Meeting a DeadlineThe lethal history behind your due dates

From the show

History of Phrases

Modern schedules induce stress, but the original concept of a deadline involved a literal line in the dirt at Civil War prisons like Andersonville. Guards established a physical boundary inside the stockade walls to prevent escapes. Any prisoner who crossed, touched, or even fell over this rail was shot immediately, transforming a spatial limit into a matter of life and death.