Word: ornamentalism
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...sort of anti-Palin. Whereas Palin can be catty, superficial and outrageous, Whitman is wonky and almost humorless, as if too many consultants (she has about two dozen) have massaged and smoothed over her imperfections so effectively that she's as brittle and shiny as a Christmas tree ornament. She presents herself as a pragmatist who doesn't much care about tightening gun-control laws or limiting a woman's right to choose. She tries to project a muscular toughness, as Hillary Clinton did, with plans to fire 40,000 state employees and constant talk about her "spine of steel...
...Mall, that useful catalogue that gave us items like the “Hot Diggity Dogger” and a rolling backpack in which you can carry your dog. Somewhere in between the 24-karat gold copies of Lord of the Rings paraphernalia and the life-sized gorilla lawn ornament, Our Assistant to the Associate Hero must have found neon-colored metal lawn chairs left over from the set of Alice in Wonderland. Foreseeing the benefits for Cambridge townies who can’t all fit into Lamont and Café Gato Rojo, Harvard decided to order one hundred. Thank...
...barrier is indeed "ugly." it is not built as an ornament but to prevent Palestinian suicide bombers killing and crippling Israeli citizens. It has cost Israeli taxpayers hundreds of millions but it is effective: the bombings have been stopped. When the Palestinians - and TIME - criticize the wall, they should think about who is to blame for its origin. Leo Kramár, STAFFANSTORP, SWEDEN
...Baroque - the name derives from a word meaning imperfect pearl - theater was not limited to the stage; cathedrals, too, filled with drama and lighting effects. An ornate altarpiece, glittering Roman altar furniture, and Rubens' harrowing Descent from the Cross (1611) all demonstrate the church's use of overwhelming ornament to tug at emotions. (See 10 things to do in London...
...that the fact that they are Italian has no discernible import for the poem. Similarly, in “Surgery,” “A dusting of snow / fastens to roofs / on a row of Delft houses.” In the first poem, “Ornament,” Nilsson informs her interlocutor that “Your heart is as large as an anthill in Switzerland”—presumably, the heart in question is non-existent. Elsewhere, the poet takes us to Lapland, treads on Persian rugs, compares the heart...