What does The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves mean? The beatings will continue until morale improves refers to a popular ironic expression, mostly known in the United States. The phrase is mostly seen on merchandize due to its contradictory and humorous meaning and it is used accordingly in various situations. What's the origin of The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves? Despite the numerous attributions of “The beatings will continue until morale improves” persisting despite a lack of evidence, the exact origin of the phrase is not known. There are some who claim it was said by Captain William Bligh of the Bounty, while others say it originates from an unnamed Japanese Commander of the Submarine force. These claims, however, are all unsupported by sources. The first written citation of the phrase in a similar
form can be linked to a 1961 publication of All Hands, published by the Bureau of Naval Personnel, where the phrase “All liberty is cancelled until morale improves”. A similar case, which resembles the titular expression more appears in a 1984 print of the industry newsletter Supervision, where “The firings will continue until morale improves” is written. Hence, “The beatings will continue until the morale improves” most likely originates
from the late 80’s and early 90’s. How did The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves spread? “The beatings will continue until morale improves” became a popular expression in the 2000’s, appearing on countless military-related websites, as well as countless merchandise, especially T-shirts. Its popularity was boosted in August 2021, when the band Exodus released their song “The Beatings Will Continue (Until Morale Improves). Published at 06/11/2022 289 views Naval Officer? Voltaire? William Pitt Lennox? Herb Caen? Howard Jacobs? Norman R. Augustine? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: When an organization encounters difficulties, and its members experience low morale, it is counterproductive to enforce harsh discipline. This notion can be captured with the following sarcastic remark:
Close variants of this statement replace the word “beatings” with “whippings” or “floggings”. Would you please explore the provenance of this family of remarks? Quote Investigator: There are many comical statements containing the phrase “until morale improves”. Some researchers have asserted that instances were circulating during World War II, but QI has found no evidence to support that claim. The saying is difficult to trace because of its mutability. Here is a sampling together with years of occurrence that provides an overview:
Below are selected citations in chronological order. A thematic precursor appeared in Voltaire’s famous novella “Candide” in 1759. The witty philosopher was aware of the unfortunate death of English Admiral John Byng who was court-martialed and executed in 1757. Many observers considered Byng’s punishment unjust, and Voltaire constructed a mocking remark about the event which was spoken by Candide’s companion when the fictional duo visited England. Here is the original French statement followed by a translation into English. Boldface added to excepts by QI:[1]1759, Candide, ou L’Optimisme (Candide or Optimism) by Voltaire, (Traduit de L’Allemand Mr. Le Docteur Ralph), Chapitre Vingt-Troisième (Chapter 23), Quote Page 127, Publisher not … Continue reading
Of course, killing someone is unlikely to provide encouragement or a morale boost to colleagues who remain alive. The gist of Voltaire’s quip was similar to the family of sayings under analysis. In 1863 the words of Voltaire were alluded to in a memoir by Lord William Pitt Lennox who described the hazing experienced by pupils at the Westminster School in England. Younger students were pressured into performing tasks for older students. The following passage referred to flogging instead of execution:[2] 1863, Fifty Years’ Biographical Reminiscences by Lord William Pitt Lennox, Volume 1 of 2, Chapter 4, Quote Page 112, Hurst and Blackett, London. (Google Books Full View) link
In 1909 a statement comparable to the one published in 1863 appeared in the “Locomotive Engineers’ Monthly Journal” of Cleveland Ohio. The domain was shifted back from the schoolyard to the navy:[3]1909 February, Locomotive Engineers’ Monthly Journal, Volume 43, Number 2, Public Ridicule, Start Page 107, Quote Page 107, Column 2, Published by Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, Cleveland … Continue reading
In 1961 a U.S. Navy publication called “All Hands” printed a one-panel comic depicting a naval officer addressing a group of sailors. The caption presented an instance within the family of caustic jokes about morale:[4]1961 November, All Hands: The Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin, Section: The Bulletin Board, (Caption of one-panel comic), Quote Page 55, Column 1, U.S. Government Printing Office, … Continue reading
