Talk:Military slang/Archive 1

Archive 1

Scaleyback

I have modified Scaleyback from (US) to (UK). I presume it was a typo by the contributor. American signalers wear standard US cap badges. British ones have distinctive badges of branch. [[PaulinSaudi 08:45, 3 Jun 2004 (UTC)]]

Troop

I've pulled the following two definitions because they are not slang. These are the official terms in calvalry units. Rossami 15:25, 6 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Troop

A company-level cavalry or armored unit.

Trooper

(US) A calvalry or armored unit soldier. May also be used as a general reference to any soldier.

What about OCONUS and OPFOR?

A fair question. OCONUS is an official acronym, not really slang at all. It was moved here because it otherwise would have been moved to Wiktionary as a mere dictionary definition. Putting it here seemed like the better compromise at the time. Maybe it should also be pulled. OpFor is not strictly an acronym and, while it is commonly used and semi-official, it is not a word found in most dictionaries. I could go either way. Rossami 01:08, 11 Jun 2004 (UTC)

---

Needs to be added: Pvt Joe Snuffy: A generic private, used often in mailing address examples. (What are the origins of the name, however?)

re: Red

I've pulled this line because I don't think it is an example of military slang. My references show this as political slang (which may have been used by members of the military but not more or differently than it's usage by the general population). If anyone can specifically source this as Military slang, please add it back. Rossami 16:59, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Red - a communist, political enemy

Beaucoup

While it's true that "beaucoup" is also used in the civilian world, I would argue that its origins are military, because of the mispronunciation. It may have migrated into common parlance, but its origins are US Army in Vietnam, borrowing the French term "boh coo" from the Vietnamese. I first heard it from my instructor Master Sergeant George M. Fritz in 1980, who spent 3 tours in the Special Forces in Vietnam. "boh coo" is civilian "boo koo" is Army

If you argue that because it has migrated into civilian use that it is no longer a military term, then you would also have to say the same thing about GI.

Can't we just have fun here, or do we have to stray into pedanticism?

I'm onto you, Rodney King!  ;] Trekphiler 22:05, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

Hey, I liked that you used pedantic. It should be used more often around here. JamesMadison 06:54, 4 April 2006 (UTC)

deletion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:What_Wikipedia_is_not#Wikipedia_is_not_a_dictionary

A lot of people would agree with you. This "list of" page was originally created as a compromise that consolidated many much smaller pages. ("Jarhead" was one of the first if I remember right.) If you want, you could always create each of these entries in Wiktionary, then follow the "What links here" and redirect all the current inbound links to links to the individual Wiktionary pages. It would be a lot of work but might be the right choice in the long run. Be bold. Rossami (talk)

G.I.

Before I fix this, is there really a credible cite somewhere for the "galvanized iron" etymology? Because GI meant "Government Issue" long before WW2... Blair P. Houghton 02:37, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)

I gotta do everything myself. wordorigins has a ref for [1] that adds to the galvanized iron hitch. I'll see if I can't make the Military Slang entry more clear, maybe link it to GI...wouldn't that be squared away... Blair P. Houghton 15:52, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)

The "galvy" citations generally seem to come from the UK. It's nonsense, in my judgement. Google "GI soldier galvanized iron" as opposed to "GI soldier government issue" and the weight is overwhelmingly on the latter. Certainly I never heard the galvy theory until today.

Among other Government Issue cites I find one for the CCC of the 1930s, so it was indeed current before WWII.

Further, the term shouldn't have full stops. In neither of my dictionaries (Webster's Collegiate and the New Shorter Oxford) is it spelled thus. --Cubdriver 14:37, 17 July 2005 (UTC)

Galvanized Iron also existed long before WWII. I have definitively sourced the Galvanized Iron etymology and documented my sources a while back in an edit summary. Having trouble finding it tonight but I'll do it again if we must. Rossami (talk) 04:35, 18 July 2005 (UTC)

Yes, Oxford online gives the "galvanized iron" meaning, with the qualifier that it is used chiefly in the term "G.I. can". It also gives the "Government (or General) Issue" meaning under a separate definition. I don't think one is the descendant of the other, I think they had coincedentally identical abbreviations, i.e. they are two separate terms with different etymologies. SigPig 15:00, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

AGAnauten removed

See Entry. This term is unknown outside of www.aganauten.de and is not a generic term. It was deleted as Spam on deWikipedia long ago. -83.129.6.232 01:22, 29 August 2005 (UTC)

This is my first edit, so take it easy. From my army tours in the mid 80s we used "APC" for a short form for travelling 'a pieds collice', by foot, in French. In the same vein 'black cadillacs' referred to combat boots as another mode of transport. Another term used is "buck shee" for ad hoc or free, I believe it is an English army term of East Indian origin meaning free scrounge.

