Marine Slang “Cut Me a Huss” Traces to Sikorsky Seahorse “HUS” Radio Calls

Hi there. You have A Way with Words.

Good afternoon, ma’am. How are you?

I’m doing well. Who are you and where are you calling from?

My name is Manuel Alderetti, and I am calling from the big state of Texas.

Welcome to the show, Manuel. What can we do for you?

Appreciate you. Well, I’ve been having this longstanding debate with my girlfriend.

I’m actually a couple of years older than her, so I tend to hit her with some of these old school, you know, sayings.

And one of the things that I grew up hearing specifically with my family, my dad and his brothers, was a term called cut me a husk.

And I heard it within the family, and maybe every now and then in and around the San Antonio area where I grew up.

But other than that, I’ve never heard it.

So when I brought it up to my girlfriend, she swears up and down that is not a thing.

And I heard you guys on the radio not too long ago, and I was really, really impressed with how you guys delve into old school sayings and things of that nature.

And I wanted to know if you knew anything about that particular saying, cut me a husk.

So that’s H-U-S-K?

Right, like a corn husk.

And how did a typical conversation go when you heard it being used?

Okay, so say I’d be working with my dad in the backyard or something like that, and he was maybe taking his time or something.

And I tell him, come on, pops, you know, speed it up.

And he’d be, hey, son, I’m old. Cut me a husk. Give me a break. You know?

Okay, give me a break. That’s a good one.

Was he perhaps a Marine?

He was in the Marine Corps for a short amount of time during the Vietnam era.

He was a Marine during Vietnam.

That makes a lot of sense.

I bet you that’s where he picks it up.

Because this phrase is associated with Marines, and it comes out of the Vietnam War.

And the usual form is Khut Mi Huss, H-U-S-S.

And there’s a story behind this, and it has to do with a helicopter, a special kind of helicopter.

So in Vietnam, H-U-S was the designation for certain configurations of the Sikorsky -34 Seahorse Helicopter.

Now, this was a multipurpose utility vehicle that kind of filled the need until much larger helicopters could be put into service.

It was ugly.

It was kind of crude.

But it was relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

And it was reliable and capable when flying.

And it wasn’t prone to break down.

So this was a trusty vehicle.

And its tail and top rotor could be folded for transport on sea or land or whatever.

So in Vietnam, among the Marines, this helicopter was a problem solver.

So when situations got dicey, you got a helicopter to your location, and that was some kind of ultimate favor.

So when a Marine needed support, they’d radio, get me a HUS.

They’d radio, get me a HUS, H-U-S, or give me a HUS, meaning get me one of those helicopters.

And so over time, that kind of became more generic, just meaning do me a favor or do something nice for me or do me a solid.

And variations turned, it turned in variations like cut me a house, which is kind of a mix of cut me some slack and get me a house.

So, and then more generally later, it came to mean, do me a favor or help me out of a sticky situation.

So that’s where it comes from.

So it is a legitimate real term and it’s probably your father’s Marine experience that brought it to him and then to you.

Right, right.

Wow.

That is amazing.

I appreciate that answer.

I’m going to find a way, maybe look up in your website or something, or maybe a podcast so I can throw this in my girlfriend’s face.

Because I knew it was out there.

Be nice about it.

I knew it was out there.

Awesome.

Well, thank you guys very much for answering my question.

Take care.

Be well.

Yes, sir.

Bye-bye.

You guys take care.

Bye-bye.

All right.

Thanks.

877-929-9673.