It's nigh on eighteen years since I met him. He hasn't changed much since then.

认识他已经快十八年了。从那以后他没有太大改变。

Invisible mending will take fibres from elsewhere on the garment in order to patch up the hole with tiny stitches that – you guessed it – are nigh on invisible.

隐形修补会从衣服的其他地方取出纤维，以便用微小的缝线修补破洞——你猜对了——几乎是看不见的。

Whereas I think before, because that day off, say, at the weekend, was so valuable, as soon as something really did occur, to get someone to cover that time was nigh on impossible.

而我以前认为， 因为那一天的休息时间，比如说，周末，是如此宝贵，一旦真的发生了什么事情，就几乎不可能找人来弥补那段时间。

When the robe was finished, it had a long train to it, nigh on a yard and a half of cotton print, and every inch of it money spent; but what of that—the child was their first-born.

长袍完成后，有一长串拖尾，几乎一码半的棉布印花，每一寸都花了钱；但那又怎样——孩子是他们的长子。