light; well-lit; bright (of a colour); brightly-coloured; cheerful; bright; encouraging (for the future of a project, etc.)
the future (usually distant); future tense; the world to come
as one would expect; naturally; indeed; still; all the same; after all
for better or worse; for good and bad; regardless of merit; both good and bad
depression; recession; slump
to gasp; to pant; to breathe hard; to suffer; to struggle
to abandon; to give up on; to desert
first (of all); firstly; probably; most likely; more or less (satisfactory); on the whole
qualitative difference; disparity; gap
correction; revision; redressing; rectifying
territorial dispute; territorial issue
settlement; solution; resolution
maximum preference; maximum priority; priority handling
important; serious; valuable; precious; serious matter; major incident
to permit; to allow; to forgive; to pardon; to exempt (someone) from; to remit; to acknowledge
once; before; formerly; never yet; never before; first time
(world of) politics; political world; political circles
the past; bygone days; one's past (that one would prefer remained secret); past (tense); preterit; previous life
to spend time (on doing something)
wife; (arch.) my dear; (arch.) dear; garnish (esp. one served with sashimi); embellishment
unintelligible language; incoherent language; talking nonsense; "all Greek to me"; double Dutch; (something) incomprehensible
support; backing; endorsement; support; holding up; propping
to some extent; to a certain extent
sincere; honest; faithful
from out of nowhere; from who knows where
to reach one's ears; to come to one's knowledge; to hear about; to learn of (by chance)
to grow up; to become an adult
to start a journey; to embark on a trip; to set forth; to hit the trail
national politics; political situation; statecraft; body politic
from the beginning; from the first; all along; of course
to lead (a) life (usu. preceded by the type of life)
emptiness; hollowness; vacancy; inanity; pointlessness; meaninglessness
sweet words; smooth talk; cajolery; flattery; sycophancy
generally; mainly; nearly all; almost all; gist; summary; staying within bounds
implementation (e.g. of a system); materialization; materialisation; realization; realisation; actualization
suspicious-looking; shady; questionable; dubious; fishy
to turn up; to roll up (e.g. sleeves); to do over and over again; to do relentlessly; to stage a comeback (against) (in mahjong, horse racing, etc.); to come from behind