Chủ đề Crime and Punishment là một trong những chủ đề khá thường gặp trong kì thi IELTS. Hãy cùng azVocab tham khảo bài viết sau để có thể bổ sung thêm các Idioms thuộc chủ đề này nhé.
| IDIOMS | MEANING | EXAMPLE |
| Above the law | not subject to the law; immune to the law (không chịu sự điều chỉnh của pháp luật; miễn nhiễm với pháp luật) | Many computer hackers act as though they are above the law when they steal valuable data from companies and attempt to sell it online. |
| In the eyes of the law | from the technical viewpoint of the legal system (xét từ góc độ chuyên ngành của hệ thống pháp luật) | The criminal was caught after committing a crime and was assessed by the court to have suffered from severe mental illness. But in the eyes of the law, he is considered to be guilty on all counts. |
| Lay down the law | to forcefully make known what you think should happen (đề ra luật pháp) | The new colleague is so annoying! She’s been here for only 2 weeks but she started laying down the law as if she was the manager. |
| Take the Fifth | to refuse to testify against oneself in court (từ chối trả lời một câu hỏi vì câu trả lời có thể gây bất lợi cho bản thân tại tòa) | The lawyer told his client to take the Fifth before she was asked to do a testimony. |
| Take the law into your own hands | to punish someone who you believe has done something wrong yourself instead of waiting for someone in authority to do it (trừng phạt ai đó theo cách của mình mà không đợi sự can thiệp của người có thẩm quyền) | My dad took the law into his own hands when he saw no one would stand up for me when I was bullied at school. He threatened all the bullies and said that they would be in big trouble if they didn’t stop. |
| Beyond (a) reasonable doubt | almost without any doubt (không có nghi ngờ gì) | After months of investigating and collecting proof, the detective finally confirms that the suspect is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. |
| Catch someone red-handed | to discover someone while they are doing something bad or illegal (bắt quả tang ai đó làm điều sai trái) | The maid was caught red-handed stealing money from the drawer by the owner of the house. |
| Brush/sweep something under the carpet | to hide something or try to keep it secret instead of dealing with it (something that is illegal, embarrassing, or wrong) (phủ nhận, phớt lờ điều gì đó, cố gắng che giấu sự thật) | When the doctor was accused by the patient, he tried to brush his misdiagnose allegations under the carpet and blamed the nurses for making the mistake. |
| Under the table | secretly (often because what is being done is illegal) (một cách bí mật, thường là điều gì đó bất hợp pháp) | The governor is suspected of making deals under the table with corporations looking to skirt certain regulations. |
| Under the counter | covertly or secretly (and, often, illegally) (một cách bí mật, thường là bất hợp pháp) | If you’re selling alcohol under the counter, you could get into a lot of trouble. |
| Grease someone’s palm | give someone money in exchange for a favor; also, bribe someone (đút lót, hối lộ ai đó) | The husband, Tom, must have greased the officer’s palm since he is ridiculously rich. |
| Carry the can | to accept blame or responsibility for something that one did not cause (nhận tội thay) | The innocent boy was forced to carry the can for the gangster or his boss will do harm to the boy’s family. |
| Cover one’s tracks | to hide or destroy the things that show where you have been or what you have been doing (che giấu những vết tích hay những việc mình đã làm) | Roberts covered his tracks by throwing the knife in the river. |
| Behind bars | in prison (ngồi tù) | He’s spent most of his life behind bars. |
| Keep one’s nose clean | to avoid getting into trouble (giữ cho mình tránh khỏi gặp rắc rối) | I’d only been out of prison three months, so I was trying to keep my nose clean. |
| Do something by the book | to do something exactly as the rules tell you (làm theo đúng quy tắc, luật lệ) | This is a private deal – we don’t have to do everything by the book. |
| Come clean | to admit something to someone, often regarding a wrongdoing that one has tried to hide (thú thật điều gì mà trước đây mình muốn giấu kín) | I thought it was time to come clean (with everybody) about what I’d been doing |
