December; twelfth month of the lunar calendar
floating ball of fire (said to be the soul of a dead person); meteor; shooting star
to be vague; to speak ambiguously; to be evasive; to not commit oneself
that's true; of course; obviously
dead body; corpse; cadaver; carcass
or rather (say); or better (say); or perhaps I should say; or, how should I put it; I mean
surely; clearly; without a doubt; in all probability; no matter how one slices it; no matter how one looks at it
to shake; to tremble; to sway; to be unsettled; to be unstable; to fluctuate
to knit one's brows (in discomfort, unease, disapproval, etc.); to raise one's eyebrows; to frown; to scowl
to spread; to be propagated
cram school; private tutoring school; juku
dangling heavily; swaying to and fro; strolling; rambling; idly; lazily
to shake; to sway; to waver
to blink (one's eyes); to wink; to bat; to twinkle (e.g. stars); to flicker; to waver
to hear a rumor; to get wind of
to take offense; to take offence; to get angry; to lose one's temper
to be packed (with); to be full (space, schedule, etc.); to be blocked (road, pipe, nose, etc.); to be clogged; to shorten (width, interval, etc.); to shrink (shirt, word form, etc.); to be at a loss
material (for a story, article, etc.); information; joke; jest; proof; evidence; (magician's) trick
quite capable of ...; could happen; not unlikely to
threatening attitude; menacing look; angry look
to rage; to storm (at); to be furious; to enthuse; to speak enthusiastically; to speak with vigour
to follow in succession; to happen one after another
female; woman; female sex; female lover; girlfriend; mistress
to coil around; to follow about; to be related to; to concern; to be associated with
another; one more; not quite; not very good; lacking
dealing with (people, customers, complaints, etc.); receiving (callers, visitors, etc.); attending to; handling; serving
crying in sympathy; infectious crying
futon; Japanese bedding consisting of a mattress and a duvet; round cushion used for Zen meditation (traditionally made of woven bulrush leaves)
to rub in (e.g. cream into the skin); to grind and mix (e.g. pepper into miso)
forever; for good; eternally; as long as one likes; indefinitely; no matter what
mum; mom; mummy; the missus
to go crazy; to go off one's head
recess; break time; break between classes; free period; recess time; recreation hour
silly; foolish; absurd; childish; easy; trifling
style; way; shape; form; appearance; state
thinly; slightly; vaguely; a little