TASK DEFINITION: Generate the answer for a given question. The question requires common knowledge of English. Make sure that the answer is in detail, long, consistent with the context, and requires general knowledge of English. To be less repetitive, please vary your language for each question. Give a proper explanation to answer, and if necessary, provide the definition of various terms. And conclude your answer if it's long. If you have used other resources (e.g., Merriam Webster's.) to answer the question, include citations in your answer. You don't need to paraphrase the context of your resources, but make sure that your answer is consistent and complete.
PROBLEM: I need some information from person A. Person A is not willing to give it to me. So instead of asking directly I keep asking secondary questions hoping that he may say something that might (partially) hint me the information I need. I may even ask other people. Or keep asking so many times that person A would have had it and just told me because he can't stand my questions any more. It's like extorting, but without using threats or violence, but cunning and perseverance. What word am I looking for? Although he refused to tell me where he got the money from, I persevered and finally <???> the information from him.

SOLUTION: Finagle I think the word finagle has all of the connotations you are looking for. Although he refused to tell me where he got the money from, I persevered and finally finagled the information out of him. Merriam Webster defines finagle as follows: finagle - intransitive verb 1 : to obtain by indirect or involved means 'finagle a ride home' 2 : to obtain by trickery 'He finagled his way into the concert.' 3 : to use devious or dishonest methods to achieve one's ends 'A con man finagled my neighbor out of $400.' Some synonyms for finagle: deceive, manipulate, scheme, swindle, trick

PROBLEM: A few days ago, a friend and I were discussing how every 'rule' of English spelling or pronunciation has an exception, and every exception has an exception as well. Then I brought up the rule of a ph cluster equaling an f sound (as in phonetic, elephant, morph, etc.) as a pronunciation rule that didn't have any exceptions I could think of. Is this a true hard-and-fast rule or does it have some exceptions as well? I'm not counting abbreviations such as pH scale.

SOLUTION: The exceptions come in two categories: Greek words that were originally pronounced with an 'f' diphtheria, diphthong, ophthalmology, phthisis but have come to be pronounced with a 'p' by no process I understand. Compound words uphold, saphead, peephole that are just a word ending in 'p' run up against a word beginning with an 'h'. Neither of those really feel like exceptions: mispronunciations that have become accepted and two words being treated as one. Then there is aphelion. Arguably, that's a compound word and a mistake. By analogy with apogee and apastron, it should be apohelion: 'apo' ('from') + 'helion' ('sun'). Several people brought up 'Stephen', which is often pronounced like 'Steven'. Eh, I think we should play with Scrabble rules: no proper names. Finally, there is an example that will really blow your minds: phthalate. The ph- is silent.

PROBLEM: Someone told me that I shouldn't use the phrase discuss about, but should say, instead, discuss (the topic). He said discuss means talk about and using discuss about is like saying talk about about, which is redundant. Is he correct? Could somebody elaborate on this?.

SOLUTION:
Your friend is correct. You can discuss something, or you can talk about it, but discuss about is redundant for the reason you identified. discuss: to speak with another or others about But if you want to use the word about, you can have a conversation about, confer about, debate about, or even have a powwow about. Most of the other synonyms for discuss don't take about, nor is it needed to converse (or debate).