Word: unwritten
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Although the mission had a ferocious code name, "Operation Blast Furnace," it was apparently carried out under unwritten rules similar to those observed when federal revenue agents chased down Appalachian bootleggers: the etiquette dictated that no one on either side would really shoot to kill. U.S. troops, though armed with M-16 rifles, were under orders not to fire unless fired upon. Besides, the splash of unwanted publicity removed the surprise, ensuring that most of the big drug traffickers would be out of the country before the forces arrived. Said Bolivian Ambassador to the U.S. Fernando Illanes: "With...
...happens to me, I generally find myself initiating a rear-guard recovery with phrases like, "Gee, I never really looked at it that way" and excuse myself as quickly as possible by running off to a ficticious section meeting or non-existent social obligation. It used to be an unwritten rule that sex, religion, and politics were never to be discussed at the table, but nowadays these subjects make the bulk of conversation. If they were banned from Harvard dining halls, we'd all be sitting in silence...
...type of consulting the group does, Allen relates the story of the historical study the group conducted for AT&T. Researchers tried to find the historical strengths and weaknesses of the company as well as the roots of its `corporate culture.' He says one of AT&T's unwritten rules was that phones should be rented, not sold. Allen and his group traced this `law' back to the minutes of the second meeting of the company's board of directors. Since anyone could build a telephone in those days due to the simplicity of early communications technology, AT&T originally...
...backed. Others questioned the ethics of a world-renowned scholar who would blithely circumvent guidelines for the preservation of academic freedom after Harvard had led a national fight in Washington, D.C. last year to preserve just those rights. Still others wondered how Safran could have violated an unwritten rule of ethics and allowed his book, "Saudi Arabia: The Ceaseless Quest for Security," published last fall by Harvard University Press, to go to print without noting the CIA sponsorship...
Erotic advertising is popping up everywhere, promoting everything from after-shave lotions to exercise machines. The eye-catching and pulse- quickening ads are breaking many of the unwritten rules that once governed the industry. While there is nothing new about using sex as a sales allure, many of the current ads reveal considerably more skin and make a far racier pitch than ever before. One ad, for example, shows a man clad in little but shaving cream, his eyes closed, one arm tightly embracing a scantily clad woman as she wields the razor. The object being promoted: Swatch watches...