Manuel in Fort Worth, Texas, wonders about a phrase he’s heard from his dad and brothers: Cut me a husk meaning “Give me a break.” The term evolved from slang used by U.S. Marines serving in Vietnam, and HUS, the configuration for the Sikorsky UH...
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 helicopter known as the Huss...
Ryan, a Marine at Camp Pendleton, picked up Yambo from Ugandan security personnel while deployed in Iraq, where Marines started using it as a playful greeting. The word is from Kiswahili, spoken widely in East Africa, and it’s fine as an informal...
An officer from Camp Pendleton is curious about gyrene, a slang term for “Marine.” Grant says it may derive from the Greek word for “tadpole.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Gyrene” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Yeah, this is...
digi-cammies n.— «The miniseries even got right the mismatched Marine uniforms—the corps in 2003 was in the process of transitioning from the old desert camouflage uniform, which Marines shared with the rest of the military, to the new, pixelated...
waterbowling n.— «They said Glass and another drill instructor would line recruits up after meals and force them to down liters of water from their canteens in a ritual they referred to as “waterbowling.”» —“Marines Testify About Boot Camp...