A question on military terms

[birdsman]

I've often heard marines saying that something was 8 clicks away. I served in the US Navy, so I don't know ground forces terms. To satisfy my curiosity, could someone tell me just how far a "click" is? thanks.

[Toddsterpatriot]

1 kilometer. 5/8 of a mile.

[annyokie]

A "Klik" is a Kilometer.

[The Piltdown Man]

A 'click' is a kilometer.

[birdsman]

thanks

[spunkster]

how far a "click" is?

You mean "klick" (also klik) (kli'k) n. It's slang for a kilometer.

[annyokie]

It is not slang; it is a proper artillery term.

[Nagilum]

A click as the other posters have pointed out is a kilometer (unit of measure of all military maps). Generally called a click because on most of the military maps I have used, a grid square is one km^2.

[XJarhead]

Nope, it's slang. Just slang that also happens to be used by artillerymen.

The preceding PSA was brought to you by a former artillery officer.

[elbucko]

It is not slang; it is a proper artillery term.

It certainly is. It is range, or distance in kilometers. Some artillery has calibrations in kilometers and each increment is a "click" on a dial.

[stylin19a]

Slang is what I remember. I was in 05's, but that was 33 years ago.

As to the meaning the poster is asking about, as other already noted, it is a slang unit of measure.
I also seem to recall that click was also an adjustment on the rear sight of the M14.

[jnarcus]

yup you got it...some of those dial in features offer two clicks here and two clicks there...lol

[LoneRangerMassachusetts]

It is not slang; it is a proper artillery term. It certainly is. It is range, or distance in kilometers. Some artillery has calibrations in kilometers and each increment is a "click" on a dial.

I checked one electronic web dictionary and could not find the word. I reckon it does not have a definition as a recognized word. It may be jargon at best but more probable, it is slang.

[spunkster]

It is not slang; it is a proper artillery term.

It may be a military term, but in plain English I think it is slang, but to be sure you can try:

"http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=klick"

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.

[TenaciousZ]

A 'click' is a kilometer.

Oh, I thought a 'click' was the distance between two of the notches in Michael Moore's belt. Same thing?

[LiteKeeper]

1 "click" = .62 miles

10 click = 6.2 miles

As has been said, "click" is shorthand for a kilometer.

Former Field Artillery Officer

[Edison]

One click is 1000 meters or approximately 925 yds. When overseas with the military everything is in clicks cause they don't have mile signs.

Edison

[vnix]

NOW>>>>>>>>HAVE WE ESTABLISHED WHAT A "CLICK" IS< WHETHER SLANG OR NOT?

[lonewacko_dot_com]

I don't know the exact definitions, but I'd think that slang requires a context. That is, there's U.S. slang, and there's British slang, Stratford-upon-Avon slang, etc. Jargon is like slang, but it explicity refers to the context in that it refers to the words used (or their specific meanings) in a specific context.

So, in the military, "klick" would be slang. And, it would be military jargon. But, it wouldn't be U.S. slang unless it became a much more widely used term throughout the non-military U.S.

[Boot Hill]

Edison says:   "One click is 1000 meters or approximately 925 yds."

You might want to run through the math on that one again!

--Boot Hill