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Blackadder vocabulary
219 vocabulary words, including people, places, music, artists, etc.
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Victoria Cross
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► definition
Definition:the highest award of the British honours system. It is awarded for gallantry "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces. It may be awarded posthumously. It was previously awarded to Commonwealth countries, most of which have established their own honours systems and no longer recommend British honours.[...]The VC was introduced on 29 January 1856 by Queen Victoria to honour acts of valour during the Crimean War. Since then, the medal has been awarded 1,358 times to 1,355 individual recipients. Only 15 medals, 11 to members of the British Army, and four to the Australian Army, have been awarded since the Second World War. The traditional explanation of the source of the metal from which the medals are struck is that it derives from Russian cannon captured at the Siege of Sevastopol. However, research has suggested another origin for the material. Historian John Glanfield has established that the metal for most of the medals made since December 1914 came from two Chinese cannon, and that there is no evidence of Russian origin.text from Wikipedia, licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike
photo: public domain, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Holland_VC_f%26b.JPG
► uses
Uses:
George: Oh, well he is a general, I didn't really feel I could refuse. He might have me court-martialed.
Blackadder: Whereas on the other hand, of course, he's going to give you the Victoria Cross when he lifts up your frock on the wedding night and finds himself looking at the last turkey at the shop.
BBC. Blackadder, season 4: Major Star
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"It is disgraceful, of course, but she is a splendid walker, and she said she was not too tired to do it. It is the kind of thing she ought to be given the Victoria Cross for—saving one from a dinner-party without fish."
Frances Burnett. Emily Fox-Seton (1901)
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