I have patiently liste[ne]d [t]o these improperly formed questions and remained silent so as not to be nitpickish on rules of evidence.

éclairer, to light up; reconnoître.[…]reconnaissance, f., gratitude; reconnoîtring-trip; pousser une — perdue, to go on a dangerous reconnoîtring party.

The income from standard widgets is small beer compared to the income from the gold-plated ones.

So he had doubled his efforts around the place to take up the slack.