Slang has always been popular with troops of a military organisation, and contemporary GI slang terms have been popularised by film and television productions in recent years. Some examples of usage have been dramatised for the purposes of the production however, and this has inevitably seen their use spread into the living history world.
The following glossary has been taken from Volume 16, Number 3 of American Speech (October 1941), a journal published by the US War Department Bureau of Public Relations. The orignal article is titled Glossary of Army Slang, and it can be used to enhance first-person impressions, and is also useful when referencing first-hand accounts from veterans.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| AA | Anti-Aircraft |
| A.B. | Area bird; cadet walking punishing tours in area of barracks |
| ACK-ACK | Machine gun |
| A.F. | Audio frequencies (Signal Corps) |
| Albatross | Chicken |
| Armored Cow | Canned milk |
| Army Banjo | Shovel |
| Army Brat | Son or daughter of Army Officer |
| Army Strawberries | Prunes |
| AT | Anti-tank |
| Augustine | Cadet who enters Military Academy in August (West Point) |
| AWOL | Absent without officel leave |
| B.A. | Busted aristocrat; Cadet Officer reduced to ranks (West Point) |
| Baby | Mustard |
| B-ache | Complaint, or to complain |
| Bad time | Time spent in guardhouse, which must be made up |
| Bail out | Parachute jump from plane |
| Barker | Heavy artillery gun |
| Barracks 13 | Guardhouse |
| Bathtub | Motorcycle sidecar |
| Battery acid | Coffee |
| B.C.L. | Broadcast listener (Signal Corps) |
| Beam, flying the iron | Pilot following railroad track |
| Beam, flying the wet | Pilot following river |
| Beam, riding the | To pretend innocence; to look at ceiling (Flying Cadets) |
| Bean gun | Rolling kitchen |
| Beans | Commissary Officer |
| Beast | New cadet (West Point) |
| Beast barracks | Period of elemtary training for new cadets (West Point) |
| Behavior Report | Letter to a girl |
| Belly robber | Mess Sergeant |
| Bend the throttle | To fly plane or drive vehicle above normal speed |
| Bible | Army Regulations |
| Big John | Recruit |
| Bird dogging | Lower classman dancing with upper classman's girl (Flying Cadets) |
| Biscuit gun | Imaginery appliance for shooting food up to pilots who are having difficulty in landing (Flying Cadets) |
| B.J. | Before June; applied to 'plebes' lacking in respect for upperclassmen (West Point) |
| Black strap | Coffee |
| Black Wednesday | Calisthenics with rifles (Flying Cadets) |
| Blase | Fresh; indifferent to correction (West Point) |
| Blind | A fine imposed by court-martial |
| Blind flying | A date with girl you have never seen |
| Blisterfoot | Infantryman |
| Blitz it | Polish something |
| Blitz wagon, or Buggy | Staff Car |
| Blitzes | Air patrols |
| Blow your top, to | Vocal loss of temper |
| Board fight | Recitation in which problems are worked out at blackboards (West Point) |
| Bob-tail | Dishonorable discharge |
| Bog-pocket | Tightwad |
| Bone | To study or strive for something |
| Boodle | Candy, cake, ice cream, etc. (West Point) |
| Boodle fight | Any party at which boodle is served |
| Bootleg | Coffee |
| Boudoir | Squad Tent |
| Bowlegs | Cavalrymen |
| Brace | Exaggerated position of attention |
| Brass | Empty cartridge shells |
| Brass Hats | GHQ Officer; Staff Officer |
| Brass pounder | Radio telegrapher (Signal Corps) |
| Bread Sergeant | Mine Planter, dining room orderly |
| Bruss | An exaggerated brace (Flying Cadets) |
| B.S. | British Science; prolonged discussion (West Point) |
| Bubble dancing | Dishwashing |
| Bucking | Extra attention to personal appearance when competing for higher rank or favors |
| Bucking | Extra attention to personal appearance when competing for higher rank or favors |
