Word: referents
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...title of George Bernard Shaw's witty social satire Misalliance could refer to any of the various mismatches whose inharmonious nature is revealed through the action of the play: the discrepancy between rhetoric and the motivations it masks, the friction between parents and children, or the many romantic alliances which comprise the main plot...
...investigation of Iran- contra? Since Weinberger's handwriting is virtually unreadable, the Iran- contra committee had to persuade his former secretary, Kay Leisz, to translate. One note supposedly read, "McFarlane called re price of HAWKS for Israel." Said another: "McFarlane called re HAWKS and TOWS for Israel." Both could refer to illegal arms transfers to Iran in 1985. Said a source who has reviewed some of the notes: "Jeez, it sure looks bad." But he adds optimistically, "There is substantial ambiguity...
...conventional usage to refer to Ross Perot as a third-party candidate. In fact, he is nothing of the sort. Unlike the classic third-party candidates -- say, Strom Thurmond and Henry Wallace, who in 1948 formed right- and left- wing offshoots of a real political party (the Democrats) -- Perot represents no party. He does not even pretend...
...course not everyone who has the blues is depressed. Feelings of sadness, frustration and unhappiness are natural reactions to real-life problems -- a painful loss, a relationship gone sour, a conflict that won't go away. Psychiatrists refer to such reactions as "adjustment disorders," and the people who suffer from them as the "worried well." A simple rule of thumb prevails: If the symptoms gradually clear up as the problem subsides, you've probably had an ordinary adjustment disorder. If not, you may be suffering from clinical depression...
Political correctness has invaded space! nasa and the EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY have buckled under fussbudget accusations that Buck Rogers terminology is sexist. As a result, NASA will no longer refer to "manned" flights but will describe the missions as "habitated" and "unhabitated," or "crewed" and "uncrewed." Says a nasa spokesman: "We have been ordered to delete any reference by sex, on the grounds that 'manned' flight is crude and 'crewed' is p.c." Even so, some sociologists are still not satisfied. They prefer "space flight by human beings." Female astronauts find these linguistic aerobics foolish. Says one: "Common sense...