Word: guff
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...Pugnacity," Belloc (who died in 1953) had a solemn high literary funeral last year in an authorized biography (TIME, April 22, 1957). Biographer Speaight found leftover material too good to forget, notably a big bundle of crotchety letters-which are a long way from the sort of garrulous guff women still write to each other or the kind of bulletin businessmen confide to the uncritical tape...
Every traditional schoolboy value-loyalty to comrades, gaiety and spontaneity-was smothered in great quilts of priggish guff. Wolfgang found that the bully was esteemed by the teachers. When one pupil from Hamburg Sunday-punched a little fellow half his size, the smaller student was denounced for having behaved in a "provocative" manner. Wolfgang was reported for having remarked that some Spanish girl students were very pretty; this kind of frivolity would not do. The result was an episode recorded like "My First Communion" in a pietistic work-"My First Self-Criticism." He duly denounced himself, but he could never...
...reelers, these gags prove as good as ever they were, and provide the public with about ten minutes' worth of belly-shaking fun. But when this earnest little biopus turns from Keaton's silent comedies to his noisy domestic tragedies, the guffaws turn to unmitigated guff. Donald O'Connor, who plays the title role, does pretty well with the pratfalls, but when it comes to imitating Old Sourpuss, he ought to go soak his head in the pickle barrel...
...five-verst shelf of books on Russia -hortatory, minatory or merely muddled, whether by Webb-footed economists, panting pilgrims, puffing pundits or Red-eyed viragoes-must surely comprise some of the most glum and gullible guff in the history of letters. A rare creature, exotic as a hummingbird in the tundras, has just been sighted in this dreary literary region. Truman Capote, previously noted for his ability in tatting webs of lacy sensibility, has written a wise and witty report on Russia...
Concerning the new President's relations with Soviet leaders, on January 16 the News was certain that Ike wouldn't take any guff from his counterparts in Moscow. It said, "Stalin, foxy, will pull Ike's leg. Ike, an old hand, will not permit his leg to be pulled. Ike may pull Stalin's leg. The News also felt that diplomatically Malenkov would be quite similar to his predecessor. On March 20 the News declared, "Malenkov, like Stalin, will go on waging World War III, Russian style. Under Malenkov as under Stalin Russia is keeping the initiative in that...