ShowLanguage in Uniform

Words, phrases, expressions, idioms, and other linguistic and dialect features from the military and war. Typical topics include the roots of “your mother wears combat boots,” the naval slang behind “waltzing Matilda” for periscope duty, the term “charrette” for intensive workshopping, the Air Force origin of “ballpark estimate,” the potential Naval Academy slang origin of “skinny” for details, and the blend word “voluntold.”

Zonk!

A listener in Fort Rucker, Alabama, remembers a prank played on new Army recruits: when a sergeant barked the order “Zonk!,” all the seasoned soldiers would fall out of formation and run away, leaving the newbies to wonder what was going...

Jeep Name Origins

A listener in Ypsilanti, Michigan, wonders how the Army vehicle called a jeep got its name. Answer: It was associated with Eugene the Jeep, a strange creature from the 1930s comic strip, Popeye. Lexicographers and etymologists find no evidence to...

Cut a Chogi

To cut a chogi, also spelled choagy or chogie, is an English slang term meaning “Let’s get out of here.” It probably stems from Korean: cheogi or jeogi means “there” (it’s opposite, yeogi, means...

Cadence Calls

A caller from San Antonio, Texas, remembers a song her father, a World War II vet, used to sing: “Around the corner and under a tree / A sergeant major proposed to me / Who would marry you? I would like to know / For every time I look at your...