Word: interpretational
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Burns wrote in Scots, a dialect that looks familiar but confusing to modern English speakers (he penned "Auld Lang Syne," which most of us can pronounce but not interpret). In 1786, he published his first book of poems, on everything from religious hypocrisy to a typical Scottish Saturday night. The poems were catchy, sarcastic and light; the book was an instant success. Like a struggling actor who lands a part on a major sitcom, the fame came hard and fast - everybody in Scotland suddenly knew...
...Jaundiced Britons - at any rate, the kind who write for newspapers and pontificate on current affairs - interpret the award somewhat differently. News of the distinction has garnered headlines ranging from the quizzical ("Does Tony Blair Deserve a Medal?") to the declarative ("Blair's Medal of Dishonor"). "It is for services rendered," Clare Short, Britian's former Secretary of State for Development, told the Times of London. This is not meant as a compliment. Short criticized U.S. aid efforts in Afghanistan and resigned from Blair's Cabinet three months after the invasion of Iraq, which she had only reluctantly backed...
...economic principles. "Efficient-market theory harbors the assumption that if you're not rational ... you'll be driven out of business," he says. "It's clear that traders aren't rational. They can be. But whether they're rational or not really depends on how they interpret information. It depends on the amount of steroid in the system." For anyone trying to come to terms with the global economic slowdown and the financial-market ruin that caused it, that ought to be little comfort...
...prosecution's position, as I understand it, is the offer to take a bribe or something of value is the completed crime because it's depriving the people of the state of the right to honest service." Such statutes have become broader, allowing lawyers greater reach in how to interpret such talk. "It used to be quid pro quo. That's what people were looking for. Not so anymore." Smith, a former prosecutor who has taught federal criminal law for 15 years, explains: "The question is whether something was promised or something was expected. The courts realize there...
...problem, of course, is that access is neither fair nor free. Businessmen like Bob get stimulant prescriptions from their doctors. (Whether those prescriptions are legal is another matter; state laws determine the nature of a "legitimate medical purpose" for controlled drugs and could choose to interpret cognitive enhancement as "medical.") Students usually get stimulants from friends or family who have legitimate prescriptions, which is illegal. In any case, one can't access the drugs without some amount of expendable cash, which raises the concern that they are available only to the wealthy...