Final Word from Wednesday, April 21, 2010
"There was things which he stretched," said Huck Finn of Mark Twain, "but mainly he told the truth." With his one-liners, idiosyncratic dress and penchant for stretchers, Karel Schwarzenberg is the Mark Twain of Czech politics. When Václav Klaus neglected to invite him to the Castle for the no-nukes shindig, Schwarzy retorted like a Connecticut Yankee that there are those who are in the graces of the lord and those who are not. Trouble is, Klaus did invite him, according to Petr Hájek of the Castle. When MFD asked party chairmen to disclose their assets and income, Schwarzy gave no figure for his outside income, yet MFD praised him for being one of the most open. On the occasion on the 100th anniversary of Mark Twain's death, the Financial Times tried to pin down how the writer could have achieved such eminence with such a small number of incontrovertibly great works. The same could be asked about Schwarzenberg, except that most Czechs would be hard pressed to name any of his great achievements.[Czech Republic TOP 09 Huckleberry Finn Samuel Clemens Adventures MF Dnes]
Glossary of difficult words
Never the twain shall meet - used to suggest that two things are too different to coexist;
to stretch (the truth) - to make an exaggerated statement;
penchant - a strong or habitual liking for something or tendency to do something;
stretcher - (as used by Mark Twain) an exaggerated statement;
one-liner - a short joke or witty remark;
idiosyncratic - peculiar or individual;
shindig - a large, lively party, esp. one celebrating something;
Connecticut Yankee - like the main character in the book of this name by Mark Twain;
to pin down - to define something precisely;
incontrovertibly - not able to be denied or disputed;
to be hard pressed - to have difficulty doing something.