Frogmarch
| Rob: | Hello and welcome to The English We Speak from BBC Learning English. I'm Rob. |
| Helen: | Hello, I'm Helen. This is the programme where we try to help you understand language often heard in English conversations. |
| Rob: | Well, I went to a presentation this morning and I heard a word that made me laugh. |
| Helen: | What is it? |
| Rob: | See if you can guess, Helen. Let's play a word game. Are you ready? |
| Helen: | Yes I am. |
| Rob: | OK. Well, It's made up of two words and the first word is a cute little animal. |
| Helen: | OK. |
| Rob: | And if you kiss this animal, it may turn into a prince. |
| Helen: | I know this one. If you kiss a frog, it turns into a prince. The first word is 'frog'. |
| Rob: | Well done. The second word is the type of walk that soldiers do. |
| Helen: | Easy—marching. |
| Rob: | You got it. I heard the word 'frogmarch' this morning. And do you know what we call a lot of frogs together? |
| Helen: | A school of frogs? |
| Rob: | No. |
| Helen: | A herd of frogs? |
| Rob: | No, it's an 'army' of frogs. I just have this cartoon picture in my mind of an army of frogs all wearing boots and marching down the river. |
| Helen: | Oh that's hilarious. But what does 'frogmarch' really mean? Surely it's not a way of marching. |
| Rob: | No, 'to frogmarch' means to force someone who is unwilling to move forward or to walk somewhere, often by holding their arms tightly. Here are some examples. |
| The drunken suspect was handcuffed by the police and frogmarched to the waiting police van. | |
| In major sporting events, if you disrupt the game, you risk being frogmarched out of the stadium by security guards. | |
| Helen: | Ouch, that's pretty harsh, isn't it? So how did you hear it used? |
| Rob: | The presenter told us that his lecture on social dynamics was a must for everyone and so we either all had to sign up voluntarily or he would frogmarch us there himself. |
| Helen: | Oh, that's a threat. |
| Rob: | Exactly, so of course we all signed up. |
| Helen: | Very effective. The next time I want full attendance, I'll know exactly what to say. |
| Rob: | Frogmarching someone? Well, make sure you have enough people to do the job. It usually takes at least two people to frogmarch one person. Bye bye. |
| Helen: | Bye. |