I remember "black cadillacs". Got 20 miles/gallon (of sweat). As for buckshee, the British brought it back from India; orig Persian baksheesh. SigPig 15:36, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

TDY or TDD

I know we already have TDY but what about Temporary Detached Duty? Or is it the same thing? If it is you might want to put in that it's also know as Traveling Around Drunk in some circles. Although I don't know why. Whispering 05:22, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

TDY is most commonly used in the US Army and US Air Force (and among persons affiliatd, such as civil servants and contractors working with the service in question); TAD (Tempoary Attached Duty) is used in US Navy and US Marine Corps jargon. TDD does not, so far as I know, exist; One is always attached to some organization. (TAD as Traveling Around Drunk? I could see the connection, but have never heard it used like that.) --Penta 00:16, 5 December 2005 (UTC)

Ah silly me it is TAD don't know where I got TDD from. As far as Traveling Around Drunk goes I've heard US Navy people use that phrase. But I don't know if it is mainstream or just something just they use. Whispering 00:55, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

Sources

For a book full of terms, including dating (which the article could use, I think), see Swear Like a Trooper. Trekphiler 18:19, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

Ate-up

When I was in the U.S. Army (1990s) it was a fairly common phrase: "Ate up with a dumbass" which was shortened to "ate-up" when "with a dumbass" was deemed inappropriate for the sake of propriety or the slacker-soldier was not quite that deficient. I do not know if "Ate-up with a dumbass" was originally the full phrase, or if the additional words were added later. Like cadences and Jody-calls, this phrase may vary from location to location, but I certainly agree that "ate-up" is a universal catchword among soldiers. Erebras January 6, 2006

The phrase was "ate up with a case of the dumbass," using "dumbass" in the sense of a disease causing the individual in question to perform in a sub-acceptable manner. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 144.230.63.56 (talk) 08:28, 30 November 2009 (UTC)

It would be great if someone knew the origin of the term that was used so liberally by drill sergeants. Boneyard90 (talk) 15:30, 27 May 2011 (UTC)

- - - I served four years each in the Air Force, then the Army. Both services used the term "ate up", but with different meanings.

In the Air Force, as you know, it's being at least a little too gung ho, really by the book. Ex: "Senior Airman Evans gets his hair cut twice a week - he's so ate up!"

In the Army, it means you've got a problem. Ex: "Specialist Evans hasn't had a hair cut in two months - he's so ate up!"

Another quick services comparison: In the Army, I lived in a barracks with a common latrine. In the Air Force, I lived in a dormitory with adjoining suites. - - - — Preceding unsigned comment added by E2 pedia (talk • contribs) 14:35, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

0 Dark 30

The entry says Navy and Marines, but this is also used in the Army, mostly for formations called before sunrise.

WHAT DOES "LOWLY FIRST -YEAR CADET MEAN?

TO WHO EVER CAN TELL ME WHAT WORD DO THEY USE IN TBE BRITISH MILITARY FOR THIS PERSON?

Dead in the Water

"dead in the water" while used by the military, it is neither unique to nor did it originate with military slang.

I added Dead in the water" back because:

1. It IS slang used by the military. I know, I caused one.
2. It doesn't matter if it's unique. MANY of those terms have seeped into Civvie speech and are no longer unique.
3. It doesn't matter that it didn't orginiate with the military, it's STILL a slang term used in the Navy/Coast Guard.

arfon 02:29, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

Actually, it matters a great deal. This is, after all, supposed to be an encyclopedia article on military slang, not a mere definition list. To be more precise, this is not a concordance of all slang that happens to be used by the military. This list was created to describe slang terms which are either unique to the military or which can be verifiably shown to have originated with the military. It must meet one of those two criteria or it has no place in the list.

No one disputes that the phrase "dead in the water" is used by the military. We even used the term in the Army. But it's also in wide use outside the military and has been for a very long time. The military is made up of people who came from all walks of life. They bring their language with them into the service. Slang that happens to be used by military people is not synonymous with military slang.

Of course, the other inclusion criteria is slang which originated with the military before moving out to wider usage. Unfortunately, I know of no reference demonstrating that "dead in the water" originated as a military slang phrase. Until someone can cite a reliable source that this phrase originated with the military, it is inappropriate for this list.

