Word: questionability
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...each other across their common border. In the wild, thinly populated region where China's Sinkiang region and Soviet Kazakhstan meet, Russian border guards and Chinese militia shattered the early morning stillness with grenades and submachine guns. The Soviets apparently got the better of the battle, but the question of who won seemed relatively unimportant. Far more serious was the question: How many such pitched battles can take place before the two giants stumble into...
...then return to the game and mutter "Cheap." Translation: No story, because the motive was routine and the victim was a nobody. There were other supposed nobodies. When checking on, say, "a floater d.o.a. at County" (a drowning victim pronounced dead on arrival at Cook County Hospital), the first question was, "Black or white?" If the dead man happened to be Negro, the reporter would "cheap it out." As for impersonating public officials, it was accepted practice. More than one reporter telephoned the scene of a crime and barked, "Hello, this is Coroner Toman," only to be told, "That...
...country's increasing ignorance of Latin was reflected in a question to the panel about media as a singular term and medias as a plural. Taking a swipe at Madison Avenue, Columnist Russell Baker declared: "In Latin, prefer Cicero to BBDO." Asked to rule on erratas as a plural form, Poet Donald Davidson despaired: "To think that we have lived to see the day when such a question can be asked...
...points out that the current G.I. Bill has been in operation less than three years; thus it may be too soon to compare it with the two previous programs. But the question remains whether the Bill is as well attuned as it might be to the educational needs of contemporary American society. Beyond more attractive financial aid to veterans, a more realistic G.I. Bill would spur interest in higher education while men are still in the service, and emphasize skill training to meet the economy's present needs...
John Hillaby is one of those slightly cracked Englishmen who insist on doing something remarkable largely in order to write a delightful book about how awful it was. At the age of 50, and more out of curiosity than a sense of competition ("For me the question was not whether it could be done, but whether I could do it"), he undertook a 1,100-mile hike from one end of Britain to the other. In the course of it, he managed to be fogbound on Dartmoor, musclebound in Bristol and sodden in Somerset. He was rained upon almost everywhere...