Don't blame you. There's a valiant attempt to elucidate it here: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/400598/what-does-this-insult-mean-your-wife-sir-under-the-pretense-of-keeping-a-… (View Post)

"Your wife, sir, under the pretense of keeping a bawdy house, is a receiver of stolen goods." Well, it was considered frightfully amusing in Johnson's day. Wouldn't be original no… (View Post)

I went to watch the result with some Labour-supporting friends so I thought I ought to take a bottle of champagne. At 2am I said "shall we drink it, anyway?". Dirty looks all round. (View Post)

I conducted a similar survey in England a few years ago and came up with a figure of 33%. I was for, wife and girlfriend were against. (View Post)

Jean-Louis de Lolme ... criticised the power of the British parliament and coined an expression which became proverbial: "parliament can do everything but make a woman a man and a man a woman&qu… (View Post)