“If you come to a fork in the road… take it!” Baseball legend Yogi Berra was famous for such head-scratching observations. What most people don’t realize, though, is that the former Yankees star often wasn’t the first person to say them. As Berra...
A San Diego, California, listener shares some slang used by her father, who was a Navy fighter pilot. To “bang off the cat” is to take off from an aircraft carrier. The meatball refers to the landing system that requires lining up with an amber...
An F-18 fighter pilot worries that a term he and his colleagues often use isn’t a legitimate word. It’s deconflict, which means to ensure that aircraft aren’t in the same airspace. Grant reassures him that deconflict is a perfectly respectable term...
war-fighter n.— «According to Anderson, improving soldiers” digestive health is a primary concern for the U.S. Army because “war-fighters”-a term used to describe members of all the military branches-have long suffered from intestinal issues...
tumpsy n.— «I reckon he lost his rag when one of them shouted “Move along beardy, I can’t get a decent shot of Li-Lo’s tumpsy!”» —“Jay Kay makes late bid for inclusion in next Virtua Fighter game” Star Trip (United Kingdom) Sept. 13, 2006. (source:...
Kelly day n. a day off or vacation day taken at a scheduled interval in addition to normal time off or vacation. Also Kelly shift. Etymological Note: It has been claimed as early as 1953 that this term comes from Edward Joseph Kelly, mayor of...