Arthur Conan Doyle employed this manoeuver, as did another 17th century poet and writer. Its origins are from an invasion of what is now a place in Turkey that features beehive houses. What is it, where was it famously noted to have been physically portrayed, and how is it commonly used in speech today?

lanfranco

I said I'd get to this one, didn't I? This is the term "Parthian shot," quite effective at the famous "Battle of Carrhae" (now Harran, where the beehive houses are located), between the Parthians and the Romans. It was a feint involving a false retreat by cavalry and a sudden wheel-around to fire at the enemy. Today, the term "parting shot" is probably derived from it and means a particularly pointed "bon mot," used as a "last word" in conversation. The site below quotes from both Conan Doyle and Samuel Butler, the 17th-century author of "Hudibras": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthian_shot Jul 18 06, 11:00 AM

peasypod

Yes, M'dear, a Golden Zucchini coming your way. And apparently I'm very good at employing this manoeuver as well, or so say my staff.... Jul 18 06, 8:38 PM

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