Knee-jerky

Could you please resolve to control your knee-jerky impulse to give every Tom, Dick, and Harry (Kupfer?) a standing ovation?

Despite possessing a libertarian streak that's widening over time, Buzz doesn't get all knee-jerky in opposing new government regulation, even when politicians start messing with the Internet.

Yet when Carol called, my immediate reaction — “How sad” or words to that effect — was so inappropriate, so knee-jerky, that I'm embarrassed to report it.