"March on, ioine brauelie, let vs to it pell mell, / If not to heauen then hand in hand to hell."
The phrase comes from the French expression pêle-mêle, a rhyme based on the old French mesler, meaning to mix or mingle.[3][4]
The French term melee was first used in English in c. 1640 (also derived from the old French mesler,[5] but the Old French stem survives in medley and meddle).[1]
Lord Nelson described his tactics for the Battle of Trafalgar as inducing a "pell mell battle" focused on engagements between individual ships where the superior morale and skill of the Royal Navy would prevail.[6]
The destroyer night action of the second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 13 November 1942, was so chaotic, and the opposing ships so intermingled, that an officer on USS Monssen later likened it to "a barroom brawl after the lights had been shot out".[7]
Usage in sport
In Australian Rules Football, the term "melee" is used by the Australian Football League, sports commentators and journalists as a polite term for a brawl or fighting during a football match,[8] where football players physically attack. Melees often start as verbal disagreements between a small number players from the opposing teams, but can quickly escalate into many players from both teams joining in with this physical scuffle.[9]
See also
Look up melee or mêlée in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
^"Laws of Australian Rules Football, 2019 - page 8" (PDF). Australian Football League. 4 December 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
melee, other, uses, disambiguation, usage, games, game, terminology, melee, french, mêlée, mɛle, pell, mell, disorganized, hand, hand, combat, battles, fought, abnormally, close, range, with, little, central, control, once, starts, military, aviation, melee, b. For other uses see Melee disambiguation For usage in games see Melee game terminology A melee ˈ m eɪ l eɪ or ˈ m ɛ l eɪ French melee mɛle or pell mell is disorganized hand to hand combat in battles fought at abnormally close range with little central control once it starts 1 In military aviation a melee has been defined as a n air battle in which several aircraft both friend and foe are confusingly intermingled 2 Melee aboard ships at the Battle of Sluys 1340 BNF Fr 2643 15th century Battle of Lutzen by Carl Wahlbom depicting a melee in which King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden was killed on 6 November 1632 Contents 1 History of the term 2 Usage in sport 3 See also 4 Notes 5 ReferencesHistory of the term EditIn the 1579 translation of Plutarch s Lives of the noble Grecians and Romanes Sir Thomas North uses the term pelmel to refer to a disorganized retreat 3 The phrase was later used in its current spelling in Shakespeare s Richard III 1594 March on ioine brauelie let vs to it pell mell If not to heauen then hand in hand to hell The phrase comes from the French expression pele mele a rhyme based on the old French mesler meaning to mix or mingle 3 4 The French term melee was first used in English in c 1640 also derived from the old French mesler 5 but the Old French stem survives in medley and meddle 1 Lord Nelson described his tactics for the Battle of Trafalgar as inducing a pell mell battle focused on engagements between individual ships where the superior morale and skill of the Royal Navy would prevail 6 The destroyer night action of the second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 13 November 1942 was so chaotic and the opposing ships so intermingled that an officer on USS Monssen later likened it to a barroom brawl after the lights had been shot out 7 Usage in sport EditIn Australian Rules Football the term melee is used by the Australian Football League sports commentators and journalists as a polite term for a brawl or fighting during a football match 8 where football players physically attack Melees often start as verbal disagreements between a small number players from the opposing teams but can quickly escalate into many players from both teams joining in with this physical scuffle 9 See also Edit Look up melee or melee in Wiktionary the free dictionary Chance medley Close quarters combat Combat Galley tactics Melee gaming Melee weaponNotes Edit a b OED 2015 Kumar DeRemer amp Marshall 2004 p 462 a b Pell mell the meaning and origin of this phrase Pell mell 26 July 2021 Melee 29 November 2021 Fremont Barnes 2005 p 38 Frank Guadalcanal p 441 Laws of Australian Rules Football 2019 page 8 PDF Australian Football League 4 December 2019 Retrieved 2 April 2022 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link AFL Melees Pies Cats Port Dons Demons and Tigers retrieved 2022 04 02References EditFremont Barnes Gregory 2005 Trafalgar 1805 Nelson s Crowning Victory Osprey Publishing p 38 38 ISBN 978 1 84176 892 2 Kumar Bharat DeRemer Dale Marshall Douglas 2004 An Illustrated Dictionary of Aviation McGraw Hill Professional p 462 ISBN 978 0 07 178260 9 melee n Oxford English Dictionary online ed Oxford University Press March 2015 This military related article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Melee amp oldid 1133997121, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
