Random Sequence

"Mrs. Boylan had retired hopelessly into the depths of her cambric before this philippic was half through."
--Marion Harland, "Nobody to Blame" in Godey's Lady Book and Magazine, January 1864

(I found a bound copy of several issues of Godey's in my basement and have been flipping through the dusty pages.)

cambric (noun) = white linen or cotton fabric
philippic (noun) = bitter denunciation, invective

Next time you're subject to a philippic and feeling hopeless to respond, be sure to have a cambric handy to retire into. Surely that will disarm your verbal attacker... won't it?