"Every war we every fought we got a whole vocabulary from," said Paul Dickson, whose book War Slang traces that phenomenon from the Civil War through the Gulf War.
What terms of that sort can we identify? [We have already talked about gringo.
And what words of that sort do we suspect may emerge from 9/11 and make their way into future dictionaries?
Has anyone heard wand to mean the security "wands" of metal detectors, waved over passengers' bodies, and wander as a noun meaning the airport security worker who operates the wand?
The only word I can think of immediately is foxhole. And yes, I've heard those things called wands. But isn't wand also that little pen-looking thingy that you sign your name with onto an electronic screen when you accept a delivery or check out of some stores--or that's used in Etch-a-Sketch, for that matter?
And what words of that sort do we suspect may emerge from 9/11 and make their way into future dictionaries?
Other than "9/11" itself, I have heard people using the phrase "weapons-grade" (popularized during the anthrax-in-the-mail scare) as a general adjective to describe something particularly good -- "Mmm, that's weapons-grade salsa!"
"weapons-grade"...a general adjective to describe something particularly good
...so the lingua franca has now converted to a wartime footing? We used to use "industrial-strength" for that compliment.
I was curious about the etymology of gung ho, so I looked it up on Atomica. I thought some of you might be interested in the result:
gung ho or gung-ho
adj. Slang.
Extremely enthusiastic and dedicated.
[Earlier Gung Ho, motto of certain U.S. Marine forces in Asia during World War II, from Chinese (Mandarin) gōnghé, to work together (short for gōngyèhézuòshè, Chinese Industrial Cooperative Society) : gōng, work + hé, together.]
Our Living Language Most of us are not aware of it today, but the word gung ho has been in English only since 1942 and is one of the many words that entered the language as a result of World War II. It comes from Mandarin Chinese gōnghé, “to work together,” which was used as a motto by the Chinese Industrial Cooperative Society. Lieutenant Colonel Evans F. Carlson (1896–1947) borrowed the motto as a moniker for meetings in which problems were discussed and worked out; the motto caught on among his Marines (the famous “Carlson's Raiders”), who began calling themselves the “Gung Ho Battalion.” From there eager individuals began to be referred to as gung ho. Other words and expressions that entered English during World War II include flak, gizmo, task force, black market, and hit the sack.
...so the lingua franca has now converted to a wartime footing? We used to use "industrial-strength" for that
compliment.
It wasn't much of a leap. In his farewell address as US President, Eisenhower warned us to "...beware the military/industrial complex." Few seem to have listened.
Grizzly war terms: Collateral damage (we just blew away your wife and kids, your cow, your house, but missed the bunker where the bad guys might have been) Friendly fire: Oops, we just shot our own guys. Sherman's march: Kill everything, destroy everything. Less grizzly: Hooker: From General Hooker, famous for keeping prostitutes with him.
War slang out to be divided into two categories: items widely used during the war only, and those that passed into postwar use. A "blivet" was 200 pounds of feces in a 100 pound sack. Applied to useless individuals. They were also called "warm bodies" in informal requisitions. We slept in sacks. I got a million of them.
Hooker: From General Hooker, famous for keeping prostitutes with him.http://wordsmith.org/board/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=words&Number=250
"Hooker: From General Hooker, famous for keeping prostitutes with him."
The Oxford English Dictionary has a quotation from 1845 using the term
But the same site said Gen. Hooker's proclivities (sic) made usage much more widespread.
Sweet Max, that's fascinating! Thank you, Dearest.
"Go for Broke" ... meaning : to go the distance, chance all on a desired outcome .... not used much anymore but post WWII very popular. It is the motto for the 100th/4442nd which was the most decorated regiment in the US military that served in WWII. An all Japanese-American unit.
Other words are not so politically correct going back to WWII you have Hun, Jap, Dago, Ruskie, ....just about every ethnicity under the sun had an equal opportunity to be insulted. Korea and Vietnam brought us Gook and Chink ...
Very different from the "nickname" phenomena of Yank, Brit and Aussie.
Amazing isn't it, how the other guy must be objectified when we are aiming guns at each other .... or, sadly, maybe not.
The young men of the RAF during the second world war, most in their teens and early twenties, found that the use of humourous or ironic euphemisms was effective in reducing fear. I guess this still happens, Collateral damage, Friendly fire and Daisy-cutter bombs seem also to be euphemisms designed to turn the unacceptable into the commonplace, but the wry humour is often missing today.
Although most of the following terms have fallen out of use, they still hold some interest.
He’s “bought the farm” was used to describe the fate of a pilot who had nose-dived into the landscape, while he’s “gone for a Burton” meant he isn’t coming back (from a mission). The latter derived from an advertisement for a beer. “Archie” was a word given to anti aircraft fire and derived from a popular comic character who’s catch phrase was ”certainly not, Archibald!” (and if any one can explain that further……?). Then there was ”blitz” still used, in the UK at least, to denote heavy, prolonged use of firepower. “The Blitz” refers to the bombardment of London during the Second World War and derives from the German “blitzkrieg”, literally “lightning war”.
Then there is “Jeep” of course, coming I think from the American military and derived from General Purpose. When I thought of this one I looked it up in the dictionary and found a reference to a cartoon strip with an animal called Eugene the Jeep (and if any one can explain that further…….?).
Picking up on wow's point regarding slang expressions used for other races reminded me of “Jerry” – a term used during the Second World War for a German soldier. There is a term “jerry-built” used on this side of the Atlantic (is it used elsewhere?) to describe shoddy work that will not last long. Most people associate it with the cheap German goods produced between the two world wars, but in fact the term was in use, particularly in speculative house building, in the middle of the nineteenth century. There is a naval term “jury” as in “jury rigged” or “jury mast” that means temporary; so a jury mast would be used if the original mast was broken away in a storm. I can find nothing to connect these two meanings - jury: temporary; Jerry: shoddy work. The OED gives each as being of unknown origin, but to me there seems a clear possibility of connection with jury being the older form. Has any one come across other examples, clues on derivation or possible links?
The "jerry can" was originally German very useful motor fuel emergency supply container holding about four gallons, for a guess. It was rugged, had very convenient strong handles, and top was very secure against leakage. US quickly copied it.
When I thought of this one I looked it up in the dictionary and found a reference to a cartoon strip with an animal called Eugene the Jeep (and if any one can explain that further…….?).
I may be well off the mark here but a Jeep is a cross between a goat and a sheep. Eugene may be a play on words for eugenic.