| Bucking for section 8 | Seeking discharge for military ineptitude (not grounds for dishonorable discharge) |
| Buddy seat | Motorcycle sidecar |
| Bug | Speed key on transmitter (Signal Corps) |
| Bug | Instrument recording performance in Link Trainer (Air Corps) |
| Bugle | To avoid reciting by standing at blackboard until end of period (West Point) |
| Bugs | Any solids found in soup |
| Built-in head wind | Implication that plane designer has intentionally lowered its cruising speed (Flying Cadets) |
| Bull pen | Military prison yard |
| Bully beef | Tinned Corned Beef |
| Bunk fatigue | To sleep or rest |
| Bunk flying | Talking aviation in barracks (Air Corps) |
| Bunkie | Close friend, or one who shares same shelter |
| Burn and turn | Game of blackjack |
| Busted | Reduced in rank |
| Butch | Medical officer |
| Butt | Cigarette |
| Butt | Remainder; as ‘butt of the month.’ (West Point) |
| Button chopper | Laundry |
| Button up | To close a tank (Armored Force) |
| Buttoned up | Orders carried out |
| Buzzing a town | To do the town; in Air Corps, to fly over it |
| Cans | Headphones (Signal Corps) |
| Canteen soldier | One who wears non-regulation clothing or insignia |
| Captain of the head | Latrine orderly on Mine Planter |
| Care boy | Driver of tank (Armored Force) |
| Carrier pigeon | Officer’s messenger |
| Carrying a heavy load | Fatigued or melancholy |
| Cathead kid | Soldier guarding a mine cable over the cathead (Mine Planters) |
| China clipper | Dishwasher |
| Chinese landing | One Wing Low (Air Corps) |
| Chow hounds | Men always at head of mess line |
| Class 'A' pass | Reward for efficiency and good conduct; permits absence at all times when not on duty |
| Class 'B' pass | Permits absence between retreat and reveille |
| Clutch, slipping the | Criticising |
| CO (KO) | Commanding officer |
| Cock pit fog | Mentally lost |
| Coffee cooler | One who seeks easy jobs |
| Cold | Without error (West Point) |
| Comb it | Detailed inspection of a tank |
| Commissaries | Groceries |
| Company punishment | Punishment fixed by company commander |
| Company stooge | Company clerk |
| Con | Confinement to quarters (West Point) |
| Copenhagen | Chewing snuff |
| Cosmolines | Artillery |
| Country club | Randolph Field |
| Cousin | Close friend |
| Cow | Member of Second Class, third year at Military Academy (West Point) |
| CP | Command post |
| Crawl | To admonish |
| Cross bar hotel | Guard House |
| Crow tracks | Chevrons |
| Crumb hunt | Kitchen inspection |
| D | Deficient (West Point) |
| Daily bulletin | Orders issued to regiment by regimental commander |
| Daily details | Daily work schedule issued by 1st Sergeant |
| Dawn patrolling | To arise before reveille |
| Day room | Recreation room |
| Deadlined | Vehicle laid up for repairs |
| Deck monkeys | Deck crew of Army Mine Planter |
| Decode | To explain |
| Demo (pronounced 'deemo') | A demerit (West Point) |
| Devil's piano | Machine gun |
| Diddie bag | Where soldier keeps valuables |
| Dihedral oil | Imaginary substance which recruits are sent to procure (Air Corps) |
| Ding how | Everything O. K. |
| Dis | Discipline (West Point) |
| Dit da artist | Radio operator |
| Dodo | Flying Cadet who has not yet made a solo flight |
| Dog robber | Orderly |
| Dog tags | Identification disks |
| Dogface | Enlisted man |
| Dog show | Foot inspection |
| Doodle bug | Reconnaissance car, or tank |
| Dopes off | Acts stupidly |
| Doughboy | Infantryman |
| Dough puncher | Army baker |
| Doowhistle | See Ducrot |
| Doowillie | See Ducrot |
| Downhill | Second half of enlistment |
| D.P. | Dining permit (West Point) |
| Drag | Equivalent to date; also, to apply water and shoe polish to a newly appointed cadet officer (West Point) |
| Drive it in the hangar | Stop bunk flying |
