Spartan Gold: Dueling scar and more

pg 332

"Maybe I'll end up with a dueling scar."

Dueling scars have been seen as a “badge of honour” since as early as 1825. Known variously as "Mensur scars", "the bragging scar", "smite", "Schmitte" or "Renommierschmiss", duelling scars were popular amongst upper-class Austrians and Germans involved in academic fencing at the start of the 20th century. Being a practice amongst university students, it was seen as a mark of their class and honour, due to the status of duelling societies at German and Austrian universities at the time, and is an early example of scarification in European society. The practice of duelling and the associated scars was also present to some extent in the German military.
American tourists visiting Germany in the late 19th century were shocked to see the students, generally with their Studentcorp, at major German universities such as Heidelberg, Bonn, or Jena with facial scars - some older, some more recent, and some still wrapped in bandages.
The sport of academic fencing at the time was very different from modern fencing. Rather than foils, participants used heavy sabres. This resulted in more extreme scarring than one would normally have from standard Olympic swords. The individual duels between students, known as Mensur, were somewhat ritualised. In some cases, protective clothing was worn, including padding on the arm.

 In addition, the duellists did not advance and retreat like modern fencers. They stood within arm's reach and exchanged cuts until one of them received a facial cut.

The culture of duelling scars was mainly common to Germany and Austria, to a lesser extent some central European countries and briefly at places such as Oxford and some other elite universities. German military laws permitted men to wage duels of honor until World War I, and in 1933 the Nazi government legalized the practice once more.
Within the duel, it was seen as ideal and a way of showing courage to be able to stand and take the blow, as opposed to inflicting the wound. In fact, the victor was seen as the person who could walk away from the duel with an obvious scar. It was important to showing one's duelling prowess, but also that one was capable of taking the wound that was inflicted.

"You sank someone's battleship."
Until just a few years ago, the TV commercial for the game Battleship had someone whining, "You sank my Battleship!"

Battleship (also Battleships or Sea Battle) is a guessing game for two players. It is known worldwide as a pencil and paper game which predates World War I. It was published by Milton Bradley Company in 1931 as the pad-and-pencil game "Broadsides, the Game of Naval Strategy", and as a board game in 1967. The 2012 Battleship (film) is an American alien invasion science fiction naval action movie inspired by the board game.

The horse, a jet-black Arabian stallion standing at least 16 hands high

The Arabian or Arab horse is a breed of horse that originated on the Arabian Peninsula. With a distinctive head shape and high tail carriage, the Arabian is one of the most easily recognizable horse breeds in the world. It is also one of the oldest breeds, with archaeological evidence of horses that resemble modern Arabians dating back 4,500 years. Throughout history, Arabian horses spread around the world by both war and trade, used to improve other breeds by adding speed, refinement, endurance, and strong bone. Today, Arabian bloodlines are found in almost every modern breed of riding horse.
The Arabian developed in a desert climate and was prized by the nomadic Bedouin people, often being brought inside the family tent for shelter and protection from theft. Selective breeding for traits including an ability to form a cooperative relationship with humans created a horse breed that is good-natured, quick to learn, and willing to please. The Arabian also developed the high spirit and alertness needed in a horse used for raiding and war. This combination of willingness and sensitivity requires modern Arabian horse owners to handle their horses with competence and respect.
The Arabian is a versatile breed. Arabians dominate the discipline of endurance riding, and compete today in many other fields of equestrian activity. They are one of the top ten most popular horse breeds in the world. They are now found worldwide, including the United States and Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, continental Europe, South America (especially Brazil), and its land of origin, the Middle East.

The hand is a non-SI unit of measurement of length, now used only for the measurement of the height of horses in some English-speaking countries, including Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.^[1] With origins in ancient Egypt, it was originally based on the breadth of a human hand. It is today equal to four inches, and thus, following the adoption of the international inch in 1959, equal to exactly 10.16 centimetres. It may be abbreviated to "h" or the plural "hh".^[2] Although measurements between whole hands are usually expressed in what appears to be decimal format, the subdivision of the hand is not decimal but is in base 4, that is, subdivisions after the radix point are in quarters.^[1]Thus, a horse 62 inches high, precisely between 15 and 16 hands, is not 15.5, but rather is 15.2 hands high: likewise, 64 inches high is not 15.4, but rather is 16.0

They turned and sprinted from the tack room

Tack is a piece of equipment or accessory equipped on horses in the course of their use as domesticated animals. Saddles, stirrups, bridles, halters, reins, bits, harnesses, martingales, and breastplates are all forms of horse tack. Equipping a horse is often referred to as tacking up.