"Poser" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... her last conversazione, propounded to PUNCH the following classical poser:—"How would you translate the Latin words, puella, defectus, puteus, dies, into four English interjections?" Our wooden Roscius hammered his pate for full five minutes, and then exclaimed—"A-lass! a-lack! a-well a-day!" Her ladyship protested ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 1, Complete • Various
... Yussuf who heard me begged me by all means to make him read it carefully so as to guard him against the heretical inventions he might be beset with among the English 'of the vulgar sort.' What a poser for a missionary! ...
— Letters from Egypt • Lucie Duff Gordon
... good that is based upon an organised wrong?" That was the simple question that Verena desired to propound, and Basil smiled across the room at her with an amused tenderness as he gathered that she conceived it to be a poser. He didn't think it would frighten him much if she were to ask him that, and he would sit down with her for as many minutes ...
— The Bostonians, Vol. II (of II) • Henry James
... knotty point; vexed question, vexata quaestio, poser, puzzle, &c. (see riddle); paradox; hard-, nut to crack; bone to pick, crux, pons asinorum, where the ...
— Journalism for Women - A Practical Guide • E.A. Bennett
... exceedingly old "darky" he once met in the South, who claimed to have crossed the Delaware with Washington. "Were you with Washington," asked Mark Twain mischievously, "when he took that hack at the cherry tree?" This was a poser for the old darkey; his pride was appealed to, his very character was at stake. After an awkward hesitation, the old darkey spoke up, a gleam of simulated recollection (and real gratification for his convenient memory) ...
— Mark Twain • Archibald Henderson
... sacrificial animals, have had a steady molding, educating influence equal to a society of decorative art upon the people and the animals who have dwelt in this artistic atmosphere. The Attic goat has become an artificially artistic being; though of course he is not now what he was, as a poser, in the days of Polycletus. There is opportunity for a very instructive essay by Mr. E. A. Freeman on the decadence of the Attic goat under the influence ...
— Baddeck and That Sort of Thing • Charles Dudley Warner
... rather a poser. "You might make two of them contest a seat in Parliament," said Harvey, ...
— The Toys of Peace • Saki
... can an electro-magnetic message be communicated to the mind, without a knowledge of the alphabet used by the telegraphers? This question may seem a poser to some minds. But I don't see that it raises any grave difficulty. I answer the question by asking another:—How can persons in the somnambulic state read with the tops of ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Volume 2, Issue 11, September, 1858 • Various
... This was a poser, and they gave up the puzzle, though Jamie confided to Rose that he did not think he could live till Monday without knowing what ...
— Eight Cousins • Louisa M. Alcott
... who had been for some short time turning the matter over in his mind, began to fancy he had found a poser for his fellow-traveller, to whom he remarked, that however fortunate they might consider themselves when they got out of their present difficulties, there could be no possible advantage whatever in their ...
— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 59, No. 364, February 1846 • Various
... him happy. It would be absurd to say that he looked sad. A boy of his age cannot look sad continually, unless sadness is a pose with him, which he is enjoying very much indeed. But Bonbright was no poser.... And he did not look happy. There were even times when there was a worn, haggard look about his eyes when he came down in the morning. This was when he had allowed ...
— Youth Challenges • Clarence B Kelland
... artist. "Bully for you, Son! That's a poser! Aside from taxing the poor and having enemies beheaded, I'm puzzled to know what he really did do to earn his ...
— O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1921 • Various
... moment a perfect "poser" to Ishmael. He wasn't interested in bonnets! But, however, as he had the faculty of seeing, understanding, and remembering everything that fell under his observation in his own limited sphere, he blew out his candle, sat down and complied with his aunt's ...
— Ishmael - In the Depths • Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
... D. 1666, and containing full instructions for the clergy of the Gallican church, and an exposition of the rites and ceremonies,) amongst appendages to an altar is enumerated "une credance ou niche dans le mur a poser les burettes et le bassin," p. 536. And in another place, "au coste de l'Autel il y faut une petite niche a poser les burettes et le bassin, et y faire un trou en facon de piscine a fin que l'eau se perde en ...