| Drive up | Come here |
| Dry run | To practice; a dress rehearsal |
| DS | Detached service; away from organization |
| D.T. | Double time |
| Dual | A flight with instructor; a date with chaperone (Flying Cadets) |
| Ducrot | Anything the name of which is not known; applied to all plebes, as ‘Mr. Ducrot.’ (West Point) |
| Dud | Unexploded shell |
| Duff | Any sweet edible |
| Duffle bag | Clothes bag |
| Dumbflicket | See Ducrot |
| Dumbguard | See Ducrot |
| Dumbjohn | See Ducrot |
| Dx man | Radio operator interested in contacting amateurs in foreign countries and distant places |
| Egg in your beer | Too much of a good thing |
| Elephant | Cadet taking dancing lessons (West Point) |
| Engineer | Cadet in top academic sections (West Point) |
| Ether | Radio telephone (Signal Corps) |
| Fat friends | Balloons |
| Fatigue | Work detail |
| Fatigues | Work clothes |
| F.D. | Full dress |
| Fess | A failure (West Point) |
| File | Waste basket |
| Fileboner | One striving to get ahead (West Point) |
| Find | To discharge a cadet for failure in studies or conduct (West Point) |
| First grader | Master Sergeant |
| First man | First Sergeant |
| Flanker | A tall person (West Point) |
| Flash gun | Machine gun used for training |
| Flower pot | Plane Power Turret (Air Corps) |
| Flying boxcar | A bomber |
| Flying Chinese | One wing high-other wing low (Air Corps) |
| Foot locker | A barracks truck |
| Foot slogger | An Infantryman |
| Foundation | Day on which list of those to be dismissed is published - See find (West Point) |
| Foundling | A dismissed cadet (West Point) |
| Foxhole | Pit dug by a soldier, a one- man trench |
| French leave | Unauthorized absence |
| Freshman | A recruit |
| Fried egg | Insignia of U. S. Military Academy |
| Frog sticker | A bayonet |
| Funeral glide | Plane out of control (Flying Cadets) |
| G-2 | Inquisitiveness |
| Galvanized gelding | Tank |
| Garrison shoes | Army dress shoes |
| Gas house | Saloon or beer garden |
| Gas house gang | Chemical Warfare instructors |
| Gasoline cow boy | Member of Armored Force |
| Gear | Radio equipment (Signal Corps) |
| Geese | Bombers in formation |
| General's car | A wheelbarrow |
| Get eager | To strive to the utmost |
| G.I. | Government issue |
| G.I. Haircut | One-inch trim |
| G.I. Hop or G.I. Struggle | Dance held on the Post |
| G.I. sky pilot | Chaplain |
| G.I. war | Maneuver |
| Gig | Unfavorable report |
| Gig getter | A rifle which, in spite of all efforts at cleaning, fails to pass inspection |
| Glamour boy | Draftee, Selective Service trainee |
| Gnome | Member of second battalion; see runt (West Point) |
| Goat | Junior officer in post, regiment, etc |
| Goaty | Awkward, ignorant |
| Going up | To take off (Air Corps) |
| Gold brick | One who gets by without doing his share of work |
| Gold-fish | Salmon |
| Goofs off | Makes a mistake |
| Goon | Soldier who falls in lowest category in Army classification. - See Zombie |
| Grandma | Low gear. See Rachael |
| Gravel agitator | Infantryman |
| Grease monkey | Air mechanic's assistant |
| Grey ghost | The stage Commander's airplane, so named because it is the last plane one rides in before being washed out (Air Corps Training Centers) |
| Gross | See wooden (West Point) |
| Growley | Tomato ketchup; to blush (West Point) |
| Grunt | Electrician's helper (Signal Corps) |
| Guard house lawyer | A person who knows little but talks much about regulations, military law, and 'soldier's rights.' |
| Gun | To gun anything is to have the waiter get it (Flying Cadets) |
| Halt and freeze | Assume position of attention |
| Ham | Amateur radio operator |
| Ham shack | Amateur radio station or building |
| Hard rolled | Packaged cigarettes |
| Hashburner | Cook |
| Hash mark | A service stripe |
| Hedge hop | Short flight |
| Hell buggy | Tank |
