Notes

relish - to like or enjoy something. She ate her cake slowly and with relish. I always relish a challenge. [ + -ing verb ] I don't relish telling her that her son has been arrested.

grimy - dirty. The child's face was grimy and streaked with tears.

officialdom - (disapproving) used to refer to those people who have a position of authority, especially in government, usually when they are preventing you from doing what you want to do or are slow or not effective

fraught with - full of unpleasant things such as problems or dangers. The negotiations have been fraught with difficulties/problems right from the start.

allure - the quality of being attractive, interesting, or exciting. the allure of working in television, sexual allure

hub - the central or main part of something where there is most activity. The City of London is the hub of the UK's financial world.

old chestnut - a subject, idea, or joke that has been discussed or repeated so often that it is not funny any more.

be a far cry from something - to be completely different from something. This flat is a far cry from the house they had before.

vagabond - a person who has no home and usually no job, and who travels from place to place.

scarce - not easy to find or get. Food and clean water were becoming scarce. scare recources

obscure - not known to many people. an obscure island in the Pacific. not clear and difficult to understand or see. Official policy has changed, for reasons that remain obscure.

haphazard - not having an obvious order or plan. done in a way that does not seem to be carefully planned or organized

taint - to spoil something or give it an unpleasant quality. His reputation was permanently tainted by the financial scandal.

far-flung - used to refer to places that are a great distance away, or something that is spread over a very large area: She has travelled to the most far-flung corners of the world.

bewildered - confused and certain. Arriving in a strange city at night, I felt alone and bewildered.

resilience - the ability to be happy, successful, etc. again after something difficult or bad has happened: Trauma researchers emphasize the resilience of the human psyche.
-(elastyczność) the ability of a substance to return to its usual shape after being bent, stretched, or pressed: The plant fibre has incredible strength and resilience.

conform - to behave according to the usual standards of behaviour that are expected by a group or society: At our school, you were required to conform, and there was no place for originality.

off the beaten track - in a place where few people go, far from any main roads and towns: The farmhouse we stayed in was completely off the beaten track.

the sticks - (informal, disapproving) - an area in the countryside that is far from a town or city: I'm sick of living in the sticks.

backwater - zaścianek, dziura - a place that does not change because it is not influenced by new ideas or events that happen in other places: He grew up in a rural backwater.

the back of beyond - (UK infromal) a place far away from any big town: They live in some village in the back of beyond.

out-of-the-way - far from places where many people live or usually go: We found this great little out-of-the-way restaurant.

set out - to start an activity with a particular aim: They set out to discover a cure for cancer.

set about sth - to start to do or deal with something: I have no idea how to set about changing a tyre on a car.

set sth aside - to save something, usually money or time, for a special purpose: Could you set aside half an hour this afternoon to talk about Emma? We set aside a few dollars a month to buy furniture. I set aside some of the soup for Jim to have later.

to decide that you will not be influenced by your own feelings or opinions because they are not important at a particular time: In times of war people tend to set aside political differences.

to ignore or not think about a particular fact or situation while considering a matter: Setting aside the question of cost, what do you think of the idea in principle?

set something/someone apart - If a quality or characteristic sets someone or something apart, it shows him, her, or it to be different from, and usually better than, others of the same type: What set her apart from the other candidates for the job was that she had a lot of original ideas.

set sth up - to formally establish a new company, organization, system, way of working, etc.: They've set up a fund for victims of the earthquake.
to arrange for an event or activity to happen: We need to set up a meeting to discuss the proposals.

set sth/sb back - to delay an event, process, or person: A war would inevitably set back the process of reform.

set off- to start a journey. to cause an activity or event, often a series of events, to begin or happen: The court's initial verdict in the police officers' trial set off serious riots.

stride - a long step when walking or running: She attributes her record-breaking speed to the length of her stride.

march - a walk, especially by a group of soldiers all walking with the same movement and speed: The border was within a day's march

negotriate - to manage to travel along a difficult route: The only way to negotiate the muddy hillside is on foot.

draw near, close, etc. - to become nearer in space or time: As she drew closer, I realized that I knew her. As Christmas draws nearer, the big stores start to get unbearably crowded.

wander - /ˈwɒn.dər/ to walk around slowly in a relaxed way or without any clear purpose or direction: She was found several hours later, wandering the streets, lost.

stroll - to walk in a slow relaxed way, especially for pleasure: We could stroll along the beach after dinner.

jog - to run at a slow, regular speed, especially as a form of exercise: He was walking at a very quick pace and I had to jog to keep up with him.

race - to move or go fast: The ambulance raced (= quickly took) the injured to a nearby hospital. The summer seems to have raced by (= passed very quickly).

pursue - to follow someone or something, usually to try to catch him, her, or it: The hunters spent hours pursuing their prey.

desolate - /ˈdes.əl.ət/ A desolate place is empty and not attractive, with no people or nothing pleasant in it: The house stood in a bleak and desolate landscape.

indicator - something that shows what a situation is like: Commodity prices can be a useful indicator of inflation, he claimed.

permafrost - an area of land that is permanently frozen below the surface

dignified - controlled, serious, and calm, and therefore deserving respect: The defeated candidate gave a dignified speech in which he congratulated his rival.

lapdog - (disapproving) someone who is willing to do anything that a more important person tells them to do: Opposition parties accuse the newspaper's editor of being a government lapdog.

underlie - to be a hidden cause of or strong influence on something: Psychological problems very often underlie apparently physical disorders.

notion - a belief or idea: I don't think he has any notion of the seriousness of the situation.

intrinsic - being an extremely important and basic characteristic of a person or thing: Maths is an intrinsic part of the school curriculum.

watchdog - a person or organization responsible for making certain that companies obey particular standards and do not act illegally: The Countryside Commission was set up as the government's official watchdog on conservation

slip through the net - to escape a punishment or be missed by a system that should deal with or protect you: Once again terrorists have slipped through the police net.

credentials - the abilities and experience that make someone suitable for a particular job or activity, or proof of someone's abilities and experience: All the candidates had excellent academic credentials.

unwind - to relax and allow your mind to be free from worry after a period of work or some other activity that has made you worried: A glass of wine in the evening helps me to unwind after work.
If you unwind something that is wrapped around an object, you unfasten it, and if it unwinds, it becomes unfastened: In a nearby medical tent, a US Army doctor gently unwinds Metruk's bandage.