Example sentences of "[noun sg] at the best of times " in BNC.
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| 1 | Blatcham station never exuded sweetness and light at the best of times , but the last train from London pulled into an atmosphere of peculiarly depressing gloom and resentment : gloom of the fatigued and silent travellers , and resentment of the station staff , who evidently considered it a gross imposition that they were compelled to keep open the station until 11.20 for a handful of passengers returning from some nocturnal debauch in the metropolis . |
| 2 | Listening is a difficult and complex skill at the best of times . |
| 3 | I do not like using the telephone at the best of times and was never very fond of small-talk , that tedious lubricant for rusty little minds . |
| 4 | The Somerset Levels is a weird and wonderful place at the best of times , a strange flat landscape with the unnatural looking mound of Glastonbury Tor rising up from nowhere . |
| 5 | Do n't forget , she was returning to a village in the north , hardly the most progressive or liberal-minded place at the best of times , and this particular village was especially proud of its moral record . |
| 6 | This was brought home to me recently when I went into mine ( a rash and dangerous move at the best of times ) to fetch the hosepipe . |
| 7 | Gathering up the relicts is a hard business at the best of times , and Jackie had to know how the task , carried through with Helen 's usual bravery , would have affected her . |
| 8 | But reason told her it was a precarious business at the best of times . |
| 9 | Running an airline is an expensive business at the best of times , during a recession it can be a way of using up money really quite quickly , now Virgin 's particular problem was that they began this recession with relatively little in the way of capital and reserves , only about thirty six million in nineteen ninety one . |
| 10 | Going underground is a tricky business at the best of times . |
| 11 | Jumping out of an aircraft is a nervy business at the best of times , so the first jump of a new season can be a jittery time , especially when you 're the elite RAF Falcons . |
| 12 | Psycho-history is a derelict enterprise at the best of times , and who can be sure about the mental health of any of the great heroes of the past ? |
| 13 | Caliban is only half a person at the best of times . |
| 14 | Roses do not like root disturbance at the best of times , and any damage at this stage is another shock that they can well do without . |
| 15 | Arranged into convenient sections that deal with equipment , accessories , technique , composition , air-to-air , museum , selling , research etc , it gives a reasonable overview into the art of taking aircraft pictures , a difficult art at the best of times . |
| 16 | Given the rambling terms of reference , and the clash of opinion between its members as to how they should be interpreted , the Commission would have faced a bumpy ride at the best of times . |
| 17 | Equally , in ‘ Soldier Man ’ , the subject of rape , a sensitive area at the best of times , is confronted in a unique way , its dark undertow brought into relief by a dolorous fiddle and cello . |
| 18 | And I imagine she 's not a forgiving woman at the best of times . |
| 19 | Arthur Jaffe was not a benevolent man at the best of times . |
| 20 | He was an emotional man at the best of times and a proud one , and the one often cancelled out the other . |
| 21 | Death made little sense at the best of times . |
| 22 | ‘ Babies are n't her favourite subject at the best of times . |
| 23 | Trent 's an obnoxious , contrary bugger at the best of times , as the lyrical concerns show — in between the obligatory expletives , they range from hate through the sub-Nietzschian ideas of cultural slavery and , well , back to hate again . |
| 24 | A combination of justified annoyance , guilt and weeks of overwork blew John McLeish 's temper to shreds instantly , and Francesca , seriously over-stressed and not one to duck a quarrel at the best of times , responded in kind . |
| 25 | I know we as a nation are not renowned for our ability to serve but the general level of indifference , apathy and downright rudeness I encountered made even me , a cynical bastard at the best of times , wince . |
| 26 | He 's an ungrateful bastard at the best of times but biting the hand that feeds you while it 's feeding you is a bit out of order . |
| 27 | And driving a car around the centre is an exercise in frustration at the best of times . |
| 28 | FLEET Street photographers , a pretty twitchy lot at the best of times , were in a right state at the Olympic Stadium in Rome this week . |
| 29 | All birds are very temperamental and finicky with their food at the best of times , so I started by slipping titbits of chick under her feet while she was sitting on the glove . |
| 30 | But then we had a spell of bad weather during haytiming , a difficult situation at the best of times , and I simply could not manage . |