Learn English – Where does “dead man walking” come from

expressionsphrase-originslang

The recent epithet used by George Osborne "dead woman walking" is a clear reference to the more common expression:

Dead man walking whose original meaning is:

  • (US) a condemned man walking from his prison cell to a place of execution.

but is more commonly and informally used to refer to:

  • any person in a doomed or untenable situation, esp one about to lose his or her job.

(Collins Dictionary)

The original AmE expression appears to have been coined in relation to death executions but it has probably an older history. Thomas Hardy wrote a poem in 1909 whose title was "The Dead Man Walking" where he used an expression which was probably already known at that time. Ngrams shows earlier usage instances but it is not clear where the expression comes from,( the spike in usage from the mid-90s is obviously due to the popular movie of the same name).

Questions:

  • What's the origin of the expression 'dead man walking'? Could it have been taken from some religious writings for instance?

  • When did the figurative informal usage first appear? Was it an AmE or a BrE extension of the more common expression?

Best Answer

I would distinguish between instances of "dead man walking" in the sense of "a man walking as if he were dead" and instances of the same phrase used in the sense of "man condemned or in some inescapable way doomed to die soon." Writers and speakers might use the phrase in the former sense in situations where the "dead man" is purposeless and joyless, but not necessarily headed for imminent death. Such a person might be a "dead man walking" for years.

In prison lingo, "dead man walking" seems initially to have referred to a condemned person walking to the place of execution. It may, however, have been broadened subsequently to apply to anyone living in prison under a death sentence. (I haven't found any information on this point.)

There is an interesting early instance of the wording used in the sense of "man doomed to die" (although not following conviction of a crime). From "A Soldier's Doom: The Horrible Result of a Bite from a Mad Horse," in the [Monmouth, Illinois] Warren County Democrat (January 17, 1895):

"Pooh, man, no danger, no danger!" the surgeon had said, as he dressed the wound.

"It's only a scratch, and we won't talk about it," the corporal made answer to all his comrades."

We had nothing more to say, except among ourselves, but from that hour every trooper in "C" company felt that Corporal Wallace was a doomed man, just as surely doomed as if a court-martial had sentenced him to death and the president had refused to interfere with the findings. You will say it was curious that we avoided him. So it was, and yet we could not but feel that he was a dead man walking about among us. We heard him speak, we saw him in apparent good health, we listened to his songs and stories at night, and yet every man who heard and saw and listened kept repeating over and over to himself:

"The corporal was bitten by a mad horse, and sooner or later he will go mad and die."

Somewhat similar is this instance from "Wife Slayer Says He's Already 'Dead Man'," in the Richmond [Kentucky] Daily Register (March 16, 1920):

Lexington, Ky., March 16—Declaring in answer to questions about himself that he is a "dead man walking on earth," Claude Lykins, who was brought to the county jail here for safe, keeping after it is alleged he killed his wife in Morgan county, would not discuss the crime of which he is charged.

Lykins asserts he has been dead for some time, but when he died of what cause or why he is permitted to remain on earth were questions to which he replied, "I don’t know."

But most relevant to the modern prison sense of "dead man walking" is this item in a "New Books" column in the [Kalamazoo, Michigan] Focus News (December 15, 1978):

DEAD MAN WALKING, W. Reason Campbell--the author's experiences teaching in a maximum-security prison.

Campbell's book, which is subtitled "Teaching in a Maximum Security Prison," seems to be mainly about the experience of being a teacher in that setting, rather than particularly involving work with condemned prisoners. Nevertheless, the usage cited in Robin Hamilton's answer is exactly on point. Here is a fuller version of the excerpt that appears in that answer [combined snippets]:

A student came up with a theme entitled: "Dead Man Walking." It described a scene he had witnessed in the yard at San Quentin. When a man on Death Row had to leave the compound containing the gas chamber for a court appearance, he had to walk across the yard, surrounded by six guards. The condemned man was dressed in brown, in contrast to the blue denim of conventional inmates. The condemned man walked with his head bowed as the loudspeaker boomed out repeatedly, "Clear the yard. Dead man walking. Dead man walking."

I encouraged students to develop their own writing projects, and if they got something going would excuse them from regular assignments.

From this excerpt, it appears that the slang phrase was already in use in the prison at San Quentin (California) by 1978. And if Campbell was writing about his teaching experiences at a different prison, the San Quentin incident may have been considerably earlier than 1978.

Related Topic