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Iraq's battlefield slang
LA Times ^ | Jan 28, 2007 | Austin Bay

Posted on 01/28/2007 2:16:49 PM PST by Pete from Shawnee Mission

PRIESTS, PROSTITUTES, psychologists, cops, jazz musicians, poker players. Every trade has its jargon and "insider lingo." ...

..."Embrace the suck" isn't merely a wisecrack; it's an encyclopedic experience rendered as an epigram, gritty shorthand for "Face it, soldier. I've been there. War ain't easy. Now deal with the difficulty and let's get on with the mission."...

...Dynamic truth: Basically means "this is the plan when my supervisor gave it to me, but change is already in the works."

(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; Political Humor/Cartoons; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: boxershorts; bumwad; catfish; colonel; congress; congresscolonel; embracethesuck; iraq; language; militaryslang; slang
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To: Non-Sequitur

Been there. Done that. The T-shirt was not authorized apparel at my duty station.


21 posted on 01/28/2007 3:03:44 PM PST by magslinger (I am NOT running for President, nor have I formed an exploratory committee)
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To: Gritty

Equivalence alert...


22 posted on 01/28/2007 3:06:22 PM PST by Pete from Shawnee Mission
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To: TADSLOS
"I know the guy who coined the phrase "Catfish Air"."

I'll bite :) Why Catfish?

Thanks for the article link. The KBR people were doing an excellent job when I was there.

My team shuttled a lot of people to and from Catfish because we had a truck and it was a nice break to get out of the office for an hour.

Funny, the article you linked mentioned Catfish being a Space A operation. Which is funny, because if you used the phrase Space A over on the Anaconda side, you were were talking about the facility that handled fixed-wing flights to Germany, Spain, Kuwait, etc. As in "I'm on single digits and need a ride over to Space A to get a flight to Weisbaden."

Now at that "Space A" chances were good you were going to be there for 2 or 3 days and get multiple false alarms about your flight being "soon". My last flight out was insane: Space A to Ali al Saleem, bus to Doha, bus to KIA, flight to Bahrain, 3 days layover in Frankfurt, to JFK NY, bus to La Guardia, finally a flight to Texas.

23 posted on 01/28/2007 3:08:20 PM PST by angkor
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To: IronJack

I believe the original term was Bumf, for bum fodder.


24 posted on 01/28/2007 3:14:49 PM PST by Little Bill (Welcome to the Newly Socialist State of New Hampshire.)
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To: Little Bill
I believe the original term was Bumf, for bum fodder.

I don't think so. I think the original term was "LA Times."

25 posted on 01/28/2007 3:16:41 PM PST by IronJack (=)
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To: IronJack

Boston Globe, Glob, Pravda on Morrisey Bvd, in my area.


26 posted on 01/28/2007 3:21:47 PM PST by Little Bill (Welcome to the Newly Socialist State of New Hampshire.)
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To: Little Bill
Boston Globe ... in my area.

You poor thing ...

27 posted on 01/28/2007 3:24:12 PM PST by IronJack (=)
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To: Pete from Shawnee Mission
Here's some more (from the late 80's Army)

Idiot Pill : Hostess twinkie ("Men, don't suck the idiot pills")

Ate Up : Stupid (As in "He ate up a case of dumbass this morning)

Re-up : Re-enlist ("Re-up? You're crazy!")

Bolo : To get a disqualifying score on the rifle range.

28 posted on 01/28/2007 3:26:20 PM PST by Hacksaw (Appalachian by the grace of God!)
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To: angkor

Catfish became the colloquial term for that unit due to it's association with Mississippi. Yes, Space-A has a different meaning in this case. Strictly point A to point B in-country flights, and nothing has changed with regard to Space-A in general. It's hurry up and wait, but the price is right.


29 posted on 01/28/2007 3:33:49 PM PST by TADSLOS (Iran is in the IED exporting business. Time to shut them down.)
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To: Pete from Shawnee Mission
Sorry, but everyone knows that "treadheads" are tankers. We scouts take umbrage at being called treadheads, a term reserved specifically for DATs (Dumb-A** Tankers, for M60 types) and CDATs(Computerized Dumb-A** Tankers, for M1 types). Of course, the tankers called us and the mortar maggots in the unit "crunchies", 'cause that's the sound (dismounted) scouts and grunts make when run over by DATs and CDATs.

Boy, I forgot how much fun Army trash talking was!

Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!

30 posted on 01/28/2007 4:01:01 PM PST by wku man (Claire Wolfe's "awkward time" is quickly coming to an end!)
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To: Hacksaw
How 'bout this one..."that boy's ate up like a soup sandwich". Or "football bat", as in "that boy's fu**ed up like a football bat".

Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!

31 posted on 01/28/2007 4:02:37 PM PST by wku man (Claire Wolfe's "awkward time" is quickly coming to an end!)
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To: wku man

bttt


32 posted on 01/28/2007 4:03:53 PM PST by ConservativeMan55
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To: Pete from Shawnee Mission
In the Army, we called it "shamming out" when you got caught goofing off. And who could forget the classic "cheese eater", the Army equivalent of a brown noser?

Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!

33 posted on 01/28/2007 4:05:03 PM PST by wku man (Claire Wolfe's "awkward time" is quickly coming to an end!)
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To: IronJack

"Knocked up" WWII aussie for tired
"Knocked up" WWII american for pregnant


34 posted on 01/28/2007 4:06:18 PM PST by Pete from Shawnee Mission
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To: Non-Sequitur
So short, Shorty, Short. So little time left in Nam you had to dig a hole to kick someone's a$$.
35 posted on 01/28/2007 4:11:59 PM PST by mad_as_he$$ (So many geeks so few circuses.)
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To: angkor
Longer time to get back than you were in country - right?

Hey and if I haven't said it before, thanks for your service! If you ever hit Reno drinks are on me!.

36 posted on 01/28/2007 4:14:21 PM PST by mad_as_he$$ (So many geeks so few circuses.)
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To: wku man
"crunchies",

I would have thought "Squishies".
37 posted on 01/28/2007 4:15:15 PM PST by Pete from Shawnee Mission
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To: wku man

"cheese eater",

As in cut the?


38 posted on 01/28/2007 4:17:22 PM PST by Pete from Shawnee Mission
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To: Pete from Shawnee Mission
Well, with the limited vocabulary of the average DAT (or CDAT), I guess it was the best they could come up with. They always had their heads up their (here comes another one) "fourth point of contact". /facetiousness off

Seriously, some of the best people I've ever known were DATs/CDATs. They're just...misguided.

Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!

39 posted on 01/28/2007 4:19:10 PM PST by wku man (Claire Wolfe's "awkward time" is quickly coming to an end!)
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To: Pete from Shawnee Mission
"Knock up" -- British slang for "call on" or "visit."

"I got a call from me old college girlfriend who was living with her sis in a flat in Chelsea, so I went over and knocked her up."

40 posted on 01/28/2007 4:22:17 PM PST by IronJack (=)
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