| OXFORD UNIVERSITY; TWO ENGLISH PROFESSORS, GOSSIPING ABOUT ONE OF THEIR COWORKERS. |
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 | Stephen's (chronically) (belligerent) attitude is starting to grate on my nerves. | |
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| I agree. He's very (brazen), but will never come to his senses and see all the damage he's inflicting. | |
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| That's not true. We're all (bolstering) his attitude and egging him on by letting him do what he's doing, which is picking fights with our superiors. This concerns everyone surrounding him, too | |
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| You're right. We can no longer be (benign) in our approaches and prevent him from seeing the bigger picture like this. | |
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| The only rational solution which comes to mind is to be (candid) with him. He's gone so far down the road of opposition that he may not even know that he's on it anymore. | |
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| I agree. His (cantankerous) attitude needs to be done something about, and that is the best solution. | |
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