Word: unbend
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...Germans, except among family and close friends, ever unbend enough to call each other by their first name. Instead, they delight in using strings of titles that proclaim the bearer's academic, professional or aristocratic status. Just about everyone has at least one title, and many people have several. German businessmen and bureaucrats never tire of constructing new and more elaborate handles to stretch across their calling cards and frontdoor name plates. The habit has reached such extremes that some Germans are now revolting against it. Typically, the reformers were unable to resist the temptation to compound...
...lovers of ceremony, formality and tradition. They expect their Shah to act like a king and treat them as subjects. When he appears in a village, they fall to earth to kiss his feet, a custom that causes him much embarrassment. In his private life, the Shah can unbend. He and Empress Farah-with their three children, Crown Prince Reza, 6, Princess Farahnaz, 4, and Prince Ali Reza, 17 months-live in Teheran's Saadabad Palace in the summer, move to the better-heated Niavaran Palace when the cold weather comes. The Saadabad has been equipped with a regulation...
...mysteries of his past years, brushing off as "romantic" a reporter's question about his reaction to Stalin's stay order. He spoke guardedly about the Soviet space program, argued that the Soviets were still "a little ahead" of the U.S. At only one point did he unbend, offering his own formula for peace. It was, he said, "an international exchange of scientists from military institutions." "Then," added Kapitsa puckishly, "there would be no more secrets...
...astronauts were understandably anxious to leave their cramped quarters as soon as possible. Shortly after they opened their hatches, they were hoisted aboard a helicopter and flown to the deck of the Wasp. Though few would have been surprised if Borman and Lovell had found it difficult to unbend and walk, both climbed unaided from the helicopter, chipper and in remarkably good shape...
...substantial screen presence of Hayley Mills, who goes gumshoeing on the trail of a criminal tomcat while her sister (Dorothy Provine) scrutinizes FBI Agent Dean Jones. Hayley nips through her role as though English accents were an absolute must among subdebs of Southern California, and Scrooge himself might unbend when she reports saucily to the FBI: "I have some information about one of your crimes...