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be taken aback

When I first arrived, I was taken aback at how fast people spoke. 

New employees from within the industry were taken aback by the absence of detailed rules and regulations.

on no account (are you ...)

On no account should you leave the door unlocked.

On no account must you disturb me when I am working.

On no account must you smuggle things into the country.

We must on no account view problems superficially and in isolation.

scorn (n+v)

He treats his rivals with scorn.

He felt scorn for his working-class parents.

They had nothing but scorn for his political views.

She was treated with scorn and ridicule (Spott) by her colleagues when she applied for the job.

His brother had always scorned him.

All the roads out of the city were snowbound.

The skiers were snowbound in the re'sort for several days.

booze (v+n)

He is drunk, he has been boozing all night.

There was free booze at the party.

grouchy (au)

He is always grouchy when he has to get up early.

dash(board)

 A signal appeared on the car's dashboard.

His new car had a dash made of wood.

washing basket, clothes (ou-ds) basket

clothes horse

run an (errand)

The boy ran errands for his mother and went to the supermarket.

I have to run a few errands after work.

Pack the clothes carefully so that you don't crease them.

Don't sit on my newspaper. You'll crease it!

He had to iron his shirt because it had creases.

He was convicted of (verurteilt) a felony and sent to prison.

They were very obliging and offered to wait for us.

He decided to fore'go the trip in order to save money.

Mickey agreed to forego his holiday.

The allegation of fraud (Betrug) proved to be unfounded (unbegründet).

All allegations against the defendant (Angeklagter) were false.

I tested the product before I eventually bought it.

Eventually, he found his keys in his pocket.

approve of sth.

His parents did not approve of his hasty (übereilig) decision.

She doesn't approve of my friends.

Do you approve of my idea?

praise (for sth.)

She praised the children for their good manners.

The critics were full of praise for the film.

un'certainty

Times of great change are also times of uncertainty.

There is a great deal of uncertainty about the company's future .

The employee achieved astonishing feats (Leistungen), so he got promoted.

The 'acrobat accomplished an incredible feat (Kunststück).

The Eiffel Tower is a remarkable feat of engineering.

He received a medal for his heroic feat.

The decoration is a bit tacky, but I like it.

feel ob'liged (ai) to do sth.

We feel obliged to provide our customers and users with the highest possible degree of transparency and to inform them about...

We feel obliged to express our concern about...

haunt (hont)

The library and the park were his haunts in the afternoon.

I casually mentioned that I might be interested in working abroad.

'Where do you work?' she asked casually.

She'd mentioned it casually once, surprising him by her unconcern.

mis'use

Misuse of the library computers is prohibited.

Another 100, 000 premature deaths stem from the abuse and misuse of alcohol.

impose sth. on so.

You impose too much on me, and I'm so tired.

She always tries to impose her own ideas on the rest of the team.

occupy oneself with sth.

This challenge will occupy Europe for a generation or more.

Problems at work continued to occupy his mind for some time.

No matter what I try, the outcome is always the same.

The outcome of the experiment was positive.

The manager was satisfied with the outcome of the project.

resolution

The commission has agreed on a new resolution.

The peace talks led to the resolution of the conflict.

I made the resolution to lose some weight.

co'incidence

It was pure coincidence that they were in the same city that day.

Just by coincidence, I met my old school-mate again fifty years later.

You chose exactly the same wallpaper (Tapete) as us - what a coincidence!