Word: aleckism
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...first I was inclined to pass this statement off and attribute it to the writings of some "smart aleck"; however, so many people have brought it to my attention that certainly it must have conveyed an erroneous impression to them, and the mere fact that it is printed under the guise of a "political fantasy" in no way mitigates of the seriousness of the charge...
...people of the North, from Abraham Lincoln down, knew him as Little Aleck, devoted champion of states' rights and the constitutional liberties of all men-except Negroes. To the South he was Alexander Hamilton Stephens of Georgia, Vice President and chief enigma of the Confederacy...
...only dependable man in the Utopia was Grandfather Bucklin, a rangy 88-year-old who strode the porch in a bathrobe and forbade the children to utter a word. Right after Grandfather Bucklin's funeral, the hitherto-speechless Aleck burst into a torrent of verbiage that left his mother speechless with admiration. It is no wonder, says Biographer Adams, that Woollcott grew into "a devoted crusader for free speech and independent thought...
Once, when Father Woollcott came home and kissed his son, little Aleck tried to stab him with a fork. Dressing up in his sister's clothes was his favorite pastime. By the time he went to school, the boy was a weak-eyed, skinny mollycoddle and prig, already "pathetically conscious of being a misfit." He would jeer at anyone who had a squint or a clubfoot; homely girls made him burst into hysterical laughter. He thrilled with the hope of being kidnapped. Charles Dickens and Louisa M. Alcott were his idols. To confidants he showed a collection of photographs...
...France, measured corpses for coffins and "had the time of my life" as an attendant in a venereal ward. Later, he became reporter for Stars & Stripes, wrote front-line stories that were "one long whoop of glory." He was blissfully happy. One of his friends was asked: "Where was Aleck while we were celebrating [the Armistice]?" "Probably in a corner, crying his eyes out," was the reply...