Death march
In World War II history, a death march was a march or excursion that was intended to kill the marchers, who were usually prisoners. Several death marches occurred in the course of the Holocaust in Europe, often towards the end of the war. The idea behind the marches was to force prisoners to walk, at gunpoint, without food, water, shelter, or amenities; those who couldn't keep up were often shot. In Asia, the Japanese forces also conducted death marches, including the infamous Bataan Death March.
In software development industry, a death march is a euphemism for a project that is destined to fail. Usually it is a result of unrealistic or overly optimistic expectations in scheduling, feature scope, or both. The knowledge of the doomed nature of the project weighs heavily on the psyche of its participants, as if they are helplessly watching the team as it marches into the sea. Often, the death march will involve desperate attempts to right the course of the project by asking team members to work especially gruelling hours, weekends, or by attempting to "throw bodies at the problem" with varying results, often causing burnout.
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