A martinet is either a punitive device or a stickler for rules, apparently unrelated.

Object

A simple, small martinet.

The French word denotes a type of hammer (in French probably reved from marteau) is a short, scourge-like (multi-tail) type of whip made of a wooden handle of about 25 cm (10 inches) in length and about 10 lashes of equal, relatively short length. The lashes are usually made of leather, but sometimes soap-stiffened cords are used in place of leather. It is a traditional instrument of physical punishment in France (in French it also meant a similar dusting implement; the type for chastisement was also known as fouet d'enfant, 'child's whip') and other European countries. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2084x1508, 282 KB) a martinet photographed by yours truly File links The following pages link to this file: Martinet ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2084x1508, 282 KB) a martinet photographed by yours truly File links The following pages link to this file: Martinet ... A whip is a cord or strap, usually with a stiff handle, used for delivering blows to human beings or animals as a means of control or punishment or torture. ... Modern leather-working tools Leather is a material created through the tanning of hides, pelts and skins of animals, primarily cows. ... SOAP is a protocol for exchanging XML-based messages over a computer network, normally using HTTP. SOAP forms the foundation layer of the Web services stack, providing a basic messaging framework that more abstract layers can build on. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Corporal punishment. ... Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to some dispute as to Europes actual borders. ...

The martinet was often applied on the calves, for children did not have to disrobe that way. Otherwise it was often applied on the bare buttocks, adding a dose of humiliation to the physical pain, like the English and Commonwealth caning, birching, naval boy's pussy, American paddling, et cetera. As it is not blunt and heavy, impact on cloths would be reduced too much to remain effective. Caning is a physical punishment (see that article for generalities and alternatives) consisting of a beating with a cane, generally applied on the bare or clad buttocks (see spanking), hand(s) (palm, rarely knuckles) or even the soles of the feet. ... Birching is corporal punishment with a birch rod, typically a spanking given on the delinquents buttocks, alternatively on the back and/or over the shoulders. ... The Cat O Nine Tails is a type of multi-tailed whip that originated as a tool of corporal punishment from the British navy. ... For activities involving paddles, see canoeing. ...

It is generally considered abusive to use it for spanking children nowadays. Still, martinets are still sold in the pet section of French supermarkets; it is generally believed that a large share of those sold are meant for use on children, not pets, or at least to threaten them. It is also often still carried demonstratively by Zwarte Pieten (male black assistants of Saint Nicholas, the European original of Santa Claus, celebrated on December 6; attribute persisting where lashes are banned, as in Belgium) to chastise very naughty kids instead of leaving presents. Child abuse is the physical or psychological maltreatment of a child. ... Spanking (or smacking) is the most used traditional form of physical punishment, consisting of a beating applied on the buttocks. ... Pets and humans often contribute toward the happiness of the other in a pet relationship. ... Exterior appearance of typical American supermarket (a Safeway) A supermarket or grocery store is a store that sells a wide variety of food. ... A white Dutchman in blackface costume and afro wig as Zwarte Piet In the Netherlands and Flanders, Zwarte Piet (meaning Black Pete(r)) is a companion of Saint Nicholas (Dutch Sinterklaas) whose yearly feast in the Netherlands is 5 December and 6 December in Flanders, when they distribute presents to...

• The martinet is also used as an implement in erotic spanking scenes, hard to distinguish from the flogger but that is usually lighter.

• A French homonym, from first name Martin and suffix -et, is a kind of swallow.

Erotic spanking often goes hand in hand with other fetishes, such as for erotic clothes or sexual humiliation. ... A Flogger (from the verb to flog) is A disciplinarian who flogs, i. ...

Martinet as a person

in French

The term was used for an external pupil of a collège (i.e. continental high school, especially catholic)

in English terms

• In English, the term martinet is usually used not in reference to the whip itself, but rather him who would use it, a person who demands strict adherence to set rules, especially such a person in the military.

This sense of the word reputedly comes from the name of Jean Martinet, Inspector General of the army of Louis XIV (one of the first great drill masters of modern times, died 1672) and thus would be etymologically only by accident related to the earlier sense. It was the drill master who revolutionized the early modern army by instituting a standardized system capable of turning raw recruits into a disciplined fighting force, thereby eliminating the mercenaries and soldiers-of-fortune who had been the mainstays of earlier armies. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Jean Martinet (d. ... Louis XIV (Louis-Dieudonné) (September 5, 1638–September 1, 1715), reigned as King of France and of Navarre from May 14, 1643 until his death at the age of 77. ...

History records that Martinet was eventually killed by friendly fire while leading an infantry assault at the siege of Duisberg. Whether or not this was entirely accidental is, of course, a matter of conjecture.

• In an extended sense, a martinet is a person for whom rules and etiquette are paramount: martinets often use etiquette and other rules as an excuse to trump ethics, to the point that etiquette loses its ethical ground. Pettiness and small points of order are permitted to justify duckspeaking and mask deep groupthink.

Etiquette, also known as decorum, is the code that governs the expectations of social behavior, the conventional norm. ... Ethics (from Greek ἦθος meaning custom) is the branch of axiology, one of the four major branches of philosophy, which attempts to understand the nature of morality; to distinguish that which is right from that which is wrong. ... In the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, duckspeak is a Newspeak term meaning literally to quack like a duck. ... Groupthink is a term widely (and mistakenly) attrbuted to psychologist Irving Janis. ...

Sources

(incomplete)

• Larousse
• Etymology OnLine