He is humble and not humble, charming and prickly, unruffled and deeply sensitive.

WSJ: 2012 London Olympics: Bradley Wiggins: The Reluctant King of Cycling - Jason Gay

Mr Giuliani's prickly personality has not helped, and may have played into the hands of New York's more extreme minority leaders.

ECONOMIST: First safety, then civility

De Villiers warned pre-match that Wales would find their visitors were "prickly pears" and not so easy to pick.

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The reason this time is not the sleaze and cronyism of the 1990s, but Slovakia's prickly principles.

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Reports routinely emerged of prickly relations between Allen and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who did not attend the ceremony.

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