Masarykova univerzita v Brně Filosofická fakulta Katedra anglistiky a amerikanistiky A SOCIOLINGUISTIC INTERPRETATION OF MILITARY SLANG AND VERNACULAR EXPRESSIONS Based on the Analysis from Field Research of Colloquial Usage in Lexicons and Military Communication Discourse Disertační práce Školitel: Doc. PhDr. Ludmila Urbanová, CSc. Brno 2005 Mgr. Ladislav Chaloupský I hereby declare that I worked on this Ph.D. dissertation independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. Ladislav Chaloupský
ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the services of those who both orientated me through the semantics of military discourse and opened my eyes to the wide range of specialist language in vogue today. I would like to express appreciation to my supervisor Doc. PhDr. Ludmila Urbanova, CSc. for her invaluable guidance, encouragement, and inspiration. I am especially grateful for the support and time that she has dedicated to my work, without which this paper would have never been completed. I am also indebted to Prof. doc. PhDr. Josef Hladký, CSc. for his constructive comments and recommendations related to this work. I owe a special debt to Ms Sally Fenstermacher (Senior EFL/ESL specialist – Chief Coordinator of US Program in the Czech Republic), Christopher McKeating (ex military officer), and Richard Cook (DLI) for their invaluable comments and for proofreading parts of this work. Furthermore, I wish to thank to Col. (ret.) Clement Machacek (USAF officer) for enriching my military vocabulary and explaining the many nuances between words. I wish also to thank Lt Col Susan N. Moreland, PhD (DLI – Dean of Academics, USAF), and Lt Col John M. Bell (DLI Commander, Operations Squadron) for making the military interviews possible. Last, but by no means least, I would like to thank to Ms Angel Bishop Petty (DLI – Project Officer, Specialized Curriculum Branch) who gave me ideas on how to conduct the interviews. Finally, I would like to say thank you to my wife Blanka, my father and my friends MUDr. René Dryml, PhD. Col. Ing. Karol Janoušek, Col. Ing. Roman Kučera for their ceaseless encouragement, support and patience. Thank you.
iii CONTENT LIST OF TABLES 2 GLOSSARY OF TERMS 4 INTRODUCTION 8 THE MOTIVATION FOR THIS DISSERTATION 10 SUBJECT AND THE RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 12 1. LEXICAL ANALYSIS OF MILITARY SLANG 14 1. 1. Definition of Slang, Colloquialism, and Jargon 15 1. 2. Origin of Military Official Terms 19 1. 3. Origin of Military Colloquial and Slang Expressions 23 1. 4. Military Ranks and Insignia 25 1. 4. 1. Origin of Ranks 26 1. 4. 2. Rank Insignia 29 1. 5. U.S. Slang Terms for Military Ranks 31 1. 5. 1. U.S. Slang Terms for Soldiers, Sergeants and Officers 32 1. 5. 2. U.S. Slang Expressions for the Air Force and Naval Personnel 36 1. 5. 3. General Slang Expressions for U.S. Military Personnel 37 1. 5. 4. Generals and their Nicknames 39 1. 5. 5. British Military Slang 40 1. 5. 6. Military Slang of Other English Speaking Countries 43 1. 6. Military Slang Denoting People 43 1. 7. Productive Military Slang Word Formation 46 1. 7. 1. Lexical Compounds 46 1. 7. 2. Abbreviations, Acronyms, Clippings and Blends 49 1. 7. 3. Phonetic Alphabet, Codes, and Prowords 54 1. 8. Colloquial and Slang Loans from Other Languages 60 1. 8. 1. British Loans 60 1. 8. 2. American Loans 62 2. IMPACT OF MILITARY EXPRESSIONS ON ENGLISH 64 2. 1. Idiomatic Expressions and Sayings 64 2. 2. Military Euphemisms and Taboo Expressions 69 3. INFLUENCE OF MILITARY ENGLISH ON MILITARY CZECH 72 4. MILITARY INTERVIEWS 75 4. 1. Approaches to Analysis 77 4. 2. Language, Culture and Military Environment 78 4. 2. 1. Specific Military Features 79 4. 2. 2. Military Interviews 84 4. 2. 3. Transcriptions and Comments 87 5. CONCLUSION 139 5. 1. Lexical part 139 5. 1. 1. U.S. Armed Forces Slang 142 5. 1. 2. British Armed Forces Slang 144 5. 2. Military Interviews 145 5. 2. 1. Slang Expressions Used in Interviews 148 5. 2. 2. Prosodic Features and Other Features 148 5. 2. 3. Military Branches 149 5. 2. 4. Inherent Dangers and Language Barriers 150 SUMMARY 153 RESUMÉ 157 BIBLIOGRAPHY 161 DICTIONARIES CONSULTED 164
1 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Semantic Fields by Decade and Dates of Military Events ...... 21 Table 2: Military Slang and Colloquial Expressions ...... 23 Table 3: Number of Slang Expressions Entering English in Different Periods...... 24 Table 4: Etymology of Terms for English Military Ranks ...... 26 Table 5: Etymology of Ranks ...... 28 Table 6: Examples of Military Slang Expressions for Soldiers ...... 32 Table 7: Examples of Military Slang Expressions for NCOs ...... 32 Table 8: Examples of Military Slang Expressions for Officers ...... 33 Table 9: Ratio of Slang Expressions for Ranks ...... 34 Table 10: Examples of Military Slang Expressions for Air Force Personnel ...... 36 Table 11: Examples of Military Slang Expressions for Navy Personnel ...... 37 Table 12: Examples of Military Slang Expressions for Officers ...... 37 Table 13: Examples of Slang Expressions for Recruits and Young Soldiers ...... 38 Table 14: Examples of Military Slang Expressions for Officers and NCOs ...... 40 Table 15: Army Slang for Soldiers ...... 40 Table 16: Marinal Slang Expressions ...... 41 Table 17: Air Force Personnel Slang Expressions ...... 41 Table 18: Other Slang Expressions for Officers and NCO´s ...... 42 Table 19: Slang Expressions for Part Timers ...... 42 Table 20: Different Slang Expressions for Military Personnel ...... 43 Table 21: U.S. and UK Examples of Military Slang Expressions for Other Peoples 43 Table 22: Examples of Military Slang Expressions for Homosexuals ...... 44 Table 23: Examples of Military Slang Expressions for Deserters ...... 45 Table 24: Compounds Used in U.S. Military ...... 47 Table 25: Compounds Used in U.K. Military ...... 47 Table 26: Compounds Used in Both U.S. and U.K. Military ...... 48 Table 27: Number of Compounds with ‘Head’ Used in the U.S. and U.K. Military . 48 Table 28: U.S. NAVY Exercises Acronyms ...... 51 Table 29: U.S. and British Abbreviations Describing Miserable Situations ...... 52 Table 30: British Abbreviations Describing Miserable Situations ...... 53 Table 31: Phonetic Alphabet ...... 55 Table 32: Examples of Slang Expressions Based on Phonetic Alphabet ...... 56 Table 33: Examples of Prowords ...... 59 Table 34: The Most Common British Military Loans ...... 60 Table 35: The Most Common U.S. Military Loans ...... 63 Table 36: Idiomatic Expressions for Peace ...... 64 Table 37: Idiomatic Expressions for Wars, Battles, and Fights ...... 64 Table 38: Expressions with Shoot, Shot, Trigger, Powder, Barrel, and Sight ...... 65 Table 39: Idiomatic Expressions for Tactical Terms ...... 66 Table 40: Idiomatic Expressions for Weapons, Bullets, and Bombs ...... 66 Table 41: Other Military Idiomatic Expressions ...... 68 Table 42: Number of Idiomatic Expressions related to Peace and War ...... 68 Table 43: Ratio of Military Idiomatic Expressions ...... 68 Table 44: Military Expressions for Penis ...... 69 Table 45: Ratio of Different Military Expressions for Penis ...... 70 Table 46: Military Expressions for Breasts...... 70 Table 47: Military Expressions for Masturbation ...... 70 Table 48: Ratio of Military Expressions for Masturbation ...... 71
2 Table 49: Number of Taboo Expressions ...... 71 Table 50: Examples of Military English Influence on Czech Language ...... 72 Table 51: Ratio of Nouns and Verbs Adopted into Czech ...... 73 Table 52: Military Sub categories ...... 80 Table 53: Level of Education and Cultural Awareness ...... 81 Table 54: The Hierarchy of Military Ranks ...... 83 Table 55: List of Speakers ...... 86 Table 56: Detailed List of Speakers ...... 146
3 GLOSSARY OF TERMS
The glossary below was taken from the following books: A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics by D. Crystal, A Reader in English Stylistics by L. Urbanová and A. Bilingham, and Dictionary of Language and Linguistics by R.K. Hartman, and F.C. Stork. The expression Types and Tokens is taken from a manual to Concordance Copyright © R.J.C. Watt 1999 2003 Coherence A text must be coherent in order to convey its message effectively; that is, the text must “hold together” as discourse. A text can be analyzed in terms of discourse in two ways: to establish its level of coherence and its level of cohesion. Cohesion A text has cohesion on the level of syntax, e.g. through concord, sequence of tenses, or relative pronouns, and, more importantly for discourse analysis, which goes beyond the sentence limit, on the level of inter sentence connections or linkage, e.g. through anaphoric reference, pronoun substitution, ellipsis, the use of definite and indefinite articles to indicate things already mentioned in the preceding text lines. These are collectively termed “grammatical cohesion”. Cohesion established through vocabulary, e.g. collocations, repetition, synonymy, is known as “lexical cohesion”. Cohesion is a surface feature of a text; coherence is a sub surface feature, because it concerns the level of ideas underlying the text, which are its origin. Colloquialism An expression which is used only in informal or colloquial speech and not, for example, in formal speech or writing. Context of situation Context of situation is a specific term in Firthian linguistic theory, deriving from the work of the anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski (1884 1942). In this theory, meaning is seen as multiple phenomenon, its various facets being relatable on the one hand to features of the external world, and on the other hand to the different levels of linguistic analysis, such as phonetics, grammar and semantics. Context of situation refers to the whole set of external world features considered to be relevant in the analysis of an utterance at these levels. Contrastive analysis A method of linguistic analysis which shows the similarities and differences between two or more languages or dialects with the aim of finding principles which can be applied to practical problems in language teaching and translation, with special emphasis on transfer, interference, and equivalents. This approach is synchronic in that it pays attention only to the contemporary forms of the languages in question, whereas comparative historical linguistics is usually diachronic, concentrating on the forms of the languages at different periods of their development. Alternative terms: differential analysis, differential linguistics.
