“You only exist because I believe you do,” said Ricky to Avery, before adding, “Just kidding! I’m not really that much of a (a)   .”

Was Craig bragging or complaining when he stated that his household became an (a)   when his son was born? “Nancy and I do whatever little Ryland wants or needs,” he said.

• The Trans’ oldest child is out of college and is fully (a)   ; when the younger two complete their education, Nam and Julie plan to travel extensively.

When the character Ishmael in Herman Melville’s great novel Moby-Dick says, “A whale ship was my Yale College and Harvard,” he could be speaking for the author as well. As a writer Melville was a complete (a)   .

Probably the best-known (a)   in twentieth-century literature is Arthur “Boo” Radley of To Kill a Mockingbird. He emerges from his house only in an unusual situation such as saving a child from the murderous attack of the evil Bob Ewell.

“Lee has to look at the sports page before he’ll sit down to breakfast,” said his wife. “It’s just his little (a)   .”

The most famous Shakespearean (a)   is probably Hamlet’s speech beginning with the words, “To be or not to be, that is the question.”

Adrian likes to think of himself as a (a)   , but his rebelliousness is mostly limited to boasting and to slogans on T-shirts.

With the developments in the Middle East in the past few years, most Americans have had to do some fast learning about Islam, the mainstream beliefs as well as some of the more (a)   variations.

When Thomas Carlyle writes of the French Revolution, he refers to Marie Antoinette as “the fair young queen, the (a)   of all eyes.”