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Afoaofaitnol Posted 14 years ago
Vocabulary

why "on"?

Why do we say "march on Washington" (1963) and not, I don't know, "in"? You can have sth like "time marches on" but "on Washington"?
  

Top answer

I think it's borrowed from military parlance. Armies march on cities before mounting an attack on them. Many of our military terms come from French.

— Enoon

  • I think it's borrowed from military parlance.
  • Armies march on cities before mounting an attack on them.
  • Many of our military terms come from French.
  • A French army marches "sur" a city, so perhaps that is where it comes from.
  • They wanted it to sound aggressive because they were protesting.
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1 Answers
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I think it's borrowed from military parlance. Armies march on cities before mounting an attack on them. Many of our military terms come from French. A French army marches "sur" a city, so perhaps that is where it comes from.

They wanted it to sound aggressive because they were protesting. The alternative would be "to", not "in".
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