Very nice. Yes, I was aware of the pound of flesh/Merchant of Venice line but wasn't aware that "stripping the carcass clean" had an original literary source, I just thought it was a general saying about people taking everything, or even demanding more than everything.<br/><br/>I like the quotes from Henry VI, so people were pissed at lawyers in 1600 as well. Nothing is new.<br/><br/>Truly Elliquiy is a literary site! (though I confess at the time I wrote it, I was just seeking an appropriate metaphor and didn't think about the sources).