Word: somberness
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...family quarters. That gathering, too, signaled the fast-approaching end of the Nixon presidency. Rumors of resignation caused banner headlines and dominated news broadcasts. The stock market rallied again, with the Dow Jones industrials rising almost 24 points. Crowds gathered along the fences surrounding the White House; mostly somber and curious, they had the quiet air of a death watch. In the House of Representatives, the gravelly voice of William ("Fish Bait") Miller startled the occupants of that chamber. "Mr. Speaker, a message from the President of the United States," he announced. In the stillness, a clerk read the anticlimactic...
...Greece, racked by dictator governments since the 1967 revolt of the colonels, the mood was somber. After mobilization was ordered, a single car filled with young men waving a giant Greek flag slowly toured Athens' Constitution Square. But there were few other patriotic demonstrations. Banks closed as they have before each recent domestic political crisis. Traffic jams occurred as Greeks left their jobs early to stock up on foodstuffs. Stores that were sold out of coffee, sugar and other staples locked their doors. Tourist attractions, including the Acropolis sound and light show, were canceled. The airport was closed...
Only the day before, the papers had published pictures of a smiling and apparently hale Franco, and a television film showed him chatting amiably with visitors and journalists. But after the somber bulletin, a special edition of Madrid's evening newspaper Informaciones was snapped up within minutes, and the capital was abuzz with rumors and speculation about Spain's future...
...like this: a young American dilettante studying in Switzerland meets and falls immediately in love with a delicate but forthright American girl on an extended holiday in Europe with her family. But the proper American boy, while utterly fascinated by this spontaneous girl, can't come out of his somber cocoon long enough to express his love, more through a fear of social impropriety than of rejection. In one sense, the story is a psychological Romeo and Juliet: his family of assumptions and hers won't let their loves come together. There's also a element of class barriers, although...
...several years now Americans have been hearing a somber new slogan: "Death with dignity." Meaning: the American way of death has become too technological, often condemning a patient to a lingering and painful end in which he is kept artificially alive by a maze of tubes and life-support machines. To prevent such dehumanizing procedures, the advocates of death with dignity recommend that doctors be allowed to cease extraordinary lifesaving efforts when it is clear that the patient is beyond further help. The living are counseled to ease the dying person's final agony by keeping him company during...