Gambling has been the ruin of many.

Wet-sanding is done either with regular sandpaper that's been wetted or with a dampened sanding sponge.

[…] in a genre dominated by loud beats and wailing pleas, Mr. Thicke is a hard-core murmurer.

Now Champou's partner was the Court barber, and by the use of a peculiar hair oil which the two of them had concocted, they soon managed to balden the pates of all the male aristocracy of the place.