But Democrats, who control the Legislature, dismissed Mr. Christie's remarks as merely "a good speech" and called the income tax proposal a "sound bite" that would disproportionately benefit the rich while taking money away from schools.
As a child, Liza Campbell was surprised to discover that for most people a family tree was merely a figure of speech.
Not because the polls suggest she will trounce him in November, but rather because it is merely a figure of speech.
Dr. Gai disputes that, acknowledging that he once told the professor, Kurt Haller, "He who goes to war should be prepared to die," but that it was merely a figure of speech common among Israelis, particularly war veterans.
But a McConnell aide said the senator's use of the word "might" was merely a figure of speech, and that he firmly advised Trump to condemn the violence.
Russo's dad tells the kid at one point that his mother is "nuts" and it takes a lifetime for Russo to realize that's not merely a figure of speech.
Such distinctions were important, because researchers had determined that merely overheard speech — a mother holding a child on her lap but talking on the phone, for instance — contributed less to language development.
When an overarching, primary goal of one side isn't even remotely connected to the issues at hand and the other side relents or responds in kind, when reasoning is considered weakness, common ground is a fantasy, quid pro quo is not an option, and debate is merely a series of speeches punctuated by questions, persuasion has left the room.
Like Leo DiCaprio has the environment and Al Gore has the environment and Jimmy Carter has anti-Americanism … I have Hillary". Once upon a time, even Matt Drudge thought Clinton's coughing fits were merely a side effect of giving speech after speech — something worthy of a little sympathy and even admiration, not something that might disqualify her from the White House.
He mentioned it seven times on Tuesday.The lesson should be obvious: merely counting up words in a speech (for those who even bother to count, rather than shooting from intuition) is a poor substitute for analysis.
