"on the double"

[JAMES A. LANDAU Netscape. Just the Net You Need.]

I don't have any documentary evidence, but the following to the best of my knowledge is the origin of "double time":

In the 18th Century the British Redcoats performed their intricate battlefield drills to 70 or 80 beats per minute---an unnaturally slow cadence but the slower the cadence the better the drill becomes.

Then came the French Revolution, and the French discarded the intricate drill in favor of direct attacks, and increased the cadence to 120 beats per minute, which is a natural walking pace.  120 became known as "quick time", because it was quicker than the customary 70 or 80 cadence, and is still called "quick time" or "quick step" today, when the old 70 cadence has been long forgotten.

What about when soldiers had to move faster than quick time?  Armies adopted a running pace of 180 beats per minute.  This is not a sprint but rather a pace that is faster than a walk but something a soldier can keep up for a good distance.  This became known as "double time", presumably because it was approximately twice as fast as the old-fashioned 70 or 80.

Hence "on the double" literally means "do xxx at a pace considerably faster than a walk but which can be sustained for a considerable time".

For quick time a pace is 30 inches, which is also a natural walking stride.  The Roman legions may have used it, because one thousand paces on each foot equals five thousand feet, known as a "mile".  I understand the "statute mile" was increased from 5,000 to 5,280 feet to make it divisible by 3.

There is a "half step" which is never called "half time" because it is performed at 120 beats per minute, but with a fifteen-inch stride.  Half step is used in such maneuvers which make Wilson Gray wax nostalgic as "column of files from the right, right file forward, march."

If you ever wonder why soldiers march in step, it is a throwback to the days when soldiers carried spears.  A spear thrust is most effective if made while the left foot is advancing (try it) so spearmen back in the days of Classical Greece were taught to march in step so that all their spears would strike with the left foot.  This is also why all military drill starts on the left foot, in case your spearmen need to thrust from a halted position.

           James A. Landau
           test engineer
           Northrop-Grumman Information Technology
           8025 Black Horse Pike, Suite 300
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