| Hell cadets | Field musicians; drummers and buglers (West Point) |
| Herdbound | Soldier or animal unfit for further military duty |
| High freq, or U. H. F. | Ultra high frequency bands above 30 me (Signal Corps) |
| Hit the silk | Use a parachute |
| Hitch | An enlistment period |
| Hive | To discover, to catch |
| Hivey | Quick to learn (West Point) |
| Hob | Provost Marshal |
| Holy flaw | An expression of extreme surprise, disgust, or joy (Air Corps) |
| Homing device | A pass or furlough |
| Hooks | Chevrons |
| Hypo happy | Interested in photography |
| IC | Inspected and condemned |
| In the field | Campaigning against an enemy under actual or assumed conditions |
| Iron horses | Tanks |
| Iron ponies | Motorcycles |
| Jackson | Form of address for any soldier |
| Jawbone | Credit. To buy without money. To shoot a weapon over a qualification course when it doesn’t count for record |
| Jeep | A term applied to bantam cars, and occasionally to other motor vehicles; in the Air Corps, the Link trainer; in the Armored Force, the 1 1/2 ton command car. See peep |
| Jeeter | A lieutenant |
| Joker | Wiseacre |
| Juice jerker | Electrician |
| Jumping jeep | Autogiro with jump take-off |
| Keeps dainty | Well behaved |
| Kick | A dishonorable discharge |
| Kid | Bomber Co-pilot (Air Corps) |
| Kiwi | A non-flying commissioned officer of the Air Corps |
| Knuckle buster | Crescent wrench |
| Lance jack | A temporary or acting corporal with the same duties and authority as a regularly appointed corporal, but without the pay of the grade |
| Landing gear | Legs |
| Latrine rumors | Unfounded reports |
| Laundry | Faculty board which passes on Flying Cadets. See Wash out |
| Lead and zinc mines | Planes (Flying Cadets) |
| Leaden breeches | Inert, lazy |
| Let her eat | Drive at full speed |
| Lid | Apprentice operator** - An incompetent operator (Signal Corps) |
| Lift him | To discharge an operator (Signal Corps) |
| Limp line | Men reporting at Sick Call |
| Little poison | 37 mm. gun |
| Live ammunition | Ball ammunition—full charge of lead and powder |
| Low on amps and voltage | Lacking ambition and ideas (Air Corps) |
| Lower the boom | To deliver a knockout punch |
| L.P. | Unattractive (West Point) |
| Maggie's drawers | Red flag used on rifle range to indicate a miss |
| Make | To appoint a cadet officer; one recently appointed (West Point) |
| Marfak | Butter |
| Mash in | To push in the clutch pedal |
| Max | A complete success (West Point) |
| Mechanical rats | Two-way loudspeaker system connecting barrack sleeping quarters with non-coms' room |
| Meat wagon | Ambulance |
| Mice | Small balls of lint on floor. See rats |
| Mill | Guardhouse |
| Mill | A typewriter (Signal Corps) |
| Missouri national | A tune supposed to bring rain (West Point) |
| Mitt flopper | A soldier who does favors for his superiors, or salutes unnecessarily; a yes man |
| Mole hole | Photographic dark room |
| Motor pool | Garage |
| Motorized foot locker | Bantam car |
| Motorized freckles | Insects |
| Monkey clothes | Full dress uniform |
| Mother mccrea | A sob story |
| Muck | Muscle (West Point) |
| Mustard | A smart pilot |
| NCO | A Non-Commissioned Officer |
| Netted | Radio sender and receiver properly tuned on same frequency |
| North Dakota rice | Hot cereal |
| Number 1 man | A machine gun operator |
| O.A.O. | One and only (West Point) |
| O.C. | Officer in charge |
| OD | Olive drab; officer of the day |
| Off the beam | Incorrect (Air Corps) |
| Officer's line | A row of houses occupied by officers and their families |
| O.G. | Officer of the guard (West Point) |
| Old file | An old soldier |
| Old fogy pay | Extra pay for additional service after four years |
| Old issue | An old soldier |
| Old man | Company or Regimental Commander |