4 Discourse Discourse is used here to denote language use / speech or writing/ in terms of its coherence /q.v./. Discourse analysis is the study of the connectivity of words and ideas with each other /within the text/ and with the extra linguistic context. Discourse in this case does not just mean “a speech” or “a “sermon” or a “lecture”, but the wider concept of “connected speaking or writing”. Discourse analysis The linguistic analysis of stretches of language longer than a sentence with the aim of finding sequences of utterances with similar environments (equivalence classes) and of establishing regularities in their distribution. Discourse markers 1 Sequentially dependent elements which demarcate units of speech, such as oh, well, and I mean . It is now plain that there exist important linguistic dependencies between sentences, but it is less clear how far these dependencies are sufficiently systematic to enable linguist units higher than the sentence to be established. Expression This term is used in a general sense in linguistics, referring to a string of elements treated as a unit for the purpose of analysis and discussion: expressions have both a grammatical and a lexical character, and are definable in terms of both, e.g. the expression so be it can be analysed as a sequence both of form classes and of lexical items. Field work A method of collecting linguistic data from native informants. The phonetic, grammatical and lexical features resulting from such surveys may be recorded by using tape recorders, questionnaires, and/or phonetic transcription. Alternative term: field study. Jargon A set of terms and expressions used by a social or occupational group, but not used and often not understood by the speech community as a whole. Outsiders often regard jargons such as ‘officialese’, ‘journalese’, ‘medicalese’, etc. as ‘bad style.’ Linguistic analysis Collective term for various operations that the linguist performs on data he has obtained from field work or by collecting texts. Linguists attempt to find the regular patterns in this material by breaking it down into minimal elements (segmental analysis), by establishing how these elements are made up (componential analysis), by examining the relationships between them (distributional analysis, discourse analysis), and by determining their arrangement within longer sequences (immediate constituent analysis, functional analysis). Such procedures are used on the levels of sound (phonemic analysis), grammar (morphological analysis), and vocabulary (semantic analysis). Special techniques are used for specific purposes, e.g. contrastive analysis and error analysis in language teaching procedure.
5 Paralinguistic features These are features of communication which do not fit into the semantic syntactic system of the language, but which nevertheless participate in conveying messages. They include: hesitation phenomena /um, er, hmm/, rhythmical “gap fillers” /sort of, like, well/, attention getting phrases (you know, you see, do you know what I mean?/, conventional and onomatopoeic sounds/ tutting, sighing, gasping; “phew”, “ugh”, “eek”, expressing relief, disgust and fright, respectively; “grr”, “whoosh”, “boing”, “brr”, suggesting respectively: a growl of anger, a sense of speed, something bouncing, and a shiver of cold/, facial expressions, and signs and gestures made with the hands. Many of these paralinguistic features, especially hand gestures, are culturally bound to a particular nation and change from country to country, sometimes causing problems for travelers. For example, a raised thumb means “OK” in Britain; in Greece it means “Sit on this”, or something equally offensive. Register Register means the level of formality of an utterance or text. This depends on two factors: politeness and directness, which interact to determine the required register, thus deciding the forms of realization in context of various language functions. Semantic analysis A branch of linguistic analysis, which investigates the meaning of vocabulary items by explaining what sense relations hold between them. Different types of semantic analysis have been proposed, according to whether a referential, conceptual, contextual or other theory of meaning is taken as a basic framework. Slang A variety of speech characterized by newly coined and rapidly changing vocabulary, used by the young or by social and professional groups for ‘in group’ communication and thus tending to prevent understanding by the rest of the speech community. Social function The role language plays in the context of society or the individual is also referred to by the term ‘function’ (social function). For example, language is used (‘functions’) to communicate ideas, to express attitudes, and so on. It may also be used to identify specific sociolinguistic situations, such as informality or intimacy or varieties of language such as science and law: in such cases, one might talk, for instance, of the ‘function’ of scientific language being to express a certain mode of experience in a certain way, and so on. Several detailed classifications of the social functions of language have been made, especially in Hallidayan linguistics, and in relation to pragmatics and the theory of speech acts. The traditional classification of sentence functions falls between grammatical and speech act theory: sentences are said to ‘function as statements, questions, commands, etc. In narratology, the term is used in analysis of plots for a type of action performed by one or more types of character, such as ‘Villain harms member of family’.
6 Text Text is a sequence of words, spoken or written, which combine to make up a message for communication, “Text” also suggests “object of formal study”. Types and Tokens Types are word forms and tokens are occurrences of word forms. So, for example, in the sentence 'The cat sat on the mat', there are two tokens of the type 'the' and one token each of the types 'cat', 'sat', 'on', and 'mat'. Utterance Utterance is a stretch of meaningful language produced in speaking. This term is not normally used with reference to writing, where texts can usually be divided grammatically into identifiable parts /e.g. clause, sentence, paragraph/. An utterance in speech may be one word, some kind of sentence, or a string of sentences which combine to express one idea. Utterances are identified either prosodically /e.g. between pauses in a monologue/ or interactionally /when one speaker stops and another begins, and so on/. Vernacular A term used in sociolinguistics to refer to the indigenous language or dialect of a speech community, e.g. vernacular of Liverpool, Berkshire, Jamaica, etc. The study of ‘black’ or ‘African American English vernacular’ in the United States has been the focus of several linguistic studies since 196s. Pidgin languages are sometimes called contact vernaculars. Vernaculars are usually seen in contrast to such notions as standard, lingua franca, etc.
7 INTRODUCTION
“Language is not primarily a means of communication but a means of communion.” R.B.LePage 2 “The rise of English is a remarkable success story. When Julius Caesar landed in Britain nearly two thousand years ago, English did not exist. Nearly a thousand years later, at the end of the sixteenth century, when William Shakespeare was in his prime, English was the native speech of between five and seven million Englishmen and it was, in the words of a contemporary, ‘small reatch, it stretcheth no further than this iland of ours, naie not there over all’. Four hundred years later, the contrast is extraordinary. Between 1600 and the present, in armies, navies, companies and expeditions, the speakers of English including Scots, Irish, Welsh, American and many more – travelled to every corner of the globe, carrying their language and culture with them.” (McCrum, Cran and MacNeil, 1986, 19) In the year 2000 there were approximately 400 million native speakers of English in the world. If we add about 100 million people who speak English as a second language, it can be seen that English has become the international language of communication. English is also an official NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) language and in addition to that, a good command of the English language is an operational requirement of NATO. Military personnel of NATO countries are simply not able to communicate effectively without this common language during joint maneuvers and exercises. For this reason, the NATO language subcommittee BILC (Bureau for International Language Co operation) was established in 1976. It adopted American language descriptions 3 (See Appendix 1: History of Stanag 6001) for language assessment under the name of STANAG (Standardized Agreement) 6001 (See Appendix 2: English Version of Stanag 6001) and there are six levels of English comprehension for each of the four language skills listening, speaking, reading and writing. These skills are graded from level 0 to level 5 and are known as SLP’s (Standardized Language Profile) with level 5 being a fully educated native speaker. In the majority of NATO countries, English is tested according to these descriptors and level three (a person with SLP 3 should be familiar with basic military colloquial and slang expressions the higher the SLP, the more of these expressions he or she should know) is the most widespread degree of attainment. Every military person who works or is assigned to work in NATO must qualify with an SLP of 3, 3, 3, 3. In order to comply with these requirements all NATO countries have launched a massive language training program. The Czech Armed Forces started this program at the end of 1995 and signed up to STANAG 6001 in 1999. Demands for English language are constantly growing due to NATO membership; joint missions, exercises, UN (United Nations) missions; and participation in EU (European Union) multinational task forces. Currently, there is only one universal military course that is suitable for both intensive type English courses and (for levels 1 – 3) in accordance with the above descriptors. This course has been under constant development since the 1950´s by a team of experts at the Defense Language Institute, Lackland, AFB (Air Force Base), Texas and it includes both official military terminology and colloquial expressions. (The course should be accompanied by ‘A Functional Analysis of Present Day
8 English on a General Linguistic Basis’ by Vilém Mathesius, edited by prof. Dr. Josef Vachek, DrSc in the Czech Republic – see Appendix 3) Over the last two centuries, English has had to evolve at an unprecedented rate and keep pace with the scientific, social and cultural developments of its time. In tandem with this, the living language of the military, both colloquial and slang, has not only had to keep pace with its civilian counterpart but to incorporate it into its own period of enlightenment. As with all additions to the language though, some of these expressions have changed in their meaning, some of them have become obsolete, and some of them have completely disappeared. The language changes can be demonstrated through primary and secondary sources such as printed materials and etymological dictionaries. As Holmes (1992, 210) says: “Reading Shakespeare turns up many words, such as hie (‘hurry‘), stilly (‘softly’) and arrant (‘thorough’), which have disappeared or, more treacherously, changed their meaning. Entertain , for instance, meant ‘keep occupied’, so entertaining the invading troops in Shakespeare’s time referred not to the efforts of singers and comedians, but to the success of the local army in keeping the foreigners at bay.” However, it is not always easy to find enough reliable materials to prove language changes in specific areas. In order to capture present situations related to military colloquial and slang expressions, this work is dedicated to the analysis of such expressions. Having worked in the field and being more than familiar with the subject matter, it has been possible to compile sufficient material for analysis and, in effect, amass a private military corpus.
9 THE MOTIVATION FOR THIS DISSERTATION
“The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.” Ludwig Wittgenstein
The initial impetus stemmed from a set of lectures on extralinguistic reality by prof. PhDr. Josef Hladký, PhD. in 1988. During these lectures, I realized that no text or discourse could be translated into Czech verbatim for, in trying to do so, the meaning of the words became distorted and, in many cases, void of their original intent. What has to be taken into account are the semantic meanings of each of the words and the different cultures or environments in and from which they stemmed. “For example, the American military order ‘ Secure the Building’ would be carried out one way by the Army and another by the Navy or Air Force – Army personnel would go into the building, lock the windows and doors, and put a guard in front of the building. Marine personnel would attack the building and take prisoners. Navy personnel would lock the building and leave. Air Force personnel would ask the owner of the building about the price with a view to renting it. The above example not only demonstrates the difficulty in translating such an order into Czech, but it also demonstrates that the exact same military order means something different to each of the Armed Services” (Chaloupský 2005, 5); in other words, different sub cultures understand the same use of language in different ways. Similarly, therefore, this holds true for colloquial expressions, slang and jargon. The second impetus for conducting this research resulted from working with other Czech military personnel on United Nations peacekeeping missions. During these missions the following came to light “Words are the tools for the job of saying what you want to say. And what you want to say are your thoughts and feelings, your desires and your dislikes, your hopes and your fears, your business and your pleasure – almost everything, indeed, that makes up you .” (Bergen 1990, 29). Slang and colloquial expressions were an inseparable part of our daily life on these missions. However, these expressions caused not only a lot of trouble for the Czech military, but also the occasional misunderstanding during official meetings and negotiations. For these reasons, it became necessary to take notes in order to write a military manual which outlined the ‘white areas’ of military colloquialisms and slang expressions. The original intention of this was not to write a thesis but to aid junior staff with regards to their language in negotiations with native speakers and, more importantly, to prepare them for the cultural disparity. In addition to the above, further motivation for this paper has been as a consequence of working with active or ex military personnel from the USA, Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand and Australia. This was due to the fact that some of them used military colloquial and slang expressions to such an extent that it was actually difficult to understand them. To compound this, it was not possible to locate an adequate range of English military colloquial or slang dictionaries or, in those that were found, source the very expressions used. Furthermore, many of the secondary sources proved unreliable and/or outdated. It was also noticed that certain military vocabulary common to US military personnel was completely “foreign” to British, Australian or New Zealand troops. Sooner or later the vocabulary had to be explained so that misunderstandings would not occur. This phenomenon was related to official terms as well as colloquial and slang expressions for example, the Australian and New Zealander expressions such as dinkum, the next bloke, can of piss, 4 etc.
