The Village Voice wryly described this origin story as "way more than a lot of men do for their women."

Mr. Arakkal wryly described an Indian religious ritual where women wipe away chalk drawings of a cobra with sweeping motions of their long hair.

Ailments and Disaffection Last week, he was plagued by his chronically sore left shoulder and developed a new hindrance he wryly described as "a pain in the backside."

Or were they monuments to herself, the manifestations of a condition that one commentator wryly describes as "an edifice complex"?

As far as his guitar playing on the album, however, Mr. Haynes wryly described himself as a "paid accompanist."

Only occasionally is the dialogue pointed, as when Martha wryly describes what it's like to dine with her brother in the drab, wallpapery household they share.

In the sleevenotes of the remaster, he wryly describes it as his "second most covered song".

Never having written as an adherent of organized religion, he has in the past wryly described himself as a Baptist agnostic.

Ms. Robertson wryly describes the company's stance that day: "We didn't do it, and we won't ever do it anymore."