meat tag
n.— «A few blocks down Lejeune Boulevard, Josef McDonald’s tattoo parlor had one customer. The business slowdown followed a flurry earlier in the week from departing Marines wanting “meat tags”—tattoos of their names, social security numbers and blood types inscribed on their left arms. “Nobody wants to be buried in an unmarked grave,” Mr. McDonald said.» —“Gulf crisis hitting home across state Towns feel impact of troop deployments” by Dudley Price, Wade Rawlins News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina) Aug. 19, 1990. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
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