Word: downrightness
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
This "shortfall" surprises many winners and outrages some lottery critics. Walter Fackler, a business professor at the University of Chicago, calls his state's lottery "the Illinois rip-off." Says he: "The advertising is downright misleading. If private enterprise used such tactics, the Federal Trade Commission would be on its heels in a minute...
...Soule's design seminar has constructed a fantastic set, full of faded storefronts and sagging clotheslines. The graffiti ("Wednesday is Prince Spaghetti Day") seems an unnecessary intrusion. Unfortunately the set, with its scaffolds and dangling ropes, is never fully explored. John Magoun's lighting is downright incompetent; areas go dark and light quite abruptly for no discernible reason. Anne Higonnet's costumes help establish an endearingly seedy atmosphere, although Scapino himself should show a bit more panache and the two ingenues should, to be blunt, show a bit more skin...
Bloomfield's failure lies in his decision to differentiate too sharply between the two ladies and the two gentlemen. Jon Goerner's Algernon--the best performance among the four leads--is a blatantly effeminate fop whose satirical jabs make him seem downright nasty. Davis Goodman's Jack, on the other hand, appears rather put upon, no better than a straight man to Algernon's wit. Goodman makes the balance still more unequal by his inability to vary sufficiently his intonations and break our of the sing-song which mars his delivery...
Jimmy Carter's first-debate nervousness had vanished. Gerald Ford's second-debate foot-in-mouth was cured. Both candidates were more poised, presidential and restrained than before-in fact, at times they sounded downright angelic. Both avoided the kind of fatal gaffe that inspires a politician's nightmares. The verbal slips were slight. Old Football Player Ford began to predict improved economic prospects for "the fifth quarter" and quickly checked himself. Carter, often accused of changing his mind, said he would select Supreme Court Justices "who would most accurately reflect my own basic political philosophy...
Guest's novel is not perfect by any means. It lacks the polish and tightness of more experienced writers. Her style is pedestrian--at times downright clumsy--perhaps a little too ordinary to be interesting. At points minor characters go flat, the tone varies confusingly, and it becomes hard to determine who's speaking...