10 The last reason was “A Dictionary of Forces Slang 1939 1945 ” edited by Eric Honeywood Partridge, (1894 – 1979). He was born in New Zealand and studied at the University of Queensland. These studies were interrupted by four years of service as a private in the Australian infantry during the First World War. He saw action at the Battle of Gallipoli and the Somme. Then, in the Second World War he volunteered again, joined the Royal Air Force and became a member of a group responsible for publicizing the Services. His military experiences and encounters with all sorts and conditions of men reinforced his lifelong interest in the underside of the language. After reading A Dictionary of Forces Slang 1939 1945 and Partridge’s A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, it became clear that there has been little in the way of study with regards to current military colloquial expressions, slang and jargon. The main reason for this is that there are, quite simply, not that many linguists serving in the military. Besides that, it has not been possible to find any serious linguistic study related to modern military lexicology, slang, or colloquial expressions.
11 SUBJECT AND THE RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. Genesis 2:19
As indicated above, this paper deals primarily with English military slang, colloquial, and jargon expressions. The fact is that the most unforgettable slang comes from the military environment. Burgess (1994, 329) says: “It has been mostly the armed forces that have spawned the most memorable catchphrases, which, it may be suggested, are often the product of oppression – and boredom. The groans of waking at reveille are not soothed by ‘Come on out, the sun’s scorching your eyeballs’ or ‘Rise and shine, rise and shine. Hands off your cocks, pull on your socks, orderly rooms at nine’ or ‘Out of them bloody wanking pits’ or ‘Shit, shave, shampoo, and piss buckets out of the window’ or (sinister enough for T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land ) ‘You’ve had your time, I’ll have mine.’ Tropical service, military or civilian, made catchphrases out of the native languages, like ‘Apa changkul dua malam’ (Malay) – literally ‘What hoe (whore) two night’ (Australian ‘What ho to night?’) – and ‘ Shufti cush, shufti yubrick ’ (bazaar Arabic – ‘show your cunt, show your prick’).” The reason for this is that military English is becoming more and more widespread across the world and, as a result, more important to the Czech Armed Forces. However, whilst standard language is one thing, colloquial and slang expressions are another. Substantial time and energy has, therefore, been devoted to analyzing military colloquialisms and slang. In short, the deeper the collaboration between NATO countries, the more important the knowledge of colloquial and slang expressions. Moreover, as there is a lack of reliable English military dictionaries and that those which are available often prove to be both unreliable and imprecise, it is hoped that this work will contribute someway to making the gray areas related to military slang transparent and more comprehensible. As to the research objectives, the work is divided into two main parts. The first part is comprised of an in depth, lexical study of the terminology, its origin and its application. It deals with lexical units; both official and colloquial, using excerpts from military and slang dictionaries. Here, there is an in road to proving that culture, society, and everyday activities have influenced not only official military terms but slang and jargon as well. This part consists primarily of an analysis of the main areas that appear in professional conversations: ranks, their origin, insignia as well as slang expressions for seniority. A tangent to explain the differences in slang usage amongst the very armed services (Air Force, Army, Navy) themselves has also been made, along with the differences between American and British military slang, the inevitable interaction, and how these have made their way into everyday spoken English. Current works have not underlined these differences, and as far as it has been noticed, there are some that should simply not be neglected. The most progressive, military official and colloquial lexical types have also been researched and classified. They have been explored in the areas of the most common usage of slang expressions such as lexical compounds, abbreviations and acronyms, and expressions based on the phonetic alphabet and code words.
12 This is shadowed by the influence of military expressions that entered ‘regular’ English in the areas of idioms, sayings, euphemisms and taboos. In connection with this the influences of military English on military Czech have been explored as well. The second part of the work encompasses an analysis of the primary resources involved – an analysis of the actual military interviews involved throughout the research for this dissertation, with a view to finding out whether the former is, in fact, contemporary. With regards to the latter, the intention has been to discover to what extent and as to whether there are indeed any actual differences in register with respect to rank, age, and education, or any cultural or individual differences in using grammar or lexical units. In other words, a scrutiny of whether military language is, in effect, indeed related to social differences; especially differences between NCOs and officers with regards to the strict chain of command that corresponds with rank and military hierarchy.
13 1. LEXICAL ANALYSIS OF MILITARY SLANG
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet. William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, II.2.43 44 One of the most extraordinary changes in the past 20 years has been the way in which people communicate and this has become a direct reflection of the language as a living entity, its growth and its contemporary usage. The development of the Internet, e mail, fax machines, cell phones, and video technology have all altered the manner in which we live, think, and exchange ideas. The world has indeed become a “Global Village,” and we can now learn almost instantly what in the past would have taken months or even years to find out. In order to use these inventions and exchange ideas the language must be handled with precision. Meticulousness, however, first requires the knowledge and use of an extensive vocabulary. Obviously, the larger the vocabulary, the more articulate and accurate the speech can be. The lack of vocabulary or poor knowledge of its meaning can result in misunderstandings. Some of history’s greatest disasters have been caused by such misunderstandings and the infamous charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava in 1854 is a classic example. ‘Someone had blundered,’ wrote Tennyson but, what he didn’t write, was that the blunder was enmeshed in poor language, inaccuracy and social inarticulacy. “The Brigade shall advance on the guns ” (Prevent the small enemy unit from retreating with their cannon to the main Russian line) was the order from Lord Lucan that, quite simply, failed to take into account the fact that, although he was atop a hill and could see what was going on, his troops could not. Hence, history records that the small battery that was very plain to him was, in fact, concealed from the Brigade in the valley and that the only guns that they could see were those of the Front Line. Assuming that ‘the guns’ referred to those that they saw resulted in their infamous charge. Precision in communication is also tied to the experience and cultural background of the speaker. What seems clear and exact to one person may be confusing or ambiguous to another, especially if the speakers do not share a common experience or background. Communication is also enhanced by the ability to use language foundations accurately and appropriately. This is especially true when conversation breakdowns occur. In other words, if one wants to communicate effectively, formulate the important questions of life, appreciate tomes and poetry, one must have a large vocabulary. And, for the purposes of this paper, inseparable parts of every vocabulary, are slang and colloquial expressions. Material under Investigation The research investigates written and spoken material, both official and private. The official material is taken from different dictionaries and the private investigation is taken from notes. • Various dictionaries listed in the ‘Dictionary’ section, dealing with military and slang expressions. • Private notes from UN peacekeeping missions and notes from personal work with members of foreign Armed Forces. • Private notes from talks with Czech military personnel both on active service and retired.
14 1. 1. Definition of Slang, Colloquialism, and Jargon
Slang is language which takes off its coat, spits on its hands – and goes to work. Carl Sandburg
With regards to lexical analysis, it is first necessary to define slang, jargon, and colloquialism. Short definitions given in the glossary are not sufficient for this purpose. This is because there is a surplus of different definitions related to the above terms. In addition, these definitions are sometimes contradictory. Look at the following examples defining slang. According to Mc Arthur (1996, 860) “Slang must be distinguished from such other subsets of the lexicon as regionalisms or dialect words, jargon, profanity, vulgarity, colloquialism, cant, and argot, although slang shares some characteristics with each of these. It is not jargon (vocabulary used in carrying out a trade or profession), but it frequently arises inside groups united by their work: for example, such as the US Army phrases chicken colonel (full colonel) and John Wayne (used to describe exemplary military behavior).” On the other hand West (1975, 166) says “Slang is generally thought of as a jargon of youth, originating in the need for an ‘in’ – group identification as far as peers are concerned, and in the desire to flout authority that is, “correct grammar” – as far as the older generation is concerned.” Leech & Svartvik (1981, 26) say “Slang is language which is very familiar in style, and is usually restricted to the members of a particular social group, for example ‘teenage slang’, ‘army slang’, ‘theatre slang’. Slang is not usually fully understood by people outside a particular social group, and so has a value of showing the intimacy and solidarity of its members.” According to the Britannica Concise Encyclopedia (2002) slang is “Nonstandard vocabulary of extreme informality, usually not limited to any region. It includes newly coined words, shortened forms, and standard words used playfully out of their usual context. Slang is drawn from the vocabularies of limited groups: cant, the words or expressions coined or adopted by an age, ethnic, occupational, or other group (e.g., college students, jazz musicians); jargon, the shoptalk or technical terminology specific to an occupation; an argot, the cant and jargon used as a secret language by thieves or other criminals. Occupying a middle ground between standard and informal words accepted by the general public and the special words or expressions of these subgroups, slang often serves as a testing ground for words in the latter category. Many prove either useful enough to become accepted as standard or informal words or too faddish for standard use. Blizzard , okay , and gas have become standard, while conbobberation (‘disturbance’) and tomato (‘girl’) have been discarded. Some words and expressions have a lasting place in slang; for instance, beat it (‘go away’), first used in the 16th century, has neither become Standard English nor vanished.” Crystal (1995, 182) says: “Slang according to the American poet, Carl Sandburg (1878 – 1967) is ‘language which takes off its coat, spits on its hands – and goes to work.’ The Oxford English Dictionary provides a more judicious account: ‘language of a highly colloquial type, considered as below the level of educated standard speech, and consisting either of new words or of current words employed in some special sense.’ In a related definition, it also describes slang as ‘language of a low or vulgar type’ and ‘the special vocabulary or phraseology of a particular calling
15 or profession.’ Slang is one of the chief markers of in group identity. As such it comes very close to jargon.” Partridge defines slang in the following way: "Slang fills a necessary niche in all languages, occupying a middle ground between the standard and informal words accepted by the general public and the special words and expressions known only to comparatively small social subgroups. It can serve as a bridge or a barrier, either helping both old and new words that have been used as ‘insiders’ terms by a specific group of people to enter the language of the general public or, on the other hand, preventing them from doing so. Thus, for many words, slang is a testing ground that finally proves them to be generally useful, appealing, and acceptable enough to become standard or informal. For many other words, slang is a testing ground that shows them to be too restricted in use, not as appealing as standard synonyms, or unnecessary, frivolous, faddish, or unacceptable for standard or informal speech." Scores of conflicting definitions related to slang, jargon, and colloquialism are the foundations upon which this research is based and hence an indication as to the true complexity of slang and colloquial language. As the thematics deal primarily with an analysis of American military vocabulary and discourse, both Eble’s definition of slang, in her ‘Slang and Sociability’ and Flexner’s definitions of colloquialisms, slang, jargon, and cant have been accepted as the ‘Litmus Test’. This was due to the fact that the definitions were detailed with regards to their respective subjects and that the borders of slang colloquialism, jargon and cant are clearly expansive. However, despite the fact that this sufficed for much of this thesis, further descriptors (contemporary military definitions) have been added where and when necessary. Flexner (1972, 272 273), in his ‘Preface to the Dictionary of American Slang’ describes the following levels of English vocabulary: “Standard usage comprises those words and expressions used, understood, and accepted by a majority of our citizens under any circumstances or degree of formality. Such words are well defined and their most accepted spellings and pronunciations are given in our standard dictionaries. In standard speech one might say: Sir, you speak English well. Colloquialisms are familiar words and idioms used in informal speech and writing, but not considered explicit or formal enough for polite conversation or business correspondence. Unlike slang, however, colloquialisms are used and understood by nearly everyone in the United States. The use of slang conveys the suggestion that the speaker and the listener enjoy a special ‘fraternity’, but the use of colloquialisms emphasizes only the informality and familiarity of a general social situation. Almost all idiomatic expressions, for example, could be labeled colloquial. Colloquially, one might say: Friend, you talk plain and hit the nail right on the head. Cant, jargon, and argot are the words and expressions peculiar to special segments of the population. Cant is the conversational, familiar idiom used and generally understood only by members of a specific occupation, trade, profession, sect, class, age, group, interest group, or other sub group of our culture. Jargon is the technical or even secret vocabulary of such a sub group; jargon is “shop talk”. Argot is both the cant and the jargon of any professional criminal group. In such usages one might say, respectively: CQ CQ CQ… the tone of your transmission is good; You are free of anxieties related to interpersonal communication; or Duchess, let’s have a bowl of chalk. Slang is generally defined above. In slang one might say: Buster, your line is the cat’s pajamas , or Doll, you come on with the straight jazz, real cool like .”
