Dried grass or other plants fed to farm animals like cows and horses. It can also mean something of poor quality used just to fill space.
From Old English 'fodder' related to 'food.' The word comes from Germanic roots meaning 'to feed' and is closely related to the modern word 'food.' Originally it referred only to animal feed, but by the 1600s it took on a figurative meaning for anything used to fill time or space.
The expression 'fodder for the cannon' reveals how the word's meaning expanded—soldiers sent into hopeless battles were seen as worthless material being consumed by war, just like hay is consumed by horses. This shows how agricultural vocabulary can reveal societies' darker attitudes about human expendability.
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