By the way, a corcordance of all slang used by the military would be an interesting list. However, the proper place for such concordances is an appendix in Wiktionary. Perhaps this list should be transwiki'd there so it can be expanded as you suggest. Rossami (talk) 03:35, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

1) Actually, the article says: "...terms used commonly by military personnel...". It doesn't say anything about a requirement of "...to describe slang terms which are either unique to the military or... ...to have originated with the military".

2) Exactly, how do you know that the term didn't originate from the Royal Navy? The only place I have ever heard it was in the Navy.

3) If we are sticking to only words/terms that "...are either unique to the military or... ...to have originated with the military", we must remove MANY from the list because I saw MANY words/terms that don't fit those requirements.

Therefore, I an adding "Dead in the water" back. arfon 05:58, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

The rule about "only slang unique to or originating with the military" has been a guiding principle of this page since it's first edit. It's been well understood for years. If you think the current version of the header poorly describes that principle, fix it.
Yes, that principle should apply to all the terms on this list. If you see others on this list which fail to meet that principle, then they should also be removed from the page. (Historically, this page has needed periodic pruning. It's probably past due.)
To answer your second bullet, I don't know that the term didn't originate from the Royal Navy (or any other navy). As far as I know, the origins of this phrase may be lost in the mists of time. But that's not the requirement in WP:V. According to Wikipedia policy, we have to know that it did originate in the military before it can be appropriately kept on the list. The burden of proof for all encyclopedic content is on verification prior to inclusion. Rossami (talk) 06:20, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

1)The rule about "only slang unique to or originating with the military" has been a guiding principle of this page since it's first edit. It's been well understood for years. - This crap about an 'un-written' rule is that, CRAP! The description says "...terms used commonly by military personnel..." PERIOD. The ONLY place I have ever heard "dead in the water" was while I was in the navy thus it's a term "commonly by military personnel".

2) "we have to know that it did originate in the military before it can be appropriately kept on the list." there is NOT ONE SHRED OF PROOF that any of the other terms originated in the military NOR could most be proven. So by that argument, this whole page should be eliminated.

3) The only proof offered that "dead in the water" did not originate for the military is you (Rossami) saying that it didn't. where's your proof of it's origins?arfon 22:25, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Jarhead insult

I also have removed this comment from the entry on "Jarhead". This page is for slang that is unique to or which originated with the military. To the extent that we include etymologies of these slang words, we should only be including the real etymologies. This is just a random interservice insult. It is not seriously believed nor, in my 15 years in the US Army, was it even used in jest.

This page is already borderline non-encyclopedic. If we include every random insult, joke and pun that's ever been used in the service, we'll lose the page completely. Rossami (talk) 02:28, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

I will accept that for that reason, but I insist on a reason. We did use that etymology when I was in the Army. Maybe it was more common in the 70s and 80s than now. GABaker 02:44 2 June 2006 UTC.

I have cited two dictionary etymologies: the hat one (American Heritage Dictionary) and a stubborn, foolish person/mule (Oxford). Merriam-Webster online doesn't give an etymology. MarineWives.com says it's old Navy slang, since a Marine in a blue uniform with white cover looked like a contemporary Mason jar (which was apparently blue). As for Mason making helmets, I can't find a cite for that -- all mentions of this seem to be on sites stating the origin of "jarhead", so it may be an oft-repeated urban legend. I cannot find any other authoritative sources yet. SigPig 04:33, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

Slang?

There are terms in here that aren't slang, but official terms or abbreviations. Like "BCCT" - this looks like an official acronym. If we start including these (and AOR, BDU, etc) this article will become unwieldy and useless. Unless anyone strenuously objects, I'm going to start weeding out the jargon. SigPig 17:19, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

Please do. They probably belong either at List of government and military acronyms, Category:Military acronyms or List of modern military terms and acronyms (though that last currently redirects to the inappropriately named List of modern infantry related terms and acronyms.) Rossami (talk) 19:54, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

OK, I've started pruning jargon acronyms; i.e. FUBAR and BUFF are slang and should stay; AOR and BDU are actual terms and should go. If I've inadvertantly deleted one which is actual slang as opposed to a real acronym, please advise and correct. (Sound of whipper-snipper starting up...) SigPig 11:17, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Attention: Slang Glossary policy discussion underway

Slang glossaries violate the following policy:

Wikipedia is not a dictionary

Wikipedia is not a dictionary or a usage or jargon guide. Wikipedia articles are not:

