Word: arguer
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...hundreds trying to rescue it." His 6ft.4in. frame nurtured a majestic scorn, whose clipped syllables instantly evoked centuries of institutionalized English sarcasm and sadism in the form of teachers and civil servants. He could apply this furious condescension to petty bureaucrats, a cheese or parrot shop customer, a professional arguer - almost anybody...
Before it became the modern label for an ardent arguer, the devil's advocate was an esteemed position within the Catholic hierarchy. These trained skeptics were dispatched by the Vatican to assess candidates for sainthood. They interviewed witnesses, evaluated miracles and analyzed evidence; occasionally they helped build a case for canonization, but more often they dismantled...
Student Five: I'm the guy who is actually interested in the material. I'm a real pain in the neck to everybody else because I occasionally inject meaningful statements into the discussion, forcing specific and relevant conversation. I am despised by the "arguer" who often gets trapped by my tendency to direct the conversation towards what is important. Some call me a "geek" for my actions...
...foreign policy adviser in the White House declares: "Muskie is a good strong arguer. He also knows how to accept defeat. He's a compromiser in the best sense. He has an innate decency to go along with a good intellectual capacity. He'll be tough with the Soviets, both in getting a deal and sticking to it." Says Carter: "Ed Muskie doesn't have to come to me to make sure I prop him up." He will have enough clout, continued the President, "not to be eaten alive by the State Department bureaucracy before his feet...
...Four Strands. At Harvard's Phi Beta Kappa exercises the following day, Bundy the Arguer became Bundy the Articulator. Hunched over the lectern in musty, dusty Sanders Theater, he spoke without a text, only occasionally referred to notes written on a yellow legal pad in his cramped southpaw hand -a handwriting so small that his White House secretaries use magnifying glasses to read...