— The Principles of Gothic Ecclesiastical Architecture, Elucidated by Question and Answer, 4th ed. • Matthew Holbeche Bloxam
... ordre, un joli pigeon blanc vint se poser sur un arbre, tout prs de la fentre de la cuisine, et poussa un petit cri plaintif. La ngresse vit le pigeon, le montra au chef, et dit: "Chef, prenez votre grand couteau, coupez la tte ce pigeon, et faites-le ...
— Contes et lgendes - 1re Partie • H. A. Guerber
... somewhat of a poser, as Louise and I really have not much in common, and I was at a loss where to begin. But something had to be done, and so I made a venture ...
— Hepsey Burke • Frank Noyes Westcott
... queer, Pat, but now that I know him he doesn't seem interesting in the least. He's priggish and conceited; he's a poser, too. It is too bad, Pat, for you to tire yourself out and get such a—a dry ...
— The Shield of Silence • Harriet T. Comstock
... dans la foret qu'il aime Ce doux vent qui, faisant tout vibrer en nous-meme, Y reveille l'amour, Et, remuant le chene ou balancant la rose, Semble l'ame de tout qui va sur chaque chose Se poser ...
— French Lyrics • Arthur Graves Canfield
... put his poser to me, turning with angry eyes, but ended on a short laugh of contempt. "Do not try make-believe with ...
— Sir John Constantine • Prosper Paleologus Constantine
... a poser to March. It was so totally subversive of all his preconceived ideas, that it reduced him for ...
— The Wild Man of the West - A Tale of the Rocky Mountains • R.M. Ballantyne
... That was a poser; but Jenny Wren was ready with her answer, old-fashioned as could be, and she says: "I should think it's ...
— Begumbagh - A Tale of the Indian Mutiny • George Manville Fenn
... custom, when one of the smaller scholars or poorer spellers rose to spell against the master, to give out eight or ten easy words, that they might have some breathing-spell before being slaughtered, and then to give a poser or two which soon settled them. He let them run a little, as a cat does a doomed mouse. There was now but one person left on the opposite side, and, as she rose in her blue calico dress, Ralph recognized Hannah, ...
— The Wit and Humor of America, Volume I. (of X.) • Various
... of pompous local magnates and political nobodies all drilled and disciplined by your offensive methods, and all of them as absurd and preposterous as they can be made. But the spectacle would only move you to derision. One point, however, I must insist on. Whatever you do, don't throw JOSHUA POSER across my path again. I might do him an injury. We were at College together, he being my senior by a year. Even then he always assumed a condescension towards me, an air as of one who temporarily stepped down from a pedestal to mingle with common grovellers. ...
— Punch, Or The London Charivari, Vol. 101. October 17, 1891 • Various
... sir? It is, man. Look, put thy live leg here in the place where mine once was; so, now, here is only one distinct leg to the eye, .. yet two to the soul. Where thou feelest tingling life; there, exactly there, there to a hair, do I. Is't a riddle? I should humbly call it a poser, sir. Hist, then. How dost thou know that some entire, living, thinking thing may not be invisibly and uninterpenetratingly standing precisely where thou now standest; aye, and standing there in thy spite? In thy ...
— Moby-Dick • Melville
... he apply his questions to the skill of the persons whom he asketh; for he shall give them occasion to please themselves in speaking, and himself shall continually gather knowledge: but let his questions not be troublesome, for that is fit for a poser; and let him be sure to leave other men their turns to speak: nay, if there be any that would reign and take up all the time, let him find means to take them off, and to bring others on, as musicians use to do with those that dance too long galliards. ...
— Talks on Talking • Grenville Kleiser
... to show that the small boy really stands in need of a little instruction in the art of buying apples. So I will give a simple poser dealing ...
— Amusements in Mathematics • Henry Ernest Dudeney
... shall subject the old laws of nature to the smallest possible strain. Mr. Myers uses that method of gradual approach which has performed such wonders in Darwin's hands. When Darwin met a fact which seemed a poser to his theory, his regular custom, as I have heard an able colleague say, was to fill in all round it with smaller facts, as a wagoner might heap dirt round a big rock in the road, and thus get his team over without upsetting. ...
