Another sop to the soft-hearted 21st-century modern man is the option of using straw to pad your socks and hopefully cushion the blows.

CNN: Cotswolds Olimpicks: Shin-kicking at the 'other' Games

The Red Star Belgrade man skipped past two half-hearted lunges before Subasic let fly but his shot just whizzed over the bar.

BBC: Wales 1-0 Azerbaijan

Mrs Tellett-Davies said she hoped it would be a celebration of the life of a man she described as kind, big-hearted, humorous and consistently uncomplaining throughout his gruelling treatment.

BBC: Tim Tellett-Davies died on Christmas Eve

It's a big to-do list for a man who initially seemed at best half-hearted about his portfolio and clearly mourned the loss of his former economic-affairs brief at the European Commission, the EU's executive branch.

WSJ: Economics Guru Jumps

Mantel's object may be to rescue Cromwell the man from his historical reputation as a black-hearted villain: He was a survivor, a pragmatist whose aim was always to further the interests of his master the king.

BBC: Can Mantel's Bring Up The Bodies match Wolf Hall?