Word: pep
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...shoulder, he had spoken to chambers of commerce and trade unionists. His booming voice had carried sincerity and conviction. His audiences had invariably become so interested that they stayed to shoot questions at him for an hour or two after a speech, and hurried away like salesmen after a pep talk...
Retailers who had seen consumer credit dip during January, for the first time in three years, now thought that the easier credit would pep up sales. Said Bert Baker, Detroit's biggest used-car dealer: "I figure we can sell 20% more cars right off the reel...
Success had had its bitter side for little Willie Pep. As fancy a featherweight as ever tied on gloves, he won so many fights (134 against one defeat) that home-town Hartford, Conn, took him for granted. Willie grew cocky and careless. Result: last October he was knocked out cold by Challenger Sandy Saddler. Willie lost his featherweight crown, but in defeat Hartford began to rally round him and he became a town hero on a comeback trail. The home folks bellowed for a return engagement...
...from Manhattan, had a longer reach and harder punch, but he had a hard time hitting shifty Willie. The Hartfordites roared with partisan joy as Willie built up a lead on points. Then the fight became a slugging match as the 126-pounders threw everything they had. Saddler had Pep reeling drunkenly in the tenth round; another good punch would have been the end of Willie. But wily Willie, a shrewd hand and a good boxer, hung on, dodged, shook loose the cobwebs between rounds. Just before the bell ended the 15th, Pep was in trouble again; as he ducked...
Twenty-six-year-old Willie Pep, decided the judges, had won his return engagement, become the first featherweight in history to win back his crown undisputedly after losing it. Hartford folks who bet their shirts on him won a small fortune from the big-city slickers. Mumbled battered Willie, who had been worried lest somebody might have thought he gave up too quickly last October: "I had to prove the last one was no phony...