Word: flattering
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...have come to understand his liaison with this woman, if I have, not as a substitute for me. Those with any fame or notoriety or power attract people for good reasons and bad. Some want to contribute and some want to take something away for themselves. They flatter and entreat, and it is engaging, even addictive. They look at our lives, which from the outside in particular are pictures of joy and plenty, and they want it for themselves. (Read an interview with Elizabeth Edwards and Teresa Heinz Kerry...
Some of the most interesting techniques are classified as "emotional approaches." Interrogators are allowed to flatter a detainee's ego, for instance, by praising some particular skill. Alternatively, the interrogators may attack the detainee's ego, by accusing him of incompetence - forcing him to defend himself, possibly giving up information in the process. If interrogators choose to go on the attack, however, they may not "cross the line into humiliating and degrading treatment of the detainee...
What about being mature in years? Forty or thereabouts is often the most attractive age for women, when you're old enough to really appreciate, understand and know how to flatter yourself. But in Hollywood it mostly leads to unintentional vanishing acts or inspires unfortunate experiments with surgery. Roberts could toss aside her career--unless Bernie Madoff managed her money, she shouldn't need the paycheck--but she doesn't want to. Working, she has said, brings some form into the "shapeless blob of happy chaos" that is motherhood. I've already seen Duplicity, but I'd be willing...
...tried not to look at anyone, I kept my head down. But then I remembered why I was hoofing it back there in the first place: wasn’t I due what all these people already had? They all had hymnals, and I bet half of them sang flatter than Old Man Grumpy. So I lifted my dress and my head—all the better to march with! Most of the folks grimaced at me or even glared an apology to whoever was standing next to them. But the few pious sheep of the flock (all Southerners...
...mindfuck in itself, “Mindfucking” would be quite a clever trick; however, there is not enough evidence to prove that the book is intended as one. It does not seem supportable to claim that the author aims to amuse and flatter his readers in this way, especially after patronizing them earlier with his lengthy discussion of obscenities. In any case, the quality of his argument isn’t strong enough to merit being called “mindfuck.” Sincerity, however, could not salvage the book. Despite its interesting particularities, the greatest weaknesses...