forlorn hope

English

Etymology

Partially translated (forlorn), partially borrowed (hoop (“pile, heap”)) from Dutch verloren hoop (literally “lost troop”). The Dutch word hoop in this expression, for which the sense “troop” is now obsolete, is a cognate of English heap.

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /fəˌlɔːnˈhəʊp/

Noun

forlorn hope (plural forlorn hopes)

(military) A small troop picked to make an advance attack, or the first attack; a storming party.
- 1880, Isaac Newton Arnold, Life of Benedict Arnold, page 82:
  Arnold, therefore, as usual with him, led the forlorn hope, marching about one hundred yards before the main body.
- 1885, George Bruce Malleson, The Decisive Battles of India, page 323:
  Lieutenant Templeton of the 76th offered to lead the forlorn hope.
Any dangerous or hopeless venture.

Translations

small troop that makes an advanced attack

Chinese:
Mandarin: 決死隊 (zh), 决死队 (zh)
Finnish: etujoukko
French: enfants perdus
German: Forlorn Hope
Italian: fanti perduti, venturieri

Japanese: 決死隊
Maori: te koiti o Rangapū, whakakā
Polish: Forlorn hope
Spanish: please add this translation if you can
Turkish: Forlorn hope

hopeless venture

Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
Finnish: epätoivoinen yritys

Italian: impresa disperata f
Spanish: please add this translation if you can

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked‌: "hopeless venture"

Chinese:
Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 絕望的希望, ^{(please verify)} 绝望的希望, ^{(please verify)} 絕路, ^{(please verify)} 绝路 (zh)

Synonyms

(military) cannon fodder

References

“Forlorn hope” in Michael Quinion, Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books in association with Penguin Books, 2004, →ISBN.
Memoirs of a situationist drummer: on language and its uses in Principia Dialectica, July 16th, 2009
Debord, Guy (1967) The society of the spectacle, thesis 115
Grassi, Giuseppe (1833) Dizionario militare italiano p.107

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