16 Eble’s definition of slang (Eble 1996,11) completes Flexner’s definition in the following way: “Slang is an ever changing set of colloquial words and phrases that speakers use to establish or reinforce social identity or cohesiveness within a group or with a trend or fashion in society at large. The existence of vocabulary of this sort within a language is possibly as old as language itself, for slang seems to be part of any language used in ordinary interaction by a community large enough and diverse enough to have identifiable subgroups.” As to why people actually use colloquialisms or slang, the explanation given by Partridge in his ’Slang’ Society for Pure English, Tract LV (1969, 185 – 186) is considered poignant. He actually gives 16 reasons as to why people use slang: 1. In high spirits, by the young in heart and mind, whether youthful, mature, or elderly; for the fun of the thing, or, as slang would have it, ‘just for the hell of it’; in playfulness or waggishness. 2. As an exercise of wit and ingenuity, or as an outlet for humour. The motive is usually snobbishness or self display or emulation on the one hand; or, on the other, a lively responsiveness to one’s interlocutors or a delight in virtuosity. 3. To be novel or ‘different’. 4. To be picturesque, either positively (graphic self expression) or negatively (from a desire to avoid insipidity or dullness). 5. Or to be arresting or startling, with no intention of leaving one’s wish unperceived. 6. To escape from the bondage of clichés. 7. Or – likewise – from impatience with existing words and phrases – to be concise and brief. 8. To enrich the language. (Literary and deliberate rather than spontaneous – except among Cockneys, who have a highly developed inventive faculty). 9. To invest the abstract with solidity and concreteness, and the remote with immediacy and appositeness; to terrestrialize the ethereal; and to reduce the idealistic to the materialistic. (Among the cultured the desire and the process are usually premeditated, whereas among the uncultured they are instinctive and democratic). 10. a) To disperse or, at the least, to lessen the solemnity or excessive gravity of a conversation, or the pomposity of a piece of writing, b) To deaden the sting of a refusal, a rejection, a recantation; or, on the other hand, to give additional points to one. c) To mitigate the tragedy, to lighten the inevitability of death or the seeming inevitability of madness; to ‘prettify’ folly or drunkenness; to mask the ugliness or the starkness of profound turpitude (e.g. cruel treachery, utter a flagrant ingratitude). And thus to enable the speaker or his auditor to ‘carry on’; for such things have to be faced and overcome. 11. To speak or write down to an inferior, or to amuse a superior, public: to phrase it more broadly and basically, to put oneself on an emotional and mental level with one’s audience, or on a friendly level with one’s subject matter. 12. For case of intercourse, on social rather than psychological grounds. (Not to be confused, even though it occasionally merges, with the preceding). 13. To induce friendliness or intimacy of a deeper, more durable kind. 14. To let it be known, rather than to assert, that one belongs or has belonged to a certain school or university, a certain trade or profession, an artistic or intellectual set, or social class; in brief, to be ‘in the swim’ and establish contact. 15. To prove, to show, or especially to imply that some one is not ‘in the swim’ or is an ‘outsider’.
17 16. To be mysterious or even secret, not understood by those around one. (Schoolchildren and students, very close friends and lovers, members of political secret societies, persons in prison or in danger of being there, these are the principal exponents.)
18 1. 2. Origin of Military Official Terms
I am always sorry when any language is lost, because languages are the pedigree of nations. Samuel Johnson in Tour to Hebrides
On investigating the origin of official militaristic terms, slang and colloquial expressions it is found that the majority of them originated during wars and conflicts, especially those of the 20 th Century. It is also found that many of them are connected to the names of new weapons, instruments, or other innovations of war. That is why the origin of military official terms is covered in brief. From the perspective of technological events, this is particularly evident from the history of World War I, World War II, and the Cold War. In his book Twentieth Century Words Ayto (1999, iv) writes: “Words are a mirror of their times.” By looking at the areas in which the vocabulary of a language is expanding fastest in a given period, we can form a fairly accurate impression of the chief preoccupations of society at that time and the points at which the boundaries of human endeavor are being advanced.” In other words, Ayto states that any technological advances or political events in which the military is involved result in a call for new vocabulary. It is a kind of paradox but wars, in spite of their destruction, have a generative effect on language. For example, Minute Men and militia came into the English language during the American Revolution in April, 1775. The famous sentence Remember the Alamo !5 and the word chevrons 6 came into American English during the Texan War for Independence and the Mexican War. War Hawks 7 was an expression coined by Thomas Jefferson in 1798 and Old Ironsides 8 came into existence in 1815. Thousands of other words, both official and colloquial, originated as a direct result of the military events that have marked the history of the U.S.A. and the United Kingdom and many are still in use today. Wilfred Funk (1978, 218) wrote about new words and World War II in the following way: “In the periods of high emotion and intense activity that are characteristic of a nation engaged in war, language always grows at an amazing pace and niagaras of newly coined words are poured into our speech. In days of peace and quiet about 3,000 terms are added to our American vocabulary each year, but it is estimated that during World War II the number of new and annual additions increased to more than 6,000. The actual total of new coinages might even be three times this number, but only 6,000 terms were important enough to receive recognition. This total is hardly surprising. During war days science is working at fever heat to devise new weapons and new services; manufacturers are developing new products; medicine is inventing new miracles. And for all of these new names must be found. The burning action of war creates new military terms. The G.I.’s, themselves, originate their own argot and slang, and slang is at all times a prodigal contributor to language, both in peace and in war, and is constantly pushing up its green shoots between the dry and dead verbiage of our speech.” Cowley & Parker (1996, 223 224) describe the technological innovations that were portent to these eras in the following way: “World War I hammered home the impact of modern technological innovation. On the ground, rapid fire weapons, massed artillery the great killer of the war gas, tanks, flame throwers, and barbed wire forced new tactical and further technological innovations on the combatants.
19 World War I was the chemist’s war, and their lethal innovations, from explosives to poison gas and petroleum, added to the terrible casualties of trench warfare. But innovations occurred not only on land. The navies of the world had gone to war in 1914 with ships possessing capabilities unimagined when their admirals had joined up forty years before. Ship speeds had quadrupled, and their firepower, formerly effective only at point blank ranges, could reach targets almost on the horizon. The appearance of the submarine further disturbed navies, as the undersea weapon threatened all the standard precepts of naval power. Finally, aircraft made their appearance in World War I in all the missions that are familiar to us today: close air support, reconnaissance, air superiority, and strategic bombing.” This paragraph aptly illustrates, albeit in a brief way, the numerous innovations of the First World War. Concurrent with this industry, grew the need to develop new vocabulary through which to identify and converse upon such new technological, tactical and strategical practices. Many of those words are still being used today as McCrum, Cran, and MacNeil (1986, 268) state: “For Britons and Americans alike, the war (WW I) created a host of words and phrases many of which we still use regularly everyday: bombproof, barrage, camouflage, civvy, convoy, dud, red tape, sabotage, shell shock, tank, no man’s land, going over the top, and digging in.” With regards to the new technology of World War II, the Cold War and subsequent conventional wars, a similar pattern can be traced. “World War II, whatever the impact of armored formations, proved to be a physicists’ war, especially the war in the air. Even before the conflict began, Air Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding coupled the development of radar with the monoplane fighter and a modern command and control network to build an effective air defense system that enabled the Royal Air Force to triumph in the Battle of Britain. Innovations came fast and furious in the air war: sophisticated navigational and blind bombing devices, long range escort fighters, airborne radar, radio guided bombs, and eventually jet aircraft all played their part. By 1944 the Germans were firing ballistic (V 2) and cruise (V 1) missiles against their opponents. They flew the first jets in aerial combat. Innovations in the naval war equaled those in the air. The war against the submarine was won not only by technological innovations, such as sonar, radar, and direction finding, but also by intellectual innovations such as systems analysis. The conflict finally closed with the most terrifying technological innovation of history: the atomic bomb.” Cowley & Parker (1996, 224) “The Cold War ushered in the atomic age, in which the two superpowers deterred each other from another disastrous world war by building ever more frightening weapons of mass destruction. Both the weapons and their delivery vehicles proliferated – bombers, intercontinental ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles with pinpoint accuracy. Conventional wars have accelerated the development of ‘smart’ weapons. Laser guided bombs that so devastated Iraq in the Gulf War are now being replaced with weapons that will use global positioning satellites.” Cowley & Parker (1996, 224) Previous paragraphs show that military innovations accelerated during conflict and that this led directly to the creation of a vacuum for new vocabulary. In order to demonstrate that the birth of such language is indeed concurrent with such events, military and cultural affairs are compared with the growth of both the official and unofficial vocabulary of the armed forces.
20 Table 1 was adapted from a book by J. Ayto: Twentieth Century Words (1999) and from the Book of Facts by M. Parry (2002) and shows, chronologically, the military events of the 20 th century (see Appendix 4 for the most important military political events in the 20 th century) in correspondence with the semantic fields that developed at the time. For example, the new technology of cars, aircraft, radio, and film dominated the lexical innovation of the 1900’s ( dashboard, aerodrome, wireless, cinema ). The decades of World War I and World War II show a broad spectrum of military vocabulary ( gas mask, shell shock, tank ). Appendix 5 (Official Military Terms Entering English in 20 th Century) shows the newly developed military terms that were officially introduced to the English language and that were related to the military events of the time, as described in the Table 1. Table 1: Semantic Fields by Decade and Dates of Military Events Semantic Fields in the Areas Decade Date Military events of: 1900 Cars, aviation, radio, film, 1900 Relief of Mafeking – South 1909 psychology African War 1902 End of South African War – Boer War 1903 First powered flight in a heavier than air craft, by the Wrights 1910 War, aviation, film, 1914 Assassination of Archduke Franz 1919 psychology Ferdinand, WW I begins 1915 Gallipoli Campaign, Zeppelin raids on Britain 1916 Battles of Verdun and the Somme, the first tank used 1919 Treaty of Versailles 1920 Clothes / dance / youth, 1923 German Putsch organized by 1929 transport, radio, film Hitler fails 1927 Stalin comes to power in Soviet Union 1930 War / build up to war, 1933 Hitler appointed Chancellor of 1939 transport, film / entertainment Germany 1934 Stalin’s purges begin in the Soviet Union 1936 Spanish Civil War begins 1938 Munich Agreement, nuclear fission discovered 1939 Poland invaded by Germany, World War II begins 1940 War, post war society / 1940 France invaded by Germany, 1949 international affairs, nuclear British retreat from Dunkirk, power, computers, space Churchill becomes British PM, Battle of Britain 1941 Soviets invaded by Germany, Pearl Harbor bombed by Japanese, US enters the war 1942 Allied victories at El Alamein and Midway
21 1943 Germans surrender at Stalingrad 1944 D Day invasion of Europe, Paris liberated 1945 US drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, World War II ends, 1946 Cold War begins 1948 Berlin airlift 1949 NATO formed 1950 Media, nuclear power, space, 1950 Korean War begins 1959 computers, youth culture 1952 US tests hydrogen bomb 1955 Warsaw Pact formed 1956 Suez crisis 1959 Castro takes power in Cuba 1960 Computers, space, youth 1960 Lasers developed in US 1969 culture / music, media, drugs, war 1961 Berlin Wall built, first manned space flight (Gagarin) 1964 US enters Vietnam War 1968 Soviet Forces invade Czechoslovakia, violence begins in Northern Ireland 1970 Computers, media, business, 1975 Vietnam War ends 1979 environment, political correctness 1979 Shah of Iran deposed by Khomeini’s Islamic Revolution 1980 Media, computers, finance / 1982 Falklands War 1989 money, environment, political correctness, youth culture / music 1983 Cruise missiles installed in Britain and Germany 1989 Berlin Wall falls, Communist regimes deposed in Eastern Europe, Tiananmen Square massacre in China 1990 Politics, media, internet, war 1991 Soviet Union breaks up, Warsaw 1999 Pact dissolved, Gulf War 1992 Conflict in former Yugoslavia begins 1998 Northern Ireland peace terms agreed The above table shows the growth of semantic fields related to various military events of the 20 th century. However, the total number of wars and hostilities was much higher. George Carlin (2001) gives more precise data in his book Napalm and Silly Putty (see Appendix 6).
