prodigies

I was reckless, dangerous, stopped at nothing in fight or frolic; and the trading captains used to bring boiler-sheeted prodigies from the vilest holes of the South Pacific to try and drink me under the table.

THE PRINCESS 2010

"Supernatural machinery," appropriate to superstitious, unenlightened ages, finds itself unsuited to a rational period of "universal incredulity": "belief in prodigies and supernatural events has gradually declined in proportion to the advancement of human knowledge" (1881, 272).

Reading Machines 2005

Their surprise was great when they saw how many evils the First Consul had already repaired in so short a time, and all the improvements that he still intended to carry out; and they spread through their own country the report of what they themselves called the prodigies of the First Consul, by which thousands of their compatriots were influenced to come and judge with their own eyes.

Complete Project Gutenberg Collection of Memoirs of Napoleon Various

I was reckless, dangerous, stopped at nothing in fight or frolic; and the trading captains used to bring boiler-sheeted prodigies from the vilest holes of the South Pacific to try and drink me under the table.

The Princess 1918

Their surprise was great when they saw how many evils the First Consul had already repaired in so short a time, and all the improvements that he still intended to carry out; and they spread through their own country the report of what they themselves called the prodigies of the First Consul, by which thousands of their compatriots were influenced to come and judge with their own eyes.

Recollections of the private life of Napoleon Wairy, Louis Constant, 1778-1845 1895

Their surprise was great when they saw how many evils the First Consul had already repaired in so short a time, and all the improvements that he still intended to carry out; and they spread through their own country the report of what they themselves called the prodigies of the First Consul, by which thousands of their compatriots were influenced to come and judge with their own eyes.

Recollections of the Private Life of Napoleon — Complete Louis Constant Wairy 1811

So is Mr. Syed's argument that so-called prodigies are made, not born.

In Sports As in Life 2010

“I trusted Mr. Wengrow not to waste my time, but hesometimes exaggerates to make the parents of his students feel good about their so-called prodigies.”

Honey V.C. Andrews 2001

The rector of Pudford and his three Oxford experts performed prodigies with the bat, prodigies, that is to say, judged from the standpoint of ordinary Pudford scoring, where double figures were the exception rather than the rule.

A Prefect's Uncle 1928

And he seemed able to call prodigies of endurance out of those who helped him; with that example it seemed easier to endure.

The Explorer 1919