favourite book; favorite book
romantic story; colorful story; colourful story; highly embellished story
ghost; specter; spectre; apparition; phantom
top hundred; hundred best
source of worry; source of distress
I'm told; is what I heard; is how it is, apparently; is what they said
reversal; return; return gift; return favour; barb (on a fishing hook); mixture of soy sauce, sugar and mirin
extra (charge, fare, etc.); premium; bonus; (after a number) tenths increase
system; lineage; corollary; system (range of strata that correspond to a particular time period); (taxonomical) series; -type
departed spirit; soul of the dead; ghost; apparition
glaring; flaming; fiery; blazing
not ... for nothing; not ... with nothing to show for it; worthwhile; no wonder ...
always hitting the bull's-eye; infallible
studying under; looking up to; apprenticing oneself to
one's daughter and heiress
diviner; fortune teller; soothsayer
to form a line; to queue up; to line up
individual; distinctive; unique; characteristic; personal; idiosyncratic
taste; liking; preference
test of courage (by going to a frightening place, e.g. a graveyard)
to hold (an event); to give (a dinner, party, etc.); to feel (sensation, emotion, call of nature, etc.); to show signs of
strange; unconventional; eccentric; odd; odd number
to take command; to give direction
a matter of course; what is to be expected; par for the course
looking pale; looking unwell
is that so?; I see; right; oh
preliminary investigation; preliminary inquiry; preparation (for a class); going over one's lessons (in advance); studying ahead
to begin (doing); to start; to set about; to get down to
to carve; to engrave; to sculpt; to tattoo
astonished; shocked; amazed; astounded; aghast
course; route; path; process; stages
to follow (a road, path, etc.); to trace; to follow (a clue, scent, tracks, plot, etc.); to trace (a route, history, family tree, etc.); to head towards (of a situation); to go in the direction of
to recommend (someone to do); to advise; to recommend (a book, someone for a position, etc.); to suggest; to offer (a drink, cigarette, seat, etc.)
to have one's heart stop beating; to be shocked; to be staggered
uneasy; unsure; unreliable; untrustworthy; (arch.) nervous; (arch.) impatient
to wager; to bet; to risk; to stake; to gamble
to bluff; to act brave; to put on a bold front