1. Dictionary definitions. Because Wikipedia is not a dictionary, please do not create an entry merely to define a term. An article should usually begin with a good definition; if you come across an article that is nothing more than a definition, see if there is information you can add that would be appropriate for an encyclopedia. An exception to this rule is for articles about the cultural meanings of individual numbers.
2. Lists of such definitions. There are, however, disambiguation pages consisting of pointers to other pages; these are used to clarify differing meanings of a word. Wikipedia also includes glossary pages for various specialized fields.
3. A usage guide or slang and idiom guide. Wikipedia is not in the business of saying how words, idioms, etc. should be used. We aren't teaching people how to talk like a Cockney chimney-sweep. However, it may be important in the context of an encyclopedia article to describe just how a word is used to distinguish among similar, easily confused ideas, as in nation or freedom. In some special cases an article about an essential piece of slang may be appropriate.

---

Due to the many AfDs which are initiated to enforce this policy and due to the resistance to such deletion by defenders of the glossaries, I have started a discussion at Wikipedia talk:What Wikipedia is not#Slang glossaries to rewrite the policy in order to solve this problem and to readdress this question: should slang glossaries by allowed on Wikipedia? --List Expert 23:45, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

Ratfuck

This is a great term and should be included.

Ratfuck: to take certain items from a bag or container and leave the less useful items behind. Take the best and leave the rest.

usage: The M&M's are missing from every one of these, who ratfucked the MRE's?

The antenna is missing some asshole ratfucked the a-bag.

Marine Term from the 80's and before probably still in use today.

Re: Ratfuck

Indeed we still use the term "ratfuck." Well at least a salty gunny and a major both used it seperately in a time gap of 30 seconds on one particular occassion when we were trying to distribute MREs. Ratfucking of MREs (or the perception of it) is apparently high on some staff ncos pet peeve list. --ProdigySportsman 03:05, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

Moving to Wiktionary

I just added the {{copy to wiktionary}} template to this article. Wikipedia is not a dictionary, and what else is this article besides a dictionary? The same move was already done in the Finnish Wikipedia article of military slang — you can see the interwiki link for yourself. --ZeroOne (talk | @) 09:31, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

• Endorse. Should have been done years ago. The new Wiktionary:Appendices are perfect for this kind of list. All the inbound links can be repointed as a cross-wiki link and this page made into a cross-project redirect. Rossami (talk) 14:44, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

• Endorse the move. However the intro is probably worth keeping here as an article (still needing cleanup...), with a link to wiktionary replacing the list? Hmm, I think I know another "list" like this that needs tagging....--J Clear 23:17, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

• Oppose. This is not a dictionary definition. It belongs less on Wiktionary than it does here. It serves the purpose of a Wikipedia list. A cross-wiki redirect sounds weird, and it wouldn't be useful unless the moved article had cross-wiki redirects back here itself. Gene Nygaard 10:15, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

I did the move now. I left the actual article (intro) here and moved only the list. Wiktionary:Appendices is really the right place for this. --ZeroOne (talk | @) 23:21, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

List removed from Snafu

This list was tagged as offtopic and merge to here. As previous consensus was not to list on this article, i've put them here for future reference. I'm pretty sure some are fake, being unpronouncable and far to long to be reliastic spelled out, so all need citing before being added anywhere:

• AMF-YOYO - Adios Mother Fucker, You're On Your Own
• BOHICA - Bend Over, Here It Comes Again
• "Charlie Foxtrot" - From the NATO phonetic alphabet letters C and F, meaning Cluster Fuck
• DILLIGAS - Do I Look Like I Give A Shit
• DILLIGAFF - Do I Look Like I Give A Flying Fuck
• FIDO - Fuck It-Drive On
• FIGMO - Fuck It, I Got My Orders - Vietnam 1968
• FIIH - Fuck it, I'm Hungry
• FISHDO - Fuck It, Shit Happens - Drive On
• FIFI - Fuck It-Fly It
• FYATCYRIO - Fuck You and The Camel you Rode In On (Iraq war slogan)
• FUBAB - Fucked Up Beyond All Belief
• FUBAR - Fucked Up Beyond All Repair/Recognition/Reason
• FUBB - Fucked Up Beyond Belief
• FUBIJAR - Fuck You Bitch, I'm Just a Reservist (US Army Reserve)
• FUBISO - Fuck You Buddy, I'm Shipping Out
• FUJIGMO - Fuck You Jack, I Got My Orders
• FUMTU - Fucked Up More Than Usual
• HSTSFU - Holy Shit, This Shit's Fucked Up
• JANFU - Joint Army-Navy Fuck Up
• KMACYOYO - Kiss My Ass, Colonel, You're On Your Own
• SNAFUBAR - Situation Normal: All Fucked Up Beyond All Repair/Recognition/Reason
• SOL - Shit Out of Luck
• SRDH - Shit Rolls Down Hill
• SSDD - Same Shit, Different Day
• SSDWI - Shit Sucks, Deal With It
• SUSFU - Situation Unchanged, Still Fucked Up
• TARFU - Things Are Really Fucked Up, or Totally and Royally Fucked Up
• TASFUWMAWST - Things Are So Fucked Up, We Might As Well Stop Trying
• TAUFU - Totally And Utterly Fucked Up
• WTFYFFU - What The Fuck, You Fucking Fuck Up
• WTFO - "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Oscar" aka "What the Fuck? Over." (from Fighter Squadron VF-211, late 80's). Commonly used in the 136AW in the early 2000's.
• TU - "Tango Uniform", Tits Up, dead, broken beyond repair
• TFBUNDY - Totally Fucked but not done/dead yet