| Old settler | An old soldier |
| On the carpet | Called before the Commanding Officer for disciplinary action |
| One striper | Private 1st class |
| Orderly room | Company headquarters |
| Over the hill | To desert |
| Over the hump | To retire after service of 30 years |
| Padre | The Chaplain |
| Paring knife | Bayonet |
| Parted his teeth | Scored a bull's eye |
| P.C.S. | Previous condition of servitude; occupation before entering Military Academy (West Point) |
| Pearl diver | Kitchen Police |
| Peashooter | A pursuit plane |
| Peep (son of a jeep) | Bantam car; used in organizations in which jeep is applied to larger vehicles |
| Peep sight | An expert gunner |
| Persuader | Inertia Starter Switch |
| Pfc | Private 1st Class |
| Pick up your brass | Get out of the way |
| Piece | The Army rifle |
| P.M.E. | Practical Military Engineering; a box luncheon (West Point) |
| Podunk | A cadet's home town or its newspaper (West Point) |
| Police | To throw away; to clean up; to be transferred to a lower academic section; to be thrown from a horse (West Point) |
| Poop sheet | Drill schedule or any written announcement |
| Popsickle | Motorcycle |
| Pounding brass | Transmitting on a hand key (Signal Corps) |
| Pour on the coal | Give it the throttle |
| Power birds of war | Flying Cadets |
| PO'd | Pissed off |
| Prairie dog snarl | Mine cables twisted together (Coast Artillery Mine Planters) |
| Pred | Cadet's predecessor at Military Academy (West Point) |
| Pro | Proficient (West Point) |
| Prop wash | An expression of disbelief (Air Corps) |
| P.S. | Parlor snake; to escort visitors around post (West Point) |
| Punk | Bread |
| Push button pilots | Pilots using PT-13's or PT-11's for training; easier to operate |
| PX | Post Exchange |
| PX coupons | Post Exchange checks |
| Quartermaster gait | A step longer than the regulation thirty-inch pace |
| Quill | To report for a delinquency (West Point) |
| Rachael | High gear. See grandma |
| Rain room | Bath house |
| Rat race | Mounted review in Armored Force |
| Rats | Balls of lint that suddenly appear on the floor during an inspection of quarters. See mice |
| Ranked out | To be compelled to defer to a senior, as to be ranked out of quarters |
| Raunchy | A name applied to anything that is in bad shape or dirty (Air Corps) |
| Red leg | Artilleryman |
| Refugees | Recruits or newly arrived selectees |
| Regimental monkey | The drum major |
| Regular | A Regular Army soldier |
| Remount | Recruit or Green Horse |
| Re-up or take-on | To reenlist |
| Reverse | Disfavor (West Point) |
| R.H.I.P. | Rank has its privileges (West Point) |
| Rise and shine | Call used to awaken soldiers |
| Roger! | Expression used instead of okay or right (Air Corps) |
| Roll up your flaps | Stop talking (Flying Cadets) |
| Rollings | Cigarette tobacco |
| Rookie | A recruit |
| Runner | A messenger |
| Run the guard | Leave or enter camp furtively |
| St. Vitus Davenport | A tank |
| Salve | Butter |
| Sammy | Syrup (West Point) |
| Sand-rat | A soldier on duty in rifle pit at direct practice |
| Scandal-sheet | The monthly payroll |
| Scatter gun | Machine gun |
| Script | Special orders |
| Second grader | First or Technical Sergeant |
| See the chaplain | Stop grousing |
| Self commencer | Engine hand crank |
| Serum | Intoxicating beverages |
| Sewer trout | White fish |
| Shack man | Married man |
| Shack rat | Garrison soldier who has made a friend in the city and usually goes to town every night |
| Short circuit between the ear phones | A mental lapse (Flying Cadets) |
| Shot gun | Machine gun |
| Shutters | Sleeping pills |
| S.I. | Saturday inspection (West Point) |
| Sick call | Hospital call |
| Side arms | Cream and sugar |
| Side meat | Well pleased |
| Side swiper | Speed key on a transmitter (Signal Corps) |
