i hurt my leg my friend said "i hurt my leg" the story is he bumps into a tea table corner or something and he is injured. what should he have said instead? (other than i am injured in my leg) thanks.

secret squirrel one time i talked about a case of someone testing his subordinate if he takes bribe, he sent out a supplier to offer bribe to his subordinate. when i talked about this, my english tutor said this supplier was a secret squirrel. i checked that term on internet and i could not find specifically that meaning behind a secret squirrel. is there any term similar for this squirrel-like agent? :) thanks a lot.

speak english to fast

i am an english leaner. when i talk to a native speaker, i speak english very fast, so much so i just gabble or speak nonsense.

i think one reason is i listen too much to BBC news and it seems i've picked up their rate of speech. Second reason is, i am nervous (like most of us do).

 

i need to conconsiously slow it down. do you also have this problem? how you deal with it? 

parallel, comparison, analog and metaphor i've looked up for the difference of these already. last time, when i mentioned hong kong as a financial hub in asia, the teacher said "so hong kong is the Switzerland in asia " i said, "yes, it is a good parallel" should i have said "it is a good comparison"? i think metaphor and analogy are not suitable here. what would a native speaker say for the same meaning? thank you.

"ease their emotion" for upset customer? i had an upset customer who complained about our products. i talked to my colleague (from US) and said we'd also write up a corrective action report to "ease their emotion". (along with other actions) is it a natural way to say that? shall i say "ease their anger"? which seems weird. i wanted to say "address the issue" but my focus is about the customers' feeling. please let me know if you have a suggestion (as a native speaker would say). thank you.

how to respond to "i am dealing with a family emergency" i said "hope things go well for you" is it a native way to say it? it's better saying "good luck", isn't it? what should i say to that person then? (we are not close) thanks.

about the roles in movies - in english how would a native speaker say "leading male character" and "leading female character"? also for "supporting male character" and "supporting female character" i will say this way and indeed it is not what a native speaker will say. by the way, i know about lead actor and lead actress. but they are for the people who take up the roles, not the roles itself. thank you

5-bed 7-bed 9-bed room for student accommodation i talked to a person from the UK and he mentioned the option for overseas student accommodation there. he mentioned 5-bed 7-bed and 9-bed. it was not about 5/7/9 people sharing a room nor 5/7/9 bedrooms in the apartment. he explained it a bit but i did not get it? anyone please help me sort this out? thanks a lot.