decay, decayed, toothless. gap-toothed

Executive Pay Limits May Prove Toothless
Congress wanted to guarantee that the $700 billion financial bailout would limit the eye-popping pay of Wall Street executives, so lawmakers included a mechanism for reviewing executive compensation and penalizing firms that break the rules.
(By Amit R. Paley, The Washington Post)

The Soviet Union announced that the International Tchaikovsky Competition would demonstrate cultural and educational superiority over a decadent West. Unfortunately, a 23-year-old Texan called Van Cliburn won in a near-unanimous decision

One night in April 1958, the cold war was broken by a gap-toothed smile

Piano man

ECONOMIST.COM

簡談『約翰生傳』兩翻譯本之品質
---
1976年，台北的志文出版社發行》羅珞珈、莫洛夫節譯的

《約翰生傳》，編排認真，可惜錯誤甚多，林行止等人將其束之高閣。未料，約2003年北京之中國社會科學出版「再版它」。
『約翰生傳』蔡明田譯，北京：國際文化，2005（這本書根據的是1952年「大英百科出版公司」的選本。）這本錯誤亦很多（由於它的某些引言附英文，我們可以很快知道翻譯者之功力，譬如說，「詞典編篡者：編寫詞典的作者，不受工傷的苦力勞動者。」（Lexicographer
:a writer of dictionaries, a harmless drudge.）把harmless都看錯（harmless ：
not able or not likely to cause harm））。我們可以舉許多其他例，如145頁將 decayed
actors翻譯成「退休演員」和「衰敗的演員」；「3月20日」漏打；隔頁第一句中英對照引文翻譯錯…….

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Jonathan Swift
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"For poetry, he's past his prime, He takes an hour to find a rhyme; His fire is out, his wit decayed, His fancy sunk, his muse a jade. I'd have him throw away his pen, But there's no talking to some men." Poet, author, clergyman Jonathan Swift wrote these lines in Verses on the Death of Doctor Swift, in 1733. Best known for his Gulliver's Travels (1726), Swift was a biting satirist who was one of the founding members of the Scriblerus Club. He was born on this date in 1667.

Quote

"Every man desires to live long, but no man wishes to be old." — Jonathan Swift

decay
verb [I or T]
to (cause something to) become gradually damaged, worse or less:
Sugar makes your teeth decay.
The role of the extended family has been decaying for some time.
Pollution has decayed the surface of the stonework on the front of the cathedral.
the smell of decaying meat

decay
noun [U]
when something decays:
environmental/industrial/moral/urban decay
dental/tooth decay
The buildings had started to fall into decay.
This industry has been in decay for some time.

de・cay

 

━━ v. 朽ちる［させる］, 腐る［らせる］; 衰える［させる］; 【物】（放射性物質が自然に）崩壊する.
━━ n. 腐敗, 衰微; （放射性物質の）自然崩壊; 虫歯.
fall into [go to] decay　朽ちる; 衰微する.
de・cayed　━━ a.

Decayed

a.Fallen, as to physical or social condition; affected with decay; rotten; as, decayed vegetation or vegetables; a decayed fortune or gentleman.
decayed teeth, DECAYED ACTOR


-- De·cay·ed·ness , n.

tooth (MOUTH)
noun [C] plural teeth
one of the hard white objects in the mouth, which are used for biting and chewing:
a broken/missing tooth
front/back teeth
false teeth
Brush/Clean your teeth thoroughly morning and night.
I had to have a tooth out (US pulled) (= removed).
See also eyetooth.
See picture .

-toothed
suffix
with the teeth described:
gap-toothed (= with a space between the top two front teeth)

toothless 
adjective
1 having no teeth:
an ugly toothless old hag

2 describes an organization or a rule that has no power:
This well-intentioned but toothless law will do nothing to improve the situation.

toothy
adjective
showing a lot of teeth when you smile:
He gave me a toothy grin.