Army Slang in WWII
AA - Anti-aircraft
A.B. - Area bird; cadet walking punishment 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 - Absence without official 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
BATH TUB - 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 elementary 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 - Imaginary 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 it
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 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: US Army, Public Relations Division; published as "Glossary of Army Slang," American Speech 16, no. 3 (October 1941): 163-69, DOI: 10.2307/486883. Reproduced with permission.
See also Appendix: Glossary of military slang, Wiktionary (WARNING: CONTAINS OBSCENITIES).
COVER IMAGE: "America at War." Bureau of Special Services, Domestic Operations Branch, Office of War Information. Courtesy of NARA, 44-PA-342B, NAID 513791.