Word: offhandedly
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Professor Perry spoke of "Richard Henry Dana as a Man of Letters." "The popular impression of Richard Henry Dana is that he was a man of one book, 'Two Years Before the Mast.' Such impressions are not always infallible, and yet the offhand, instinctive judgment upon which they rest is usually right enough for all practical purposes. In Dana's case the popular verdict is not likely to be reversed. It is one of the ironies of literature that this son of a poet, inheriting so much that was finest in the old New England culture, a pupil of Emerson...
...right; that the general ignorance and utter lack of acquaintance with culture of the average American undergraduate was almost tragic. He waved his arms, and said he believed, apropos of the time-honored legend of Semitic 12 at Harvard, that a chance half-dozen college men could not answer offhand the question, "Who was Jehovah?" We asked a chance half-dozen, and only four of them answered, "I don't know," and our pride limped away. Now perhaps this is not a fair question; perhaps, however, Mr. Johnson speaks the truth. Recalling Mr. Stover's psychology on various occasions...
...stories, "Tom Morley, Waiter," by Arthur Holden Gilbert, is written in an offhand vein well suited to the subject. The point might have been reached as well in fewer words. Though the plot of "A Spool of Thread" by Forbes Watson, seems a bit trivial, the story is well told, with good detail and imagination. The best part of "The Sea," by A. P. Wadsworth, is the straightforward style in which it is told. A clean setting is made in the fewest possible words and the story is free from interruptions...
...York. This dainty little volume contains verses in a light vein, intended, as the author says, for busy people who have not the time to create fancies for themselves. If the purpose alone be considered, the book might be called successful. The verses are written in an offhand manner, with sometimes careless metre. The point usually turns on some modern "gag," but some of the verses touch a serious chord, while many have a note of sweetness...
...evidently is not lacking in enterprise. The experiment which will be tried this evening of extemporaneous debate looks at first a little doubtful, but we nevertheless hope that it will prove a success. While it is true that it is a most valuable accomplishment to be able to speak offhand on any subject, it is equally true that the average youth finds it quite hard enough to say what he wants to even when he is primed with arguments...