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Word: thingamabobs (lookup in dictionary) (lookup stats)
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When De Gaulle was out of power, he liked to describe the continual shifts of Ministers in the Fourth Republic's Cabinets by saying, "Chose, machin, chouette [thingamabob, thingamajig, whosit] are being replaced by chouette, machin, chose." He often referred to members of the National Assembly as pisse froid or pisse vinaigre. In private, he often called France "vacharde"-inert or uninspired. The fact was that France offered De Gaulle too limited a scope and power base. Try as he might, he could not change the basic reality that France simply lacked the specific gravity to offset the force...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: World: A Glimpse of Glory, a Shiver of Grandeur | 11/23/1970 | See Source »

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