Word: joke
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Reagan and Diplomacy Ratnesar is generous in crediting Reagan, as a champion of diplomacy [Nov. 9]. Other one-liners were not quite so diplomatic. In 1984, Reagan said, "We begin bombing in five minutes," over a microphone he thought had been turned off. For some, this supposed joke is an example of his hawkishness not only toward the former Soviet Union but also toward Grenada, Cuba and others. If this is what counts for "diplomacy," no wonder we're in such trouble. Dean Wolfe, SURPRISE, ARIZ...
...Geumpang sits in a valley of rice fields at the heart of Ulu Masen. It is famous for its fertile soil and the gold sometimes found in its rivers. Raked by clouds, it is also famously wet: some people joke that the name Geumpang is a contraction of gerimis panjang, the Indonesian for "constant drizzle." A no-go area during the conflict - GAM rebels passed through there on their way between Aceh's east and west coasts - it is now a peaceful place. Children walk to school past paddy fields of ripening rice, while glistening water buffalo wallow in pools...
...generous in crediting Reagan, who urged Gorbachev to "tear down this wall," as a champion of diplomacy. Other one-liners were not quite so diplomatic. In 1984, Reagan said, "We begin bombing in five minutes," over a microphone he thought had been turned off. For some, this supposed joke is an example of his hawkishness not only toward the former Soviet Union but also toward Grenada, Cuba and others. If this is what counts for "diplomacy," no wonder we are in such trouble. Dean Wolfe, Surprise, Ariz...
...caffeinated beverages—a metonym of stoicism, intensity, and general badassery. Every hack screenwriter knows that the fastest way to toughen up a character is to have him or her order a cup of black coffee. In the same way, its converse is a ready-brew instant joke. On “The Office,” Michael Scott drinks milk and sugar (hold the coffee); on “Parks and Recreation,” Leslie Knope likes hers smothered in whipped cream. The difference between black and instant coffee has become as vast as the difference between...
...1960s and '70s that were known as the Carry Ons after the first two words in every title. Even now, the country is collectively clutching aching sides over the appointment of Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy as President of the European Union. It may be a joke that an obscure politician should get the top job in Europe, but it's Van Rompuy's name that convulses Brits with its echoes of another naughty Britishism: "rumpy-pumpy." (See pictures of Silvio Berlusconi and the politics...