amiability; friendliness; fondness (of someone); affection; compliments; civilities
to have a smattering knowledge of
proposal; motion; recommendation
fluently (speaking a foreign language); incessantly (speaking); glibly; one after the other (flipping through pages); thin (paper, cloth, etc.); flimsy
of no interest; not interested
expression in writing; written representation; notation; writing on the surface (e.g. an address on an envelope); inscribing on the face
making; producing; appearance (attire, make-up, etc.); build; physique; sashimi
approximate value; approximation
table of contents; contents
mention (in a document); record; entry; statement; listing
chapter; section; medal; badge; insignia
publication (e.g. of an article in a newspaper); carrying (e.g. a story); running (e.g. a serial); insertion (e.g. of an advertisement); printing; posting (e.g. on the web)
compilation (of a text); editing; volume (of a text); completed literary work
ordinary; sensible; commonplace
to start to drink; to try to drink; to partially drink
bad (taste); unpalatable; poor; unskillful; ugly; unattractive
skip it; drop it; I've had enough (e.g. when offered something); that's enough
to keep away; to keep at a distance
just managing; with great difficulty
creator (of a work); author; writer; artist; composer; playwright
preface; foreword; introduction
to trip (over); to stumble; to fail; to suffer a setback
symbol used as a placeholder (either because a number of other words could be used in that position, or because of censorship); certain; unnamed; undisclosed
to read and understand; to subject to close analysis; to read deeply; to decipher; to decode
spoiler; revealing important plot points of a story; spoiling a story
(stand to) attention!; standing at attention
text (of a book, document, etc.); body (of a letter); this passage; this sentence
what; so-and-so; such and such; what?; wait; well, well
long ago; once upon a time
fairy tale; fairy story; nursery tale
introduction, development, turn and conclusion (quadripartite structure of certain Chinese poetry); story composition and development
place; room; margin; scope
lesson; precept; teachings; moral
one way or another; in many ways; in various ways
original; unique (e.g. product); signature; exclusive
to reward; to recompense; to repay; to retaliate; to get revenge
not knowing what's what; being unable to make heads or tails
slapping; splashing; splatting; banging shut; flat (refusal, denial, etc.)
to finish reading; to read through
cultural exchange; cross-cultural communication; contacts between different cultures
plagiarism; plagiarised work