She added, however, that breath mints and bottled water were still selling well.

But what about products with even less emotive potential than breath mints?

I put breath mints in my pocket and say to a man who's asleep, 'Where'd you go to college?'

"I can get us back into the States," she says, "but I'm going to need a condom and a breath mint."

Of course, these things are not handed out like breath mints.

"Some mothers have so much guilt," she wrote earlier this year, "they cannot eat a breath mint without sharing it."

By then, Santa's wife has slipped him a breath mint just in case.

They're also nice because they are not quite as blatant as breath mints but get the job done.

If she feels in need of something to occupy her mouth, suggest breath mints.

A small white breath mint followed the chips into the pot.