I was reading a book last night which said (something along the lines of) ".. and I was frog-marched down the hallway". (I can't remember the exact quote, and now I can't find it... d'oh!)

Anyone got any ideas about why the frogs were being marched, as opposed to any other animal? And how were the frogs marching? Have you ever seen a frog march? They's jumping, leaping and - at a stretch - hopping, but I ain't never seen them marching.

Here's one explanation:
http://slacktivist.typepad.com/slacktivist/2003/09/frogmarch.html

Thanks Max...

Interesting, I can see the frog imagery now, but it definitely wasn't the impression I got from the book, as I recall reading it. Better go find it again, and re-imagine what was actually going on at the time.

here's an interesting citation:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,1061835,00.html

Thanks tsuwm, that's kinda the same context that was in the book I was reading. Can't imagine two people actually dragging her by the arms up the aisle, with her feet dragging behind. "Oooh, don't drag my (cross out inappropriate colours) [white / cream / stucco / mother-of-pearl] wedding dress on the floor..."

Speaking of interesting:
http://www.frogmarch.com/ Bet they're British!

From the etymology online dic.:
Frog-march (1871) originated among London police and referred to their method of moving "a drunken or refractory prisoner" by carrying him face-down between four people, each holding a limb; the connection with frog perhaps being the notion of going along belly-down. By the 1930s, the verb was used in ref. to the much more efficient (but less frog-like) method of getting someone in an arm-behind-the-back hold and hustling him or her along like that.
http://www.etymonline.com/f5etym.htm

Thanks for the mantle, ma'am.

This made the difference, to me: "the connection with frog perhaps being the notion of going along belly-down."

As opposed to a "perp walk", which is normally done without bodily contact between escorts and escorted.

>This made the difference, to me: "the connection with frog perhaps being the notion of going along belly-down."


Which I still call a mantle, since the same idea was clearly implicit in the link I posted.

My gosh, synchronicity is rampant! This was the very word I'd been trying to think of on another board! Amazing. Synchronicity is amazing.

Is the plural of mantle mentle or should we be all PC and call it persontle and peopletle?

the same idea was clearly implicit in the link I posted.
As I said, it was not...to me. My inadequacies seem to be hanging out even further than usual.

Right-ee-ho! Watch out y'all, or I'll be frog-marching you all on outta here to take up your beef outside.

Thanks for everyone's help on this one.