Word: loafing
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Descent from Olympus. Pluche does not spout off entirely in a vacuum. Like a god descending from Olympus to reassure himself of his immortality, he ventures from his studio on the Rue Boissonnade to loaf among the plebs until inspiration returns. But no sooner is he in "the circle of the frivolous damned" than the world's petty annoyances close in. Brother Georges, a witless executive living far beyond his means and on the verge of ruin, asks for and gets the balance in Pluche's bank account. Brother-in-Law Mesnard, an immensely successful painter who sold...
...slowdowns in factories and on farms are endangering the entire economy. Only recently, for example, the government proclaimed four Saturdays as wageless extra workdays because of "serious economic shortcomings." The Czechoslovaks did not exactly respond with patriotic fervor. As an industrial worker in Prague commented: "So now we will loaf on four additional working days...
...deadly inhuman person," Willy Brandt said of Willi Stoph some years ago. Whether Brandt would like to revise that assessment after his meeting with East Germany's Premier last week at Erfurt remains to be seen. To be sure, the shy, introverted Stoph (rhymes with loaf) is not exactly the cuddly type. In a country where telling jokes about political leaders has long been a favorite pastime, no German-East or West-can readily recall any gags about the steely, erect and correct Stoph. But he does seem to inspire respect...
...subsist on public welfare is a good thing, whatever inefficiencies it may breed. Goof-off time feeds inflation by lowering productivity ?and nobody should underestimate what social damage that can cause. But one of the charms of the affluent society is that it indulges the human propensity to loaf and gives at least partial fulfillment to the Industrial Revolution's old promise that the machine will free man from drudgery...
...party hierarchy-because of growing signs of sluggishness in the Soviet economy. Thus, while past antidrinking crusades have suffered from complacency and lack of enforcement, this time officials really seem to mean business. Last week the Soviet Trade Union Council ordered a crackdown on workers who "drink, loaf or drift." The council recommended that recalcitrant members be expelled and thereby deprived of sick leave and pension benefits...