A mercurial woman, elusive in her lifetime, Anne is still changing centuries after her death, carrying the projections of those who read and write about her. Hilary Mantel, "Author's Note," Bring Up the Bodies, 2012
Agriculture, which was most of all to have profited from inflation, on the theory that the mercurial crop-prices would rise faster than anything else, actually suffered the most of all ... Sinclair Lewis, It Can't Happen Here, 1935
An aide said Mr. Markey hoped to combat the tactic of astroturfing in which a professional lobbying effort is made to seem like a grass-roots movement. Stephanie Strom, "Coal Group Is Linked to Fake Letters on Climate Bill," New York Times, August 4, 2009
This isn’t usually the sort of behavior we think of when we talk about political “astroturfing”—that much-loathed, much-feared practice of faking grass-roots support online—but as more and more political discourse has moved to the Internet, the techniques have multiplied. Caitlin Dewey, "The three types of political astroturfing you'll see in 2016," Washington Post, September 26, 2016
I had rather be a kitten, and cry mew, Than one of these same metre ballad-mongers ... William Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part 1, 1598
That sounds like a cheap balladmonger's gibe, Richard. Norah Lofts, The Lute Player, 1951
Facebook was reluctant, however, to issue any mea culpas or action plans with regard to the problem of filter bubbles or Facebook’s noted propensity to serve as a tool for amplifying outrage. Nicholas Thompson and Fred Vogelstein, "Inside the Two Years That Shook Facebook--and the World," Wired, February 12, 2018
Only later on are they willing to strike a bargain with him: a refuge for a mea culpa. Paul West, A Fifth of November, 2001
If anything, having professionals serve who remember that their oath is to support and defend the Constitution—and not to truckle to an individual or his clique—will be more important than ever. Eliot Cohen, "To An Anxious Friend," The American Interest, November 10, 2016
By refusing to truckle to power, by adopting Afro-centric stylings and proclaiming that black really was beautiful, she became a heroine for generations of African American women. Louis Bayard, "Book Review of 'Princess Noire: The Tumultuous Reign of Nina Simone,' by Nadine Cohodas," Washington Post, February 28, 2010
The will is not exactly proper in legal phraseology. George Bernard Shaw, The Devil's Disciple, 1897
... three previous presidents distinguished themselves through phraseology: “morning in America,” “city on a hill,” “tear down this wall,” “new world order,” “thousand points of light,” “axis of evil,” “bigotry of low expectations.” Derek Thompson, "Donald Trump's Language Is Reshaping American Politics," The Atlantic, February 15, 2018
Hard-headed because it accepts self-interest as the basic human motivator and does not wish it away into what Alinsky considers the mushy-headed idea that people will do good because they believe in the good. Frank Bardacke, Trampling Out the Vintage, 2011
Though Cotton acknowledges that this might seem elitist, he derides the Federalists’ modern critics as mushy-headed and naive. Molly Ball, "The Making of a Conservative Superstar," The Atlantic, September 17, 2014