A white sock here, a pair of red braces there, a grey slip-on shoe, a swastika, are often as not all one needs to tell you there's no point writing down phone numbers and forking out for expensive lunches because it's never going to be a runner".
Even in today's high-tech N.F.L. — with its aerial cameras and triaxial knee braces — there's still room for the humblest of technologies.
For a western reader, too, Adiga's novel is bracing: there is an unremitting realism usually airbrushed from Indian films and novels.
And if the Atlantic waves prove too bracing, there are five pools (including two designed with toddlers in mind) with food and drink bars attached, and plenty of "fat boy" cushions scattered around (oversized beanbags much beloved of the children they engulf).
Make sure (if you have braces) there is not any food caught in your brackets.
They are not hard and fast alternatives to braces — there are many situations where braces are the only option.
If you really can't even think of getting braces, there are different kinds called "invisible braces".
If you have braces, there is little you can do besides waiting until your beautiful straight teeth are revealed, but if you need to wear a retainer or have not yet started in braces, consider asking your orthodontist about using Invisalign instead.
"There's no cast, there's no brace, and there are no crutches.
