Example sentences of "what can only be [vb pp] " in BNC.
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| 1 | The philosopher Mark Johnson has recently produced what can only be called a constructivist account of linguistic meaning and reasoning . |
| 2 | He was a great Wotan and Hans Sachs of his time , but he assumed many more characters , as this disc sketches in , by means of what can only be called ‘ random ’ arias . |
| 3 | It is clear that these larger groups or phyla have arisen because of what can only be called co-evolution : the changes to take place in their body types have been more or less continuously in tune with evolutionary changes in their habitat or environment . |
| 4 | My own family was at once strongly nuclear and part of what can only be called a clan . |
| 5 | One member followed me around all day abusing me verbally with what can only be called dirty talk . |
| 6 | Elsewhere the band choose what can only be called a hardcore bubblegum sound and by the time you get to the final furlong , this regularity means the fizz is starting to fade and you dearly want the guitars to twist and shout and sing . |
| 7 | Each of the five judgments rambles over the territory in what can only be called a head-scratching way , making it impossible for the consumer of the judgment to know at the end just what the law is held to be , except negatively , and then only negatively on a few points . |
| 8 | If we examine the RNAs in a long succession of test-tubes , we see what can only be called evolutionary change . |
| 9 | Her knowledge of Samoa was based upon what a group of adolescent girls thr told her , through an interpreter , and what can only be called , er , chit-chat and gossip that she picked up from missionaries ' wives and people like this . |
| 10 | In what can only be regarded as the ultimate pilot 's ‘ Jim 'll fix it ’ fantasy come true , he persuaded the RAF to let him go through key parts of the four-year course that ends with a posting to an operational fighter squadron . |
| 11 | Not surprisingly therefore , the results of the 1983 survey show that mass unemployment ‘ has created a serious new risk of what can only be regarded as downward social mobility — and that risk is much greater for men in working class positions , by whatever route they come into them , than it is for others ’ ( p. 17 ) . |
| 12 | The supporters of O M O V have put their arguments in what can only be said to be a ham-fisted and insulting way . |
| 13 | Rather , ‘ the censure of this essay must be on a somewhat different ground — that of my wishing to have all at once what can only be had in succession in an historical process , a co-existence of the primitive and the most highly sophisticated ’ . |
| 14 | The squad I ran became what can only be described as more ‘ disordered ’ and ‘ polluted ’ than had been the accepted norm , and we exhibited many verbal and nonverbal signals of this divergent nature . |
| 15 | It felt like it in the GLX , with what can only be described as feeble front-end grip , resulting in premature and excessive understeer . |
| 16 | At Love Field , a tin-pot airport outside Dallas , very late one night , he made what can only be described as a solicitation by prayer . |
| 17 | It was two or three days earlier that I had made my appointment , and as luck so often has it , the due day arrived to what can only be described as ‘ one of those days ’ . |
| 18 | In parallel to what can only be described as ‘ photo-painting ’ , Bowran has been developing a means of recreating the effect of a charcoal drawing with a printer colleague . |
| 19 | It troubled me with what can only be described as the Idea of Autumn . |
| 20 | The Full Moon in your own birth sign on the 14th should certainly be an eye-opener for what can only be described as a partnership or marital affairs — and yet out of all this turmoil will come a new kind of happiness , serenity and security . |
| 21 | The paint was brushed on , rubbed down , another coat , another rub , until perhaps ten or twelve coats had been applied to give what can only be described as a wonderful finish . |
| 22 | A seven-year-old lovable imp turned overnight into what can only be described as a ‘ demon ’ . |
| 23 | ‘ We did ask you nicely , ’ he said , with what can only be described as the faintest of smirks . |
| 24 | Those poor children in the Cairngorms had just been recovered from the clutches of what can only be described as moronic supervisors . |
| 25 | Although I 'm strongly against what can only be described as the ‘ bastardisation ’ of a property , a little out-of-keeping decor is often unavoidable unless you restrict yourself to a very limited range of choice . |
| 26 | Nottingham University lecturer Tony Thompson , a member of the inquiry team , said yesterday : ‘ Staff were subject to some manipulation by what can only be described as evil people . |
| 27 | Looking back over this year 's first round matches , obviously Germany 's defeat in Rio by Brazil , amid what can only be described as typical South American frenzy and excitement , was the biggest shock and one which might even lead to repercussions not only by the ITF about crowd behaviour in some parts of the world but also from within the disgruntled German camp . |
| 28 | The revival of interest in what can only be described as a strategy of import led growth began in the late 1950s as uneasiness over the optimistic , autarkic assumptions of the Khrushchev period increased . |
| 29 | One of the companies involved in what can only be described as the latest round of unity talks among the warring Unix camps , which appear to be being sponsored by Unix International Inc , says that for all the fear , uncertainty and doubt unleashed by Microsoft Corp with Windows NT , the initiative still lacks the compulsion that galvanised the part of the industry — led by those that saw Unix primarily as a threat — to form the Open Software Foundation five years ago . |
| 30 | One of the companies involved in what can only be described as the latest round of unity talks that Unix International seems to be sponsoring ( UX No 423 , 424 ) says that for all the fear , uncertainty and doubt unleashed by Microsoft Corp , the project still lacks the compulsion that galvanized the industry to form the Open Software Foundation five years ago . |