[ealgeone]

I kinda always thought it began during WWII in Sicily when Patton slapped a soldier in an attempt to get the soldier to man up.

Patton was almost fired.

Imagine....firing the best tank commander we had in WWII because he slapped a soldier.

[Alberta's Child]

He slapped a soldier in a hospital tent. He had to go back and apologize profusely to the guy, too.

If the soldier was really going to "man up" he would have beaten the sh!t out of that horse's ass right there in the tent. Patton, the soldier, and everyone In the tent knew that the soldier could never get away with that, which is what made Patton's actions such a serious breach of any standards of fairness.