“The head surgeon jokes bluffly, and a few people chuff or make the facsimile of laughter, to appease him.”

“He seemed an ideal candidate: thick-skinned, determined, bluffly charming and a natural media performer.”

“Ignored, Maximianus then ordered an unsuccessful hunting-down of this bluffly popular naval commander, who, with the means to buy loyalty if necessary, withdrew the fleet into Britain and proclaimed himself the third emperor.”