Word: peculiar
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Americans, especially high-mileage males, suffer a peculiar kind of dementia in the presence of gear; they are likely to buy any piece of overpriced sports equipment, so long as it has a digital readout or is made of something crucial to the success of the space station. Or both; Panasonic is advertising a tiny hand-held Global Positioning System (GPS) device, a little brother to the satellite navigation system developed for the military and now used in aircraft and yachts. This astonishing dingus will consult the stars (satellites, actually) and tell you, on land...
Other motives are often at work when the prospective defendant is a star. "You get a peculiar asymmetry on matters of reputation," says Professor Richard Epstein of the University of Chicago Law School. "The strong are subject to the depredations of the weak, but they cannot effectively retaliate in kind. That's one of the problems of being rich and famous." Another problem, Epstein says, is that "many celebrities start to think that ordinary rules don't apply to them. A likelihood of serious misconduct may rise...
...reading and discussions are designed as a preemptive strike against racial tensions in the College. This spring, minority student groups released a flyer labeling Harvard "the Peculiar Institution"--a reference to slavery--and demanding greater Faculty diversity and more opportunities for minority students to make their voices heard...
...popularity has a bleeding edge, it may be that it dates to one of the worst days of her life. On that now famous April afternoon when Reno went before the cameras to explain the disastrous finale in Waco, the peculiar laws of politics ensured that she would get all the credit for taking all the blame. The first image Americans held of their brand-new Attorney General was of a stern, sad, certain woman describing a terrible tragedy and using none of the greasy legal language that would have shielded her from blame...
With all of the imagery and visual techniques in the movie, it is easy to be distracted and miss the peculiar role. Sally Potter gives sex in the movie. Only rarely can one ever be sure whether the character on screen is male or female. The lyrics to the mystical soundtrack are always soprano and a male singer is always, displayed. The ancient queen Orlando befriends, Elizabeth I, is played by a male actor. This makes a bedroom scene so hilarious that it is almost disturbing...