I wonder if a deeper etimology would point to the Marquis of Queensbury rules for fisticuffs?
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Marquess+of+Queensberry+rules Although a Marquis is one step below a Duke... http://www.chinet.com/~laura/html/titles02.html Ed Leafe wrote: >On Jan 12, 2007, at 4:42 AM, Peter Cushing wrote: > > > >>> Now the lawyers will duke it out. >>> >>> >>Not heard that expression before, so looked it up: >> >>http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/duke+it+out >> >> >>You learn something new every day :-) >> >> > > Then I guess you'll have no trouble figuring out what someone means >if they say to you "Put up your dukes!". > >-- Ed Leafe >-- http://leafe.com >-- http://dabodev.com > > > > [excessive quoting removed by server] _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: ProFox@leafe.com Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.