You asked for it. You got it. Cothurnus.

[Elliott A Moreton]

> cothurnus - (n) the practice of singeing the beard or whiskers with hot coals
> ELLIOTT
> 1 Aussie, 2 Jean-Joseph
> 
> Pierre: Burning question: Who does this?
> Jean-Joseph: 2 points, and if it's real, you have to tell us why it's done.

Okay, you got me -- it's not real.  But one of the kings of Crete, I 
think the Tyrant Dionysius, was supposed to have been so paranoid about 
assassins that he wouldn't let anyone trim his beard with a blade.  
Instead, he had his daughters cothurnize him.  I'm sure someone 
eventually got him in the end -- do any of our resident classicists know 
the story?

em