Word: palling
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Skiing at even the most glorious of resorts can pall after a few days, for reasons of tameness and sameness. Up the lift, down the beautifully groomed trail, half an hour in the lift line with several hundred nice people, then up and down again: the alpine skier turns himself into a yo-yo. And after the fifth or tenth chug around the splendidly scenic cross-country circuit, the Nordic skier can feel like a toy train...
...should've seen the students," I told them, describing the pall which hung over the campus after the news of the catastrophe had spread, the manner in which an Oriental girl burst out crying when a picture of Christa McAuliffe flashed on the screen, the lounges filled with teachers and students and members of the staff: Attentive. Hypnotized. Heartbroken. Spellbound...
...pall of grief was understandable, but it hid the most devastating blow of all. When the head of NASA held a press conference, he couldn't say it. He simply refused to speculate about the causes of the events in the morning's media footage. When Reagan spoke to the nation, he refered to the day's human tragedy and canonized new heroes. One simply couldn't come out and say it: our rocket had blown up. The nation was emasculated, bewildered, dumbstruck as glorious pride turned to impotence in a blinding flash...
...rebellious Republicans grew still after the President entered the room. Ronald Reagan had just returned from a memorial service at Fort Campbell, Ky., and the pall carried over to the gathering on Capitol Hill. There was a moment of silence for the 248 soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division who died in the Arrow Air crash two weeks ago. Then it was down to business. More than 160 G.O.P. Congressmen were eager to explain why they had voted to prevent consideration of a bill drastically overhauling the nation's tax code, and the President was just as eager to persuade...
...However, the committee could certainly demonstrate good faith and avoidance of whitewash by requesting the permission of those who testified to release their testimony. Making the transcripts public with the names of the principles deleted would not compromise anyone's right to privacy and would certainly help lift the pall of doubt and uncertainty that hangs over last spring's events...