On Tue, 14 May 2002, John K. Taber wrote:
> "Live free or die."
>
> > I thought this motto originated with French revolutionaries, I
> > think the 1870 Commune but maybe it was 1848.
I argued earlier that the original French revolutionaries got this from from the original American revolutionaries; it was the perfect slogan for wars against kings. But as an interesting footnote, a 60 year old French colleague tells me that when she was growing up, "Livre libre ou mourir" was *the* standard tattoo, more even than bleeding hearts, although less than woman's names.
Of course, this was back when tattoos were still mainly worn by outlaws and sailors whose self-perception it sums up perfectly. Which makes me wonder: was it similarly popular 50 years ago in English-speaking tattoo culture? Did New Hampshirians and Hell's Angels share a common cultural meme pool?
Michael