One doesn't have to be a Constitution buff, or a Presidency buff, to be able to recite its mere thirty-five words by heart.
He knew that his Russian audience would know the original poem intimately - most of them would probably have been able to recite large portions of it by heart - so that what he had omitted from his libretto would be instinctively understood, the characterisation subliminally fleshed out, and any breaks in the narrative ignored.
Your best friend may be able to recite English poetry after hearing it once when you need to see it to understand.
Onge, who is 26 and first joined the ski team 12 years ago, may not be able to recite the related formula — for the record, it is rotational momentum equals rotational inertia times rotational velocity — but he knows what is going on.
Americans may not be able to recite the amendment, or perhaps even explain it, but they are instinctively uncomfortable when their government appears to promote one religion over another, or allows discrimination based on religion, or interferes in the freedom of a church or synagogue or mosque.
"I was able to recite the whole movie before I ever got to see it," Mr. Lee said.
It gives children "a social lubricant to be able to recite lines," says Dr. Amy Jordan, senior research investigator at the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.
"But you don't just come out of your university time with a degree; the experiences it gives you are far more important than being able to recite the words of some pompous philosopher," he says.
They were able to recite Eddie's gun-safety motto, but when a gun lay in front of them, they played with it, even looking down the barrel.
Have your 30-second pitch down, and be prepared to recite it a hundred times.
