While Rosa is an acid-tongued woman who feeds on a steady diet of vituperative remarks, Hans is a quiet and steady soul, whose poetry is shown when he plays the piano accordion.

FORBES: Reading: The Book Thief

For some time, the hate-target of the second camp has been Giulio Tremonti, Forza Italia's acid-tongued finance minister, who shut them out of discussions, made policies they disliked and announced them without consultation.

ECONOMIST: Italian politics

Based on a short memoir by the talented, acid-tongued journalist Lynn Barber (first published in Granta magazine), the movie is set in 1962, when England was gradually emerging from postwar austerities and the fabled antics of swinging London were just getting under way.

NEWYORKER: An Education