But others said that eyewashing was a standard security practice that had been in existence for decades.

His matter-of-factness might merely be lack of tact.

You will wonder how I have escaped the manacles that so long bound me. I cannot explain all now; but thus much I am permitted to say, that they were riveted by certain charms: and I cannot be assured of my freedom till I myself return them to him from whom they came—to him who has so long been the lord of my affections and master of my mind.

An actor never stumbled over his lines, he “fluffed”; he never forgot his dialogue, he “dried.”