staff member; employee; worker; personnel
appetizer; starter; hors d'oeuvre
satisfactory; desirable; favourable; seeming (to be); appearing
jumping straight to the business, ...; I know this is abrupt, but ...; let's skip the pleasantries; getting to the point
a few years ago; some years back
refugee; displaced person; person inconvenienced by (lack of something, etc.); person unable to satisfactorily (marry, shop, etc.); person who is stuck (in a place or situation)
running off in the night (to leave one's old life behind, e.g. to get away from debt); moonlight flit; skipping town overnight; upping and leaving under the cover of darkness; midnight vanishing act
to drift (to); to be washed ashore
tough (world); hard (times); cold; stingy; miserly; mercenary
rule; reign; peaceful times
secret meeting; clandestine meeting
being rampant; being widespread; being prevalent; walking sideways; staggering; striding
speech; tongue; dialect; brogue; bento; Japanese box lunch; petal
affidavit; deposition; testimony
bad feeling; cares; ill feeling; grudge; sense of discomfort; discontent
account of a dream; fantastic story; wild tale; empty dream
just what you'd expect from ...; that's just like (him, her, etc.); that's (exactly) why ...; that's (precisely) the reason ...
commencing with; including
to deceive; to delude; to trick; to be as ... as ... (e.g. "as bright as day", "as beautiful as a rose")
stout; corpulent; plump; voluptuous
glamorous; charming; fascinatingly elegant; lovely; gorgeous; beguiling
to spring; to bound; to be stimulated; to be encouraged; to pay handsomely; to splurge
a dirty or underhanded trick
thicket; bush; coppice; brushwood
to take (a person) unawares; to make a surprise attack
having one's back to the wall; having nowhere to go; having no way out; not having another chance
stain; blot; flaw; disgrace
to rinse; to wash out; to have one's revenge; to wipe out a disgrace
to lend someone one's shoulder; to support with one's shoulder; to help carry a load; to lend a hand; to come to someone's aid
objet d'art; item of artwork; object; curio
unreality; becoming disconnected from reality
scuttling (to escape in a panic, in shame, etc.); scurrying; scrambling
gold (metal); gold (color); gold (medal); first place (prize); something of great value; something golden (e.g. silence); money
(clenched) fist; knuckles
a lot more; much more; and then some; and plenty more than that
good story; heartwarming story; good prospect (e.g. marriage, business)
to hang (something) on (something); to throw on (clothes); to hook; to catch; to cheat; to evade payment; to drink (alcohol)
to score points with (a person)