But the last debate on July 2nd saw something of a frisson.
Germany is a harmless place these days incapable of summoning a frisson.
His vocals have the warmth of Al Green and a frisson of Marvin Gaye's torment.
There is almost a frisson of naughtiness, of gathering in defiance of an overbearing state.
Including a yellow dress, a drape of bunting and a pair of men's hats, they personify Donald Judd's term "specific objects" with admirable clarity and can elicit a frisson of shock.
They are present and not present, which lends a frisson of pathos, of insubstantiality, to their testimonials.
Lewis's recent single, One of the Guys, comes early, raising a frisson of recognition.
Yup, those Zapatistas, properly termed the Zapatista Army of National Unity, or E.Z.L.N., whose failed revolution has given Chiapas a frisson of danger.
Now, though, there is a frisson of anticipation about the place, if only among aficionados of Britain's retailing industry.
A frisson of schadenfreude might be preferable to a entire bouquet of roses.
