lately; recently; nowadays
with gusto; with wild abandon; enthusiastically; energetically
amount sold; sales; proceeds; takings; turnover
to be crushed; to be smashed; to become useless; to cease functioning; to go bankrupt; to go out of business
business conditions; the market; good (economic) times; prosperity; liveliness; energy
to get worse; to deteriorate; to go from bad to worse; to spoil (of food); to go bad; to perish
about when; about what time; how soon
decisively; decidedly; boldly; precisely; exactly
principal occupation; core business
rumour; rumor; report; hearsay; gossip; common talk
here and there; in twos and threes; sporadically; now and then; from time to time; occasionally
to find out; to discover; to detect
to memorize; to memorise; to commit to memory; to learn by heart; to bear in mind; to remember
to be sharp; to be keen; to be on the ball; to have a mind like a steel trap; to be clever
with a clatter; with a rattle; empty; bare; raspy (voice); gravelly; with a gargle
thin (paper, cloth, porcelain, etc.); of thin make; superficial (knowledge, critique, etc.); shallow; slight wound; slight cut
to hold (in one's hand); to take (into one's hand); to own; to obtain
white hair; grey hair; gray hair
in proportion to; just as much as
to take on; to undertake; to take over; to inherit; to guarantee; to vouch for
to age; to grow old (esp. in appearance); to show marks of age
at the most; at best; to the utmost; as much as possible; as much as one can
to pile up; to heap up; to stack up; to repeat many times over; to go through repeatedly; to accumulate
to start the debate; to get the ball rolling; to fire the first shot; to start a conversation
unusual; unwonted; uncharacteristic
hostility; animosity; enmity
to shrink; to contract; to diminish (in size)
presence of other people; (in) public; (in) front of others
after an interval of ... years; for the first time in ... years
to be haggard; to be gaunt; to be emaciated; to be worn out (e.g. illness, worry)
to worry about (someone's welfare or comfort); to feel anxious about; to have apprehensions of
to imitate; to copy; to mock; to trace; to forge
to make sound (of an animal); to call; to cry; to make a meld call (e.g. pung, kong)