He didn't even bother to search his mental library under pithy, tasteless and nasty retorts.

The short, pithy sayings have become popular mottoes and household words.

His writings in tone and character are always alike " rich in thought and destitute of form, passionate and hair-splitting, eloquent and pithy in expression, energetic and condensed to the point of obscurity."

They were written in pithy and popular language, full of proverbs and colloquialisms. Plato is said to have introduced them into Athens and to have made use of them in his dialogues; according to Suidas, they were Plato's constant companions, and he even slept with them under his pillow.

The phone rang, precluding a pithy rejoinder, and as Cynthia was elbow-deep in dishwater, Dean answered.