Ruffians who went about London at night wounding and disfiguring men and indecently exposing women.
Harper’s Book of Facts, 1905.
A party of four, more usually applied to a party of two men and two women.
The Red-Headed League. The Annotated Sherlock Holmes by William S. Baring-Gould, 1972.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1910. From All There Is to Know by Alexander Coleman, 1994.
Descriptionary by Marc McCutcheon, 1992.
A ‘phonetic’ spelling of fish:
Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins by William and Mary Morris, 1977.
Life expectancy at birth for Americans was 34.5 years for males and 36.5 years for females when George Washington became president in 1789.
Isaac Asimov’s Book of Facts, 1979.
Hlonipha is a special form of Zulu which is traditionally only spoken by married women. It is a so-called avoidance language, as women have to avoid using words that sound like the names of any of their close male relatives. Forms of hlonipha are also found in related Nguni languages.
One Thousand Languages, edited by Peter K. Austin, 2008.
The Amazons are said to have been the descendants of Scythians inhabiting Cappadocia, when their husbands, having made incursions, were all slain, being surprised in ambuscade by their enemies. Their widows, excited to action by the sorrows they underwent on account of their husbands, resolved to form a female state, and having firmly established themselves, they decreed that matrimony was a shameful servitude. They were constantly engaged in wars.
The Corner Cupboard of Facts for Everybody by Robert Kemp Philip, 1859.
Really the best indoor exercise for developing a graceful bearing, and for diffusing its healthful influence over the whole frame, is that of throwing balls dexterously, according to any of the contrivances of fancy. Persons who become expert in this practice may throw from one to eight balls with astonishing dexterity, the exercise being sufficiently stimulating to encourage its frequent repetition; quickening the eye, and imparting a healthful vigour to every muscle of the system.
The Corner Cupboard of Facts for Everybody by Robert Kemp Philip, 1859.
The exclusion of females from the throne of France by what is called the Salic law, is admitted to have been a special departure from a general rule.
Things not generally known; a popular hand-book of facts not readily accessible in literature, history, and science by John Timbs, 1857.
The Book of Lists 2 by Irving Wallace, 1980.
The month of April has been remarkable for its fatality to celebrated women.
Curiousities for the Ingenius by Joseph Taylor, 1821.
