“Well, I’d hate you to use this on me,’ said Vimes, picking a strange instrument like a couple of paddles tied with string. Lawn sighed. ‘Sergeant, there are no circumstances where the things you’re holding could possibly be used on you,’ he said, his hands working busily. ‘They are . . . of a feminine nature.’ ‘For the seamstresses?’ said Vimes, putting the pliers down in a hurry. ‘Those things? No, the ladies of the night take pride these days in never requiring that sort of thing. My work with them is more of, shall we say, a preventative nature.’ ‘Teaching them to use thimbles, that sort of thing?’ said Vimes. ‘Yes, it’s amazing how far you can push a metaphor, isn’t it . . .”
―
Terry Pratchett,
Night Watch