When saying goodbye, take it easy and take care are virtual equivalents. I wouldn't construe either one to mean anything more than a polite yet standard way of saying goodbye when two people depart from each other.
I also would like to know what situations I can use the phrase "Take it easy."
There are several uses of that phrase besides the standard goodbye. In context, it can be used when:
- you try to calm someone down (Bob was about to get in a fight when his friends told him, "Calm down, take it easy.")
- you want someone to be cautious (Jill was teaching her daughter how to drive, when they approached a sharp turn in the road. "This road takes a sharp turn up here," Jill said. "Take it easy on this curve.")
- you want to tell someone they should embrace a more carefree lifestyle (Ted said to his friend Janet, "You stress out too much; you should just learn to take it easy.")
- you want to help soothe or calm someone's anxieties or emotions (Brenda broke down in tears when she told her husband the bad news: she had just lost her job. Her husband embraced her, and tried to offer some reassurance. "Take it easy, honey," he said. "Maybe this will work out for the best somehow.")
Similarly, "take care" is usually just a shortened form of "take care of yourself," which is why some folks may say that to you when you're not feeling well, either physically or emotionally.
Both phrases often have undertones of empathy, although "take it easy," usually means to slow down or relax, while "take care" means to get well, or remain in good health or spirits. As I said before, though, when either of these are used as a substitute for goodbye, there's a good chance the speaker used one instead of the other only arbitrarily, unless something earlier conversation might have changed that.
Lobbying is where an interested group tries to influence the vote of an elected official through legal means, which can include such things as an appeal to principle, or overall economic good, or popular opinion, or simply political reality. For example, a lobbyist might broker a deal between two politicians to get them to vote for legislation which benefits each others' constituency, and which also benefits whoever hired the lobbyist.
As long as it's all legal, there is nothing criminal about lobbying. In many cases, of course, the actual transaction might be legally grey, but that's what makes politics such good television.
Lobbying crosses the line into bribery when the lobbyist makes an actual pay-to-play offer, in the form of cash or any other item of value. For example, there are numerous rules that limit the kinds of gifts an elected official may receive, and how those gifts may be used, transferred, or sold.
"Influence peddling" is illegal activity in the opposite direction, where a public official in some position of power contacts a special-interest group and offers to exchange votes or services for some kind of personal compensation. Again, if the offer would be of benefit to the public, it might not be illegal, but rather politics as usual.
The public official must make the offer for personal gain for it to be considered "influence peddling". This can be as simple as offering to fix a parking violation in exchange for concert tickets, or approving a zoning permit in exchange for a loan at a favorable interest rate.
This kind of thing is also called "graft", "payola", or the catch-all term "corruption".
Best Answer
They are closer to opposites. "I dare say" is a statement, meaning you are confident enough in what you are about to say to dare to say it.
"Dare I say it" is a question, because you believe what you are about to say will be regarded as controversial or may offend the sensibilities of the listen.
Example: "They made the first-ever matchup between unbeatens in the national title game — dare I say it? — a little bit boring." (source) In this case, the author is making the controversial statement that an important basketball game is boring, so she softens the shock of her words and reassures the reader she is still using good judgement by interjecting the "dare I say it?"