I think I know what you mean. A while ago, I was talking with a couple of students down the hall. They were holding their books and pencil cases in their arms. Suddenly, one of them dropped their pencil case. Surprisingly, the other student catched the case very quickly in the middle of the air, just before the case hit the floor. The student that dropped the case was very surprised at his natural reflexes, and she said that he caught the pencil case "matrix style". Maybe it has something to do with the movie? Have you seen The Matrix? Perhaps when people do something that seems amazing or extraordinary that is hard to believe, they compare it to The Matrix.

Eight-legged essay.

Ghosts are anthropomorphic. This means that they resemble humans. An apparition can be anything, and not necessarily humans. For example, cats, or demons.

1. You cannot use the word "many" to substitute a noun directly. Correct: "There was a large audience" Incorrect: "There was a large many" Correct: "Many were there" Correct: "A large audience attended" Correct: "Many attended" Incorrect: "A large many attended" 2. This is a correct sentence: "The article aroused a debate". 3. "All the way through" is an exaggeration that means the same as "completely". It is your personal choice to use it to add emphasis. It means the same as "completely". Suppose you accidentally drop a watermelon on top of a wooden fence. Suppose that the watermelon is now damaged and pierced by a stick that is part of the fence. Suppose the stick punched completely through the watermelon from beginning to end and now comes from the other side. In this imaginary situation, you can correctly say "That stick pierced the melon completely", or you can choose to say "That stick pierced the melon all the way through" which is obvious, and means the same. Since you are being more explicit, you are being more expressive, and you are adding emphasis.

"Date" as time of day? of "date" as going out for the evening?

All the examples that you used, are using exaggeration to add emphasis. They are exaggerating a small amount of time to emphasize how quickly something is, because it is relevant for the rest of the sentence. Let's go step by step. First of all, whenever you hear "about" followed by a quantity, it often means "almost" that quantity. The decision to say "about" varies with context. Consider the following: You are invited to a friend's house, and you are offered some cookies and milk. You already have the cookies in front of you, and when they ask you how much milk would you like to drink, you politely answer "About one glass". In this kind of context, saying "about one glass" means "just a little less than one full glass" or "almost one full glass", but definitely not "full glass". In this manner, it could be used to be polite or modest. Suppose you are offering tea to your guests, but it isn't hot enough yet, you will tell them that the tea will be ready in "about a minute", because "one full minute" would be too much. In the phrases that you are analyzing, your understanding is correct, and the specific amount of seconds is almost irrelevant. Take for example: "It took me about two seconds after I unwrapped it to think this is a placebo". You are correct to understand that what this person meant is "I knew right away". The reason why that person said "about two seconds" instead of "right away" or "immediately" was his or her personal choice of words to emphasize just how quick he or she knew something. From the rest of the sentence "...to know it was a placebo", it appears that the general idea is one of deception. Without more information, I infer that the person is disappointed in the appearance or presentation of something he recently unwrapped. By "how quick" he or she realized the sad truth, he or she emphasizes the disappointment, based on a previously conceived idea that if a knock-off was of better or superior quality it would deceive in a better fashion, and the person would take longer to realize the truth.

"Madrugada" es la parte del día usualmente después de las 12AM y antes de las 6AM. La hora específica varía de cultura a cultura, aunque casi invariablemente se refiere a aquella parte del día después de media noche y antes de que salga el sol. Al añadir "-ón" a "madrugada" para crear "madrugón" la palabra se vuelve superlativo. La razón por la cuál alguien diría madrugón es dificil de entender sin contexto. ¿Quizás en dicha madrugada hace mas frío de lo normal? O quizás es época fría y el sól aún no ha salido a las 6AM? Sin mas contexto es dificil deducir a que se refiere con "madrugón", pero aparentemente se trata de "una madrugada especial a las demás". La palabra "se" es un pronombre personal. Su significado depende totalmente del contexto, y regularmente se utiliza para abreviar. Por ejemplo: El letrero de una tienda podría mencionar: "En esta tienda vendemos tortillas" Utilizando un pronombre personal, se entiende el mismo mensaje aunque es mas breve: "Se venden tortillas" Considera la siguiente conversación: "¿Recuerdas que a María le dió gripe? ¡Se le empeoró!" Es una manera conveniente de abreviar la siguiente conversación: "¿Recuerdas que a María le dió gripe? ¡La gripe de María empeoró!" El pronombre personal es una manera conveniente de omitir información que ya ha sido entendida en contexto. En el caso de tu ejemplo, la frase "Ya se me pasa", el pronombre "se" está abreviando el hecho de que a Etelvina le duele la cabeza y tiene náuseas. Considera la siguiente conversación entre Jorge y Etelvina: Jorge: "Etelvina no bebe mate porque le duele la cabeza y tiene náuseas." Etelvina: "¡Ya me pasa el dolor de cabeza y las náuseas!". En la conversación anterior, Etelvina se oye redundante, repitiendo información que ya sabemos. Considera la siguiente conversación: Jorge: Etelvina no bebe mate porque le duele la cabeza y tiene náuseas." Etelvina: ¡Ya se me pasa! De esta manera Etelvina aclaró de una manera breve que su malestar está mejorando progresivamente, sin tener que repetir palabras. Estoy pensando que quizás "El Madrugón" es una frase idiomática exclamativa en alguna variante del español, digamos similar a "Caramba!".