22 1. 3. Origin of Military Colloquial and Slang Expressions
The language of this country being always upon the flux, the Struldbruggs of one age do not understand those of another, neither are they able after two hundred years to hold any conversation (farther than by a few general words) with their neighbors the mortals, and thus they lie under the disadvantage of living like foreigners in their own country. Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels In order to demonstrate the scope of different military colloquial and slang expressions that came into the English language during the decades of the twentieth century (see Table 2) excerpts have been taken from the following books: War Slang by Paul Dickson, Swear Like a Trooper by William Priest, Twentieth Century Words by John Ayto, A Dictionary of Soldier Talk by Elting, Cragg & Deal, and The Language Report by Susie Dent. For the definitions of these words that are in conjunction with the military events found in Table 1, see Appendix 7 (Explanation of the Colloquial and Slang Expressions Entering English in 20 th Century). Table 2: Military Slang and Colloquial Expressions
Decade Slang Expression Note 1900 – 1909 1910 – Aussie, Archibald / Archie, (Big) Bertha, Big Lizzie, Blighty, 56 1919 blighty, Boche, cheese toaster, chuck a dummy, clicked it, conchy / conchie, cushy, Cuthbert, dead soldier (dead dog), digger, doughboy, emma, eye, fish, Fritz, grandma, Hans, he man, highball, Hun, Jerry, kamerad, kraut, limey, mother, Minnie, napoo / napooh, nose cap, oojah, oojiboo, Ozzie, Percy, pineapple, put in a bag, rear, rooty, sauce, sawbones, sidekicker, sink, S.O.L., spike bozzle, sub, toc emma / tock emma, toot sweet, whizz bang, whutt, wind, windy, woofits, Zep / Zepp. 1920 – 1929 1930 – Glamour boy, modock, 2 1939 1940 – Air Hawk, Air Jane, all guts, angels, almond eye, bandit, beat up, 52 1949 bean gun, bind, blanket wife, blank file, blast, butch, butcher shop, burton, cat jabber, chamber pot, chocker, dodo, dream sack, femarines, fruit salad, gen, gippy / gyppy tummy, gismo / gizmo, git, go over the hill, gremlin, gu gu, Heinie, hit the silk / silkworm, jerrican / Jerry can, kangaroo John, khaki whacky, Nip, party, passion killers, Philip, pile in, prang, puss blanket, recce, rhubarb, shaky do, SNAFU, snowdrop, sprog, step out, square bashing, stooge, swan, walkie talkie, whites. 1950 – Abdul, attrit, bimp, bonkers, boysun, brainbucket, chopper, egg 12 1959 beater, North Joe, nuke, whirlybird, windmill. 1960 – Big blue, Charlie / Charley, cong, dink, grease, jump jet, Nam, 13
23 1969 nuke (v.), purple heart, tent peg, Saigon Cowboy, Saigon tea, white mice. 1970 – Banana smoke, bird shit, bogey, bullshit bomber, collateral 6 1979 damage, tunnel rat. 1980 – Argie, ballistic, beltway bandit, bird, birdman, bootleg copy, fifth 10 1989 service, Indians, Star Wars, wargasm 1990 – Boloed, bone dome, daisy cutter, deadly dozen, Dolly Parton, 33 1999 Feminazi, fratricide, goofy goggles, gorilla cookie, grease, insert, Kevlar, K pot, love boat, love Scud, M.R.E., patch guy, pizza sheik, PONTI, pop, rag–head, Rambo rag, Rambo stuff, Saddam Happens, Saddam line, sanitize, Scudinavia, SLUD, splash, Schwarzkrieg, tree eater, waste, zoomy. 2000 Asymmetrical warfare, bushwhack, blue collar warfare 9, 7 decapitation exercise, heavy metal attack, shock and awe, killbox 10 . Table 3: Number of Slang Expressions Entering English in Different Periods
Number of Slang Expressions Entering English in Different Periods
1980-1989
1960-1969 Period 1940-1949
1910-1919
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 As shown, the majority of these expressions originated during World War I and World War II. A smaller proportion originated during the Vietnam War, the Gulf War and even less throughout other such military events or conflicts. Much of the slang and colloquialism that originated during the Gulf War (especially language that reflected either the cultural anomalies or the realia of the theater of war) lasted for only a short period of time. Military operations were usually ‘combined’ operations and, for that reason, these expressions were used by all allied troops. Even if the analyzed sample is brief in scope, it proves that the origin of these expressions followed the same rules as the origin of other military type (official) expressions in that they reflect the military events of their times.
1. 4. Military Ranks 11 and Insignia
Before dealing with the colloquial and slang expressions related to military personnel in general, it is necessary to first explore the origin and etymological
24 ancestry of military ranks (see Appendix 8 for the current U.S. military ranks) and how varying insignia were adopted to delineate the capacity in which soldiers came to operate. The reason for this is that many colloquial and slang expressions actually stem from the structures inherent in militaristic organizations; the subject is an explanation in itself as to why so much of this language is still in use today. “All military forces depend for their operation on a strict, unambiguous organizational hierarchy which has usually been reflected in distinctive uniforms, badges, and insignia. Attempts to create ‘classless’ armed forces without visible rank distinctions have been short lived. After 5,000 years of evolution, the ranking structures of armies, navies, and air forces around the world have become extraordinarily consistent. The universality of the system is striking, particularly with regard to general officer grades.” (Holmes, R. 2001, 755) “Armies are hierarchical by design, both in terms of organizational elements and in terms of the individuals expected to perform specific functions at each echelon Privates and specialists; Corporals and Sergeants who lead squads (noncommissioned officers); warrant officers with particular technical abilities; Lieutenants who head platoons and Captains who command companies (company grade officers); Majors and Lieutenant Colonels who head battalions or act as executive officers, and Colonels who command brigades (field grade officers); and Brigadier Generals who head separate brigades or are assistant division commanders, Major Generals commanding divisions, Lieutenant Generals overseeing corps, and Generals supervising armies (the executive level).” (Chambers 1999, 589) It is quite clear from the above quotations that armed forces are based on rank and hierarchy, formal structures of positions designed to ensure command, control, and support. Rank in the majority of armed forces is based on performance and time in service. There are also some nations where ranks depend on the social status of individuals and society’s expectations of them. Rank establishes superiority, and superiority within the same rank is usually determined by seniority. Generally speaking, however, we have two main distinctions in rank: (a) Ranks for Generals, Officers (below the rank of General), NCOs, and Enlisted 12 Men and Women (b) Unique ranks for Naval Forces The official titles of commissioned officers of the U.S. Armed Forces and British Armed Forces are identical (bar small discrepancies in name, for example when the British have occasionally fielded a Marshal or Sea Lord) from General down to Second Lieutenant with one exception. A British Brigadier is at the level of an American Brigadier General . Another anomaly is that of the American Captain. Although equivalent in rank and status, he would in fact have far more experience than a British Captain. The titles of Naval and Air Force officers are slightly different. “Ranks below the level of Warrant Officer are designated non commissioned officers (NCOs) in all US armed forces, the lowest ranks are simply called Enlisted Men (or Women ). They are called other ranks in the British Army and Royal Marines, Ratings in the Royal Navy, and Airmen in the Royal Air Force. The Airman is a specific rank in the US Air Force.” (Hargraves 2003, 238) 1. 4. 1. Origin of Ranks “We tie knots and bind up words in double meanings, and then try to untie them.” Seneca, Epistalae ad Lucilium
25 “Primitive clashes of force first occurred when groups of Paleolithic men, armed with crude stone implements, fought with other groups for food, women, or land. Somewhere along the prehistoric road other drives – such as sport, the urge for dominance, or the desire for independence – became further causes for armed conflicts. Archaeology tells us – by dating fortifications at Jericho to 6000 B.C. and Catal Huyuk (Anatolia) to 7000 B.C. – that Neolithic men were waging organized warfare centuries before the invention of writing or the discovery of how to work metal. The dawn of history and the growing sophistication of organized warfare went hand in hand.” (Dupuy, E.R. & Dupuy, T.N. 1993, 1) Language reflects people’s needs and it is inter woven in their culture. This means that, in the past, there was a need to name military equipment such axes, spears, slings, breastplates and chariots, etc. There was also a need to introduce terminology related to tactics, combat formations, command procedures and, equally, a further need to name subordinates and superiors – in other words to introduce military ranks into the language. Table 4: Etymology of Terms for English Military Ranks
Rank Etymology
Soldier 13 It came into Middle English as souldeor from Old French soudier , and soude , ‘pay.’ It came into French from the Latin word solidus that meant ‘a gold coin,’ the “coin” that the soldier received as ‘pay’ from the government. Through the ages the soldiers were largely mercenaries who fought for remuneration as opposed to obligation or any patriotic or political ideal. Private A Private is one who is ‘deprived’ of rank or office, ultimately from the Latin privo , ‘deprive.’ Lance Corporal A Lance Corporal led charge with his lance or spear in front of Corporals. The word comes into English through the French, but originally comes from the Latin lancea . Corporal A Corporal is a ‘head’ man in a somewhat limited way, as he should be from his position in the army. The word comes into English through the French, but it is based on the Italian capo , ‘head.’ (Originally comes from the Latin caput head.) Sergeant A Sergeant is a ‘serving man,’ at first one in the service of a Knight, originally from the Latin serviens , ‘serving,’ that is, he carries out the commands of his superiors. The word comes into English through French. Lieutenant A Lieutenant ‘holds the place’ of another officer. The word is French in origin and is based on lieu , ‘place,’ and tenant , ‘holding.’ (Stems from the Latin locus and tenēre .) Captain A Captain is one who commands, leads, or guides others. It comes through the French from the Latin caput head. Major A Major comes through the French from the Latin Major , which means greater. He is greater than the other officers, or, at any rate, greater than the Captain. Lieutenant Colonel An officer ranking above a Major and below a Colonel. As
26 explained above, a Lieutenant “holds the place” of another officer. In this case, a Lieutenant Colonel holds the place of a Colonel. Colonel 14 A Colonel comes from the Italian term Colonello , ‘the chief commander of a regiment,’ which comes, in turn from colonna , ‘column,’ that is, the column which this officer leads. In Latin the word columna means pillar. As the deacon is the ‘pillar’ of the church, so the Colonel is the pillar of his regiment. The word comes into English through French. General From the Latin genus, meaning ‘race or kind,’ came the word generalis , ‘belonging to the whole race or kind.’ Thus, the General of the army is so named because his command is of a very general nature. It takes in everybody. The word comes into English through old French. Admiral Originally an Admiral was an amir , or a Saracen chief. The amir al bahr was commander of the sea. Amir , ‘commander,’ al , ‘the,’ bahr , ‘sea.’ This was his official title in the early days of Spain and Sicily. The first two parts of the Arabic word were taken into French as amiral which was later reinterpreted as admiral due to the equivalence of Old French a and Latin ad . This word passed into English and was associated with the navy as early as the 13 th century. Later, a flagship was called the Admiral , which led to the word’s application in modern English to that of a sea commander. Marshal A M arshal was once a humble groom who minded the horses in the stable. In popular Latin the word mariscalcus meant ‘groom,’ and this term came into the French and English as mareschal . From the lowly post of groom, the Marshal rose to a high estate. In America the marshal has lost a little in prestige, but the dignity of the word still survives in the Field Marshal of some Armed Forces and in the Marshal of France. The excerpts were taken from The New Book of Word Histories (1991), Word Origin (Funk 1978), The American Heritage Dictionary (1985) and Dictionary of Word Histories (Chantrell 2004). Table 4 shows that the etymology of the majority of British military ranks can be traced to the Latin of ancient Roman ranks and that these were adopted by the English through their contact with the French 15 . All of the above terms, but one, are Latin in origin and can be traced as thus through the French. One term came into English through Italian (Colonel) and then through French and one term came from Arabic (amir ar rahl "chief of the transport," and confused by Medieval Christians as a substantive) through French and even that with a Latin influence (ad mirabilis admire / ad mirari to wonder at).
