I've never heard of that expression either. We do have a phrase 'you saved my skin' , which means someone has helped you out of a tough situation. Hope that helps

To put someone out means to put them to any inconvenience. 'I don't want to put you out, but would it be okay if you gave me a lift (drive me) home tonight after the party?'

Hello Mike The word 'begun' is a past participle = something that started in the past, but still continues. In the song Bohemian Rhapsody (one of my all time favourite songs) the person is pleading for his life to be spared. He is still living. Began is past simple - in the past. Which would indicate he had died.

Hello Vahid, I've not heard 'boyish of expression' before as a phrase. But, in the text it would indicate that whilst Frank McCourt looked his age, he had a 'glint in his eye' and charm about him that made him appear youthful. Watch a clip of 'The Office' and David Brent; he is 'boyish of expression' :)

Hello Felix, the easiest way for you to decide if an abstract noun should be plural or singular, is whether it can be counted. For example. 'Feelings' - can be different on any given day. I could count how many times I felt happy with a person. Or how many times I used to feel scared when I was a child. 'Sentiment' - The young lady made a very nice sentiment of mentioning how lovely everyone had been to her in her speech. - She expressed it once, so it's singular. The nation poured out their sentiments of grief when they heard about the death of their king. 'Sentiment' becomes plural, because its being felt by more than one person.

I'm from England, and I think it might be actually either a Scottish accent or someone who probably isn't a native speaker. Its difficult to answer not being able to actually hear the accent. Do you have a link, if its on Youtube?

Hello, the difference between 'standard' and 'criterion' is that something is judged by a certain (or the) standard to meet the criterion needed. Please note, that criterion is the single word, but many people say criteria, which is the plural. "The learner driver had to pass a certain standard of excellent driving to reach the criterion set by the DVLA, before he was able to pass his test' DVLA is the UK government driving licence department. Hope that example helps :)