Citations:over the top

English citations of over the top

1919, Aimee Semple McPherson, This is that: Personal Experiences, Sermons and Writings of Aimee Semple McPherson, page 353:
OVER THE TOP TO VICTORY. / Finally be of good courage, fellow-soldiers, for there is nothing to fear, while you watch and pray and live in obedience to the commands of our leader, who will surely win the day. / Some day, very soon, the battle will be over, the last grim foe conquered, and the crown will have been won. Some day, if we are faithful and have overcome even as He overcame, He will take us in triumph to reign with Him upon His throne forever and forever. / Throw aside all weights, all slumber, and press on — "Over the Top." Why, the end is in view: The victory is in sight already.
1917, Arthur Guy Empey, Over the Top:
OVER THE TOP / It is generally the order for the men to charge the German lines. Nearly always it is accompanied by the Jonah wish," With the best o' luck and give them hell."

1919, “THE ARGONNE BATTLE.”, in Reminiscences of the 137th U.S. Infantry, page 126:
OVER THE TOP. / Over the top they bravely go, / Our splendid sons to meet the foe. / Facing the cannons' shot and shell, / The gas and fire that taste of Hell.
1918, Gerald E. Griffin, Ballads of the regiment, OVER THE TOP., page 31:
Over the top at the wave of a hand, / Cowards are heroes in this "No Man's Land"; / On through the dawn that must follow the night, / Dodging the craters to left and to right. / Forward! With steps measured, plodding and slow, / Death has no terrors while stalking the foe; / Manhood and freedom today is our prop, / Clean out the Huns, we are over the top.

1919 March 13, “OVER THE TOP”, in Daily News‎^[1], Greensboro, N. C.:
He pleaded that those who went over the top in bond drives and in giving money to support the war relief work again go over the top in the cause of the Kingdom of God.

1920, “Letters”, in Association Men, YMCA of the USA, Quit Saying "Over the Top", page 28:
Many of us have come to use the expression "over the top" without ... The individual who bought wisely of Liberty Bonds says he went "over the top"
1921, Philander Priestley Claxton with James McGinniss, Effective English: junior, page 104:
An Example. At one stage of the Great War, both sides dug trenches for protection against artillery fire. When the Allies decided to attack, the troops were said to go over the top, that is, to climb out of the trenches and advance against the enemy. / The phrase caught the fancy of the public. When it was planned to raise several billion dollars for a popular loan, they raised even a greater amount with the slogan, Let's go over the top! In all kinds of warlike preparation the American public was urged to go over the top. / But the expression was soon overworked. In every subscription to be raised for no matter what purpose, you were urged to go over the top. A mother trying to make her two-year-old son eat his breakfast, implored him to go over the top.
1923, Ebenezer Cobham Brewer, A dictionary of phrase and fable, page 1085:
One is said to go over the top when he takes the final plunge, or when he goes for a thing bald-headed.