This week on A Way with Words: Restaurant jargon, military slang, and modern Greek turns of phrase. • Some restaurants now advertise that they sell “clean” sandwiches. But that doesn’t mean they’re condiment-free or the...
A Marine Corps veteran in Omaha, Nebraska, is puzzled by a phrase he often heard during his service in Vietnam: give me a huss, meaning “give me a hand” or “help me.” One strong theory for its origin involves a type of...
dead check v. phr.— «Once reaching the caves, Boada teamed up with Sgt. Robert R. Campbell, a squad leader, and began searching the different caves with the other Marines. This was when Marines heard Lance Cpl. Nicholas C. Kirven identify...
devil doc n.— «Affectionately called “Devil Docs,” Navy hospital corpsmen have been attached to Marine units since the Spanish-American War. The 2nd Marine Division honored the establishment of the Navy Hospital Corps here, June 18...
fight-through drill n.— «“The Marines need to know what it feels like when Oleoresin Capsicum is sprayed on them before they actually go out and deploy it on someone else,” said Sgt. Owen Wood, the lead instructor for the course...
infartillery n.— «The Evans Group (a.k.a. “Infartillery”) consisted of and 11th Marines detachment and and detachments of the 3d 15mm Howitzer and 8th 155mm Gun battalions. Both groups were reinforced with engineer, amtrac...