Military Slang

As some of you may be aware I go away on my jollies (w/end break) tomorrow including a day trip with parents to Dunkirk etc.

Anyway whilst I'm away I thought I'd give some of you something to think about.......

Being a Cockney and Ex Military and Police Officer I have always been interested in slang ie.

Bobby from Robert Peel, Founder of the Police Service

Not enough room in here to swing a cat, from Naval punishment and not having enough room below deck to swing a cat of nine tails

Scalie Back from Signallers carry their Radio Batteries to the front during WW1 and getting acid burns on their backs.

So what Military terms do you know and where do they originate from?

See you and the numerous posts next week. Have a great Bank Holiday W/end Ladies and Gents-Those of you that get one that is

 

One of the most used is "freeze the balls off a brass monkey". A naval term that many people regard as being rude but in fact isn't in its original meaning.

 

Good thinking Drew

A fascinating subject and one could do a lot worse than start off with The Phrase Finder, found at:
Re: Gone for a Burton
which at least gives plenty of options for the origin of many well known phrases.

As this site is supposed to be based on ww2 items I started by looking up the origin of "Gone for a Burton".

I won't spoil it for you...... go to the site and read all about it for yourselves

Cheers

Ron

 

Looks like there are plenty of options Ron. Cheers !!

 

A Sad one. Your mates just bought it. Killed.
Sapper

 

An easy one for anyone with nautical knowledge

" A Son of a Gun " or

" Show a Leg "

Peter

 

The trouble with this thread is that many of the best terms can't be reported here!

 

"To buy the farm." Used by American airmen in Europe for being killed, particularly bomber crews, as best I can recall. It can refer to a person or an entire aircraft crew.

JT

PS. This phrase might (I'm unsure) also have been used for bomber crew that had been shot down, whether they survived or not.

 

Anymore details on these sayings your posting would be great.

I.e where they originate from and how they came to be used ?

For example

'Three square meals a day'

Is a term that originates from the Royal Navy as the Sailors meals were served on wooden Square plates.

And the P-47 aircraft now had a name: "Thunderbolt". In postwar sources it would acquire the nickname of "Jug", said to be due to its resemblance to a jug of booze; as a contraction of "juggernaut"; or in reference to a "thunderjug", meaning a chamberpot. However, some sources claim this nickname was not in common use during the war and that the only nicknames it had during the conflict were "Bolt" or "T-Bolt".

The above regarding the P-47 was sourced from the net however I listened to D-DAY by Stephen Ambrose (audio book) at the w/end whilst driving and he stated that the name Jug comes from the German Infantry which was short for some geran word to do with destruction or something ?

 

Some adult ones from my American Cousins across the pond

FUBAR- F***ED UP BEYOND ALL RECOGNTION

BOHICA-BEND OVER HERE IT COMES AGAIN

SNAFU- SITUATION NORMAL ALL, ARMY OR AMERCIAN (depending on who you are) F**K UP

 

Can add one russian army slang (it has LOTs of it ), during two Chechnya campaigns federal troops called chechen separatists as 'Czechs', that is shorter than 'chechenets' (russian).

 

HOLD FIRE, the slang term that comes from ther early days of black powder muskets when the user would have to stay in the aim till the powder went off and released the shot

 

Unless you are the one doing it, then is an onerous task.

 

This thread is getting a bump purely because of something I just read in one of my WW2 diaries.

Sunday 8th. April 1945
Colonel gave A & B squadrons griff talk for this 'final' campaign. Packed tank sheet and covered my bed with Honey canopy.

I came across the word GRIFF (used in the sense of information) and realised that I probably haven't used that word for at least 60 odd years.

I wonder how many other words have disappeared from my vocabulary since those days ?

Ron