The shock of my friend's decapitation affected me viscerally, and I became paralyzed with dread.

We have not to examine into the earliest practice of ascetic life and hermitism; the gathering together of secluded societies of celibates and virgins; the superstitious veneration of the relics of holy men […]

According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, in reality, this “independent” surveying was conducted by R.J. Reynolds’ ad agency, the William Esty Co., who would send staff to query physicians about their smoking habits at medical conferences and in their offices. They’d ask about their cigarette brand of choice, most of the time, after just having provided the good doctors with free cartons of Camels.

Why, if speakability is Carson’s aim, would she have one of her characters declare, “Look at him, look how he drips unhealth — shudder object!”