breast-beating

Updated: May 14, 2025

At first our laughter was half-hearted, tinged with fear, but as we became convinced of his impotence we waxed uproarious. He raged and raged at us, and ground his teeth in helpless fury. And in our fancied security we mocked and mocked him. We were ever short-sighted, we Folk. Red-Eye abruptly ceased his breast-beating and tooth-grinding, and ran across the timber-jam to the shore.

Jack London - Before Adam

The breast-beating scene was a knockout. It ran for two years in New York alone. Langdon's sables, chinchillas, ermines, and jewels were always sticking out from the pages of Vanity Fair and Vogue.

Edna Ferber - Gigolo