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...
A Marine at Camp Pendleton says that while in Iraq, he and his buddies heard the greeting “Yambo!” from Ugandan troops there. Now they use it with each other, and he wonders about its literal meaning. Martha explains that it’s a common Kiswahili...
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...
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 a dead...
