Only a Cough and Spit

From My Name Escapes Me:

Wednesday 7 June (1995)

...It seems a pity that the good old phrase 'living in sin' is likely to be dropped by the C of E. So many friends, happily living in sin, will feel very ordinary and humdrum when they become merely partners; or, as the Americans say, 'an item'. Living in sin has always sounded daring and exotic...

p.s. He includes on March 28th, 1995 this citation of Canon Liddon that "The applause of all but very good men is no more than the precise measure of their possible hostility." I find this a much more pleasant way to express what Pericles did in the opening of his funeral oration.

p.p.s. The title of this post is a phrase, new to me, but old to actors, for a small dramatic role and employed to dismiss a lack of opportunity.