Cannon-fodder - Definition and Overview

"Cannon Fodder" is an expression used to denote the treatment of armed forces as a worthless commodity to be expended. Fodder is food for livestock - the livestock in this case being cannons, the food being the soldiers sent against them.

It generally refers to situations where men are forced to fight against hopeless odds, as in the First World War trenches. The term may have been introduced during the U.S. Civil War.

Literary References

• Hero of satiric book The Good Soldier Svejk is drafted into army as cannon fodder during World War I.

• The PC video game Cannon Fodder further made light of the expression by portraying the deaths of the animated soldiers in the game humorously, and allowing the player to quickly replace lost soldiers with new ones.

Example Usage of Cannon-fodder