The public areas have lots of character, the 96 rooms less so, but at $160 a night for a double, it is moderately priced by the inflated standards of London.

The M Streets were one of Dallas's most desirable yet still affordable neighborhoods-at least by Dallas's inflated standards.

But even by inflated standards, Bonds exceeded Roger Maris's old single-season home-run record by a whopping margin.

He does not command much attention from the fans, and his salary is modest by today's inflated standards.

He looked at problems from the inside out, and his solutions often baffled his competitors and helped him amass a small fortune, even by today's inflated standards.

By today's inflated standards, what will those victories be worth to the Yankees' marketing machine, to their television empire?

That set an inflated standard for all three networks.

So even if his audience is small by pop music's inflated standard, Mr. Hitchcock takes the long view.

Even by the inflated standards of high finance, Wall Street is overflowing with holiday cheer this year.