A hundred years ago, suffragists lobbied to win women the right to vote. Linguistically speaking, though, suffrage isn’t about “suffering.” It’s from a Latin word that involves voting. Plus: military cadences often include Jody calls, rhyming verses...
Jody calls are military cadences based on the exploits of Jody, an imaginary character blamed for all the things that might go wrong back home while a soldier is deployed, such as losing one’s girlfriend or car. In a master’s thesis, University of...
Zola from San Diego asks about the military slang Jody, usually spelled J-O-D-Y, for a man back home who steals a deployed soldier’s girlfriend or wife. The name appears to have developed from the older Joe the Grinder or Joe D. Grinder, with...

