In the Europe 1 program "Historically yours", Stéphane Bern looks every day at the roots of an everyday expression.
Wednesday, he is interested in the origins of the expression "to pass the weapon to the left", which simply means to die, and would find its origins in the Napoleonic wars.
Stéphane Bern suggests every day, in
Historically yours
with Matthieu Noël, to discover these expressions that we use on a daily basis without necessarily knowing their origin. Wednesday, the host explains to us the roots of a deadly expression: "to pass the weapon to the left". These are to be found, unsurprisingly, in the military community and the Napoleonic era.
The expression of the day is not necessarily the most festive, since it means to die: "to pass the weapon to the left".
And since it is about a weapon, it finds without great surprise its origin in the military universe.
And more precisely in the Napoleonic wars.
In the inventory of the infantry of the grand army, there were long muskets, rifles including cannons that could be up to 1.20m.
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Their main drawback was the time of recharging.
After firing, it was necessary to tear a cartridge which was a small box in which was the bullet of the rifle as well as the charge of powder.
The maneuver was long and delicate.
It also had to be done in the middle of the battlefield, in a context that was hardly conducive to serenity.
A probable medieval origin
During the reload, the soldier put his weapon on his left so that it does not fall.
He therefore passed the weapon to the left at a time when he was particularly vulnerable.
And, indeed, it was often at this precise moment that he was killed.
Apart from this anecdote, we must admit that the left side is always frowned upon: it is bad luck, to be left is to be clumsy, and on the contrary to have righteousness is rather a good thing.
Another possible explanation comes from the Middle Ages: when two large families united, the coats of arms were redesigned to redesign a new coat of arms.
Those of the bridegroom were on the right, those of the bride were on the left.
When the husband died, it was traditional to redraw the coat of arms on the left, and therefore to pass the arms to the left.
In Spain, today we are optimistic: to say die, we say "pasar à mejor vida", or "move on to a better life". In Italian, it is "tirar il calzino": "to pull the sock", a rather mysterious meaning. In Walloon, we say "go to the land of moles". This is clearer.