Word: geister
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PHILIP MARLOWE was always a hard one to figure. He was a loner, and he liked that way. A streak of cynicism ran through him as deep, his creator Raymond Chandler might say, as a spotted geister in a Chicago overcoat sent back-stroking in the blue Pacific. He was a hardened private dick, a real pro, and could trade quips and insults with any manner of wise-cracking low life. When a dumb and slutty millionaire's daughter tries to lead him on in The Big Sleep, cooing "you're cute," the unarousable Marlowe answers back, "What...
...entry is, alas, hardly ever heard these days. It is snollygoster, a word that Harry Truman revived briefly in 1952. According to Truman, a snollygoster was a son of a bitch - in other words, a politician. It is probably related to snallygaster, which is derived from the German schnelle Geister, or "quick spirits." In Maryland, the snallygaster is a mythical bird of prey that feeds on unwary poultry and children. In 1895, a Georgia editor described a snollygoster as "a fellow who wants office regardless of party, platform or principles, and who, whenever he wins, gets there by the sheer...
...exceptions received the weakest performances. Brahms' intensely sorrowful "Warum ist das Licht gegeben" sounded disjointed, with the seemingly endless phrases of the first section losing momentum every measure or two; only the final chorale generated a genuine mood. The men's performance of Schubert's "Gesang der Geister uber den Wassern" showed complete insensitivity to Goethe's colorful text...
Different flaws appeared when the choruses separated. The Glee Club's rendition of Schubert's Gesang Der Geister Uber Den Wassern handled admirably the contrasts of stanzas, but the tenors had a thin tone and blended poorly. The five piece string orchestra did have trouble with intonation, but it was a welcome addition...
...Snallygasters (and this is the correct spelling) are direct descendants of the Wild Hunt of ancient German folklore, and their name must be etymologically traced back to "schnelle Geister" (swift spirits...