Word: dumbing
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...these are nothing compared with the extremes in him, in brave, dumb Captain Midlife, jogging with the kids, exhaling frost; or out on the town, red-mufflered to the eyes, a Scotch ad beaming with conventional merriment. Inside his aching, brooding head, a mess of city-dump proportions. He crouches in the mind's attic like one of those soldiers who are never told that the war is over, and reads that Michael Korda, a modern adviser on how to live, says that by the time one reaches one's 40s, all emotional and professional problems should be settled...
...offers the man a "proposition." He claims that he can throw the rock in the deepest part of the pond and have his hunting dog retrieve it. The man takes the bet, and the dog comes up with the marked stone. The slicker pays up, muttering about dumb luck...
...back into the game, and made it a game, and everbody got a sense of relaxation," Gielen said. "It wasn't urgent anymore. People started taking dumb shots, and stopped boxing out, and they took advantage...
...speech at the Law School last month, Dukakis said, "Tax compliance in this country is down to 81 percent. That's not legal, it's dumb fiscal policy and it's just not fair...
...Club, itself marginal, asked her to speak here at Harvard. Without hesitation she declined. Why? She made it clear that she wouldn't appreciate our instructive hymns and clever slogans during her speeches. She actually questioned the good taste of this tradition. Imagine that! In short, she was too dumb--or rather too smart--no, too dumb to come. Well, at least she knows that if one doesn't have anything smart to say, one shouldn't come to Harvard. Old Cap Weinberger didn't realize this and we had to resort to ketchup to drown him out. And that...