| Six and 20 tootsie | Any bit of young enticing femininity who is responsible for a flying cadet returning late from a weekend leave; '6' and '20' meaning 6 demerits and 20 punishment tours (Air Corps) |
| Skag | Cigarette (West Point) |
| Skin | Same as quill (West Point) |
| Skirt patrol | Search for feminine companionship |
| Sky scout | The Chaplain |
| Sky winder | Air Corps man |
| Sky wire | An antenna (Signal Corps) |
| Slapping it on | Fining a soldier for a petty offense |
| Slip | Recorded tape (Signal Corps) |
| Slipping the clutch | Talking or criticizing |
| Snore sack | Sleeping bag |
| Snow them under | To exaggerate |
| Soap suds row | NCO's living quarters and area—because their wives do own laundry |
| Soft money | Paper currency |
| Soiree | Unwelcome task; also used as verb (West Point) |
| Soup | Dynamite |
| Spec | To memorize (West Point) |
| Special duty | Soldiers used for special jobs; clerks, typists, etc |
| Speed artist | An expert radio telegraph operator who can send at high speeds on a hand key (Signal Corps) |
| Spin in | Go to bed or take a nap (Air Corps) |
| Spoon up | To clean up (West Point) |
| Spoony | Neat in appearance (West Point) |
| Stack | String of messages (Signal Corps) |
| Static agitators | Radio students |
| Static bender | Radio Operator |
| Steam shovel | Potato peeler |
| Storm | Name applied to condition one is in when he is excited and doesn't know what he is doing (Air Corps) |
| Street monkeys | Members of band |
| Strictly cut plug | Well pleased |
| Sugar report | A letter from a girl |
| Superman drawers | Woolen underwear |
| **suntans | Lightweight tan summer uniforms |
| Swacked | Intoxicated |
| Sweating | Anticipating |
| Tac | Officer of Tactical Department (West Point) |
| Tailor mades | Factory-made cigarettes |
| Tarbucket | Full dress hat (West Point) |
| Taxi up | Come here (Air Corps) |
| TC | Training cadre |
| Tear 'em out | Clash gears |
| Third grader | Staff Sergeant |
| Three striper | Sergeant |
| Throw the book | Give maximum punishment |
| Tie up | To blunder (West Point) |
| Tiger meat | Beef |
| Tin hat | Steel helmet |
| Toothpick village | New type wooden barracks for selectees at Army posts |
| Top cutter | First Sergeant |
| Top kick | First Sergeant |
| Tough row of buttons to shine | Hard job |
| Tub | Scout car |
| Tub, in the | About to be washed out (Flying Cadet) |
| Turkshead mcguirk | Man skilled in tying knots (Coast Artillery Mine Planters) |
| Turnback | Cadet dismissed and readmitted to lower class (West Point) |
| Turned in | Reported for misconduct |
| Two striper | Corporal |
| Typewriter | .30 Calibre Machine Gun |
| U.H.F. | Ultra high frequency bands (Signal Corps) |
| Uncle Sam's party | Payday |
| Valley forge | Temporary tent city in cold weather |
| Wagon soldiers | Field Artillerymen |
| Walkie-talkie | Portable radio receiving and sending apparatus |
| Walrus | One who cannot swim (West Point) |
| War shoes | Heavy shoes |
| Ward man | Hospital attendant |
| Wash out | To be eliminated from flight training |
| Washing machine | The flight Commander's airplane |
| Weather-krock | Meteorologist |
| White discharge | Any form of discharge other than dishonorable |
| Windjammer | Bugler |
| Wing-heavy | Inebriated |
| Woods, in the | On maneuvers |
| Woof woof | Battalion sergeant major (West Point) |
| Writ | An examination (West Point) |
| Yard bird | A raw recruit |
| Yearling | Selectee |
| Yearling | A member of Third Class (West Point) |
| Yellow legs | Cavalryman |
| You're gigged | Means that one has been reported for violating a rule or regulation |
| Zombie | Soldier who falls in next to lowest category in Army classification tests; see goon |
Source: “Glossary of Army Slang.” American Speech, vol. 16, no. 3, 1941, pp. 163–69. JSTOR.
