблюд But his speech was lacklus­tre […]

Kaf She’s on her way to OSMA, real­izing that her good friend who had desired a little kaffee­klatsch — легкая беседа за чашкой кофе (Late 19th cen­tury. From German, from Kaf — fee “coffee” + Klatsch “gossip’”) Stop thinking like a kaffir (an offensive word for a black—Af­rican) — черномазый In this Kafkaesque age eve­rything […]

Jab Obama took a jab at his pre­decessor — пихать, толкать Jai From demented jailbird to president-in-waiting: Asif Zardari’s metamorphosis — 1) арестант 2) уголовник; закоренелый преступник Jal What Ronald Reagan called “that old jalopy of our tax sys­tem” — полуразвалившийся ветхий автомобиль или са­молет, драндулет Jam Annual capitalist jamboree in Davos — веселье; пирушка, […]

Ice It cuts no ice with scientists — не иметь веса, влияния, не играть никакой роли, невысоко котироваться (у кого-л.); не произвести впе­чатления (на кого-л.) (отсю­да to cut ice в противополож­ном значении) Ico Mr. Koizumi, ever the icon­oclast, no doubt approves of that too; His iconoclasm, going against the grain, is both his strength and […]

Hab A war-time intelligence officer, brilliant prose stylist, habitue of country houses and high so­ciety — завсегдатай Нас This man and his brother, who run Cuba as their own haci­enda, are dictators and crim­inals — гасиенда (имение, плантация в Испании и Ла­тинской Америке) Every gnarled hack knows that the best way to bury bad news […]

Gab Just a few blocks south of streets alive with insouciant artists and Puerto Rican im­migrants, the men in Wil­liamsburg wear long beards, long gaberdines and black hats; the women are modest­ly dressed in long skirts and sensible shoes. — 1) кафтан из грубого сукна 2) габарди­новое пальто The gabfest involving senior Congressional leaders from […]

Fac Control almost every facet of production — грань, аспект, сторона It lets them make facile compar­isons with the agonised last days of the Major government — не­глубокий, поверхностный, обманчивый, кажущийся The U. S. in its support of its factotum should not include interfering with town plan­ning; He acted as a facto­tum — 1) работник, […]

Ear The real choice for him is not when his measures would start to bite in earnest; in real earnest, in dead earnest — всерьез, серьезно Earth-shattering decision — изумительный, поразитель­ный, удивительный, шоки­рующий For its cosmic ambition, ITER run into the earthiest of dif­ficulties: spiraling costs — самый что ни на есть зем­ной; сан.: обычный, […]