Grim Reaper

The grim reaper, sometimes capitalised as 'The Grim Reaper' is a metaphorical phrase for death. The visual representation of death, usually a skeletal figure carrying a scythe with which to harvest souls, hence reaper, dates from the 14th century. Such a visual was used in association with the 'Black Death', the bubonic plague that devastated the world population in 1346 to 1353 and is estimated to have killed some 50 million people worldwide. The actual phrase, 'the grim reaper', however, dates only from the mid-19th century when it was first used to describe death, with no direct connection to the medieval plague. The grim reaper also became the sardonic nickname for the machine gun during the First World War. It is estimated the machine gun caused 25% of the deaths on the Western Front.