fistic = Function: adjective
: of or relating to boxing or to fighting with the fists <fistic prowess>

"She must now learn, if she would not be ridiculous, since she cannot bring her deeds up to the level of her words, to reduce her words to the level of her performances."

--from the British Quarterly Review, 1871

I came across this bit of text while proofreading for Distributed Proofreaders. (It's 577.png, if anyone's really interested.) Here the author is describing the state of affairs in France following the devastating defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. Good advice, even today, n'est-ce pas?

crocodile tears

From Othello, Act IV, scene 1:

Des. I have not deserved this. 235

Lod. My lord, this would not be believed in Venice,
Though I should swear I saw 't: 'tis very much:
Make her amends; she weeps.

Oth. O devil, devil!
If that the earth could teem with woman's tears,
Each drop she falls would prove a crocodile. 240

So that's where "crocodile tears" comes from!

Courtesy of pgdp.net :)