literary and military arts; the pen and the sword
since some time ago; for some time; for quite a while
everything working out as desired
having an ancient and honorable origin
something one finds questionable; something one finds fault with
(it was) no bother at all; not at all; it was nothing
permutation; lining up in order; linear arrangement
meddling; meddlesomeness; nosiness; meddler; buttinsky; busybody
to be affected; to be theatrical; to be pompous
ominous; sinister; unlucky; inauspicious
after having come this far; now that we've come this far
handwriting; handwritten; hand-painted; hand-drawn
physique; physical standard; posture; sexual position
to poke each other; to jab each other
hard; tough; hardware; hard disk
to engage (with); to be in gear (with); to bite each other; to be on the same wavelength
middle guard; halfback (e.g. football); center forward (e.g. volleyball); centre forward
whole year; all year round; always; all the time; during an era; middle class (of a nursery school, etc.)
stand-offish; distant; not frank; watery (alcohol, coffee, etc.)
old book; rare book; classic; secondhand book; used book
to go through the proper procedures; to follow the required steps
(relative) merits; superiority or inferiority; quality
indecisive; irresolute; shilly-shally; vacillating
qualitative difference; disparity; gap
developing (e.g. industry, town, economy)
quarrel; trouble; dispute
anyway; anyhow; as one likes; by all means; at any cost; no matter what it takes
to make a mess of; to sacrifice; to waste
credit; money owed on an account; bill; hot noodles in broth; proportion (of wholesale price, as tenths of list price); in the midst of; rest
oldest member of a group; longest-serving member
being on duty; person on duty
upper part; upper region; region above
relatively; comparatively
forget it; forget what I just said; scratch that; check that
small change; coins; small sum of money
bashfulness; shyness; (showing) signs of embarrassment
to fall on one's shoulders (e.g. responsibility, duty)