dining room; dining hall; cafeteria; restaurant; eatery; snack bar
tension; strain; tensions (between countries, groups, etc.); tonus; muscle tone
to come untied; to come apart; to be softened; to be relaxed
to clear up; to clear away; to refresh (e.g. spirits); to be cleared (e.g. of a suspicion); to be dispelled; to be banished
easy; trifling; harmless; nothing of the sort; not at all
trouble; bother; annoyance
on the contrary; rather; instead; all the more
trouble; bother; annoyance; to be troubled (by); to be bothered (by); to be inconvenienced (by)
doing whatever one pleases; selfishness; self-indulgence
if you are so inclined; if it suits you; if you like
common people; ordinary people; masses
group; faction; (political) faction; wing; school (of thought, painting, etc.); sect
or something; or something like that; or words to that effect; something or other
superiority; superior power; predominance; preponderance
to get carried away; to get overly elated; to become over-excited; to get up to speed; to move into gear
unexpected; surprising; unanticipated; strange; unforeseen
custom; convention; tradition; mores; conventional practice
abrupt; sudden; unexpected
you could say that; that might be so
putting that aside; that said; apart from that; anyway; be that as it may
to come uninvited; to crash (a party); to butt in
to tie; to bind; to fasten; to restrict (freedom); to tie down (with rules, regulations, etc.); to fetter
silence (not speaking); muteness
instead; but (on the other hand)
wise; clever; smart; well-behaved (esp. children and pets); obedient; good
to leave one's seat; to temporarily excuse oneself (from a meeting, etc.); to step outside; to be away (from one's desk, etc.)
boastful talk about one's love life; speaking fondly about one's sweetheart; going on about one's love affairs
roundabout (e.g. expression); indirect (reference, criticism, etc.); oblique
to keep away; to keep at a distance
futility; waste; uselessness; pointlessness; idleness
to go on about (one's love affairs); to speak proudly of (one's spouse, girlfriend, etc.); to speak fondly of
there is no way that ...; easy; simple
to disentangle; to untangle; to break up into pieces; to pick apart; to relieve; to ease
thanks to ...; owing to ...; because of ...
lack of expression; lack of emotion; blank look (on one's face)
to summon courage; to be brave
to be helpful; to be dependable; to stand by (someone)
to weave into; to interweave; to incorporate; to include; to put in
to swell; to rise; to bulge; to rouse; to get excited
past middle age; nearing old age; near-elderly; age 40
to cut into (a line, conversation, etc.); to force oneself into (e.g. a crowd); to fall below (of stock prices, sales, etc.); to drop below; to wedge; to play a wedge