half a loaf is better than none
half a loaf is better than no bread
Part of what we want or need is better than nothing. A proverb.
Albert wanted two dollars for shoveling snow from the sidewalk but the lady would only give him a dollar. And he said that half a loaf is better than none.
hang by a thread
hang by a hair
To depend on a very small thing; be in doubt.
For three days Tom was so sick that his life hung by a thread.
As Joe got ready to kick a field goal, the result of the game hung by a hair.
know which side one's bread is buttered on
To know who can help you and try to please him; know what is for your own gain.
Знать кто может вам помочь и пытаться подружиться с ним. Знать что является вашей собственной целью.
Dick was always polite to the boss; he knew which side his bread was buttered on.
Jack never argues with his father-in-law. He knows which side his bread is buttered.
Джек никогда не спорит со своим тестем. Он знает, откуда ветер дует.
lay it on
lay it on thick
put it on thick
spread it on thick
lay it on with a trowel
pour it on thick
To persuade someone by using very much flattery; flatter.
Bob wanted to go to the movies. He laid it on thick to his mother.
Mary was caught fibbing. She sure spread it on thick.
read between the lines
To understand all of a writer's meaning by guessing at what he has left unsaid.
"Читать между строк"; понимать скрытый, недосказанный смысл.
Some kinds of poetry make you read between the lines.
A clever foreign correspondent can often avoid censorship by careful wording, leaving his audience to read between the lines.
Millicent might have read between the lines; she might have had more knowledge about her husband's character.
Миллисент должно быть прочла между строк; она, возможно, знает больше о характере своего мужа.
read into
To attribute extra meaning to; deduce from; consider to be implicit in.
Just because Fred's letters sounded so friendly Mary was wrong to read anything serious into them.
read off
To read in a speaking voice from a list.
The secretary read off the names of those present in alphabetical order.
read one like a book
To understand someone completely; know what he will think or do at any time.
Понимать кого-либо полностью; знать что человек будет думать в конкретной ситуации.
John's girlfriend could read him like a book.
Emily, who read her husband like an open book, pretended that she didn’t suspect anything.
Эмили, которая прекрасно понимала своего мужа, сделала вид, что она ничего не подозревала.