Shipping out

I removed these because the formatting was pretty awful, & they all appear to be U.S. terms. Since the page isn't "U.S. military slang", (extreme!) undue weight on U.S. terms is inappropriate. S.O.S.: Shit on a Shingle, aka Chipped beef gravy on toast

Squared Away: Taking care of

Brownnoser: Person who sucks up to seniors

Chow: Food.

Doc: Name used for any enlisted medic or corpsman

Dog and pony show: Doing something for the Brass or the public

Full Bird: Colonel in the Army, Marine Corp, & Air Force; Captain in the Navy

KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid

P-38: Small can opener for C-Rations

Re-up: Re-enlist

Shitcan, file 13, deep six, round file: Different ways to say trash can

Short Timer: Less than 90 days before discharge or separation

SNAFU: Situation Normal All Fucked Up

Oh(zero)- dark- thirty: Specifically, thirty minutes past midnight. Unspecific term for a time very early in the morning.

Beaucoup: French: Many. (Example: "Beaucoup hostiles!" A report that there are a large number of enemies in the area).

Cluster Fuck: Mass confusion. Similar to SNAFU or FUBAR, in that they mean everything has gone wrong.

D-Day: Generic term for the day an operation or attack is to be initiated; after the Allied invasion of Europe, that date (June 6, 1944) became 'the' D-Day.

Deep Six: Kill. Derived from the act of burying someone six feet deep.

FOD: Flight ops lingo for "Foreign Object Damage" or "Foreign Object Debris"

Freedom Bird: The airplane that took you home from Vietnam

FUBAR: Fucked up beyond all recognition/repair.

Geedunk: (Gee sounds like beginning of Geese) A snack

Scuttle Butt: Rumor started and spread around ship, also water fountain

Asshole and Elbows: To work very hard, as in, "all I want to see is assholes and elbows!".

Blanket Party: Unofficial punishment of company goof off.

Chow Hall: Place to Eat Meals

Down range: Any forward-deployed area of operations

Eighty-six: Get rid of, out of item, "86 that before the CO gets here"

Grunt: Infantry Soldier

Police Call: Cleaning an area of Cig. Butts, And trash IE; Parking Lot

Un-ass the AO: Get out of the current location

G. I. Party: Clean up the barracks and polish the floors every friday night

head: Bathroom

HOOAH: (who-a) referring to or meaning anything and everything except "no".

Lifer: Anyone who has re-enlisted in the Military

Roach Coach/Gut Truck: Food Catering Truck or Van

HazMat: Hazardous Material

Rock: Idiot, person of low or no intelligence. Also used as nickname for Okinawa by Marines

Skate: Person who got out of work

90 day Wonder: 2nd Lt., Officers Training School Graduate

FIGMO: Fuck it, got my orders

Pineapple : Slang for hand grenade.

BOHICA: Bend over, here it comes again!

Fart Sack: Sleeping bag

Field day: Day set aside for cleaning the office and barracks

Grab Ass: Soldiers messing or screwing around; usually involves wrestling

Grunt: AKA groundpounder 0311 infantry Marine

Pogey Bait 6th: Candy

US ARMY: Uncle Sam Ain't Released Me Yet

Whistle bearies and tube steaks...: Hot Dogs and Beans

TREKphiler ^{any time you're ready, Uhura} 21:43, 15 January 2010 (UTC)