the.com/battle cry
A shout engineered to make your fear someone else's problem.
means A rallying shout raised before or during combat (or any fight, literal or figurative) to rouse courage and signal unified intent.
from A straightforward compound — 'battle' from Old French bataille, tracing back to Latin battuere meaning 'to beat or strike,' and 'cry' from Old French crier, itself from Latin quiritare, originally 'to wail' or 'raise a complaint.' No exotic backstory here: armies simply needed a word for the roar that precedes the clash, something to distinguish it from an ordinary shout. The phrase has long since marched off the battlefield into boardrooms and sports arenas, keeping its original job intact — turning private dread into shared noise.
- origin trick
- Loud unison yelling once raised real battlefield cortisol in enemies
- modern use
- Startups now chant slogans borrowed from literal war history
- science bit
- Shouting together synchronizes heart rates, boosting group courage fast
- famous example
- Remember the Alamo outlived the battle it mourned