27 Table 5: Etymology of Ranks
13 11 11
9
7
5
3 1 1 Total Number of Ranks of Number Total 1
-1 L-F-E L-I-F-E Ar-F-E
L – Latin F – French I – Italian Ar – Arabic E English
28 1. 4. 2. Rank Insignia “Special identification for soldiers and their instruments of war predates recorded history, going back to specially carved prehistoric clubs, and including such well–known examples as Egyptian chariots, Israelite tribal symbols, Roman standards, Zulu regalia, and American Indian war paint. Anthropologists and psychologists have suggested a warrior’s need to identify with a proud unit, or to personalize, trust, and feel affection for those implements that deliver the warrior from or to destruction. During the Crusades, at the siege of Antioch in 1097, since suits of armor were somewhat anonymous, the Crusaders painted their shields to help them recognize each other in the heat of battle. These later evolved into official coats of arms, representing families and clans. The chivalry of Knighthood quickly transformed such symbols into elaborate robes, medals, and rings, which became the forerunners of modern, metal, military insignia.” (Chambers II 1999, 333) These symbols represent position and give order, purpose and identity to an otherwise cognitive structure. Every army has different insignia and the symbols are sometimes related to the history or culture of the respective nationals. “Rank insignia varies 16 about as much as other items of military wear. Early badges included the cudgel or rod (which might have been made of twisted grape vines and used by Roman centurions as aids to ‘instructing’ their troops), staffs with various decorations, batons, spontoons, special weapons, gorgets, epaulettes, rows of buttons, lace in all sorts of patterns, sashes, cut and quality of clothing, and even cockades on hats. The insignia might be stars, bars, crowns, eagles, chevrons, stripes or any design that is standard at least within each nation’s armed forces and usually easy to understand with a bit of study or instruction. The variety of insignia can cause confusion when members of several nations’ military serve together. For example, some nations use stars (either gold or silver) to designate all their officer ranks, so that a young Captain might wear three silver stars. This could surprise forces from another nation (where only Generals wear stars) when they see such a young soldier wearing what they think are a General’s stars.” (Dupuy 1993, 2820) Military rank insignia are symbols. According to Malmkjær (1996, 400): “A symbol is a sign which refers to the Object that it denotes by virtue of a Law, usually an association of general ideas. It is thus itself a general type. A symbol stands in a signifying relationship with its object only because there exists a convention that it will be interpreted in that particular way. A flag at the beach may signify that swimming is safe; but there is neither any resemblance between the flag and the state of the tide, nor any direct causation from the tide to the flag. The only thing that qualifies the flag for signifying that swimming is safe is the general practice of using flags in this way.” “The symbol acts chiefly by imputed, learned contiguity between signans and signatum 17 . This connection ‘consists in its being a rule’ and does not depend on the presence or absence of any similarity or physical contiguity. The knowledge of this conventional rule is obligatory for the interpreter of any given symbol, and solely and simply because of this rule will the sign actually be interpreted.” (Jakobson 1995, 409) The U.S. system of rank, badges and insignia was introduced in the 18 th century 18 . Below are the chief reasons for adopting the symbols that are found today (golden and silver bars, golden and silver oak leaves, an eagle, and stars) into the U.S. military.
29 Initially, however, this research proved ambiguous and few U.S. personnel were able to provide an informative answer 19 . One explanation though, in Dupuy’s encyclopedia, tied in with what they were generally saying. “The U.S. Army uses symbolism as well: gold and silver bars (below ground but of great value), oak leaves (much higher and denoting great wisdom) eagles soar above the trees and are symbols of great power), and stars (above the eagle). The silver insignia ‘outrank’ the gold: that is, Majors wear a gold oak leaf, while Lieutenant Colonels wear a silver one; Generals’ stars are silver. This arrangement came about as a result of officer uniforms during the Civil War era. Second Lieutenants wore plain, gold trimmed shoulder boards on their jackets. First Lieutenants had a small silver bar on the board, which provided a nice contrast. Field Grade officers wore gold shoulder boards with tassels. A Major simply wore the board. A Lieutenant Colonel wore a silver oak leaf on his board. Later, when the cumbersome boards were phased out on all but dress uniforms, something was needed to identify the Second Lieutenant and the Major: the gold devices were selected“. (Dupuy 1993, 700)
nd 2 Lieutenant Lieutenant Captain Lieutenant Major Colonel Colonel Brigadier Major Lieutenant General General General General Army General
30 1. 5. U.S. Slang Terms for Military Ranks
“Words, like fine flowers, have their colors, too.” Ernest Rhys, Words As a plethora of names are ascribed to individual ranks, it is necessary to explore whether a difference exists in the frequency of names attributed to holders of military rank and how these are appropriated. The conclusion to this part is determined from material sourced over a two year period whilst serving (with military personnel from the U.S.A., Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada) as a UN peacekeeping observer in the North of Iraq and Baghdad. The excerpts are taken from the following dictionaries and books on slang: American Slang by Chapman, L., Robert, Slang and Euphemism by Spears, A. Richard, The Big Book of Being Rude by Green, Jonathon, Cassell´s Dictionary of Slang by Green, Jonathon, The Slang Thesaurus by Green, Jonathon, I Hear America Talking and Listening to America by Flexner, Berg Stuart. The following military dictionaries are also referenced to see whether they have such inclusions: Dictionary of the Modern United States Military by Tomajczyk, S. F., Dictionary of Military Terms by Bowyer, Richard, A Dictionary of United States Military Term s prepared by the Joint Chiefs of Staff Department of Defense, The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military , A Dictionary of Soldier Talk by Elting, Cragg & Deal, and Swear Like a Trooper by Priest, William. Expressions from general slang dictionaries and books that are not stated in the military dictionaries or that do not match with those that are gathered from primary resources are deleted. Finally, the remaining expressions are verified with military personnel from the US military. One problem is that Army personnel are usually ignorant of Air Force or Naval expressions and vice versa. Although it is possible to authenticate the material against transcripts of interviews taken from British Army personnel, it was not possible to corroborate this with personnel from the Royal Navy. Moreover, some personnel mark some of the expressions as dated whilst others mark the same expressions as current. In these cases, the terms are checked against the Dictionary of the Modern United States Military by Tomajczyk, the Dictionary of Military Terms by Richard Bowyer, and the Dictionary of Weapons and Military Terms by John Quick, and judged according to the excerpts. In other cases, the dictionaries contradict both experience and research and it is found that some of the expressions that are stated as current are, in fact, actually dated. Many terms are now confined to such books with the onslaught of the modern world and have disappeared with the end of conscription, the fall of the Soviet Union and the introduction of professional standing armies across the world. Where possible, therefore, and on the basis of experience and many interviews, the contemporary status of individual terms and their usage has been listed as either current or dated on the basis of informed and deliberated judgment. Note that some of the expressions used as slang or colloquial expressions are, in fact, official terms such as flag officer ,20 or draftee . (The ‘+’ sign indicates that the term remains in current use.)
31 1. 5. 1. U.S. Slang Terms for Soldiers, 21 Sergeants and Officers “What care I for words?” Shakespeare, As You Like It Table 6: Examples of Military Slang Expressions for Soldiers
Official Slang Notes Rank Expression Soldier Doughboy An American soldier, later replaced by GI, grunt, etc. Dated, originated in WW I and lasted till WW II. Gravel agitator Infantryman, late 19C. Lasted till 1950s. Gravel crusher Infantryman, late 19C. Lasted till 1950s. Dogface A soldier, an infantryman, dated. Doggie A soldier, an infantryman, 1930s+. GI Government Issue. Enlisted service member, everything he / she needs is issued by government, other explanation is that it comes from the initials Galvanized Iron which were stamped on trashcans during WWII, 1930s+. GI Joe An American soldier1930s+. GI Jane 22 A female member of the US Armed Forces. Ground pounder Infantryman, 1940s+. Boonie rat An infantryman who fights and patrols through the jungles, swamps, etc. Gun bunny A U.S. Army artilleryman. Grunt Infantry, a combat soldier, a Marine soldier or a non flying Air Force Officer 1960s+, Aus. / N.Z. Table 7: Examples of Military Slang Expressions for NCOs
Official Slang Notes Rank Expression Sergeant Top Sergeant, 1st Sergeant (current). Top, Topper, Top kick First shirt 1st Sergeant (Air Force – current). First sleeve 1st Sergeant (current). First pig 1st Sergeant (current). First hog 1st Sergeant (current). First soldier 1st Sergeant (Marine Corps). Smudge Sergeant Major (The Vietnam War). Papa Sierra Platoon Sergeant (The Vietnam War). Buck Sergeant The lowest rank of a non commissioned officer (current). Sarge Short for Sergeant (current).
