Word: standoffishly
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Warleggon soon decided that the new rector was, to say the least, standoffish. He refused to shake hands with his parishioners, explaining that he was offended by the old Cornish custom of spitting in the palms before hefting a pitchfork. He banned the traditional whist party in the parish house. "A whist drive," he said, "is an amusement, and amusements come from hell." He refused to conduct a Sunday school, because Sunday schools are unmentioned in the Bible. He wanted to get rid of the venerable church organ, since he disliked organ music-"a gabbled profanity" he called...
Whether or not she had snubbed Gerry, the Queen was neither ill nor standoffish two days later when some 7,000 guests swarmed over Buckingham Palace grounds for a garden party. Peers and plain people, a Maltese Boy Scout, a Sikh naval officer, the president of the Mormon Church, a pink-trousered lady from Pakistan and a bearded artist in a bright green suit were just a few of those among whom the Queen strolled, chatting pleasantly and shaking hands at an average of once every 15 seconds. Even a downpour of rain which sent many guests scuttling into...
...French around Bordeaux, after a first blush of enthusiasm over the prosperity they thought would arrive with the G.I.s, have now become sour and standoffish toward their guests. The men of the 126th return the uncomfortable apathy, keep to themselves on their weekend excursions to nearby cities and villages and look forward only to the summer when their federal hitches may end and they can go back home...
...President Frank Stanton, already plagued by costs, technical problems and the public's standoffish attitude toward color, seemed relieved to get off the hook. He promised instant compliance with the Government request, and immediately discontinued regular color telecasts (10½ hours a week) on the ground that the public has too few color sets to make further broadcasts worthwhile...
...moment, the Met maintained a dignified silence. It had some reason for compressing its lips; the museum had only recently reversed its standoffish policy toward contemporary U.S. art and hoped to make 1950 an "American year" to be capped by a giant, jury-picked show of about 300 paintings in December...