to break one's silence порушити тишу, порушити мовчанку

e.g.: No one was willing to break their silence and help the police with their investigation.
e.g. Leaves stirred, breaking a complete silence of a summer day.
e.g. No one is willing to break their silence, because the teacher is very strict and demands order.

to break the ice фраз. розтопити лід, зламати лід

e.g.: I decided to make the first move and break the ice.
e.g. She wanted to make a good impression and broke the ice.
e.g. Someone suggested that we play cards to break our silence.

to draw (a gun etc) "витягувати", хапатися за (зброю і тп)

e.g.: Cowboys were known (знані, славляться тим що) to draw a gun on the slightest of
pretexts.
e.g. Jamey reached into his pocket, drew out a wrapper and tossed it up into the litter bin.
e.g. The inhabitants stepped aside when he drew the gun.

on the pretext (of) з приводу, під приводом (под предлогом)

e.g.: Cowboys were known (знані, славляться тим що) to draw a gun on the slightest of pretexts.
e.g. I called her on the pretext of needing more information.
e.g. The deputy went on leave on the pretext of bad health. ++++

to cut short 1) зрізати кут, скоротити шлях 2) "запнутись на півслові"; обірватись

(дочасно (про мовлення, відпустку і тп) if something is cut short, it is stopped before you expect
or before it is finished
e.g.: My holiday was cut short when I broke my leg while skiing.
e.g. At first we thought that we had to break our journey for a short time due to worn out tires but it
turned out that the engine broke down too, so our travel was cut short.
e.g. His career was ,unfortunately, cut short at the age of 24 because of a disease that runs in his family.

to cut a long story short .. "коротко кажучи"

e.g. To cut a long story short, she walked out on him.
e.g. To cut a long story short, he overindulged in unhealthy food which led to his obesity.
e.g. To cut a long story short, he threw them out of the house.

in the middle of nowhere "у чорта на болоті" e.g.: .. our car broke down in the middle of
nowhere.
e.g. The car broke down in the middle of nowhere, among the expansive plains of Texas.
e.g. She is planning to visit her grandparents but they live in the middle of nowhere. It’s not an easy task
to get there.
e.g. He lives in a tiny house in the middle of nowhere.