32 Shake´n´Bake 23 A Sergeant who attended NCO school and gained rank after only a short time in uniform (dated pejorative, used during Vietnam war). Ready Whip A Sergeant who attended NCO school and gained rank after only a short time in uniform (dated). Nestlé’s Quick A Sergeant who attended NCO school and gained rank after only a short time in uniform (dated). Hat (First hat, Drill instructor – Army, Marine Corps. He/She Second hat, wears flat brimmed hat (current). Third hat) Black belt Drill instructor – he wears black leather belt as a symbol of authority (current). Big dad Drill instructor (dated). Table 8: Examples of Military Slang Expressions for Officers
Slang Rank Notes Expression Colonel Buck Colonel A Colonel who is ´bucking for´ promotion, he wishes to be a general (dated). Chicken Colonel A full Colonel from the silver eagles affixed to the uniform’s shoulders that denote rank. It can be used in derogative way (1940s not often used currently). Chicken Shit Colonel A full Colonel. Extremely derogative term. Full bird Colonel / Bird Colloquial expression (current and frequent). Colonel / Full bird Eagle Colonel Colloquial expression. Full bull Colonel / Bull A full Colonel in the American Army. Colonel / Full bull` Colloquial expression (current and frequent). Full Colonel Colloquial expression (current and frequent). Mess Hall Colonel Derogative (usage limited, local term). Washington Colonel Colonel working in Pentagon and wanting to stay there forever, derogative. Lieutenant Light Colonel Colloquial expression (current and frequent, Colonel U.K.). Bottle cap Colonel There is resemblance between the silver oak leaf insignia and bottle cap (same size and similar shape). Bottle cap is a throwaway thing. Derogatory, current and frequent. Telephone Colonel A Lieutenant Colonel who introduces himself as a “Colonel. 24 ” Derogatory, current. Major Iron Major An Action officer in Pentagon – he / she backs up generals. Very complimentary, current, any Major in a staff. Captain BC Colloquial and frequent abbreviation for a battery commander (Army, current). Lieutenant Loto US Armed Forces (dated).
33 1st Looey / loolie / louie / Shortened form of Lieutenant (current). Lieutenant lieuy 2nd Looey / loolie / louie / Shortened form of Lieutenant (current). Lieutenant lieuy Butter bar Refers to a junior, inexperienced officer. Slightly derogative (current). Gold bar Brown bar In the field, officers wore camouflaged rank that was brown instead of yellow (brass), current. Brass looie / brass loot WW I, WW II (dated). Boot Newly commissioned 2 nd Lieutenant. Derogative (current). Second john Used during the WW II and Vietnam War (dated). Second balloon Used during the WW II and Vietnam War (dated). Second louie Missing link Twink / twinkie Used during Vietnam war and shortly after. Derived from a junk food. Derogative, dated. Pip squeak Dated. Shavetail 25 Used during WW I, WW II and Korean War (dated). The apportionment of rank to position in any army is pyramidical, in as much as the higher the rank, the lower the number of personnel. Soldiers, therefore, create slang expressions for the few sergeants that they are in daily contact with and vice versa. In turn , both of these groups create slang terms for those that are above them, the subalterns. And, needless to say, the relation of high and low ranking follows suit. Table 9: Ratio of Slang Expressions for Ranks
Ratio of Slang Expressions for Ranks Colonel 16% Lt.Col. 5% Soldier 21% Major Soldier 2% Sergeant Captain Lieutenant 2% Captain Major Sergeant Lt.Col. Lieutenant 27% Colonel 27%
34 A U.S. Colonel’s insignia is an eagle and that is why many of the slang expressions are derived from the resemblance of an eagle to that of a bird or a chicken. These expressions are not usually derogative and can be heard jokingly pending the occasions. However, the term Chicken Colonel can be used derogatively under certain circumstances. The expression Full Colonel is a colloquial expression as it is often used during official conversations in order to clarify or emphasize that the person’s rank is that of a Colonel as opposed to a Lieutenant Colonel. Referring to a Colonel as a Mess Hall Colonel is pejorative. The insinuation is that anyone can be in charge of a mess hall, as no combat experience or special skills are required. Furthermore, chicken (eagle being the insignia of a Colonel) is often on the menu. It is, however, a locally limited term. The expression Telephone Colonel is similarly negative and denotes a conceited person that attempts to inflate his or her own rank. There is, quite simply, a world of difference between the responsibilities of a Lieutenant Colonel and a Colonel and the expression is frequently heard at ‘ Big Staffs ’ such as at the Pentagon. There are many expressions for the rank of a 2 nd Lieutenant. Butter bar comes from the commercial ‘Butter Finger Bars’ (candy) and the connotation is of something sweet and soft. 2 nd Lieutenants are ‘sweetly’ innocent in their military duties and, usually being just out of school and yet to shave, the attached slang is often loaded with suggestion and sexual innuendo. Gold bar denotes the color of the ‘Butter finger bar’ whereas Brown bar refers to the shape and color of the camouflage insignia. The adjective “second” that is part of the expressions second john, second louie , and second balloon refers simply to the rank itself Second Lieutenant. Another slang expression for Second Lieutenant the twink or twinkie is derived either from the jocular tune ‘Twinkle, twinkle little bars, how I wish that you were stars’ (a play itself on the nursery rhyme ‘Twinkle, twinkle little star’) or from the dessert itself (Twinkies are a dessert filled with cream – again, a play on homosexuality). The shape and color look like a 2 nd Lieutenant’s insignia. Missing link is a slightly derogatory expression for Second Lieutenant. It indicates that this rank is the closest to that of an enlisted person. Although the term appears in many slang dictionaries, no military person questioned had heard about it.
35 1. 5. 2. U.S. Slang Expressions for the Air Force and Naval Personnel Table 10: Examples of Military Slang Expressions for Air Force Personnel
Expression Notes Country Fly boy A pilot. Neutral expression (1940s, dated). U.S. Jet jockey An Air Force fighter pilot. Instead of riding a U.S., Aus. (pilot) horse (jockey), the person flies a plane, current. N.Z. Fighter jock An Air Force fighter pilot. U.S. Fly boy An Air Force fighter pilot. U.S. Throttle jockey A jet aircraft pilot, particularly one with a U.S. penchant for speed (1940s). Steely eyed Helicopter pilot. It also applies to the Airborne and U.S., Aus. killer of women Special Forces. Derogatory, current. N.Z. and children Space cadet A young show off pilot, current. U.S. Sprog A student pilot. Slightly derogatory (current). U.S. Fighter cop An air weapons controller (from Fighter Control U.S. and Operator). Neutral expression (current). Grease monkey A mechanic, especially one who works on motor U.S. vehicles or aircraft (current, used in all Services, also civilian term). Pigeon A member of the Air Force. Slightly derogative U.S. (dated). Zoomie An expression of other Services for Air Force U.S. personnel. Derogatory (current). Wing weenie Pilot slang for anyone who is a member of the U.S. fighter wing’s administrative staff. Derogatory. Wing wiper In the Navy and Marine Corps, slang expression U.S. for an enlisted aviation crewmember. Wing wipe Army slang for a jet aircraft pilot. U.S. Gunnie / Gunny 1. An aviator who pilots a gunship. U.S. 2. A person who fires the guns and weapon systems on a tank, ship or aircraft. Guns 1. The pilot of a helicopter gunship. U.S. 2. A Marine Corps weapons squad. Rocket boy Pilot. U.S.
36 Table 11: Examples of Military Slang Expressions for Navy Personnel
Expression Notes Country Gob Loud mouthed (from their tendency to expectorate) U.S. Late 19 th century and middle of 20 th century. Grunt Mainly Infantry, or a Marine soldier. Derogatory. U.S. 1960s. Swab jockey A sailor in the US Navy. In the Navy a mop is U.S. called a swab. Derogatory, current. Bullet sponge A marine. It is used for other Services as well. A U.S. sponge gets water. A bullet sponge is a kind of a stupid person, who serves as a target for bullets (current). Squid Naval personnel (1950s+). U.S. / N.Z. USMC Uncle Sam’s misguided children – any marine. U.S. Slightly derogative (current). Frog NAVY SEAL (current). U.S. Leatherneck A Marine (current). U.S. Grease pot A cook. U.S. Crotch Marine slang for the Marine Corps. U.S. 1. 5. 3. General Slang Expressions for U.S. Military Personnel Table 12: Examples of Military Slang Expressions for Officers Expression Notes Country The brass Officers as a class. Higher ranking officers were U.S. usually called ‘the big brass.’ The term derives from the fact that officers’ insignias are usually made of brass (WW I +). Brass hat A higher ranking officer – especially one with U.S. gold braid on his cap visor (WW I +). Top brass The highest ranking officer (1930s+). U.S. An “O” Officer (dated). U.S. Scrambled egg 26 Naval officer. The term is derived from the gold U.S. embroidery on the visor of the cap. It starts from the rank of Major (WW II +). Mustang A person who started as an enlisted person and U.S. received a commission through officer candidate school (current). Lifer Usually NCOs, sometimes a career service U.S. / U.K. member. It is a draft Army term as opposed to a draftee (dated).
37 Table 13: Examples of Slang Expressions for Recruits and Young Soldiers Expression Notes Country Joe A new army recruit (dated). U.S. F.N.G. 1. A new army recruit (Fucking New Guy). U.S. Extremely derogative (current). 2. Anyone just coming to a new unit. Rookie A newcomer, the term originated in Britain in U.S., U.K. the armed forced. It is said to be a deformation of ´recruit. Boot 27 A new recruit in the Navy or Marine Corps. U.S. U.S. armed forces (boot camp – recruit training camp, 1910s+). Ring knocker A graduate of a military academy. Refers to the U.S. ring worn by graduates. An “E” Enlisted (dated). U.S. Cherry A fresh trooper who has yet to be ´blooded´ in U.S. combat (current). Buck Private A Private who is ´bucking for´ promotion as U.S. opposed to a PFC (Private First Class). A Private does not have a stripe insignia while a PFC has a stripe. Croot Short for recruit. Derogatory, dated. U.S. Selectee Draftee (dated). U.S. Trainee Slightly derogatory term used for a new soldier. U.S. Yard bird Used during the WWII and in the Korean War U.S. (dated). There are indications above as to whether or not the expressions are derogatory. However, many such ‘derogatory’ expressions are coined for occasion and not designed as purely for profanity or expressing vulgarity. It depends on the situation in which they are used, context, and on the person who is talking. For example, if a soldier (Army) says, ‘They are just a bunch of jet jockeys’ it is slightly derogatory. It is not, however, derogatory amongst pilots. Equally, if you were a pilot and used the term grunts to indicate infantry ‘Look at the grunts over there’ the meaning would be similar as, amongst infantry, the term itself is laudatory. Due to the professional rivalry between Services and within Services between branches, the expressions are usually neutral or laudatory when applied within a branch or a Service and generally derogatory when used between branches or Services. In most cases however, the pejorative meaning is forgotten once there is joint activity. There is an abundance of other expressions used for indicating military activity. Some of them are extremely vulgar, such as terms using a form of, or abbreviation for, the word ‘ fuck’, for example: FUC stands for “female, ugly commander.” The implied connection of FUC to the word “fuck” is not by accident. There is a similar expression in the Marines: BAM stands for ‘broad ass marine’ and is applied to females in the Service. Basically, male soldiers in general, do not like having a female in charge and perceive the role of women to be more of a sexual one. Many expressions are used for recruits. Some of them are used locally and others have short life spans such as bimbo, bozo, bucko, dude, john , or poggie .
