road marchn.
/ˈrəʊd ˌmɑːtʃ/, U.S. /ˈroʊd ˌmɑrtʃ/ 1. Military. A long march on the road undertaken by troops, now esp. as a military exercise. Cf. route march n.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military operations > evolution > [noun] > marching > other specific march
forced march1769
route marching1788
route march1800
defile1835
road march1855
road marching1872
1855 Chambers's Edinb. Jrnl. 10 Feb. 82/2 A railway will carry a complete regiment..100 miles in four hours; and if we compare this with the old system of fatiguing road-marches, the contrast will present itself vividly.
1890 N. V. Hutchinson Hist. Seventh Mass. Volunteer Infantry 29 At that time we were not experienced in road-marches; and this was a long stretch for men new at the business.
1920 C. A. Bach & H. N. Hall Fourth Div. ii. 28 The men drilled longer hours... There were frequent road marches which gradually became longer and longer.
1990 D. Peterson Dress Gray ii. 41 On these bivouacs new cadets learned to pitch tents,..maneuver obstacle courses, complete road marches.
2007 A. Bay Embrace the Suck 25 Hump, to go on a march or a road march.
2. Caribbean.
a. A Calypso tune or march intended to accompany the street parade of a costumed carnival band; (as a mass noun) these as a musical genre.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > vocal music > types of song > [noun] > folk-song > black
Jim Crow1832
plantation song1844
jubilee1872
slave song1881
calypso1900
kaiso1912
leggo1940
road march1951
soca1977
1951 Gramophone 29 167 Carnival Road March—L. Kitchener.
1988 P. Manuel Pop. Musics Non-Western World 80 The public, meanwhile, chooses its own favorite for the ‘road march’ to be played by steel bands in the final processions.
1995 P. Manuel in P. Manuel et al. Caribbean Currents viii. 204 The observers announce the most frequently played song as the Road March of the year.
2004 S. Dudley Calypso Music in Trinidad iii. 41 The distinction between road march and tent calypso dates at least to the 1910s.
b. The parading of such a band through the streets, typically with a carnival crowd following.
ΚΠ
1955 Jrnl. Internat. Folk Music Council 7 35 Yard-gang percussion bands, used for road marches, developed well-tuned steel marimbas out of oil drums during the 1940s.
1966 Daily Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 22 Feb. 18 The picture highlights some of the costumes worn by contestants in the Carnival Queen competition and at one of the road marches held on campus.
1990 F. Charles in S. Brown Caribbean New Wave 44 Man woman and chile in Jour Ouvert dress up ringin roun de streets wid de road march tamin a dragon who get away.
2001 New Grove Dict. Music (Online ed.) at Calypso Calypso..is in duple metre, well suited to Caribbean ‘jump up’ dancing and Carnival road marches.
Compounds
General attributive in sense 2, as road march band, road march king, etc.
ΚΠ
1960 Times 17 Sept. 7/7 A steelband may have any number of instrumentalists, from the basic four up to a ‘carnival road-march side’ of over 100.
1967 Daily Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 8 Apr. 6 The Road March King of Trinidad, Lord Kitchener and his six-man band.
1985 Daily Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 26 Feb. 6 The line up of Calypso giants include[s]..Road March winner Crazy and Swallow along with a top Road March Band.
2000 Boston Herald (Nexis) 23 Jan. (Travel section) 42 Flatbed trucks outfitted with hundreds of immense amplifiers from which specially developed ‘road march’ music pours.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1855