Yes there is a term "tillering phase". I looked it up online. In agriculture the "tillering phase" is when a species of grass (like wheat) produces multiple side shoots, or tillers. A "side shoot" is a smaller blade of grass that grows out beside the primary blade of grass in a grass planting.

When something "gets away from you" it means that it is no longer in your control. A thief may "get away" from the police. A fish may "get away" from the fisherman. The amount of debt a business owes may "get away" from the owner. The cleanliness of a desk may "get away" from the owner of the desk. I can imagine that this guys desk is SO messy and full of frog things that EVERYONE who walks by thinks "WOW this messiness is out of control". Then this one fellow says what everyone is thinking "Boy, it seems like you no longer have control over how clean and tidy your desk is. It's kind of getting away from you here, huh?"

You have 3 answers already, but I'll add another one! I'm sure you know what pennies are, they are small coins that are worth the least amount of money. It is a tradition in many countries to throw money into water and make a wish. The idea is that you are throwing away something of value and hoping that it will pay for some good luck. This is just a superstitious tradition. If people really believed you could buy good luck they would throw thousands of dollars and not just pennies. You can describe pennies in other ways... "Pocketed pennies" <--pennies you have put in your pocket "Invested pennies" <--pennies you have invested in a business "Wasted pennies" <--pennies you lost or spent or gave away without getting anything back. So "thrown pennies" refers to pennies you have thrown into water, hoping it will bring you some luck.

1) My father has just been operated on. <--this is correct. You must have the word "on" at the end. 2) The doctor has just operated on my father. <--correct (but be sure to capitalize the first word in a sentence). 3) The doctor has just operated on his knee. <--this sentence, all by itself and without other context, means that the doctor has operated on the doctor's knee. It's possible I guess, but not likely. If you mean to say that the doctor has operated on your father's knee then you would have to add that to the sentence or provide the information elsewhere. For example..."I took my father to the hospital. The doctor has just operated on his knee."... You can see that I provide context in my example, and it is obvious that the doctor is operating on the father's knee.

This is old fashioned English, so it can be confusing even for modern English speakers. I will rephrase it in a simple and modern way. "I am certain that old Higgenbotham was hanged and that he is dead. It is not possible for me to believe that he is alive unless I see him alive with my own eyes and unless I hear him say he is alive with his own mouth. That is the only thing that will convince me! You can try to convince me, but if I believe he is alive without seeing this evidence, well, then you can hang ME as a punishment for being so stupid." So the speaker is saying that he firmly believes something, and he will need very clear evidence if he is going to change his mind. He is so confident in what he believes that he bets his own life on it! He is saying "if I believe he is UNhanged without evidence then you can hang ME". You can see that I rearranged some things in my sentence. In your sentence the speaker bets his life at the very beginning... "May I be hanged myself IF..." If what? He explains in next part... "if I'LL believe old Higginbotham is unhanged". "I'll" is a contraction of "I will". By saying "if I will believe" he is speaking about the future. For example, "I don't know if I will go to the store tomorrow". So when the speaker says "if I'll believe" he is saying "you can try to convince me and at some time in the future I may believe you".