5 Idioms with «Call»

1. close call = 1. a dangerous situation that you have just succeeded in avoiding (опасная ситуация; критическая ситуация) 2. if an election is going to be a close call, more than one person has a good chance of winning (минимальное преимущество)

Last year I had a very close call when I contracted meningitis. After getting out of intensive care and returning home I felt a new lease of life.

Bus passengers had a very close call when they escaped just seconds before the vehicle was swallowed by a sink hole.

The election was a very close call – we won by just over 300 votes.

The election was a close call and the Mayor did all that he could to manipulate it.

2. to call someone names = to use insulting words to describe someone (обзывать; оскорблять)

All the kids were mean to him and called him names.

His classmates mocked him and called him names.

3. to call it a day = to decide that it's time to finish the work you're doing; to stop some activity (закончить работу; прекратить какое-либо дело)

Let's call it a day and take a little rest.

After 18 years as a band they have decided to call it a day.

4. to call a spade a spade = to say the truth about something, even if this is rude (говорить прямо; называть вещи своими именами)

Let's call a spade a spade: the British and French peoples do not want their countries to disappear under a flood of the Third World immigrants.

It's time to call a spade a spade and face the facts.

5. to call a halt (to something) = to stop something, often by a formal decision (остановить; прекратить)