swagger stick

He led us through fields and forests, used his ever-present swagger stick to note the placement and movement of forces, and gathered his charges around him to deliver forceful and vivid descriptions of a battle.

In his right hand he carried a swagger stick which occasionally he slapped against his left palm, punctuation marks for the thoughts that crowded and strutted invisibly within him.

“If you go look at history, you’ll see swagger sticks,” said Mr. Pompeo, sitting in an armchair beneath a painting of the military school in his office.

But in many ways, the fact that Gen. Sharif was bowing out on time — and will pass his bamboo swagger stick to Bajwa in a formal military ceremony on Wednesday — mattered even more.

Men began to wear their handkerchiefs in their sleeves and some foppish lieutenants carried swagger sticks.