Variations around "weigh"

weigh [sb]/[sth] down = alourdir, peser sur

• I was weighed down by all the shopping I did today. 

weigh [sb] down (be a burden) accabler, déprimer

• All this debt weighs me down, and I can't enjoy myself anymore. 

to weigh sth (=consider) = [+evidence, options] considérer

• After weighing everything carefully, I decided not to go. 
• We have to weigh the evidence and make a decision. She weighed her options. 

to weigh (up) the pros and cons = peser le pour et le contre

to weigh anchor = lever l'ancre

to weigh on [problem, worry] = quelque chose pèse à quelqu'un

• The separation weighed on both of them. La séparation leur pesait à tous deux.

to weigh on sb's mind = peser à qn

• Guilt weighed heavily on his mind.

to weigh out [+goods, ingredients] = peser des ingrédients

• He weighed out a pound of tomatoes.

weigh up [+advantages, alternatives] = soupeser

• I've been weighing up all the alternatives.

[+person] = jauger

• He was watching her, trying to weigh her up.
• I weighed up the pros and cons. J'ai pesé le pour et le contre.

weigh anchor = lever l'ancre

weigh the odds = estimer les chances, évaluer les éventualités

to weigh oneself = se peser

• I weigh eight stone.

to weigh on sb's mind = peser à qn

Shuttlecock

shuttlecock = volant (badminton)

Mylène Farmer & Seal - Les Mots

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znLilamklAM

Fixement, le ciel se tord
Quand la bouche engendre un mort
Là je donnerai ma vie pour t'entendre
Te dire les mots les plus tendres

When all becomes all alone
I'll break my life for a song
And two lives that stoop to notice mine
I know I will say goodbye
But a fraction of this life
I would give anything, anytime

L'univers a ses mystères
Les mots sont nos vies
You could kill a life with words
So, how would it feel
Si nos vies sont si fragiles
Words are mysteries
Les mots des sentiments
Les mots d'amour, un temple

If one swept the world away 
One could touch the universe
I will tell you how the sun rose high,
We could, with a word, become one

Et pour tous ces mots qui blessent
Il y a ceux qui nous caressent
Qui illuminent, qui touchent l'infini
Même si le néant existe
For a fraction of this life,
I will give anything, anytime

L'univers a ses mystères
Les mots sont nos vies
We could kill a life with words
So, how would it feel
Si nos vies sont si fragiles
Words are mysteries
Les mots des sentiments
Les mots d'amour, un temple

Too close to call

to be too close to call - l'écart est trop serré

impossible to guess the result in advance 

• Tonight's semifinals match is too close to call.

Usage notes: usually said about a competition or an election

To sound the death knell for something

to cause something to end - sonner le glas de...

knell = ringing bell
death knell = sign of imminent demise - glas 

• Everyone likes e-mail, but it hasn't sounded the death knell for snail mail quite yet.
• The CD format sounded the death knell for cassettes.

Irish coffee

Leprechauns

Leprechaun= sprite, small fairies - lutin

http://www.yourirish.com/folklore/the-leprechauns/

1. According to the book "The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures," by John and Caitlin Matthews, the leprechaun legend can be traced back to eighth-century tales of water spirits called "luchorpán," meaning small body. The legend eventually evolved into a mischievous household fairy said to haunt cellars and drink heavily.

2. Leprechauns are shoemakers. Some researches claim that the word leprechaun came from the Irish 'leath bhrogan,' meaning shoemaker, said to be the sprites' main vocation.

3. If you happen to come across a leprechaun, be sure to hold on to him.  According to Irish legends, people lucky enough to capture a leprechaun can barter (troquer) his freedom for three wishes. But dealing with a leprechaun can be a tricky proposition.

4. A leprechaun is a trickster figure (arnaqueur) who cannot be trusted. Folklorist Carol Rose offers a typical tale of leprechaun trickery in her encyclopedia "Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins," it concerns "a man who managed to get a leprechaun to show him the bush in the field where his treasure was located. Having no spade [shovel] (pelle), the man marked the tree with one of his red garters, then kindly released the sprite and went for a spade. Returning almost instantly he found that every one of the numerous trees in the field sported a red garter!" (jarretière)

5. Like most fairies, leprechauns have a distinctive sound associated with them. While the Irish banshee (mythologie gaélique : créature) can be identified by a mournful wail (gémissement), leprechauns are recognized by the tap-tap-tapping of a tiny cobbler (cordonnier) hammer, driving nails into shoes, that announces they are near.

6. Leprechauns are always male. In the 1825 book "Fairy Legends" noted that  "Leprechauns seem to be entirely male and solitary. They are often described as bearded old men dressed in green and wearing buckled shoes (chaussure en forme de boucle). Sometimes they wear a pointed cap or hat and may smoke a pipe.

7. Leprechauns weren't always dressed in green. Early tales of the creatures reported red clothing.

8.  In his collection of Irish fairy and folk tales, W.B. Yeats offered an 18th-century poem by William Allingham titled "The Lepracaun; Or, Fairy Shoemaker." It describes the tapping sound of the sprite:

"Lay your ear close to the hill.
Do you not catch the tiny clamour,
Busy click of an elfin hammer,
Voice of the Lepracaun singing shrill
As he merrily plies his trade?"

9. One of the most recognizable leprechauns in popular culture is Lucky the Leprechaun, the mascot of the General Mills breakfast cereal Lucky Charms. On the other end of the pop culture spectrum, you have the homicidal Lubdan from the "Leprechaun" horror/comedy film series.

10. Leprechauns are a morality tale figure. The legend warns against greed and the folly of trying to get rich quick.

Text from: http://www.irishcentral.com/culture/entertainment/-top-ten-facts-about-leprechauns-and-where-the-legends-really-came-from-212728761-237598771.html