Word: persistence
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Lexicographer Bergen Evans of Northwestern University believes that euphemisms persist because "lying is an indispensable part of making life tolerable." It is virtuous, but a bit beside the point, to contend that lies are deplorable. So they are; but they cannot be moralized or legislated away, any more than euphemisms can be. Verbal miasma, when it deliberately obscures truth, is an offense to reason. But the inclination to speak of certain things in uncertain terms is a reminder that there will always be areas of life that humanity considers too private, or too close to feelings of guilt, to speak...
...book itself, at least temporarily, if it achieves the wide attention it deserves. "Chatter about Shelley" may be contemptible, but Shelley's chatter was often more important than most men's theses. Even lately George Orwell's essays and memoirs have achieved an influence likely to persist beyond 1984. Letters and men of letters are declining, but they are not yet entirely fallen. A shooting star or two may still be seen with the naked...
...Referring to Stauder's occupation of University Hall, the Joint Committee stated that "it represents a singularly irresponsible abdication of a teacher's obligations to students. By encouraging students to persist in such activity-even, indeed, by failing to take positive action to dissuade them-a teacher thereby places such students as look to him for counsel and example in both legal and disciplinary jeopardy...
...fines by state governments against municipalities and industries that pollute bodies of water. These fines would be, say, 100 or more per gallon per day of waste discharge. This would mean industries paying out tens of thousands of dollars per day and rising tax rates in cities that persist in fouling rivers and lakes...
...primary considerations appear to be rising faculty salaries and dwindling classroom and dormitory space. The tuition hikes are intended to discourage applications from out-of-state students and force those who persist to shoulder a larger share of the real costs of their education. One possible result is that public colleges and universities will become more provincial...