— The Will to Believe - and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy • William James
... suivre son cours tres-directement. C'est cependant sur ces bords etroits et escarpees que se trouvent pratiques les chemins par ou l'on passe. Le danger y est tres grand: car a peine un animal peut-il poser le pied. Toutes les fois que le courant fait un detour, la surface des bords a plus de largeur; cependant moins que lorsque plusieurs se reunissent. Un voit facilement pourquoi. L'eau forcee de se detourner, s'eloigne plus de la rive que quand elle va ...
— Theory of the Earth, Volume 2 (of 4) • James Hutton
... question was a poser. Who did want her? He was blessed if he knew. There must be people who wanted her—Adair, for instance. But the mention of Adair would provide her with a reason for a new outburst. There was only one thing to say under the circumstances, so he said ...
— The Kingdom Round the Corner - A Novel • Coningsby Dawson
... occasion, first of all, to express my congratulations and then my thanks for the manner in which you have assisted me to carry out my original plan. The preparation of the plan for the Siegesallee has occupied many years, and the learned historiographer of my House, Professor Dr. Poser, is the man who put me in a position to set the artists clear and intelligible tasks. Once the historic basis was found the work could be proceeded with, and when the personalities of the princes were established it was possible to ascertain those who had been their most important ...
— William of Germany • Stanley Shaw
... show of Royal flummery. Had it not been for this the First World War could have never been, for the socialists of that time were bitterly opposed to war and Germany was the world's greatest stronghold of socialism, yet when their beloved imperial poser, William the Great, called for war the German socialists, with the exception of a few whom they afterwards murdered, went forth to ...
— City of Endless Night • Milo Hastings
... now is to wait until they relax a trifle, and then slip a fast one over on them. One more bubble out of the old think-tank and I'll let you off for the day. At what time will their vigilance be at lowest ebb? That's a poser, I'll admit, but the answer to it may answer everything—the first shot will, of course, be the best chance we'll ...
— Skylark Three • Edward Elmer Smith
... poser. It certainly seemed like a hopeless task, but Dick Dare was not a youth to be easily discouraged. He had come here to spy on the British and learn their plans, and he would do so, if ...
— The Dare Boys of 1776 • Stephen Angus Cox
... priori, we would have recommended to him; but, as he had clearly shown us that it was an ineffectual one, we really felt greatly at a loss what to say; and, under this difficulty, we all remained for some time thoughtful and silent. At length, however, it was agreed amongst us, as the case was a poser, that we should sleep on the matter, and in the morning come prepared with such advice as our intervening cogitations ...
— Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume VI • Various
... call a poser, my dear Timothy, but I cannot help myself; this I can safely say, that I have no animosity against Mr Harcourt—at least, not sufficient to have any wish to take away ...
— Japhet, In Search Of A Father • Frederick Marryat
... personal society. He knew plenty of books without being in the least bookish; had, as the old saying goes, "wit at will," and, though he never made deliberate and affected efforts to get out of ruts, kept out of them without the least trouble. He was as little of a "poser" or of a "rotter" as he was of a prig, and there was not a drop of bad blood in his veins. If these things could not make a good letter-writer nothing could; and there is little doubt that he will hold his place as such as long as English literature lasts. It is a great pleasure to ...
— A Letter Book - Selected with an Introduction on the History and Art of Letter-Writing • George Saintsbury
... that makes me really sick is the patriotic poser. I suppose it was because my dad wasn't a very brave soldier." He laughed quietly. "Remember the day you knocked those brutes down at college for forcing me to make a speech in praise of my father's heroism? I could have died for you that ...
— The Root of Evil • Thomas Dixon
... a "poser." Born to a full realization of the vast gulf which providence has fixed between the Highlands and the rest of the world, Janet recognized it as such. Pausing, she leaned on her hoe, anxiously waiting, while Timmins chewed a straw and the cud ...
— Quaint Courtships • Howells & Alden, Editors
... how a man can manage to drink up his salary in liquor, provided it is sufficient to buy a gallon of the very best ardent every day in the year. How a fortune can be drank up, or drank down, by the possessor, is still a greater poser to the unsophisticated. Now, to be sure, a man who confines himself, in his potations, to fourpenny drinks of small beer, Columbian whiskey, or even that detestable stuff, by courtesy or custom called French brandy,—which, in fact, is generally aquafortis, corrosive ...
— The Humors of Falconbridge - A Collection of Humorous and Every Day Scenes • Jonathan F. Kelley |
