United States or Armenia ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !


Martial has given us a very pretty picture of one of this species, in the following epigram: Difficilis, facilis, jucundus, acerbus es idem, Nec tecum possum vivere, nec sine te. Ep. xii. 47. In all thy humours, whether grave or mellow, Thou'rt such a touchy, testy, pleasant fellow; Hast so much wit, and mirth, and spleen about thee, There is no living with thee, nor without thee.

Great men flocked to his door, but the testy old Dutchman let them wait until it suited him to receive them. Peter the Great had to cool his heels in his waiting-room two long hours before his turn came. Linnæus he would not see at all until he sent him a copy of his book. Then he shut the door against all others and summoned the author.

It seems difficult to imagine that a man who succeeded in charming so many different acquaintances, and in remaining life-long friends with the testy and inconsiderate Pirkheimer, should have altogether failed to create a relation kindly and even beautiful with his Agnes, whose portrait we surely have at her best in the drawing at Bremen.

The little girl looked mystified, but evidently thought best to change a subject about which the person concerned seemed testy. "I saw one once," she said sociably; "a real one. He was in a carriage, with horses and soldiers, and a star on his coat." "One what?" demanded the boy. "A king, a real one, you know."

Now then, Master Short!" Thus exhorted, the man of law continued "I charge ye as honest men to disperse!" "Odds truth, Master Short, why you've just laid 'em under arrest!" "H'm, true: then let 'em stay so in the king's name and have done with it." Master Short, in fact, was growing testy: but now the women push'd by him, and, by screaming at the sight of blood, put him out of all patience.

And if, as a matter of necessity, to "keep the cold out of his stomach," occasionally a wayfarer stopped his team and ventured to call for "somethin' warmin'," the testy publican stirred up the beverage in such a spiteful way, that, on receiving it foaming from his hand, the poor customer was half afraid to open his mouth, lest the red-hot flip iron should be plunged down his gullet.

Walter Tyrrel leant over him, and tried just at first to put in a word or two of explanation, such as Le Neve had made to himself; but an occasionally testy "Yes, yes; I see," was all the thanks he got for his pains and trouble. After a minute or two he found out it was better to let the engineer alone. That practiced eye picked out in a moment the strong and weak points of the whole conception.

Tyrrel shrugged his shoulders and shook himself impatiently. "I don't know." he answered, in a testy sort of voice. "I don't like the cliff top... It's so dangerous, don't you know? So unsafe. So unstable. The rocks go off so sheer, and stones topple over so easily." Le Neve laughed a little laugh of half-disguised contempt. He was moving over toward the path up the cliff side as they spoke.

His windy endowments had long excited the admiration of Antony Van Corlear, who is said to have hinted more than once to William the Testy, that in making Van Poffenburgh a general, he had spoiled an admirable trumpeter.

The Colonel, whose glance had gone out of the window, swung around in his chair and smote the table a testy blow. "For the Lord's sake," he exploded, "get some heat in you! Squirt some color into your way of looking at things!