employee (of a store); shop assistant; clerk; salesperson
company; association; regional Chinese god of the earth (or a village built in its honour); counter for companies, shrines, etc.
front and rear; front and back; before and after; around; about; order; context
magic; Magic Marker; felt-tip pen; magic number
it cannot be helped; there's nothing for it; it's no use fighting back; it's hopeless; there is no way out of it
sunset industry; declining industry
level; standard; level (plane); floor; spirit level; (surveyor's) level
itself; one's own body; oneself; originally; naturally
gradually becoming poor; situation getting gradually worse and worse
together with; as X, then Y (e.g. as we age we gain wisdom, as wine matures it becomes more valuable, etc.)
to look down on; to make light of
to reach the point that; to come to be that; to turn into
speaking of ...; when it comes to ...; as for ...; if one were to say ...
adviser; advisor; consultant
conduit (pipe); water pipe
that is to say; that is; in short; in brief; clogging; obstruction; shrinkage
to become a (bad) habit; to get accustomed to
way of saying (something); way of putting it; wording; phrasing; language; expression
great; grand; magnificent; outstanding; mighty
important; serious; valuable; precious; serious matter; major incident
without; but if; otherwise; or else
to be troubled; to have difficulty; to be bothered; to be inconvenienced; to be badly off; to be hard up
to place persons opposite; to come face to face with; to compare (with); to check (against); to match
(period of) a year; during an era
to death (bored, scared, etc.); to distraction; like crazy; like mad; so much; dying (e.g. for a drink)
eccentric; oddball; character; weirdo
many; numerous; large amount of; large quantity of; frequent; common
to hurt one's feelings; to rub someone the wrong way
pole; rod; line; dash; spoken monotonously
to slap; to strike; to spank
gradually; by degrees; little by little; steps; stairs; staircase
family; members of a family
to grow hot (e.g. water); to boil; to get excited (at); to erupt (in applause, cheering, etc.); to ferment; to melt (of metal)
a blink of time; (lit.) the time it takes to say "Ah!"
various; all sorts of; variety of; (arch.) various colors (colours)
hello (e.g. on phone); excuse me! (when calling out to someone)