GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW) | ||||||
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17:44 Mar 1, 2007 |
Catalan to English translations [PRO] Art/Literary - Idioms / Maxims / Sayings | |||||||
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| Selected response from: sprout Local time: 04:33 | ||||||
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Discussion entries: 7 | |
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smelt a rat Explanation: I imagine this is what you are looking for. Without more context I cannot be 100% sure though. HTH Sheila to smell a rat - definition by dict.die.net To smell a rat, to have a sense of something wrong, not clearly evident; to have reason for suspicion. [Colloq.] To smell out, to find out by sagacity. ... dict.die.net/to%20smell%20a%20rat/ - 9k - Còpia en memòria - Pàgines semblants -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 8 mins (2007-03-01 17:53:33 GMT) -------------------------------------------------- http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/smell a rat.htm... If you smell a rat, you know instinctively that something is wrong or that someone is lying to you. -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 17 mins (2007-03-01 18:02:28 GMT) -------------------------------------------------- Hi Aida - The usual expression is 'to smell a rat' - so, his father smelt a rat i.e. there was no fooling him. I think that would be the most natural way of saying it (in UK English at least). Sheila |
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Smell something fishy - Be wise to - See through Explanation: "Smelled/Smelt a rat" is a perfectly fine option for what you seem to be looking for and is widely used in English, too (meaning, it's not one of those idioms they make you learn in class but that no one actually uses). So, I'll just throw a couple more out there as alternatives: "smelled/smelt something fishy" (akin to smelling a rat) and "to be on to/to be wise to" as in: "... but his father was wise to him and wouldn't/couldn't be fooled..." In this case, it's no longer just a suspicion, but rather a suspicion that has been confirmed, in other words, the father doesn't just think the boy is lying. He knows he is. Finally, you could also say something like "saw through the ploy", "saw through his tricks", "wasn't fooled", "wasn't taken in", etc., all meaning, obviously, that the boy's gambit didn't work. Anyway, as I said, these are just a few additional suggestions, so good luck and save time to enjoy the weekend! |
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See it/something coming Explanation: I think this is the best option to capture the intended meaning. -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 1 hr (2007-03-01 18:49:11 GMT) -------------------------------------------------- Oops -- hadn't looked at the contex! I'd suggest "knew something was up" in this case. -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 1 hr (2007-03-01 18:50:18 GMT) -------------------------------------------------- His/her/the father knew something was up but... -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 1 hr (2007-03-01 19:35:05 GMT) -------------------------------------------------- By the way, I wouldn't consider this a maxim or saying -- just an idiomatic expression. |
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