THE news is often given a sharper edge by the things people are saying--lines that tell a lot in daily conversation but may get lost in routine day-to-day reporting. A few examples from this week's TIME:

"Parting the waters"--newsmen's description of President Johnson's favorite oratorical exercise, a spreading breast-stroke-like gesture.

"The Westmoreland Stretch"--the term that military men have applied to the ability of Army Lieut. General William Westmoreland, the new U.S. military-assistance commander in South Viet Nam, to get more than a day's work out of his men every day.

"The Mail-Order Bride"--what some Oregonians are calling Henry Cabot Lodge, following a tart cue from the Portland Journal.

"This downward career from home to House"--Nancy Astor's description of her course when she became the first woman to sit in Britain's House of Commons.

Frauleinwunder--a truly delightful transformation in West Germany.

"Sanctified common sense"--the phrase with which Methodist Bishop Gerald Kennedy, this week's cover subject, sums up his church's pragmatic but perfection-aimed faith.

In other cases it is the almost passing comment that bears pondering in terms of what may happen in the future. Also in this week's issue:

"Now things are going to be settled one way or the other in Viet Nam" the surprising statement of onetime Army Deputy Chief of Staff James Gavin.

"We don't need publicity. We will show them by doing"--Paraguayan Dictator Alfredo Stroessner's response to the suggestion that his image needs improving.

"The frequency and intensity of the local battles warn us clearly to get at the root of the trouble before we have a full-scale war"--not a warning from a military man but from the president of the National School Boards Association about the conflict between school officials over roles and responsibilities.

"I can't ever tell what he is going to do. He can't either"--the disarming comment of Luci Baines Johnson about her daddy.

READERS are writing to TIME in pleasingly growing numbers--the letters we received in the first three months of this year topped the same period of last year by 48%. Most of the readers write to us about stories we have printed--at times to make caustic comment and at other times to praise and approve. When a public question arouses a large number of readers, however, they sit down to write to us immediately, even though our issue carrying the story they want to comment on has not yet gone to press.

This was the case last week as letters began to pour into TIME almost as soon as they reached the White House after President Johnson lifted his beagles by the ears and, as one reader put it, "landed in the dog house." And so while The Nation reports on the dog howl, the Letters section gives some readers their own say on the subject. Like most people, we like to get mail; we also like to be thought of as people who should hear what you think. Thanks for writing.

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