· a lot of = considerable, extensive, profuse

· as far as = to the extent that, considering that, insofar as

· approximately = there or thereabouts, by and large, to the tune of

· Barack Obama and the Contrasting of Hyperbole with Understatement

· Margaret Atwood and the Conversion of the Figurative

· T.S. Eliot and the Aesthetic of Cool

Your manner of speaking is the central factor upon which people form assumptions about you. Whatever is your ultimate goal in life, chances are good you’re going to have to communicate your way to it.