The conventional wisdom holds that politicians must be packaged as feeling family types, rather than thick-skinned, sharp-elbowed machines dedicated to self-advancement.

ECONOMIST: Lexington

He is sweet, dedicated, and rather sexy with that thick accent.

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So it is ditching prescriptive standards which say, for example, how thick a door must be rather than merely how long it should be able to withstand a fire.

ECONOMIST: Deregulation in Japan

It would also mean reinventing the way we run organizations, built not on the sole basis of self-regarding profit-seeking motives, but rather organizations that are focused on providing thick value and delighting their customers.

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As part of its strategy to tap into the market for more nutritious convenience foods, the company is hoping people will pay a premium for a new pureed fruit product that it considers thick enough to be a snack rather than a beverage.

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The Archos G9 Android-based tablet computers contain Momentus Thin (7 mm thick) hard disk drives from Seagate Technology rather than flash memory for long term storage.

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The problem is that as nicely constructed as it is, it's rather bulky, at 2.09 pounds and 0.47 inch thick.

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First, he found dinosaur nests that had been built between lava flows 10-15 metres thick evidence that the animals were coping well with the volcanic activity rather than being weakened by it.

ECONOMIST: Mass extinctions