to encourage the others 09:08 May 31, 2013
Not sure if it's quite the same meaning, but in the 18th century, the English Admiral Byng was court-martialled and shot on his own quarterdeck after winning a battle against the French, but allegedly failing to pursue the enemy vigorously enough afterwards. Voltaire commented that "The English like to shoot an admiral now and again, to encourage the others" ("pour encourager les autres"). The French version of this is probably better known in English than the translation. |