To someone who speaks British English, most of the time (law speak the rest) so it's interesting to see how words sometimes evolve in the North American tongue. Take this example:
CA Penal Code s 205: "A person is guilty of aggravated mayhem when he or she..."
Most of us would, I suspect, understand mayhem in the sense of chaos or confusion. Turns out that its historical meaning is that of violent injury (http://www.oed.com/viewdictionaryentry/Entry/115310) though it doesn't seem to have been used as such since the late 19th century at least.
I came across the term as a result of this article, pay close attention to the text of the link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jul/14/rupert-murdoch-man-lost-penis
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