as a matter of fact; really; truly; entirely; completely; wholly
to be a point of honor; to affect someone's good name
hm; um; huh?; what?; nuh-uh; no
is that so?; I see; right; oh
pardon; forgiveness; tolerance; leniency; mercy; going easy (on someone)
to be perturbed; to be agitated
stretcher; litter; gurney
to carry; to transport; to come; to go; to use (a brush, chopsticks, etc.); to move
behind; rear; after; later; remainder; the rest; more (e.g. five more minutes)
back; reverse; rear side; height; stature; ridge (of a mountain)
height (of a person); stature
almost; nearly; for the most part; roughly; approximately; about
equally (well); as ... as; no less ... than ...; evenly matched; well-matched
in short; in a word; to sum up; to put it simply; to make a long story short; after all
having very little difference between one another; being much of a muchness; being more or less the same; pointless competition (between two equally unimpressive parties); pissing contest
it is assuredly (that) ...; can say with confidence that it is ...
older brother; elder brother; brother-in-law (spouse's older brother or older sister's husband)
whispering into a person's ear
to mind (negative nuance); to care about; to worry; to pay undue (amount of) attention to (something)
disliking people similar to oneself
rival; competitor; competition
viewing as ...; seeing as ...; treating as ...; regarding as ...
plain; simple; reserved (behaviour, attitude, etc.); modest; quite; a (little) bit
average; mean; balance; equilibrium
firing; shooting; fire; gunshot; marksmanship
machine; mechanism; instrument; appliance; apparatus
operation; management; handling; manipulating (to one's benefit); manipulation; influencing
nicely; properly; frequently; often; I'm glad that you ...; thank you for ...
definite; final; decisive; conclusive
desire for improvement (in social standing, etc.); ambition to rise in the world
career track; promotional track; fast track; upward mobility
management; (executive) staff; leaders; leadership; top brass; upper echelons
serviceman; servicewoman; soldier; member of the armed forces; military personnel
to be ...-ing; to have been ...-ing
absent-mindedly; absently; idly; in a subdued voice; in undertones; in a whisper
to laugh; to smile; to sneer; to ridicule; to be dumbfounded; to be flabbergasted
is not; am not; are not; isn't it?
to paw (at) the ground; to struggle (using one's arms and legs); to flounder; to struggle (to escape an adverse situation); to strive
by the way; incidentally; well; even if; no matter (what, where, how, etc.)
results; record; grades; marks
entering; entrance; attendance; audience; containing; income; earnings
unreasonable; unnatural; impossible; forcible; forced; excessive (work, etc.); immoderate
murmur; mutter; murmuring; tweet; Twitter post