"Strokenzweep" is a Dutch word for "flogger" (of course!).  That's my new word for the day, and I learned it at a very educational site: Agony & Ecstasy.  Now I need to write a Dutch character so I can use it plausibly in a sentence.  (I've been using it implausibly in all sorts of sentences all day, but you knew that.)

I have a wicked fetish for languages (I have studied several but approach fluency in only two), so the idea that I can have a character of any background refer to "riding crop" in Portuguese or Hindi or whatever is totally thrilling.

The plot bunnies are moving slowly today, weighed down as they are by dragging their badines and perreros!

In my fantasy world where I have an unlimited library budget and am not subject to the vagaries of public or academic libraries, I would have this book.  I read an ad for it in this week's London Review of Books and lusted immediately.  Just look at the cover; can you blame me?  "An exploration of the emotional, sensual, religious, and erotic excitement of the whip, a crucial instrument of stimulation in devotional and sexual practice, as seen in religious, literary, and medical texts and images."  Who says history is bloodless??

The historical novel I'm researching doesn't have anything to do with such naughty things, but just reading about this book has the plot monkeys quivering.