official; formal; formula (e.g. mathematical); official (social media) account (of a company, organization, etc.)
candidate; contender; prospect; candidacy; candidature; nomination
what with A and B; such things as A and B; A and B and so on; denotes uncertainty
selection; choice; screening
one; 1; best; first; foremost; beginning; start
disturbance; trouble; ups and downs (e.g. in life); vicissitudes; small and large waves
construction at top speed
meeting; conference; session; assembly; council; convention
moving forward (e.g. of a vehicle); onward movement; progress (of work, activities, etc.); advance; progression (of a disease, global warming, etc.); progression (e.g. chord progression)
leisurely; slow; deliberate; easygoing
fetters; shackles; hobbles; encumbrance; hindrance; burden
quite capable of ...; not unlikely to ...; may well ...; might ...; could ...; would not hesitate to ...
something one finds questionable; something one finds fault with
to begin to say; to start talking; to broach (a matter); to be the first to say; to suggest (doing); to propose
bothersome; tiresome; bother to do
(one's) superior; (one's) boss; the higher-ups
person who makes unreasonable complaints to a company; incessant complainer; chronic complainer
commonplace (of people or animals); ordinary; typical; ubiquitous; run-of-the-mill; found around every corner
above anything else; above all; more than anything; best; greatest; excellent
to be involved (in); to get involved (in); to relate to (a matter); to pertain to; to (seriously) affect; to concern
I would rather; I would as lief do; strong preference
in general; generally; mostly; gist; point; main idea
secrecy; confidentiality; privacy; one's circumstances (esp. fiscal)
ease of use; user-friendliness; usability; utility; convenience
to give (esp. to someone of lower status); to bestow; to provide; to afford; to assign; to cause
to leak out (of a secret); to come out; to be exposed (of a lie, improper behaviour, etc.); to get away (of a fish)
to decide to; to pretend that; to make a practice of doing; to make it a rule to
dog (Canis (lupus) familiaris); canine; squealer; rat; loser; asshole
standard item; usual thing; (a) classic; basic item (with stable demand); staple goods
to become popular; to grow in popularity; to catch on
to change (into); to turn (into); to transform (into); to influence
background; scenery; background (of an incident, situation, etc.); circumstances; backing; support (from behind the scenes)
ingredient; (raw) material; unprocessed timber; raw timber; subject matter; topic
practical use; application; making good use of; conjugation; inflection
actual spot; scene (of a crime, accident, etc.); (on) site; (on) the ground; filming location; (movie) set
success; achievement; succeeding (in life); (worldly) success; prosperity
to fix; to settle; to standardize; constant; definite; uniform
sleeve; wing (of a stage, desk, gate, etc.); flap (of a dust jacket)
to pull; to draw; to string (lines); to run (cable); to pull towards oneself (e.g. someone's sleeve); to drag; to haul
difficult; hard; impossible; unfeasible; fussy; particular; gloomy
or rather (say); or better (say); or perhaps I should say; or, how should I put it,...; I mean