"oafish" hidden in books

of a family is scanty his

When the property of the father of a family is scanty, his son and himself constantly live in the same place, and share the same occupations: habit and necessity bring them together, and force them to hold constant communication: the inevitable consequence is a sort of familiar intimacy, which renders authority less absolute, and which can ill be reconciled with the external forms of respect.
— from Democracy in America — Volume 2 by Alexis de Tocqueville

obtained a footing in society he

Having thus obtained a footing in society, he soon began to take a place in provincial assemblies; and he made the last bound on the road of social progress, when the vote of his fellow-electors sent him to represent them in the parliament of the kingdom.
— from Manners, Customs, and Dress During the Middle Ages and During the Renaissance Period by P. L. Jacob

of Aurea for indeed she had

As I looked at them, I instinctively summoned to my side the radiant shade of Aurea, for indeed she had seemed made of gold—gold and water lilies.
— from Vanishing Roads and Other Essays by Richard Le Gallienne

or a fish it seems highly

In his carving, therefore, of a hawk, a bear, a heron, or a fish, it seems highly probable that the mound sculptor had in mind a distinct species, as we understand the term.
— from Animal Carvings from Mounds of the Mississippi Valley Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1880-81, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1883, pages 117-166 by Henry W. (Henry Wetherbee) Henshaw

of attorney fees is so heavy

In the final analysis the cost of attorney fees is so heavy that the amount which finally accrues in cases of accident is seriously curtailed before it reaches the beneficiary.
— from The Progressive Democracy of James M. Cox by Charles E. (Charles Eugene) Morris

of a fugitive is stealing him

To contribute money for the legal defence of a fugitive is stealing him .
— from A Letter to the Hon. Samuel A. Eliot, Representative in Congress From the City of Boston, In Reply to His Apology For Voting For the Fugitive Slave Bill. by Franklin Dexter

other at first indeed such humour

When one side of the scale is weighed down with sadness many a man will instinctively mend things by throwing humour into the other; at first, indeed, such humour may be a trifle forced, but later it can become natural and really serve its purpose well.
— from Luther, vol. 5 of 6 by Hartmann Grisar

other at first in summits hanging

The arbor rendered to him by its softening distances from the bravura-airs of the feathered Prima Donna the services of a pedal and lute-stop;–gently was he led on by the windings which the gradual darkening and narrowing of the alley concealed, through the tones of the nightingale that floated after him, through the thinner trickling of the evening rays among the leaves between the two brooks, which now glided away inside of the chestnut-lane.–The brooks came closer together and left room only for love.–The portico closed in more coseyly.–The scattered flowers of the two banks crowded together and passed over into bushes.–The bushes grew up into a garden wall and touched each other at first in summits hanging towards each other, loose and transparent, and at last darkly knit together.–And the avenue and the arbor which had grown up under it blended their green together, so as to make with their coinciding blossom-veils only a single night.–Then in the green twilight was the arbor stopped up by a web of honeysuckle and nest of blossoms, but five ascending steps invited to the tearing asunder of the blooming curtain.
— from Hesperus; or, Forty-Five Dog-Post-Days: A Biography. Vol. II. by Jean Paul

of a failure I should have

You said at the time that this disappointment was different to yours, because it had not affected my own personal happiness; but you were wrong, Mildred dear, for if that crop had been a success, instead of a failure, I should have been the planter’s wife long ago, and you would not have had “Mardie” at Milvern House!
— from A Girl in Spring-Time by Vaizey, George de Horne, Mrs.

of a forest in Scotland held

We have an account of a forest in Scotland held of the Crown by the tenure of the delivery of a snow-ball on any day of the year on which it may be demanded; and it is said that there is no danger of forfeiture for default of the quit-rent, the chasms of Benewish holding snow, in the form of a glacier, throughout the year.—
— from Rambles in the Islands of Corsica and Sardinia with Notices of their History, Antiquities, and Present Condition. by Thomas Forester

one and furthermore if she had

I had thought at the time that she could have sold Betty half a dozen just as well as one, and, furthermore, if she had brought out one at twenty-five cents Betty would have bought it just as readily.
— from Dawson Black: Retail Merchant by Harold Whitehead

occupation and frequent if short holidays

Change of occupation, and frequent, if short, holidays.
— from Cornish Characters and Strange Events by S. (Sabine) Baring-Gould

This tab, called Hiding in Plain Sight, shows you passages from notable books where your word is accidentally (or perhaps deliberately?) spelled out by the first letters of consecutive words. Why would you care to know such a thing? It's not entirely clear to us, either, but it's fun to explore! What's the longest hidden word you can find? Where is your name hiding?

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