Word: vastness
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Iceland. For some unknown reason, the two came together to create the "Azores bridge." This in turn formed what weather experts called the "omega block," a high-pressure barricade that prevented the normal clockwise movement of damp air from the Atlantic to Europe, a flow that usually assumes a vast omega (Ω) shape. Australian meteorologists have attributed the drought to the unexplained absence of the rain-bearing westerly winds that usually sweep across the lower part of the continent at this time of year. The dry spells suffered by the U.S. plains states are blamed on blocking by a high...
...those with minor illnesses. Has life itself become a disease to be cured in the American culture? Some 80% of the doctor's work consists of treating minor complaints and giving reassurance. Common colds, minor injuries, gastrointestinal upsets, back pain, arthritis and psychoneurotic anxiety states account for the vast majority of visits to clinics and doctors' offices. One out of four people is "emotionally tense" and worried about insomnia, fatigue, too much or too little appetite and ability to cope with modern life. At least 10% of the population suffer from some form of mental illness...
Sakers and Slush Lamps. Atmosphere is another Sabatini attraction. From a mind crammed with historical minutiae he fans a rich dust of authenticity over his scenes. In The Black Swan and The Sea Hawk, when a sailing ship fires off a broadside, Sabatini draws on his vast vocabulary of sailor latin to inform the reader that a battery of sakers on the gun deck of a galleass is bombarding a galliot with langrel that has collapsed its topgallants and smashed a few slush lamps. He is just as sure-footed ashore. When Sabatini finishes describing Captain Blood's hangout...
Fantasy Look. The mannequins were laden with vast, tiered skirts of taffeta, mousseline, velvet, satin and faille in coruscating combinations of colors. They were turbaned, feathered, booted, shawled, cinched, tasseled and encrusted from head to foot in braid, beads, rickrack and passementerie. The so-called Fantasy Look, which seemed more suitable for grand opera than for real life, was a melange of styles derived from the Russian, Gypsy, Cossack, Moroccan, Indian and Victorian...
...society demands an ever higher level of skill from democratic politicians in discussing and explaining complex issues accurately and openly. This has particular weight in a world where issues have become so complex and governments' concerns so vast...