putting one's courage to the test
feeling chilly; nervous; anxious; frightened
four-of-a-kind (poker hand)
elegant; refined; polished; high-quality goods; first-class article
winner-takes-all (system)
to feign ignorance; to pretend to be ignorant of; to play innocent; to brazen it out
to stick through; to force through; to spread throughout; to thoroughly diffuse; to make a path between two points; to proceed in a logical manner; to let pass
chocolate given to a man on Valentine's day out of genuine sentiment
business world; business circles; (the) industry
plot; intrigue; scheme; conspiracy; agreement between two or more people to commit an unlawful act
card (information, filing, etc.); card (greetings, congratulations, etc.); (Western) playing cards; credit card; debit card; match; game
worn-out; ragged; crumbling; dry and crumbly; falling (in drops or clumps); scattering
evening; night; dinner; evening meal; counter for nights
previous day; day before; eve; prior day; preceding day
to intimidate; to frighten; to scare; to threaten (e.g. peace); to jeopardize; to endanger
infancy; childish; infantile; immature
to poke fun at; to make fun of; to send up
that's true; of course; obviously
standing comparison with; comparing favorably with; by no means inferior to; equal to
little girl; maiden; young lady; female usually between 7 and 18 years old
active duty; active service; student taking (university) entrance exams while still enrolled in school; student who passed their university entrance exams on the first try
certain; sure; definite; reliable; sound; solid
to accept; to receive; to agree
at once; immediately; right now
(laughing) foolishly; (smiling) thoughtlessly; indiscreetly (talking); carelessly (speaking); thin (paper, cloth, etc.); flimsy
real feeling; actual feeling; to actually feel; to have a real feeling (that ...); to experience personally
sprinkling (of rain, salt, etc.); pattering; flipping (through a book, etc.); riffling; sparse; scattered
to make good one's escape; to get away; to outrun; to hold on (and win); to win narrowly
laugh; laughter; smile; sneer; sex aids (e.g. dildos, pornographic books, erotic woodblock prints, etc.)
early morning; early hours; early in the morning
crude; unrefined; coarse; ill-mannered; rude; insensitive
polite; courteous; civil; careful; close; thorough
wrapping; lapping (i.e. grinding, polishing)
mud; slush; (wet) dirt; thief
box; case; car (of a train, etc.); shamisen case; shamisen; public building; community building
creator (of a work); author; writer; artist; composer; playwright
out of character; unlike one
to be disconnected; to get out of place; to miss the mark; to get it wrong (e.g. guess, expectation); to be removed; to be excluded
halving; splitting evenly; sharing equally
affected; smug; pompous; conceited; snobby; pretentious