All aboard! This week, a bit about the musical language of railroad conductors’ calls: “Anaheim, Azusa, and Cu-ca-monga!” Also, the origin of the military slang term cumshaw, tips for learning Latin, the influence of Spanish...
Sean, a public affairs officer at Camp Pendleton, California, asks about gyrene, an old slang term for a Marine. The word appears in print as early as the 1890s. Although a doubtful popular theory derives it from GI plus marine, the Historical...
We all misspeak from time to time, but how about when we mangle words on purpose? Do you ever say fambly instead of family, perazackly for exactly, or coinkydink for coincidence? When Grant recently wrote a newspaper column about saying things wrong...
Washing Machine Charlie n.— «By the time he was 19, McNerney was the platoon sergeant of a mortar unit assigned to HQ Company in the jungles of Saipan, fighting Japanese soldiers and dodging Japanese bombs. One day, in early July 1944...
waz adj.— «The team name Wazwagamafs comes from waz (Marine lingo for fantastic) and “wagamafs, (wives and girlfriends and mums and families/friends).» —“Women’s muddy hell to help brave troops” by Caroline...
defac n.— Note: “Defac” is far less often spelled “difac,” despite being a blend of “dining facility.” «Camp Phoenix in particular, was an example of where the disease began with food preparation and...