brown study, tragicomic, topple, toppling, humanity, humanization, run afoul of

THEORY & PRACTICE 'Tweeting' Carefully to Avoid SEC Ire

More companies are using blogs and "tweets" to communicate with investors and customers, but risk running afoul of SEC regulations.

Toppling of Czech Leader Raises Concerns Over EU Presidency

Mirek Topolanek will likely serve out the term of his country's EU
presidency, but the bloc's politicians are worried about the legitimacy of
a leader ousted by his own government and the fate of the Lisbon Treaty.

I am friends with a couple who enjoy riding a tandem. Once they hop on their beloved green bike, the wife, who usually controls her husband in their personal life, takes the back seat and concentrates on pedaling.
A tandem is heavy and it is difficult to make small turns. But it can move fast. That makes it dangerous when it topples over. Thus, it's best that the rider in the back seat, whose view of the road ahead is blocked, does not make any sudden moves.


Kenya Topples Into Post-Election Chaos
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
Western diplomats have been putting pressure on the government and opposition to end the bloodletting.

Google CEO urges grads to turn off computers

By KATHY MATHESON – 1 day ago

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The chairman and CEO of the world's largest search engine is urging college graduates to turn off their computers and discover the humanity around them.
Google's Eric Schmidt spoke at the University of Pennsylvania's commencement ceremony in Philadelphia on Monday.
The Class of 2009 is graduating in a tough economic climate, but Schmidt says such downturns can be a time for innovation. He noted that Rice Krispies, Twinkies and beer cans were all products of the Great Depression — and staples of college life.
Schmidt says that while graduates can't plan for innovation or inspiration, they can be ready for it when it happens.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Chaplin's Little Tramp, an Everyman Trying to Gild Cage of Life, Enthralled World

By ALDEN WHITMAN

No motion picture actor so captured and enthralled the world as did Charles Spencer Chaplin, a London ragamuffin who became an immortal artist for his deft and effective humanization of man's tragicomic conflicts with fate.
這humanization 讓我想起WWS說 Dr Deming的統計教學:

這三課程是商業研究的統計方法，除了介紹各種統計方法本身之外，他更會結合它們究竟如何發展而成的故事。戴明博士有獨特方式、本領，將統計數學賦予人情味。 Dr. Deming had a way of humanizing the mathematics of statistics.

Exit Spicey, enter the Mooch: another day in Trump's tragicomic America

brown study , IN A (broun STUD-ee)

noun

A state of deep absorption in thought.

Daydreaming or deeply contemplative, as in Margaret sits in the library, in a brown study. This term dates from the late 1500s, and although by then in a study had long meant "lost in thought," the reason for adding brown is unclear. Moreover, the present idiom also is ambiguous, some holding that it denotes genuine thoughtfulness and others that it signifies absentmindedness.

Etymology

Apparently from brown in the sense of gloomy.

Usage

"Tyler has also tendered us two near masterpieces, The Accidental Tourist and Saint Maybe (1991), the first tragicomic leaning toward tragic, the second a brown study of duty, redemption, and, to quote Emily Dickinson, `that pale sustenance, Despair!'" — Katharine Whittemore, Ordinary People, The Atlantic Monthly (Boston), May 2001.

human
adjective
of or typical of people:
The human body is composed of about 60% water.
Early human remains were found in the Dordogne region of France.
Victory in the war was achieved at the cost of great human suffering.
The inspector declared the meat fit for human consumption (= in good enough condition for people to eat).
Of course I make mistakes, I'm only human (= I am not perfect).
The fault was due to human error (= a person making a mistake).

human (being) noun [C]
a man, woman or child:
The greatest damage being done to our planet today is that being done by humans.

humanity Show phonetics
noun [U]
people in general:
The massacre was a crime against humanity.
See also humanity at humane; (the) humanities.

humanize, UK USUALLY humanise Show phonetics
verb [T]
Steps are being taken to humanize the prison (= to make it less unpleasant and more suitable for people).

humanization, UK USUALLY humanisation Show phonetics
noun [U]

humanly Show phonetics
adverb
humanly possible able to be done by people:
Rescuers are doing everything that is humanly possible to free the trapped people.



topple Show phonetics
verb 1 [I or T] to (cause to) lose balance and fall down:
The statue of the dictator was toppled (over) by the crowds.
The tree toppled and fell.

2 [T] to force a leader or government out of power:
The church was prominently involved in the struggle that toppled the dictatorship.
(from Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)


topple 

IN BRIEF: Fall down, as if collapsing. ━━ v. 倒れる［す］ ((down, over)); ぐらつく［かせる］.

 Follow the wisdom provided by nature. Everything in moderation - sunlight, water, nutrients. Too much of a good thing will topple your structure. — Vivian Elisabeth Glyck
afoul
━━ ad., a. 〔米〕 衝突して, もつれて.
run [fall] afoul of　…とめんどうを引き起す.

adverb
run/fall afoul of sth/sb to experience problems, punishment or harm because you disobey a rule or disagree with a powerful organization, group or person: 因不服從某規則或許"有力者"衝突而造成種種不利
He was fifteen when he first ran afoul of the law.
At one point Seeger fell afoul of the US government for his antiwar actions.GMAC Financial Services, the big home and auto lender that has run afoul of the mortgage market meltdown, said it has hired advisers to consider a range of options for salvaging its battered ResCap Capital mortgage unit, including selling pieces of the operation, acquiring another company and injecting more capital into ResCap so the unit can avoid violating debt covenants.


A civil war in home waters in no way diminished the navy's international role.
The United States ran afoul of Britain's neutral rights when Confederate ...