row of houses; every house; each house; all; totally
to feel relieved of one's burden; to have a weight removed from one's mind
dull; dreary; dissatisfying; disappointing; unattractive; unappealing
moment to quit; way to quit
mediator; peacemaker; troubleshooter; manager
recently; lately; these days
to be astonished to hear; to be incredulous about; to express disbelief; who do you think you're kidding by saying (that); what a laugh!
reliability; trustworthiness; dependability
unsung hero; person who does a thankless task
Wood Snake (42nd term of the sexagenary cycle, e.g. 1905, 1965, 2025)
double suicide; lovers' suicide; group suicide; family suicide; dedication to the point of self-sacrifice
to the best of one's meager ability; the little help one can be; though my help might not be worth much
to join forces; to cooperate
(sound of an) explosion or detonation; roar (of a machine)
basic mistake; careless mistake
four times; four-colour process printing; CMYK printing
very bad condition; (in) terrible form; serious slump
famous; well-known; renowned; your name
easy task; piece of cake; cakewalk; cinch; pushover
prototype model; experimental machine
for one person; made for one person
all pain, no gain; doing no good and a lot of harm; having no redeeming features; being a complete disadvantage; (lit.) a hundred harms and not a single gain
to improve upon; to make improvements to; to refine
anyway; anyhow; at any rate; in any case
in good health; alive and well; going strong
mechanism; mechanics; machines; mechanic
(formal) announcement; unveiling; introduction; debut
to flutter (e.g. a flag); to wave; to reverberate (e.g. thunder); to resound
shout (of encouragement, etc.); yell (used to time or encourage activity, e.g. "Heave ho!")
to take one's place; to take one's position; to go into position; to line up
imperial lands; lands blessed by the emperor's reign
microminiature; ultraminiature; ultra-small
with a whoosh; with a swish; with a whirl; whizzing by
cannot be helped; unavoidable