英语词汇baptism of fire的起源、历史背景-英语词源词典

baptism of fire. There is a strange, little-known story behind this common expression. The phrase had been used from antiq- uity as a synonym for martyrdom, in reference to Christian mar- tyrs burned at the cross. It came to mean any severe ordeal or painful experience, but not until the late 19th century were the words used to describe a soldier’s first experience in battle. We even have an exact date for the phrase used in this sense. At the Battle of Saarbrück during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, Na- poleon III (Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte) ordered that his 14-year- old son and only male heir, Prince Napoleon Eugène, be sent into battle and exposed to enemy fire for the first time. The French ironically called this event the child’s baptême de feu, “baptism of fire.” The teenaged prince, who had agreed with his father’s order, if that means anything, survived the battle, but went into exile in England with the enigmatic Napoleon III when France was defeated. Later he joined the British army and did die under fire, while fighting the Zulus in Africa, at the age of 22.

词汇	baptism of fire
词源	baptism of fire. There is a strange, little-known story behind this common expression. The phrase had been used from antiq- uity as a synonym for martyrdom, in reference to Christian mar- tyrs burned at the cross. It came to mean any severe ordeal or painful experience, but not until the late 19th century were the words used to describe a soldier’s first experience in battle. We even have an exact date for the phrase used in this sense. At the Battle of Saarbrück during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, Na- poleon III (Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte) ordered that his 14-year- old son and only male heir, Prince Napoleon Eugène, be sent into battle and exposed to enemy fire for the first time. The French ironically called this event the child’s baptême de feu, “baptism of fire.” The teenaged prince, who had agreed with his father’s order, if that means anything, survived the battle, but went into exile in England with the enigmatic Napoleon III when France was defeated. Later he joined the British army and did die under fire, while fighting the Zulus in Africa, at the age of 22.
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