I. Grammar

1. say + something / nothing / a lot etc about

Look at the sentences

(1) There is no woman’s hairstyle that could be called “standard”, that gives no information about her.

You can rewrite like this:

There is no woman’s hairstyle that could be called “standard”, that says nothing about her.

2. on + gerund

Look at the sentence

(1) When they were questioned further, however, the difference turned out to be more a matter of semantics than practice.

You can rewrite like this:

On further questioning, however, the difference turned out to be more a matter of semantics than practice.