threadbare, reassure, allow the full and total accounting

 

QUOTATION OF THE DAY

"He could turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week - turn it over, all of it, without delay and allow the full and total accounting."

SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY, when asked about steps Syria's leader could take to avoid a retaliatory attack.

Obama Seeks to Reassure U.S. After Bombing Attempt
By PETER BAKER and SCOTT SHANE
President Obama emerged from seclusion to try to quell criticism of the government’s handling of an attempted plane attack as a branch of Al Qaeda claimed responsibility.

China’s record as a citizen of the world is strikingly threadbare. On a host of issues from Iran to Sudan, it has used its main geopolitical asset, its permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, to obstruct progress, hiding behind the excuse that it does not want to intervene in other countries’ affairs.


But losses on that scale do not show up in the company’s financial filings. Instead, A.I.G. replenished its capital by issuing $20 billion in stock and debt in May and reassured investors that it had an ample cushion. It also said that it was making its accounting more precise.
Mr. Vickrey and other analysts are examining the company’s disclosures for clues that the cushion was threadbare and that company officials knew they had major losses months before the bailout.


threadbare (THIN) Show phonetics
adjective
describes material or clothes that have become thin or damaged because they have been used a lot:
a threadbare coat
threadbare (WEAK) Show phonetics
adjective
A threadbare excuse, argument or idea lacks strength and no longer impresses people because it is old or has been used too much:
a threadbare excuse

thread・bare

━━ a. すり切れた, 着古した; ぼろを着た; 陳腐な, 古臭い.