Rascally

For more than a year the army up the river ate 20 tons of flour daily, and it is easy to imagine how bitter amid ordinary circumstances would have been the battle between the commissariat officers, whose duty it was to insist on proper quality, and the contractors -- often, I fear, meriting the epithet 'rascally' -- intent only upon profit. ❋ Winston S. Churchill (1919)

It also contained what some have called the rascally, others the asinine propositions that the volume of currency should be made and kept equal to the wants of trade; that all National Bank circulation should be promptly and permanently retired, and legal tenders be issued in their stead, and that the payment of at least one-half of the customs should be in legal tenders. ❋ James Quay Howard (N/A)

As Fela explains, "If rascality is going to get us what we want, we will use it; because we are dealing with corrupt people, we have to be 'rascally' with them." ❋ Unknown (2010)

Former senator William Proxmire awarded the project a Golden Fleece Award, and the late representative Silvio Conte once said that rather than spending millions to find "rascally" aliens, all one need do is pick up a supermarket tabloid. ❋ Unknown (2008)

Right now raising that sum might not be at the top of his own agenda: he's trying to negotiate an end to a threatened uprising by "rascally" activists in his country's most strategically important region, the oil-rich Niger Delta. ❋ Unknown (2007)

They were asked why they had not demanded of those "rascally" Indians that they explain why they were skinning a cow that did not belong to them. ❋ Unknown (N/A)

And as a final parry by anticipation to the objection that such comparison is "rascally," let it be said that nothing of the kind ever created any prejudice against the book in my case. ❋ George Saintsbury (1889)

I do not believe that our communities have got to that degree of depravity yet that such kind of rascally prudence is necessary to be exercised in making laws. ❋ Matilda Joslyn Gage (1862)

But, if the slave is the property of his employer, and becomes "rascally," the usual remedy is that which the veterinary surgeon recommended when he was called upon for advice how to cure a balky horse: "Sell him, my lord." ❋ Unknown (1856)

MR: Now, the front cover of Hometown Frolics features a certain couple of rascally kids. ❋ Mike Ragogna (2011)

If Mexico did not benefit and the US did not benefit, then those rascally Canadians must be the winners? ❋ Unknown (2009)

Unforced Rossini tenors are a rare breed, and it was a treat to hear Mr. Flórez navigate the vocal extremes of the role, popping out high C's while adopting a rascally but winning demeanor. ❋ Heidi Waleson (2011)

There is a difference ... which the Democratic Strategist memo likewise recognizes when it refers to the “extremist philosophy” of those rascally Republicans who seek “to establish the right of individuals or states to ignore and disobey any laws that they happen to interpret as impinging on their freedom or natural rights.” ❋ Unknown (2010)

Nelson Says: oh boy, I can wait to see what these war mongering, fear mongering, maniacal, rascally republicans have in store now. ❋ Unknown (2009)

And those who do know, whisper that the hunters, while excellent shots, were so notorious for their quarrelsome and rascally proclivities that they could not sign on any decent schooner. ❋ Unknown (2010)

Grueling Guinea Pig Games of the 2009 Olympics have started with an amazing opening as rascally rodents display their dedication to their chosen sports. ❋ The Nag (2009)

In Il Giornale, the columnist Cristiano Gatti wrote that the rest of the world would be delighted to rediscover "the same old rascally Italians: those unreliable cowards who turn and run in war and flee like rabbits from the ship, even if they are in command". ❋ Unknown (2012)