Word: vain
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...wartime executive officer of the Public Relations Section of ComFleets command, his job, his staff, and the tropical island of Tulura constitute the hub of the naval universe. On his desk rests a three-inch shell casing full of paper clips, and a sextant which he tries in vain to sight; over it hangs the sign, "Think Big!" Nicknamed "Marblehead" because he lacks more than hair, Nash affects British knee-length shorts, carries a swagger stick, and talks a strange mixture of adman and old salt ("My hatch is open for ideas...
...Kentucky to Missouri under the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers? (The presence of one distinct species of blind fish in widely dispersed caves in the region implies such a linkage.) Why is Texas' Kiser Cave full of carbon dioxide? (Three airmen, equipped with oxygen tanks, almost died trying in vain to find the answer.) Do cave-dwelling bats have a burial ground to which they fly when feeling ready for death? (As many as 30 million bats live in a single cave, but few dead bats are ever found...
...took in defending Korea." Higham drew academic giggles with a parody on the Aeneid that recalled Truman's 1948 upset victory over Dewey: "Heu vatum igname mentes! Quid vota repulsum, quid promissa iuvant? Tua quid praesagia, Gallup?" (Carefree translation: The seers saw not your defeat, poor soul-vain prayers, vain promises, vain Gallup poll!) Lauding his modesty, Higham quoted Truman's supposed resume of his first day's activity after returning to Independence in 1953: "Cistas ego viatorias sub tegulas retuli." (Approximately: I took the suitcases up to the attic...
Music could mellow the caustic Mencken strain. He once moved Angoff by saying, "Schubert knew God, he knew that God, too, was afraid, that God, too, trembled and was in doubt and got angry and regretted and yearned in vain, like you and me and all of us." Though he spouted misogynisms, Mencken was deeply in love with his wife, Sara Haardt, who lived only five years after their 1930 marriage. When she was dying he told a friend, "Women are always waiting . . . women are always waiting for-birth, for kisses, for love, for growing-up, for smiles, for death...
...varsity gathered its forces for the Yale game, rolling over Indiana and Brown, while the freshmen, led by Ticknor, Gilligan, and Batchelder, remained undefeated. But all was in vain for Crimson Coach Horween's forces. The next Monday, the Crimson ran this stirring head: "Mighty Blue Juggernaut Tears Through Crimson Defense For Smashing 14-0 Victory." '31 salvaged some of the day by edging out the Bulldogs, 6 to 0, on Batchelder's touchdown to remain undefeated and to give some hope for the future...