a pseudoacademic conference

When men go into a 'sluicery' for a 'sensation,' a 'drain,' or a 'common sewer,' they call the glass of gin they seek, in allusion to the juniper, a 'nipper,' or, more briefly, a 'nip,' occasionally a 'bite,' and not unfrequently it turns out a 'flogger.'

The idea of “emotional truth” often pops up during discussions of accuracy in the context of creative nonfiction. Maybe you can't get every detail right, goes the argument, but you can capture a larger meaning that's essentially truthful.

[…] to double the number of the secretaries, so that one portion of them may do the work, while the other carry up papers to the Council and sumjao its members.