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GLOSSARY OF ARMY SLANG

All around traverse

A machine gun placed on a swivel to turn in any direction.

Ammo

Ammunition. Usually for rifles, though occasionally used to indicate that for artillery.

Argue the toss - Argue the point.

Back of the line

Anywhere to the rear and out of the danger zone.

Barbed wire

Ordinary barbed wire used for entanglements. A thicker and heavier military wire is sometimes used.

Barrage

Shells dropped simultaneously and in a row so as to form a curtain of fire. Literal translation "a barrier."

Bashed - Smashed.

Big boys - Big guns or the shells they send over.

Big push - The battles of the Somme.

Billets

The quarters of the soldier when back of the line. Any place from a pigpen to a palace.

Bleeder or Blighter

Cockney slang for fellow. Roughly corresponding to American "guy."

Blighty

England. East Indian derivation. The paradise looked forward to by all good soldiers,--and all bad ones too.

Blighty one - A wound that will take the soldier to Blighty.

Bloody

The universal Cockney adjective. It is vaguely supposed to be highly obscene, though just why nobody seems to know.

Blooming

A meaningless and greatly used adjective. Applied to anything and everything.

Bomb - A hand grenade.

Bully beef

Corned beef, high grade and good of the kind, if you like the kind. It sets hard on the chest.

Carry on - To go ahead with the matter in hand.

Char - Tea. East Indian derivation.

Chat - Officers' term for cootie; supposed to be more delicate.

Click

Variously used. To die. To be killed. To kill. To draw some disagreeable job, as: I clicked a burial fatigue.

Communication trench - A trench leading up to the front trench.

Consolidate

To turn around and prepare for occupation a captured trench.

Cootie

The common,--the too common,--body louse. Everybody has 'em.

Crater

A round pit made by an underground explosion or by a shell.

Cushy - Easy. Soft.

Dixie

An oblong iron pot or box fitting into a field kitchen. Used for cooking anything and everything. Nobody seems to know why it is so called.

Doggo - Still. Quiet. East Indian derivation.

Doing in - Killing.

Doss - Sleep.

Duck walk - A slatted wooden walk in soft ground.

Dud - An unexploded shell. A dangerous thing to fool with.

Dug

out - A hole more or less deep in the side of a trench where soldiers are supposed to rest.

Dump - A place where supplies are left for distribution.

Entrenching tool

A sort of small shovel for quick digging. Carried as part of equipment.

Estaminet - A French saloon or cafe.

Fag - A cigarette.

Fatigue - Any kind of work except manning the trenches.

Fed up - Tommy's way of saying "too much is enough."

Firing step

A narrow ledge running along the parapet on which a soldier stands to look over the top.

Flare

A star light sent up from a pistol to light up out in front.

Fritz - An affectionate term for our friend the enemy.

Funk hole - A dug-out.

Gas

Any poisonous gas sent across when the wind is right. Used by both sides. Invented by the Germans.

Goggles

A piece of equipment similar to that used by motorists, supposed to keep off tear gas. The rims are backed with strips of sponge which Tommy tears off and throws the goggle frame away.

Go west - To die.

Grouse - Complain. Growl. Kick.

Hun - A German.

Identification disc

A fiber tablet bearing the soldier's name, regiment, and rank. Worn around the neck on a string.

Iron rations

About two pounds of nonperishable rations to be used in an emergency.

Knuckle knife

A short dagger with a studded hilt. Invented by the Germans.

Lance Corporal - The lowest grade of non-commissioned officer.

Lewis gun

A very light machine gun invented by one Lewis, an officer in the American army.

Light railway

A very narrow-gauge railway on which are pushed little hand cars.

Listening post

One or more men go out in front, at night, of course, and listen for movements by the enemy.

Maconochie

A scientifically compounded and well-balanced ration, so the authorities say. It looks, smells, and tastes like rancid lard.

M.O.

Medical Officer. A foxy cove who can't be fooled with faked symptoms.

Mess tin - A combination teapot, fry pan, and plate.

Military cross - An officer's decoration for bravery.

Military medal

A decoration for bravery given to enlisted men.

Mills - The most commonly used hand grenade.

Minnies - German trench mortar projectiles.

Napper - The head.

Night 'ops - A much hated practice manoeuvre done at night.

No Man's Land - The area between the trenches.

On your own - At liberty. Your time is your own.

Out or over there - Somewhere in France.

Parados - The back wall of a trench.

Parapet - The front wall of a trench.

Patrol

One or more men who go out in front and prowl in the dark, seeking information of the enemy.

Periscope

A boxlike arrangement with two mirrors for looking over the top without exposing the napper.

Persuader - A short club with a nail-studded head.

Pip squeak

A German shell which makes that kind of noise when it comes over.

Push up the daisies - To be killed and buried.

Ration party

A party of men which goes to the rear and brings up rations for the front line.

Rest

Relief from trench service. Mostly one works constantly when "resting."

Ruddy - Same as bloody, but not quite so bad.

Sandbag

A bag which is filled with mud and used for building the parapet.

Sentry go

Time on guard in the front trench, or at rest at headquarters.

Shell hole - A pit made by the explosion of a shell.

Souvenir

Any kind of junk picked up for keepsakes. Also used as a begging word by the French children.

Stand to

Order for all men to stand ready in the trench in event of a surprise attack, usually at sundown and sunrise.

Stand down - Countermanding "stand to."

Stokes

A bomb weighing about eleven pounds usually thrown from a mortar, but sometimes used by hand.

Strafing

One of the few words Tommy has borrowed from Fritz. To punish.

Suicide club - The battalion bombers.

Tin hat - Steel helmet.

Wave - A line of men going over the top.

Whacked - Exhausted. Played out.

Whiz-bang - A German shell that makes that sort of noise.

Wind up or windy - Nervous. Jumpy. Temporary involuntary fear.

Wooden cross

The small wooden cross placed over a soldier's grave.

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