Word: powder
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...everyday conversation the euphemism is, at worst, a necessary evil; at its best, it is a handy verbal tool to avoid making enemies needlessly, or shocking friends. Language purists and the blunt-spoken may wince when a young woman at a party coyly asks for directions to "the powder room," but to most people this kind of familiar euphemism is probably no more harmful or annoying than, say, a split infinitive...
...Caution. Despite the incendiary speeches and the orchestrated street demonstrations in Arab capitals, few experts expected a major conflagration. Part of the world, at least, seemed to be learning to live less nervously with the Arab-Israeli conflict. Last spring President Nixon described the Middle East as a "powder keg," needing only the tiniest spark to explode. Last week, however, Washington viewed the current situation coolly, and the State Department said merely that it was counseling "restraint" to both sides. Moscow made no comment publicly, but U.S. diplomats believe that the Soviets have no interest in escalating hostilities and risking...
...particles and two lunar core samples. Finally, he opened the plastic bag containing the rocks themselves. The scientific observers said that the 15 or so rocks -the largest was 7 in. long, 5 in. wide and 1½ in. thick-seemed to be covered by a fine, graphite-like powder. Their color was gray, tinged with a touch of cocoa. "This is the beginning of the study of lunar rocks on earth," said Robin Brett, one of the geologists. "To all scientists this is a very, very exciting time...
Gallery C extended a warm, week-long invitation to ignore this mandate. From Paris, Sculptor Lygia Clark imported two powder-blue space suits of her own design. After a man and a woman entered the suits and Miss Clark sealed the sightless helmets, the occupants found that their only access to each other was through zippered pockets strategically located over the erogenous zones. When the man opened one of her pockets, he felt a hairy male chest rather than a soft female bosom; the woman, in turn, reached out to touch a rubber breast. Somewhat south of these pockets were...
Corned Beef and Competition. Cost overruns have been standard procedure in American military history. There were corned beef scandals during the Civil War, and the West was won partly on padded Government contracts for shot, powder, rifles, bully beef and hardtack. Today's excesses can hardly be blamed on defense-industry "profiteering." While U.S. industry's overall return on investment rose from 7.1% in 1967 to 10.1% last year, the defense contractors' profits have dropped from an average 10.1% to around...