Word: plainness
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...term Big Bang has become part of the standard scientific vocabulary, but it was first coined in the 1940s as a putdown. The idea that the universe actually had a beginning seemed just plain wacky -- especially since there was almost no evidence at the time to support it. Yet by the end of the 1960s, virtually all astrophysicists were convinced that the cosmos was born in a single massive explosion, and doubters were left out on the fringe...
...short story The Gold Bug, a little too cute, and they are probably right. On the other hand, The Gold Bug Variations passes the truth-in-advertising test: the label accurately reflects the additives Bach and Poe to the contents inside and warns away consumers who prefer their fiction plain...
...going to be hearing a lot about Barton Fink in the next few weeks. Gnomic, claustrophobic, hallucinatory, just plain weird, it is the kind of movie critics can soak up thousands of words analyzing and cinephiles can soak up at least three espressos arguing their way through...
...this had the promising feel of an end game, the negotiations proceeded at a frustratingly slow pace, and no one could tell if a settlement was days or weeks away -- or possibly stalemated altogether. With so many circuits buzzing at once, there was ample room for misunderstanding, misinterpretation and plain old mischief. Was the tally of Western hostages 11 or 10 (is British journalist Alec Collett dead?) or nine (is Italian businessman Alberto Molinari dead as well?)? The estimated number of Arabs imprisoned in Europe fluctuated between 19 and 23. One day, the 9,000 or so Palestinians detained...
...REVEALING. John Lennon and Yoko Ono posed nude for the album Two Virgins, thus earning it a plain brown wrapper...