| Get away with murder | to avoid consequences for any of one’s actions; to be able to do whatever one wants without consequences (làm điều sai trái mà không bị trừng phạt) | Of course he’s misbehaving at school – you let him get away with murder at home! |
| Turn a blind eye | to ignore something that you know is wrong (nhắm mắt làm ngơ, nhắm mắt cho qua) | Management often turns a blind eye to bullying in the workplace. |
| Do time | to serve a prison sentence (ngồi tù) | If you keep stealing things, you might ending up doing time one day. |
| Put behind bars | to put someone in prison (bắt ai đó và tống họ vào tù) | The bank robbers have been finally put behind bars. |
| Blow the whistle on someone/something | to tell people publicly about something bad that someone is doing (tố cáo ai, vạch trần việc gì) | The gangs were getting very bad. It was time to blow the whistle. |
| Do a runner | to run away without paying for a good or service (ăn cắp vặt) | The teenagers did a runner when the cab stopped, leaving the driver with an unpaid bill. |
| Cook the books | to give false information in a company’s accounts, to provide fake financial reports (gian lận sổ sách) | One of the directors had been cooking the books, and the company had been losing money for years. |
| Pull a fast one | to cheat someone (lừa đảo, trục lợi từ người khác) | He was trying to pull a fast one when he told you he’d paid. |
| A short sharp shock | (describing or relating to) punishment that is quick and effective (hình phạt/biện pháp bất ngờ, gây sốc, nghiêm khắc nhưng hiệu quả) | It is clear now that the policy of punishing young offenders with a short, sharp shock is much less effective than education and emotional training. |
| Be no hard and fast rules | if there are no hard and fast rules, there are no clear rules for you to follow (không có quy tắc nào cứng nhắc, bất di bất dịch cả) | There’s no hard and fast rule about when you need to start or end your workday here – as long as you log 40 hours each week. |
| Bring (someone) to book | to punish someone and make that person explain their behaviour (bắt ai đó phải chịu trách nhiệm về hành vi của họ) | I’m sure the boss is going to bring me to book for my outburst during the meeting. I just hope I don’t get fired. |
| Face the music | to receive punishment; to accept the unpleasant results of one’s actions (chấp nhận sự chỉ trích hay sự trừng phạt vì lầm lỗi của mình) | Mary broke a dining-room window and had to face the music when her father got home. |
| Get/lay/put one’s hands on someone else | to catch someone (bắt giữ ai) | That’s the most likely explanation, but we can’t be sure until we lay our hands on the culprits. |
| Get/let someone off the hook | to help one to avoid punishment or culpability for some wrongdoing (thoát trách nhiệm, hết gặp trở ngại) | He’s the best lawyer in the business. If anyone can get you off the hook for murder, he can. |
| Have one’s hand(s)/fingers in the till | To steal money from the company or organization you work for (trộm tiền ở nơi làm việc) | The executive was fired after he was found with his hand in the till. |
| Heads will roll | used to say that some people will be punished because of something that has happened (ai đó sẽ bị trừng phạt rất nặng về việc họ đã gây ra) | Heads will roll if there are any errors in the pamphlets we printed for this networking event. |
| Line one’s (own) pockets | to earn money using dishonest or illegal methods (kiếm tiền bằng cách bất hợp pháp) | Staff at the bank have apparently been lining their pockets with money from investors’ accounts. |
| Settle a score | to punish someone for something wrong that they did to you in the past and that you cannot forgive (tính sổ, trả thù ai về chuyện cũ) | Police believe the killer was a gang member settling a score with a rival gang. |
| Throw the book at someone | to severely punish someone (trừng phạt ai đó một cách nặng nề) | After the accident, the safety inspector threw the book at the company directors. |
Bài viết trên là tổng hợp các kiến thức về Idioms bổ trợ cho phần thi IELTS Speaking chủ đề Crime and Punishment. azVocab hy vọng rằng với những kiến thức bổ ích này, các bạn sẽ có sự chuẩn bị tốt hơn cho kỳ thi sắp tới. Chúc các bạn thành công!
