As ever, what kept a woman pure was the drudge's life, of which Juvenal supplied the traditional formula: "Hard work, short sleep, hands chafed and hardened" from housework.

WSJ: Still Under Cleopatra's Spell

Both parties over-acted at times, most notably when a six-foot security man made of pure muscle accused a woman who looked to be in her 60s of assaulting him, when all she had done was touch his arm.

BBC: The Merchant of Venice: A protest within a play

Martha Kempner, vice president for information and communications for the nonprofit Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S., said telling a young woman to stay"pure" misses the point that sexuality will influence her long after she loses her virginity.

CNN: What is virginity worth today?

Smith, playing against type, plays with the grain of her skill, drawing out the nimble, mercurial aspects of a woman we are almost convinced is a pure villain.

BBC: Entertainment & Arts

"Everything suggests it was a pure accident where several temporary and unfortunate circumstances caused the woman to set the train in motion when she was cleaning, " Paer Andersson said in a statement, according to AFP news agency.

BBC: Swedish cleaner not to blame for train crash

What drew Madonna to make a film about an ambitious, hard-lacquered American woman who sought to carve out a place in British society through pure steeliness of character we shall, of course, never know.

NEWYORKER: Material Girls

Aside from being the only woman on our list of the richest Southeast Asians, she is different also for being a pure entrepreneur in a group of mostly older established tycoons.

FORBES: Water Queen