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R rack one’s brain(s) ломать голову M E A N I N G : think very hard to find a solution to a problem or to remember something I’ve been racking my brains all day to remember the name of the agency that Sheila recommended. ORIGIN: The rack was an instrument of torture upon which people’s bodies were stretched. Its use was banned in 1640. ragtag and bobtail шушера; всякий сброд; отбросы общества M E A N I N G : poor or common people; lowly people The mercenary armies of feudal princes consisted of ragtag and bobtail of society. ORIGIN: This old expression has evolved out of two separate terms. Rag and tag was long used to mean inconsequential people and bobtail referred to the grooming of a horse’s tail and was used to mean a contemptible person. Thus in effect the full phrase means something like the scum. rain cats and dogs дождь льёт как из ведра M E A N I N G : to rain heavily It was raining cats and dogs so I couldn’t walk to the store. ORIGIN: Back in the 1500s houses had thatched roofs – thick straw – piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the 104