Word: verbalism
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According to the College Board, which administers the test, in 1996 the average young woman's score was 503 for the test's verbal section, and 492 for math. Young men on average scored 507 and 527, respectively, out of a possible 800 on each part...
...ugly is it getting up there? Real ugly: American Airlines says the reported number of incidents of verbal and physical abuse of crew members in 1995--900--was nearly triple that of 1994. Other carriers report similar increases, the result no doubt of more agitation on the ground and in the air. We hate to fly, and it shows. "It's absolutely gotten worse," says frequent traveler Heidi Weisman, 32, of Los Angeles. "I expect lots of waiting, pushing, shoving and uncomfortable seats. I can't remember the last time I was comfortable...
...libido and stupid schemes; John Cleese, all British pomp, phlegm and cluelessness; Jamie Lee Curtis, still innocent of the effect her form encased in a tight dress can have on impressionable males; Michael Palin, just plain innocent, but with his former stammer replaced now by another verbal disability--logorrhea...
...talent to arouse. While he was exciting his loyal readers with outhouse humor and photos of splay-legged models, Hustler publisher Larry Flynt incited the guardians of public pudency. City D.A.s, state attorneys general, Moral Majority leader Jerry Falwell--all were so vexed by Flynt's verbal and pictorial provocations, they just had to sue him. One offended reader took a few rifle shots at the Great Satan of Columbus, Ohio, forever paralyzing some of Flynt's favorite body parts. The bumptious pornographer made friends with Jimmy Carter's evangelist sister, went nuts on painkillers and won a crucial First...
...that these lords and ladies use to disguise their intentions. "Dangerous Liaisons," however, contents itself with skimming along the surface of social encounters where poisoned barbs are cushioned in silken words. "Ridicule" actually takes us behind the scenes. Gregoire is a quick thinker, with an aptitude for making perfect verbal ripostes, but he lacks finesse. Luckily, a sympathetic doctor agrees to sponsor him at court, and so Gregoire's education begins. Voltaire is the God of Versailles, and his works are its Bible. Through the doctor, Gregoire learns the rules underlying the smooth facade of verbal exchanges. "Be witty, sharp...