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Word: ducking (lookup in dictionary) (lookup stats)
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There is a well-known and true story of Robert McNamara's difficulty with the Vietnamese language. He likes to make a small pleasantry to his audience--usually "Vietnam for 1000 years." Unfortunately, to the Vietnamese it came out sounding quite different--"The duck wants to lie down." The Viets would always howl at this and Mac thought he had really scored. Vietnamese, is their answer to Sun Valley, Palm Beach and White Sulphur Springs. Both sides regard it as one of the trophies in this war and consequently it sees little of the fighting. Saigon politicos and generals...

Author: By Lawrence A. Walsh, | Title: Vietnam: An Outside Perspective | 1/24/1968 | See Source »

...Vietnam for 1000 years." Unfortunately his aides never told him that the printed words for the phrase have to be pronounced quite precisely to convey the message. And every time Mac would wave his arms and give his little greeting, the audience would always hear something quite different: "the duck wants to lie down." The Viets would always howl at this time and Mac thought he had really scored. Maybe his French will get him by at the World Bank conferences...

Author: By Lawrence A. Walsh, | Title: Vietnam: An Outside Perspective | 1/24/1968 | See Source »

...alternative--allowing DeGuglielmo to ramain as an interim manager--was hardly more feasible. As a "lame duck" lacking the confidence of the council majority, he would have had to sound them out on any decision other than the most routine. DeGuglielmo probably knew this, and it is unlikely that he really expected to remain as interim manager. The bloc opposing him had waited two years to dismiss him; they had the votes, and, as one councillor put it, "the ball game was over...

Author: By William R. Galeota, | Title: The Night the Ball Game Ended | 1/22/1968 | See Source »

...exhibit truly worthy of that old master, Fidel Castro. For lovers of impressionism, there was a blurred U.S. combat film showing a Green Beret trooper slinging grenades into a peasant's hut in Viet Nam. For pop-art fans, there was a cartoon drawing of Donald Duck, Superman and Foxy Fox representing three American oil companies fighting for petroleum rights in an underdeveloped country. Lovers of camp art could watch a carefully edited Tarzan film that illustrated Johnny Weissmuller's "white supremacy" over African tribesmen. And for the surrealist school, there was a likeness of a Metro-Goldwyn...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Cuba: A Time for Diversion | 1/19/1968 | See Source »

...play, the defensive lineman reacts -and reacts fast, trying to beat his opponent to the block, catch him off-balance, squirt past him before he can plant himself. To confuse blockers, defenders will "stunt," or loop around each other; they may charge high to hurdle a block, or duck low to "submarine" under. They clutch at shoulder pads and jerseys, trying to spin blockers aside and clear a path to the ballcarrier. They have, in fact, become so adept at slipping blocks that not even the punter, standing 15 yds. back of the line of scrimmage, is safe any more...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Football: Four at the Heart | 12/29/1967 | See Source »

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