preclude, timeworn, face-saving

Microsoft, Yahoo drama heats up again
Los Angeles Times - CA,USA
Among them: The proposal would preclude a potential sale of all of Yahoo; a search advertising partnership with Google is a better deal than selling to ...


To accuse China's critics of “politicising” a sporting event is nonsense. What has the relay to do with sport? It is not some timeworn practice integral to the games. Rather, the idea of a relay from Greece to the Olympic venue was revived by the Nazis for the 1936 Berlin Olympics, which is hardly a precedent China wants to advertise.

The first “global” relay only took place for the most recent Olympics, in Athens in 2004. But that was not such a circus. China's pride may preclude any concession, however face-saving, on Tibet, or on human-rights abuses in general. But it is also facing criticism for its foreign policy—its links with the governments of Sudan and Myanmar in particular.

Here, in theory, it can do something to show that it is indeed a responsible international “stakeholder”, with diplomatic maturity as well as economic clout.


timeworn Hide phonetics
adjective
(no longer of interest or value because of) having been used a lot over a long period of time:
a timeworn expression/excuse
a timeworn path

preclude Show phonetics
verb [T] FORMAL
to prevent something or make it impossible, or prevent someone from doing something:
His contract precludes him from discussing his work with anyone outside the company.
The fact that your application was not successful this time does not preclude the possibility of you applying again next time.

preclusion Show phonetics
noun [U] FORMAL
Your age should not act as a preclusion to you being accepted on the university course.

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face-saving Show phonetics
adjective [before noun]
done so that other people will continue to respect you:
a face-saving exercise/gesture