sprinkling; dropping in small light bits
no-good man; (male) loser
settlement; conclusion; summary
nervous temperament; worry habit; pessimistic nature; pessimism
to pinch; to hold (between one's fingers); to pick up and eat; to snack on; to pick out (the main point); to summarize
to struggle; to writhe; to wriggle; to act frantically; to make desperate efforts
to joke; to jest; to make fun of; to laugh at; to romp; to gambol
exclamation of surprised disappointment, disgust, or worry (yuck, ick, ack, eeew, crap!, blech, gross)
unable to read the situation; unable to pick up on the mood (e.g. of a conversation)
to be caught; to be captured; to be taken prisoner; to be seized with (fear, etc.); to be a slave to; to stick to
all bark and no bite; unable to live up to one's claims
to begrudge doing; to find bothersome
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
high-spirited; in high spirits
slow; sluggish; dull; lax; sloppy; lenient
pursuing liability; finding out who is at fault; trying to pin the blame on someone
new era; new period; new age; new epoch
whispering into a person's ear
declaration; statement; proclamation
to try to unsettle someone; to throw off balance
to be performed (on the stage); to be in the limelight
great; grand; extensive; large-scale
to press for an answer; to shower questions on someone
the Industrial Revolution
profit-and-loss arithmetic; calculating profit and loss; mercenary point of view
rebirth; new birth; nascent
food culture; dietary culture; cuisine
local specialty; special product (of a region)
(positive) economic effect
item; commodity; list of articles
enterprise; business; company; corporation
ramen; Chinese-style noodles
change in pronunciation or meaning of a word; sound change; word with an altered pronunciation or meaning; turning or twisting part of a text (in Chinese poetry)