Word: footpad
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...temporarily well-to-do businessman suddenly decided to "invest" his savings of $80,000 in one glorious day at the races. Two special agents who spotted the man peeling off thousand-dollar bills at a pari-mutuel window put a purposely obvious "tail" on him, so that every footpad within miles would keep hands off. The businessman got home safely-but broke...
Even a modern bandit (not necessarily a common footpad but, say, one of those Hangchow hotelkeepers who right now are charging five days' key money for two days' hotel reservation) might solace himself with Li Shê's impromptu verse which so delighted the brigands who had seized him that he was set free...
...Field Marshal Wavell is said to have described the modern soldier in these terms: 'A good soldier must be part burglar, part footpad, part athlete, part gunman . . . and all guts...
...verb "to mugg" apparently stems from the dank soil of 19th Century prisons, where "mugger" was synonymous with footpad-"one of the wretched horde who haunt the street at midnight to rob drunken men." Its meaning, as given by the American Thesaurus of Slang: robbery with violence. In New York City muggers usually attack from behind if possible, throwing one arm around the victim's neck, while the assistant muggers frisk the victim...
...Paris, Barbara found Georges. Georges, a fascinating footpad, was so closely watched by the police that when he became Barbara's nursemaid she was "the best-guarded child in Paris." Away from Barbara, Georges made his living peddling heroin, stealing old masters, putting cotton in public telephones to prevent coins from being returned. Disguised as a Hindu, Georges once robbed a Swiss bank and a French newspaper, ran the story as reported by its "special envoy" at Basle...