http://wordie.org/words/procrustean Comments for the word 'Procrustean' http://wordie.org http://wordie.org/words/procrustean#comments For others who were curious about the method of torture referred to: "Procrustes (the stretcher), also known as Damastes (subduer) and Polypemon (harming much), is a figure from Greek mythology. He was a bandit from Attica, with a stronghold in the hills outside Eleusis. There, he had an iron bed into which he invited every passerby to lie down. If the guest proved too tall, he would amputate the excess length; victims who were too short were stretched on the rack until they were long enough. Nobody ever fit in the bed because it was secretly adjustable: Procrustes would stretch or shrink it upon sizing his victims from afar."<br />From Wikipedia, naturally. Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:11:39 +0000 http://wordie.org/words/procrustean#comments