being afraid of; being fearful; being timid; trembling; shivering
parched; dried-up; empty; hollow; rattling; clattering
certain; some kind of; some sort of; of sorts
perhaps; likely; probably; I dare say
to pretend to be tough; to put on a brave front; to whistle in the dark; to bluff
have to (verb); must (verb); is indispensable; absolutely necessary
how; in what way; why; for what reason; cannot possibly; no way
attractive; good-looking; stylish; cool; smooth; neat
to have a talk; to tell a story
first meeting; first interview with
intimacy; affection; familiarity
as a child; when one was a child
commemoration; celebration; honoring the memory of something; turning something into a memento; memory
congratulation; congratulations; celebration; congratulatory gift; present
interesting; fascinating; amusing; funny; enjoyable; fun
with profound (often hidden) meaning; pregnant with significance; meaningful; suggestive; interesting
such; like that; that sort of; very
boastful speech; bragging
of no interest; not interested
current value; price; market value
to palm off; to force a sale
10^8; 100,000,000; hundred million
with a slap; with a pop; without batting an eyelid; generously; cutesy suffix applied to names
very; extremely; terrible; horrid; remarkable; extraordinary
business conditions; the market; good (economic) times; prosperity; liveliness; energy
good story; heartwarming story; good prospect (e.g. marriage, business)
taking a story with a grain of salt; discounting half the story
20 years old; (arch.) twenty
numeral; figure; digit; numeric character
every last one; one and all; from A to Z; as soon as; right after; no sooner (than)
one copy (of a book, magazine, etc.); one volume
completely ordinary; plain; commonplace; everyday
small; fine; minute; minor; trivial; sensitive
English letter; alphabetic character
at once; right away; promptly; on the spur of the moment
decipherment; interpretation; making out; identification
under one's arm; (in) the armpit
hidden room; secret chamber
these days; nowadays; present day; at this time (of the day)
to be popular; to come into fashion; to be prevalent; to spread widely (e.g. disease); to flourish; to thrive
going in and out of style; changes in fashion
inconsequential; indifferent; not worth worrying about; whatever; whichever; I don't care