Word: avuncularly
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Perhaps so, but Stempel's presence alone -- his booming voice and avuncular manner -- motivates workers and soothes many Wall Street analysts. When Stempel left as head of GM's European operations in 1982 after a 17-month stint, union delegates at West Germany's Russelsheim plant gave him a ceramic wine pitcher as a symbol of the warm relations he fostered with the rank and file. Detroit's unions appreciate him too. Donald Ephlin, head of the United Auto Workers' GM unit, prizes the president's accessibility. Says Ephlin: "If I have things to bring to his attention...
...debate -- and perhaps even Dukakis' chance to inspire a late-inning rally to win the election -- may have been lost in those opening two minutes. George Bush strode onto the stage in Los Angeles determined to prove with an avuncular assortment of smiles, chuckles, winks and asides that he was the affable heir to Ronald Reagan. But even when Dukakis tried to compete in this smile-button sweepstakes, his eerie grin had the spontaneity of a Dale Carnegie student practicing before the mirror. Asked why he did not appear more "likable," Dukakis felt compelled to launch into a petty aside...
Then TV arrived, and Walt really revved up his marketing genius. He named his first prime-time series Disneyland -- a recurrent plug for the Anaheim theme park -- and filled it with old cartoons and his avuncular presence. When a Disneyland serial about Indian Fighter Davy Crockett stoked a brief frenzy for coonskin caps, the studio quickly sutured the three episodes together and released them as a theatrical feature. Minimal expenditures, more revenue. Then Disney launched an afternoon program, The Mickey Mouse Club, which introduced the Mouseketeers, a troupe of child stars who cavorted like stagestruck Cub Scouts and intoned...
...seems stiff and tense on camera. Even his attempts at spontaneity and good humor look programmed. One week he tried ending his broadcast with the sign-off "Courage"; widespread derision forced him to drop it after three nights. Walter Cronkite, Rather's predecessor, was calm and reassuring, an avuncular figure to the nation. Rather seems tightly coiled and uneasy, an eccentric cousin capable of almost anything...
...Twain decided not to include this as a chapter in Huckleberry Finn. The tale is perhaps too completely black; it evokes throughout a strange mixture of gut-laughter and gut-fear. One thing for sure: having read it, you won't think the same of Huckleberry Finn, or its avuncular author, again. Not for abjurers of dead baby jokes...