A new online archive of Civil War letters offers a vivid portrait of the everyday lives of enlisted men. These soldiers lacked formal education so they wrote and spelled by ear. The letters show us how ordinary people spoke then. • Is there a single...
In the Private Voices corpus of American Civil War letters, soldiers use pill and pills for bullets, including Lincoln’s pills and Abe’s pills. The slang is far older than the Civil War. Pill referred to cannonballs by at least the 1600s and to...
bandit barrier n.— «Kelly said there needs to be a return to the measures put in place in 2003, such as the installation of the bullet-resistant glass, better known as “bandit barriers.”» —“NYPD’s Kelly: Banks need more...
spray and pray v. phr. to indiscriminately aim and deliver (bullets, insecticide, perfume, a marketing message, golf balls, etc.). (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
hillbilly armor n. scavenged materials used by soldiers for improvised bullet-proofing and vehicle hardening, esp. in Iraq. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
thumper n.— «To make things even more out of balance, the Ruger has a .449″ bore. It is a real shooter tho when .455″ bullets are used and I use it for my “thumper” loads.» —“Re: Charter Arms Bulldog 44spl...