# Ten-hut?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 6, 2013, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-hut/654997 "2013-04-06T07:19:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-hut/654997/101 "2014-08-01T06:33:31Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > It’s for the same reason they say “Oye, Oye” to open a supreme court hearing. It’s a corruption of “Hear Yea.” No, it’s not a corruption. It’s law French - _oyez!_ is the command “hear!”, addressed to more than one person. (And of course the ‘z’ is silent.) It’s a hangover from the days after the Norman conquest when court proceedings in England were routinely counducted in Norman French. “Hear ye!” is in fact a translation into English of “_oyez!_”. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-hut/654997/102 "2014-08-01T07:24:50Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > No, it’s not a corruption. It’s law French - _oyez!_ is the command “hear!”, addressed to more than one person. (And of course the ‘z’ is silent.) It’s a hangover from the days after the Norman conquest when court proceedings in England were routinely counducted in Norman French. “Hear ye!” is in fact a translation into English of “_oyez!_”. Thank you. I did not know that. I’m chagrined, yet pleased to have learned something new. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-hut/654997/103 "2014-08-04T00:57:27Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Once, when out on a mission and taking 5, I called the Platoon Sergeant a REMF to his face. Right before he exploded I said, “I’ve been on point for the last hour, and to the guy on point, everyone else is a REMF!” > > After he let his breath out and his color got normal, he said that I was right and gave me a spot transfer to the rear. 😃 Great story. > [@rsat3acr](#): > > Since I hadn’t posted on this thread previously I guess you aren’t actually calling me a liar. I however did five years in the Army. Stop by I’ll be happy to show you my DD214. > > I can say that in my unit one said **attention** and nothing else. > > So just out of curiosity what would make someone sign up to post on a thread that hasn’t been active in 16 months and then call everyone(who you know knothing about) a liar? Maybe you didn’t get enough **attention** as a child. Yeah, we’re all liars and don’t know shit. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-hut/654997/104 "2014-08-04T06:02:10Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > It’s for the same reason they say “Oye, Oye” to open a supreme court hearing. It’s a corruption of “Hear Yea.” > > My related (Probably unanswerable) question, is why do all drill sergeants and airline pilots have a slightly southern accent, even when they’re from Boston or North Dakota? Oyez, the way the french plural imperative of ouir [umlaut over the ‘i’, I am on my US keyboard right now] - in other words, the norman french invader way to tell a bunch of unruly anglo-saxons to sit down, shut up and listen. Hear ye is simply a translation into slightly archaic english. [URL=“[http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/](http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/)”] ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-hut/654997/105 "2017-01-28T17:18:10Z")
[QUOTE=Bear\_Nenno;16170300…] Properly given, the command should sound like this: “Platoon” (pause) “Ah-tenn-SHUHN” (inflection on the last syllable.) The pause should be the time amount of time a step takes. Normal marching cadence is 120 steps per minute. That’s 2 steps per second, so the pause should be a half second. … [/quote] Hello world. Nice thread randomly found, re-read, bit-o’-info-added and two queries. The details you and others give (“…When that foot strikes the ground, the leader gives the commamd… next step … pause…next time the right foot strikes the ground, … command…”)–as well as the meaning/need for them–are superb and impressive. 1. About the rate: is this the rate demanded in all military services, for something termed "something something “parade(?) march?” a) A surprisingly little known fact (/not snarck) is that the numbered uptown/dowtown blocks are 20 to a mile, moreover, in a New York approved/normal cadence, is covered in 20 minutes. So that’s _my_ normal marching rate. b) On a more general level, the 120-beat is fascinating as a cultural fact (us being Babylonian and all and comfortable with clock time), and, I’m wondering if _emprically_ physiologically, if there’s something afoot (heh) about human proportions and stride. [Mentally most of us can count off seconds even without ‘one-miss-i-sip-pi’ verbalization help; FTR, as a conductor I was trained/am able now only as a party trick (:() to internalize/direct (beat) any rate (showable with my body) by having a rock solid/automatic recall to 60 second tempi.] Which leads to: 1. Does anyone here have any experience with different pace regimes such as those used in “ceremonial” guard duty (which is, of course, a guard as well). The number of tempi and step-types can be extraordinary. Is it part of _somebody’s_ job description/rank/MOS to know each and everyone? (\* Flash image of **Bear Nenno** waking up in the Marines \* ) The US cases I’m aware of–actually a single “case” only, at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier–pale in comparison with those of the Brits and other nations (I believe the India/Pakistan changing of the border guard is a sight to behold). I guess even the basics of goose-stepping (Russian, not Nazi) is a closed book to US servicemen and NCOs. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-hut/654997/106 "2017-01-28T17:28:23Z")
ETA: I skipped over the evidence in this thread I had already mentioned (because everyone _had_ to know) My Spectacularness. > [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > …I made almost a living at that for a long time. The exact beginning and ending of words was, as you can imagine, a big thang. Upbeats and little sub-upbeats that don’t obscure the rhythm are no joke. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-hut/654997/107 "2017-01-28T17:34:14Z")
Damn. > [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > … > a) A surprisingly little known fact (/not snarck) is that the numbered uptown/dowtown blocks **in Manhattan** are 20 to a mile, moreover, in a New York approved/normal cadence, is covered in 20 minutes. So that’s [del]_my_[/del] **our** normal marching rate… [Deletions and insertions Leo] ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-hut/654997/108 "2017-05-17T15:26:27Z")
[Just found this vid od a drill instructor cadence calling contest](https://youtu.be/Omud5vMrb-I). Impressive for any number of reasons–vocal quality, rhythm, tune, command. Makes me want to ask **Bear** for a tape of his own. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-hut/654997/109 "2017-05-17T15:49:54Z")
Great moments in typos: > [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > … > (I am a musician, for many years a conductor, and am finding this whole tread fascinating.) ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-hut/654997/110 "2017-05-17T15:58:11Z")
When the Roman Legions were on the march, did the Centurions shout “Sinister; Dexter” to keep them in step? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-hut/654997/111 "2017-05-17T16:28:56Z")
A quick Google found a discussion of the march and orders along it in \*\*[Caesar’s Army: A Study of the Military Art of the Romans in the Last Days of the Republic](https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=3vZ_uRkTLzEC&oi=fnd&pg=PA28&dq=roman+legion+marching+cadence&ots=6VVs0MoZOt&sig=b3ATayCKrEn5Esg8sbx1cUeJyQs#v=onepage&q=cadence&f=false), Judson (1961) \*\*, at 100 steps a minute, 120 for quicktime, “exactly according to Upton’s Tactics, the standard of the US Army…” I have no doubt someone has looked into your question. Much more info at the cite. Also, found this, which sounds interesting: \*Annals of Science \* Volume 54, 1997 - Issue 5 _[Repetitive order and the human walking apparatus: Prussian military science versus the Webers’ locomotion research](http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00033799700200451)_ Mary Mosher Flesher Pages 463-487 | Received 01 Oct 1996, Published online: 18 Sep 2006 Summary The addition of ‘fire’ to the European battle repertoire resulted in the close-order drill for manoeuvres of the line. Begun in late sixteenth-century Netherlands and perfected in eighteenth-century Prussia under Frederick the Great, the drill’s precision marching evolved into a military science which conceived what infantry acquired through rigorous training as a lawful ‘second nature’ of men. In contrast, the liberal Webers’ 1836 locomotion research orientation was, as was that of French skirmishing, one of natural self-regulation. Later Prussian military science, restored in Imperial Germany, was merged into locomotion science. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-hut/654997.md?page=5)