Attempts to resolve the Quandary:
After Tolstoy first submitted the manuscript for War and Peace, his publisher wrote back with two flippant requests "to fix some foibles in the draft", one that the character of Pierre be made less diffident and more mettlesome, and two that large sections be bowdlerized to turn the book into a twenty page precis or "the flimsiest pamphlet your excellency can possibly imagine".
(by Sami)Explore other Quandaries through our word list or the calendar below. Since September 2009, word lovers have offered 4650 sentences — each one a surprise — to QQ's unique and growing library.
Definitions:
We don't archive definitions. You can find the definitions on their respective sites by following the links above.
Quadrivial Quandary (QQ) is owned and operated by Rudi Seitz.
Sentences submitted to QQ are the property of their authors.
See our page on Copyright Information for details.
Dictionary definitions are the property of their respective sources,
presented here via public RSS feeds or otherwise with permission.
All other material is copyright 2012 by Rudi Seitz, all rights reserved.
Use of this site is governed by our
terms of service.
Contact: rudi at quadrivialquandary dot com.
2
As a young man, Mitt Romney was mettlesome and had a great deal of enthusiasm for his first job, which required him to read through piles of newly printed high school textbooks and prepare a précis of every one, explaining what should be bowdlerized, and why, before they would be appropriate for classroom use; however, he had a particular foible – reviewing for American values -- and his patriotic fervor would allow only the most positive, star-spangled remarks to be made about the good old U.S.A.
(by wordgirl)