Word: pretended
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Contemporary historians like to pretend that they are not the people who make history. Self-conscious about their central role in carving out a portrait of the past, they lapse into academic mumbling. Pick a manageable (small) subject, process enough data, arrange all available figures into charts and graphs, studiously suppress any hint of narrative judgment or point of view, and truth will be served. As a result, libraries are filling up with inaccessible accuracy, exhaustively researched big books on tiny topics. But facts do not speak for themselves; they are not even facts until someone formulates them. History...
Falling in love is, in which case you should head right away to the exotic Cafe Algiers on Brattle St. for mint tea, falafel and Arabian music. Whether you sit outside or in, pretend it's wartime Casablanca. For a more Occidental experience, veer to the understated Cafe Pampiona where you'll want to be seen...
...diligent Norwegian reporter counted 40 "Hear, hears" during a single Thatcher speech a few weeks ago in Yorkshire. Denis has a penchant for the blunt phrase. He routinely refers to trade unionists as "Luddites" and to antinuclear protesters as "Commies." As he once put it, "I don't pretend that I'm anything but an honest-to-God right-winger." After a few such remarks slipped into the press, Denis stopped giving interviews. Says a family friend: "The irony is that 20 years ago he would have thought a female Prime Minister a biological impossibility...
...practical limits to growth are in sight. The local debate over taxes (about to go up to cover nearly $300 million in city and county budget deficits), potholes and police layoffs sounds a lot like the sober municipal agendas of New York City, Cleveland, Pittsburgh. L.A. can no longer pretend to be a surfside boom town with a job for everybody. The metropolis, in short, is maturing...
...cheek, warning that it can often end up with "a clash of eyeglass frames and a lot of confusion." When conducting an office affair, Mazzei recommends discretion and closed doors. He suggests that anyone who walks in on two co-workers should beat a hasty retreat and pretend that he saw nothing. Mazzei warns that sex on business trips is particularly hazardous. "Some nighttime behavior at conventions can take on the look of a cheap bedroom farce." But if someone cannot restrain himself or herself, Mazzei advises bringing along a companion. Or, barring that, perhaps a good book...