In 1964 the popular San Francisco syndicated humorist Herb Caen printed another instance in the family:[5] 1964 November 30, Santa Maria Times, Love Story for Burdick by Herb Caen, Quote Page 20, Column 6, Santa Maria, California. (Newspapers_com)
In 1965 “The World” newspaper of Coos Bay, Oregon published an article about U.S. soldiers serving in Vietnam:[6] 1965 December 14, The World, Officer Says Viet Cong Use Poisonous Snakes As Weapons, Quote Page 5, Column 4, Coos Bay, Oregon. (Newspapers_com)
In 1966 the “Dictionary of Military and Naval Quotations” included the following entry. Asterisks occurred in the original text:[7] 1966, Dictionary of Military and Naval Quotations, Edited by Robert Debs Heinl, Category: Morale, Quote Page 197, Column 2, United States Naval Institute, Annapolis, Maryland. (Verified with hardcopy)
In 1967 the “Saskatoon Star-Phoenix” of Canada printed the following:[8] 1967 March 31, Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, Diefenbaker warms to task on unification, monarchy, Section: The Third Page, Quote Page 3, Column 6, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. (Newspapers_com)
In 1974 columnist Howard Jacobs writing in “The Times-Picayune” of New Orleans, Louisiana described a message on a sign:[9] 1974 January 16, The Times-Picayune, Remoulade: Data on ‘Ain’t No More’ Blues Sought by Howard Jacobs, Quote Page 11, Column 2, New Orleans, Louisiana. (GenealogyBank)
In 1977 an instance appeared in the reference work “Quote Unquote” compiled by Lloyd Cory:[10] 1977, Quote Unquote, Compiled by Lloyd Cory, Topic: Morale, Quote Page 214, Published by Victor Books: A Division of SP Publications, Wheaton, Illinois. (Verified on paper)
In 1986 by Norman R. Augustine who was chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corporation published “Augustine’s Laws”, and he included an instance:[11]1986, Augustine’s Laws by Norman R. Augustine (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lockheed Martin Corporation), Chapter 27: Hail on the Chief, Quote Page 182, Viking: Penguin Group, New … Continue reading
In 1988 the book “Corporate Strategy and the Search for Ethics” printed a quip about corporate restructuring:[12]1988, Corporate Strategy and the Search for Ethics by R. Edward Freeman and Daniel R. Gilbert Jr., Section: Endnotes for Chapter 1, Quote Page 179, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. … Continue reading
Also, in 1988 “The Prescott Courier” of Arizona printed a family instance using the word “floggings”:[13] 1988 June 30, The Prescott Courier, Legislators race to finish the session (Associated Press), Quote Page 1B, Column 2, Prescott, Arizona. (Google Newspaper Archive at news.google.com)
In 1989 a message posted to the Usenet newsgroup soc.culture.nordic contained an instance using the word “beatings”:[14] 1989 June 28, Usenet discussion message, Newsgroup: soc.culture.nordic, From: Martin A. Lodahl @PacBell.COM, Subject: Re: Aarhus vs. Copenhagen. (Google Groups Search; Accessed July 14, 2020)
In 1990 the book “Into the Sunlight: Life After the Iron Curtain” mentioned an instance while discussing the capital of Japan:[15] 1990, Into the Sunlight: Life After the Iron Curtain by Roger Rapoport, Afterword: Surfing on a Deluge, Quote Page 99, Heyday Books, Berkeley, California. (Verified with scans)
In 1992 a message posted to the Usenet newsgroup alt.peeves included an instance using the word “whippings” as an infix within a name:[16] 1992 August 16, Usenet discussion message, Newsgroups: alt.peeves, From: Russ Kepler @bbxrbk, Subject: Re: RADIO SHACK FASCISM. (Google Groups Search; Accessed July 14, 2020) link
In conclusion, this family of sayings was circulating by 1961. Over the years there have been many variants. The originator remains anonymous. The quip written by Voltaire in “Candide” may have provided inspiration for this family, but the evidence is not definitive. Voltaire’s remark led to the satirical catch phrase “to encourage the others” which has been coupled with a variety of activities which emphatically do not provide encouragement, e.g., executions and whippings. Quips based on the phrases “to encourage the others” and “until morale improves” employ a comparable template. (QI performed a preliminary exploration of this topic back in December 2009. At that time, QI shared the 1966 citation with a mailing list. Professor Jonathan Lighter told QI about the germane Voltaire citation. Other mailing list discussants provided helpful feedback including: Wilson Gray, Seán Fitzpatrick, and Bill Palmer. In 2012 fellow researcher Barry Popik published a beneficial webpage on the topic. Thanks to the volunteer editors of Wikiquote who created a pertinent webpage that was later deleted. Additional thanks to the participants at the websites Metafilter, Quora, English.Stackexchange, Wikiquote, and Reddit. Great thanks to Paul Rauber whose 2020 inquiry led QI to continue this exploration and share the results on the QI website.) |