heavy work; manual labour; feat of strength
sink or swim; all or nothing; hit or miss; make or break
pushing though; bulldozing; doing something by force; arm twisting
to be disappointed; to be dejected; to be downhearted; to feel exhausted; to feel drained
honour; honor; glory; privilege
to make fun of; to look down on; to make light of
at the last moment; this late in the game
to play dumb; to feign ignorance; to play the fool; to be in one's dotage
ignoring; disregarding; taking no notice of; refusing to comment on; turning a deaf ear to
exposed skin between top of knee-high socks and hemline of skirt
to take one's place; to take one's position; to go into position; to line up
bang; bam; noontime signal gun (carried out early Meiji to Taishō); noon gun; last round in a game of 12 rounds; precisely
directly opposite; right in front
forefoot; forefeet; foreleg; forelimb
moment; instant; kshana; duration of a single mental event (about 1/75 second); shortest possible interval of time
response (felt in the hands); resistance; reaction; response; effect
tofu; bean curd; beancurd
novel; original; striking; strange; eccentric; fantastic
crossing swords; fighting with swords; cutting each other (in fighting)
skill; proficiency; experience; dexterity
usual; ordinary; normal; regular; general; common
wildly different (in ability, strength, etc.); on another level; in a different league; of different heights; uneven
time (three times, each time, etc.); times
diversion (action meant to attract attention away from the real objective); feint
check; keeping in check; containment (of enemy forces); diversionary action; pickoff throw; holding a runner on base
apparent; obvious; very clear
honourable defeat; honorable defeat; honourable death; trying but being utterly beaten; being completely rejected when professing one's love
to be complicated; to be elaborate; (arch.) to push in; (arch.) to be crowded
later on; subsequently; by and by; after a while
to be convinced (that); to be under the impression (that); to make up one's mind; to set one's heart on; to be obsessed (with a thought, idea, etc.); to think about obsessively
railway crossing; railroad crossing; starting line; scratch; determination; stepping over the edge of the ring
reduction; decrease; subtraction; (arch.) reduction of penalty (under the ritsuryo codes)
to establish a lead; to distinguish (between); to ascertain or tell the difference (between); to discriminate
acceleration; speeding up
beyond expectations; beyond what one expected; not foreseen; exceeding assumptions