Word: smithing
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...Artemus Smith (a hardheaded businessman): As I was saying, Joe. I'm tired of all this pussyfooting. Why not come right out and call it a depression...
...Smith: Good! Good to get that settled. But I've been fascinated by something else. I hate to blurt it out, because some people might mistake my meaning. But this isn't really a sincere depression...
...Smith: What I mean is-well, pollsters like Sam Lubell have discovered that most people aren't very disturbed by the depression and, God knows, a lot of businessmen think it will be over in six months or so without getting much worse. You know-not really cutting deep, not sincere...
Under such circumstances the high-ranking hen normally eats first, but either Smith or Hale was always lurking outside the pen, finger on the button. Whenever the No. 1 hen tried to eat or peck, it got an electric shock. It also got a shock when the low-ranking hen of the pair plucked up courage to peck it. After a short course of this treatment, the upper-class hens began to have serious doubts about their place in society...
Twelve treatments were enough. Smith and Hale reported that each group had its social order turned upside down. Its top hen became its bottom hen. In two out of three groups, the bottom hen rose to the top. In all groups, the upper middle-class hen-No. 2-clung most tenaciously to its position. The No. 25 needed twice as many shocks as the others to accept a new place in society...