Word: instrument
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...that gossip is usually an instrument with which people unconsciously evaluate moral contexts. That's bunk. Gossip is a conscious act and should be described as a socially acceptable form of aggression...
...face of the persistent unrest, some observers feared that the troops deployed last week might ultimately be used to restore order by force. Said a West German specialist in Eastern European affairs: "Part of the army remains in the barracks, but another part is being converted into an instrument for countering civil disobedience and maintaining law and order." Noting Jaruzelski's past refusals to turn the military against the Polish people, other analysts doubted that he would do so now. Observed a U.S. State Department official: "Jaruzelski wanted to give a hint to the people-and the party-that...
...people around here with any real understanding or appreciation for football," he says. "I don't want to be held in awe because I play the game, but neither do I want to be belittled because I play. No one frowns on anyone for singing or playing an instrument here. Football happens to be one of my main sources of enjoyment...
...highly vulnerable Oscar Wilde went so far as to say that all history is gossip. Such gossip, unlike history, tends to evaporate. Gossip is certainly an instrument of power; Lyndon Johnson understood the magic leverage to be gained from intimate personal details, artfully dispensed. He made it a point to know the predilections of friends, the predicaments of enemies. He orchestrated whole symphonies of power upon the Moog...
...much gossip is retailed merely for the enjoyment of the exchange, the simple human interest in the passing pageant of follies, it also has subtler purposes. Gossip-which concerns people, while rumor concerns events-is usually an instrument with which people unconsciously evaluate moral contexts...