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Revision as of 03:22, 20 December 2005

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. ]

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)

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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 "boo koo" 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?

deletion

http://en.wikipedia.org/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 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)

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.

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)