Word: ancien
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...empty show of freedom: these assemblies had no real power. Indeed, we have here a small-scale illustration of the way in which governments of a wholly despotic order can assimilate some of the features of the most thorough-paced democracy... --Tocqueville (The Ancien Regime and the French Revolution...
...Coward line, is either beneath or beyond her. On a line like "Extraordinary how potent cheap music is," she puts equal stress on "potent" and "cheap" so that the fun is missing and the meaning is blurred. What she has doffed in avoirdupois she has put on in ancien Louis B. Mayer régime costumery, particularly one black-and-white Theoni V. Aldredge outfit that makes her look like a Hollywood penguin...
...intimacy." Politicians were judged as personalities and acted accordingly; so did musical virtuosos. Narcissism became the basic mental illness of modern times. This may sound overly schematic, but Sennett ornamented his provocative thesis with a rich array of illustrations on what kind of makeup French ladies used under the ancien regime and why London theater audiences wept when a hero died, and why the malls of modern shopping centers often stand empty...
...Palm Beach County. Though it includes the town of Palm Beach, this incubator for the newly wealthy is snob years distant from that small, code-ridden oasis of blue blood and encrusted money. The Gold Coast nouveaux, for the most part lustier, sportier and much younger than the ancien régime of Worth Avenue, converge from all over the world to flaunt their millions. As Ralph Destino, president of Cartier, puts it, "They've carved out a new and unique style. There's nothing anywhere that parallels the mix of things here...
...Cherubino, the page with the hormonal imbalance who shouts his love to every woman he meets and whose boyish-girlish looks in turn enchant all the women around him. Atkinson turns this romantic dreamer with ideals dripping from his doublet into a sort of Dennis the Menace of the ancien regime. At first blush, you can't help wondering how this marginally pubescent page would go about kissing one of his idols--he'd have to spit out his bubblegum first. But Atkinson's verve and charm finally overcome the improbability of her characterization to make it a high point...