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“State at war” is a British idiom for someone who has been injured, originally referring to ex-soldiers. It can be used for people, animals, and objects. The phrase has become less brutal and is now used humorously for minor injuries. In the US, “purple heart” is used similarly.
The phrase “state at war” is a British idiom that describes someone who has been injured. While the statement originally referred only to soldiers who had literally been at war, today it is used for any person or thing that appears to have been in a fight of any kind. It can be used to describe dangerous injuries or to tease people with minor cuts and bruises.
During the fourteenth century, the saying “state at war” originated in Great Britain. The Crusades were at their height during this period, and Europeans of many nations led campaigns in the Middle East. At the time, it referred exclusively to ex-soldiers.
Military pensions for common soldiers did not appear until the 17th century and did not become common until much later. Before that, wounded soldiers were simply let go with a beggar’s leave to find their way home. For centuries, cripples begged on street corners because they “had been to war,” and they were a very familiar sight.
Over time, the idiom has become less brutal. In the late twentieth century, it was more often used as a humorous way to talk about minor injuries, such as a child’s skinned knee or a woman’s broken fingernail. A guy with a black eye from a fight could be condemned or commended with the sentence.
Even animals can receive this epithet. Someone might say about an alley cat, jokingly referring to nighttime cat fights. It could also be said of any stray cat or dog that appears to be injured and begging, much like the original former soldiers rumored to be in the Middle Ages.
The saying can also be used to refer to inanimate objects. You could say that a favorite teddy bear with a missing eye, rips or spots looks like it has “been at war”. An old dented car or a misshapen sofa could be given the same description.
“I’ve been to war” is a mainly British saying. It is rarely, if ever, heard in former territories of Great Britain, such as India, South Africa and Canada, but is occasionally heard in Australia. A less common version of the idiom is “been to wars.”
In the United States, people sometimes use the phrase “purple heart” in the same way. The President of the United States awards the Purple Heart to soldiers who are wounded or killed in battle. When used figuratively, it refers to someone who appears to have been involved in a fight.
