The goose step is a special marching step performed on formal military parades and other ceremonies. While marching in parade formation, troops swing their legs in unison high off the ground, while keeping their legs straight and unbent.
Originating in Prussian military drill in the mid-18th century, the step was called the Stechschritt (literally, "piercing step") or Stechmarsch. Although "goose step" is a pejorative term in English, it is used officially by the armed forces of the nearly 30 countries that maintain the tradition.
Read more about Goose Step: History, Ceremonial Usage, Current Adoption, Abandonment, Association With Dictatorship, Popular Awareness
Famous quotes containing the words goose and/or step:
“The man in the wilderness said to me,
How many strawberries grow in the sea?
I answered him as I thought good,
As many red herrings as grow in the wood.”
—Mother Goose (fl. 17th–18th century. The man in the wilderness (l. 1–4)
“The animal merely makes a bed, which he warms with his body, in a sheltered place; but man, having discovered fire, boxes up some air in a spacious apartment, and warms that.... Thus he goes a step or two beyond instinct, and saves a little time for the fine arts.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)