But the single currency remains the scab at which the Tories keep on picking.

ECONOMIST: The Tories

"He has a scab on the top of his head but he does appear to be in good health, " he added.

BBC: NEWS | UK | Wales | North East Wales | Flood otter's fight for survival

And while a scab on the wounds inflicted by Thatcherism communities by Thatcher grew during the years since her downfall in 1990, the death of the "Iron Lady" has brought them all back into the open.

CNN: Thatcher: A divisive force even in death

The unions, angry that the papers were being produced with scab labour and complaining of intimidation, called for a reader boycott.

ECONOMIST: Newspapers in Seattle

Using scab replacement refs is the equivalent of policing and adjudicating that well-paved highway with totally incompetent traffic cops and judges.

FORBES: Using Replacement Refs Would Be A Disaster For The NFL

He was small to be six years old, but he had the largest knees that Frankie had ever seen, and on one of them there was always a scab or a bandage where he had fallen down and skinned himself.

NPR: Excerpt: 'The Member of the Wedding'