handmade object; craftwork; handmade
innovative; liberal; reformist; progressive
to be dampened; to be discouraged; to be weakened; to be reduced
to do something useless; to gild the lily; to gild refined gold; (lit.) to build a roof atop the roof
to wonder; to puzzle oneself about; to feel anxious about; to suspect; to doubt
to probe; to search; to sound out; to investigate
dodgy dealings; monkey business
blue sky; skyrocketing (of prices); having no limit; the sky being the limit
to lose hair; to become bald; to become bare (e.g. a mountain becomes bare of trees)
loan; lending; favor; favour; creditor; method of lending
open; public; overt; free; unreserved; uninhibited
front company (for an organized crime operation)
chief editor; managing editor; manager; person in charge
profound; deep; deep (of a cave, etc.); innermost; interior
vitality; energy; dynamism
to compete ruthlessly; (lit.) to sharpen swords
to go wrong; to go awry; to go off track; to go out of whack
daily visit (of worship); frequent visit
old friend; old acquaintance
cueing (e.g. a magnetic tape, recording) (cuing); cue; feeding (e.g. paper under a print head); feed; document loading
two places; two spots; two locations; two parts; two passages
tummy; tumtum; bang-bang; pop-pop; without reservation; unreservedly
to sell wholesale; to grate (e.g. vegetables); to cut up fish
competitive relationship; rivalry
one's earthly existence; living under heaven
point of uncertainty; unclarified issue; doubt
Q&A; question and answer
land mine; topic that sets someone off; sensitive topic; something that seems fine at first but turns out to be very bad (e.g. product, business); booby trap
directly opposite; right in front
return gift; return favour (favor); revenge; change (in a cash transaction)
personal feelings; self-interest
to sniff around; to snoop around; to nose about