So the modification was not made, and the distressingly short line was permitted to remain.

Overloaded with period detail and historical commentary, distressingly short of psychological interest or dramatic tension, they failed to engage readers.

Only solid rock and metal, which was in distressingly short supply on Pern, were impervious to the burning score of Thread.

Mr. Shea finds the weekend distressingly short for catching up on 1,001 chores and spending time with his wife, Elizabeth, who works for a pharmaceutical company,and their 9-month-old baby, Caroline, not to mention finding a moment here or there for his own pastimes.

A distressingly short time, she suspected.

But spirited as it was, Mr. Clinton's speech at Rutgers University this week was distressingly short on crucial details.