Mox Nix, Es Macht Nichts

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, Grant, Martha. How are you? My name is Tommy Glover. I’m in Lexington, Kentucky.

Well, Tommy, thank you for joining us. What’s on your mind today?

Well, long ago and far away, I was a combat artillery officer serving with the U.S. Army in an infantry unit in the jungles of Vietnam. Now, the military, like other organizations, has their own special language, professional language to describe and serve their own unique situations.

The word that I’m interested in, there are lots of military words, but the one I’m interested in, the one I heard in Vietnam, is mox nix. Mox nix. What does it mean to you?

Well, when I heard it in country the first time, I knew exactly what it meant because it’s pretty descriptive. I took it to mean it doesn’t matter or it’s not important or sometimes I don’t care, I’m not interested, or things like that.

Did you ever hear it outside the military?

Well, probably from veteran friends that have used it incorporated into their own language. I don’t know that it’s fully incorporated into the English language now. It’s still probably a

Military term. Yeah, I think you’re right. I think Moxnix is definitely, if it’s still in use in the military. I don’t know that it is, but when it started and then when it was in regular use, it was military. It came out of the U.S. experience in Europe during World War II. It’s a version of a German expression, which means I don’t care. M-A-C-H-T-N-I-C-H-T. So it’s kind of anglicized and usually spelled in English as M-O-X-N-I-X, which is very distinctive.

But I’m not surprised that you heard it in Vietnam because it was still in regular use among soldiers in Korea and Vietnam and even a little bit after that.

But I think after that generation moved on, either passed on or retired, it kind of fell by the wayside.

Yeah, it was actually fairly common in Vietnam. It was handy, handy word, usable in lots of situations.

But you probably still had senior officers upstairs, way upstairs, who had World War II experience at that point.

Yeah, probably. Yeah, probably so.

And it’s such a handy expression, as you say, Tommy.

I mean, you would just, I guess, shrug and say something doesn’t matter by saying that, right?

Like, who cares?

Sure. Yeah, nobody had to explain to me what it meant.

It was pretty descriptive by itself.

So it means like it makes no difference or I don’t care.

So if somebody says, I’m sorry, I went down to the mess and got some ice cream, but we didn’t bring you any, you might go, I’m moxnicks.

Right.

Yep.

That’s a good way to use it.

I don’t think I would say that if somebody failed to bring me ice cream, Tommy.

But that’s what we know from German, entered English and kind of has faded at this point.

But I believe it’s faded.

We’ll find out.

Our military listeners will let us know.

Thank you so much, Tommy, for your time.

Really appreciate it.

Sure.

Sure.

Thank you, guys.

Bye-bye.

All righty.

Thank you.

Bye-bye.

As Grant said, we have a lot of military listeners out there, and we would love to hear your thoughts on either moxnicks or another bit of military slang or jargon.

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