Word: martinet
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
White soon became a forbidding figure at Treasury. A stocky little man with a cropped brush mustache that twitched when he was nervous, he lunged around the corridors with a jerky gait. He was a ruthless martinet with subordinates, bluntly critical of those he considered his intellectual inferiors-and that included just about everyone. He was intolerant: a man who opposed Harry White was likely to fall under suspicion of being "pro-Nazi." He worked and schemed constantly, slept and played little. Said one of his associates: "He ranged everywhere, like a waterbug...
Seminole (Universal-International) takes place in early 19th century Florida territory, where a martinet of a U.S. Army major (Richard Carlson) seems determined to wipe out the friendly Seminole Indians. Championing the cause of the redskins is a dashing lieutenant (Rock Hudson), a boyhood friend of the Seminole chief (Anthony Quinn) with whom he is competing for the same girl (Barbara Hale). After a lot of war-whooping, Indian raids and military attacks-during which the chief gets killed, the major gets his comeuppance and the lieutenant gets the girl-a peaceful settlement of the Seminole problem appears imminent...
...best temperance-tract tradition, a mere glass and a half of red wine starts Erwin Sommer, a fortyish wholesale produce dealer, on the road to an alcoholic inferno. Uneasy over business losses and unhappy with his martinet wife, he soon regards the bottle as man's best friend. He cheats to get contracts, he lies to his wife, and he pays court to a blowzy waitress whom he blearily crowns "The Queen of Alcohol...
...more or less compelling" because those who don't join and pay the two dollar dues must explain why to the Colonel. Colonel Bostram is obviously no martinet, but the very necessity of explaining something to one's commanding officer, something he won't particularly like, is a substantial psychological block. "Why risk it for two bucks?" is the usual reaction, and the cadet joins...
Stanky, choosing his words carefully, says: "The men will play up to the fullest of their capabilities ... I do not plan to let anyone take advantage of me ... I am not a martinet-and I am not a sucker." A manager's first task, Eddie says, is "getting the players to believe in you. I do not care if players like or dislike me. Naturally, I want them to like me. But if all of them believe I know what I am doing, I am on the happy road...