38 1. 5. 4. Generals and their Nicknames Precious few slang or colloquial expressions exist for the rank of General except for: “ One Star (General),” “ Two Star (General),” “ Three Star (General),” or “Four Star (General).” They are used in the U.S. military as well as the British military. One possible reason for such few slang terms might be that there are very few Generals and the other reason might be that they are rarely in proximity with the lower ranks. In place, perhaps, has grown the tradition of affectionately bestowing upon Generals a nickname. That is why only nicknames will be mentioned. “Nicknames (from Middle English a nekename , an extra name) are informal names used in place of, or together with, a formal name. Nicknames are most common for personages, but are also used for places: The Big Apple for New York City, The Smoke for London, Mile High City for Denver, Colorado and The Eternal City for Rome. Nicknames tend to suggest that their user is on familiar terms with the bearer of the name, although the familiarity may be equivocal (affectionate, disdainful, defamatory, even a mix of these). Another form of nickname is the descriptive epithet on its own ( Shorty for someone short, or ironically for someone tall; Chalky , applied in BrE to someone whose surname is White ; Bluebeard , someone with a beard dyed blue, or a menace to women, like the original holder of the nickname) or following the given name ( Ivan the Terrible , Richard the Lionheart ).” (McArthur 1996, 626 627) In addition to short, common nicknames that military personnel have been labeled with over the centuries (e.g. the current commandant 28 of DLI has been named ‘ Boots’ because of his preference for wearing boots instead of regular military shoes), unique and often longer nicknames have been applied to the more popular Generals of the U.S. Armed Forces (see Appendix 9 for more Examples of Nicknames for U.S. Generals). Successful generals are first talked about by their troops, then by the general public. Thus, the nicknames the young troops use often become those that stick. For this reason, many Generals often have the word ‘ old’ in their appellations. This is not only because Generals seem old to their young soldiers but also that the word has been a term of familiarity and endearment since early colonial times. The old man has been a term for both a ship’s Captain and a military commander since the War of 1812 and, in British Slang, is used in place of “ father ” when talking in the third person. The primary reason for more nicknames in the U.S. military, however, is cultural. Nicknames create a sense of identity and a kind of solidarity. Some Generals were given nicknames by their men, others by their commissioned contemporaries. As Crystal (1995, 152) states: “People who tend to be nicknamed are special friends or enemies, those in authority (teachers, officers, politicians), and anyone who has achieved notoriety (especially criminals). It is an important index of intimacy when we feel comfortable in using someone’s nickname to their face. Some nicknames have come to be associated with particular surnames: Chalky goes with White , Nobby with Clark , Spider with Webb , and Spud with Murphy . Some first names, likewise, have standard nicknames: Chuck (Charles), Menace (Dennis), Spike (Michael). Hair colour ( Ginger ) or absence ( Baldy ), spectacles ( Four Eyes ), size (Tubby ), and other features of physique or behaviour have long been a prime source”. The most popular British Generals were Monty 29 The Auk 30 and Bomber Harris, the latter being C.O. (commanding officer) of the R.A.F.’s (Royal Air Force) Bomber Command during the Second World War. Other British Generals for example Brigadier General John Kealty Forsyth ( 'Dad' Forsyth )31 1867 1928, Major General Arthur Lynden Bell ( Bellinda )32 1867 1943, General Sir Archibald
39 James Murray ( 'Old Archie' )33 1860 1945, etc. had nicknames as well, but their ration in comparison with US nicknames for Generals is lower. Interestingly, as with other such British named characters, Generals or not, (Lawrence of Arabia , Gordon of Khartoum , and even their famous adversaries, Old Bony Bonaparte – and the Red Baron) their nicknames are either derivatives of their names or the countries in which they made their reputations. 1. 5. 5. British Military Slang Table 14: Examples of Military Slang Expressions for Officers and NCOs
Rank Slang Expression Branch Lieutenant Colonel Half Colonel Lieutenant Commander Two And A Half Royal Navy Captain Four ringer Royal Navy Company Sergeant Major Brocky (current) Staff Sergeant Staff Flight Sergeant Flight (RAF) Corporal Full screw Lance Corporal Lance Jade Colour Sergeant Colour Drill Sergeant Square basher (square parade ground) square – bashing is drill (1950s+) Table 15: Army Slang for Soldiers
Slang Expression Notes Country Tom A British soldier (1980s+). U.K. Tommy( Atkins) A typical private in the British Army, late U.K. 19C+. Squaddy Soldier. U.K. Galoot A soldier or a marine, lit. „lout,“early mid U.K. 19C. Ticker Soldier who owned his own personal U.K. watch (early usage). Flag flasher A soldier who wears his uniform despite U.K. being off duty and in civilian surroundings, mid 19C. Kiltie / kilty A Scottish soldier, mid 19C early 20C. U.K. Her / His Majesty΄s A worthless soldier, i.e. his service does U.K. bad / hard bargain not justify his pay, late 18C+. Gum chum An American soldier stationed in the U.K., U.K. from his plentiful supplies of chewing gum, 1940s. Brown job Soldier. U.K. Rooinek British soldier. U.K. Sweat Experienced soldier. U.K. Wrinklies Old soldier. U.K.
40 Woodentop Guardsman. U.K. Taff Welsh Infantry (Taff – river in Cardiff). UK Jock Scots Infantry (John – Jock) UK Scarse Liverpool Infantry UK Table 16: Marinal Slang Expressions
Slang Expression Notes Country Canvas climber Late 16C. U.K. Jade tar U.K. Tarpaulin Mid 17C 1900s. U.K. Tar Mid 17C+. U.K. Otter Late 17C early 18C. U.K. Sea crab Late 18C. U.K. Scaly fish A rough, blunt sailor late 18C. U.K. Fish Late 18C early 19C. Swab A naval officer, from the rag used to clean the decks (late 18C mid 19C). Salt water Mid 19C. Salt A veteran sailor (mid 19C). Splicer Splice the mainbrace (1910s 20s). SSBN Sailor (current). U.K. Pongoes Soldiers when leaving a ship . U.K. Wavy Navy The Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, from U.K. the wavy braid worn by its officers on their uniform sleeves until 1956 (1910s+). Royal Royal marine (current). U.K. Bootie Royal marine (current). U.K. Bootneck Royal marine (current). U.K. Snotty Midshipman Royal Navy (dated). U.K. Gobby Loud mouthed (from their tendency to U.K. expectorate late 19C 1920s). Table 17: Air Force Personnel Slang Expressions
Slang Expression Notes Country Airy Fairy Fleet Air (Royal Navy Aircraft current). U.K. WAFU Fleet Air (Royal Navy Aircraft current). U.K. Bomber queen Fleet Air (Royal Navy Aircraft current). U.K. Jet – jockey An aircraft pilot (current). U.K. Crabs Air Force personnel (Army / Royal Navy U.K. current).
41 Table 18: Other Slang Expressions for Officers and NCO´s
Slang Expression Notes Country Curled darlings Army officers, esp. those who had returned U.K. from fighting in the Crimean War, from their long beards and curled moustaches (used by civilians mid 19C). Prancer A cavalry officer (mid 19C). U.K. Coolie Mid late 19C. U.K. Brass button An officer, mid 19C 1930s. U.K. Tin hat A senior officer (1910s). U.K. Gold braid Senior military or prison officer (1930s+). U.K. Pongo Army officer (used by RAF). U.K. Rodney Officer. U.K. Blimp Army officer of ´the old school´ around U.K. 1939 and originated in Colonel Blimp, a character invented by the cartoonist David Low, probably inspirited by blimp as the name of a small World War I barrage balloon (1950+). Zobbit Officer (from Arabic dabat or zabat). U.K. Skin merchant A military recruiting officer (late 18C mid U.K. 19C). Desk Jockey Staff officer. U.K. Grease monkey Mechanic. U.K. / U.S. Subaltern / Subby A junior officer in the British army. U.K. Rupert Young officer (current). U.K. Table 19: Slang Expressions for Part Timers
Slang Expression Notes Country Saturday soldier A military volunteer, late 19C. U.K. STABs Stupid Territorial Army Bastards. U.K. Saturday night soldier A member of the British Territorial Army, U.K. 1910s+. Dad΄s Army The Local Defence Volunteers, latterly the U.K. Home Guard, 1940s+. Weekend soldier / A member of the British Territorial Army. U.K. warrior Whitehall warrior An officer seconded to administrative U.K. duties; Whitehall, the home of the UK government, 1960s+.
42 1. 5. 6. Military Slang of Other English Speaking Countries Australian military English has many common features with British military English . Being a part of the Commonwealth this is far from extra ordinary; the organization is inherently the same in make up to that of the British, in fact to the degree that they retain Her Britannic Majesty as Commander in Chief. The same holds true, therefore, for the system of military ranks and insignia that have had no negligible influence on slang expressions related to the military personnel. Out of all the Commonwealth countries, however, Australia is perhaps unique in this trend. For example, although New Zealand is equally blessed with such close ties, “English was and still has been influenced in its development from four sides: British, American, Australian English and by the Maori language that represents approximately 12 per cent of inhabitants.” (Hladký 1999, 29) Moreover New Zealand’s Armed Forces took part in different wars and conflicts with other English speaking countries such as , Australia itself, the U.S.A. and Canada. From the result of the above aspects and geographical location can be seen the vivid and colorful language of the military. Some examples are provided in the Table 20: Table 20: Different Slang Expressions for Military Personnel
Slang Expression Notes Country Pongo Young officer (a type of large ape), 1940s+ Aus. / N.Z. Ruppert / Ruppet Higher officer, current. U.K. Aus. / N.Z. Shiny bum officer Young officer, current. N.Z. Wanker Officer, current. N.Z. Fuck wit Any military person. Current. N.Z. / U.K. Dip shit Any military person. Current. N.Z. / U.K. Old dig A veteran soldier, 1940s+. Aus. / N.Z. Troopie / troepie A soldier, esp. the lowest rank of national S Afr. serviceman, lit. ΄trooper΄, 1970s+. Stoushie Soldier, 20C. Aus. / N.Z. Cracker stacker Armorer, current. Aus. / N.Z. Elephant tracker Military policeman, current. N.Z.
1. 6. Military Slang Denoting People
Table 21: U.S. and UK Examples of Military Slang Expressions for Other Peoples
Nationality Slang Notes Country of Soldier Expression German Hun 34 1910s 40s, pejorative. U.S., UK Kraut Shortened from sauerkraut (1910s 40s U.S., UK pejorative). Fritz Shortened from a German name U.S., UK Friedrich (1910s 40s pejorative). Boche 35 1910s 40s pejorative. U.S., UK Jerry 1910s 40s pejorative. U.S., UK
43 Boxhead 1910s 40s pejorative. Nazi Shortened from the German Nationalen U.S., UK Sozialisten. Asian Jap A Japanese soldier (pejorative, dated). U.S., UK Nip A Japanese soldier. U.S., UK Slant eye A Japanese soldier (pejorative, dated). U.S., UK Slant Dated. U.S., UK Gook Asian in WWII and later (dated). U.S., UK Slope A Korean (alludes to slanted eyes). U.S., UK Dink Vietnam War. U.S., UK Zip A Vietnamese (shortened from zero U.S., UK intelligence potential, Vietnam War). Arab Abdul Originally a Turkish soldier, later an UK, Aus Afghan soldier, currently stereotype for an Arab (1910s 40s, pejorative). Rag head From a habit to wear a ‘keffiyeh’ as a U.S., UK head covering. The term was widely spread during the Gulf War. (1980+). Hankie head From a habit to wear a “keffiyeh” as a UK head covering. The term was widely spread during the Gulf War. (1980+). Towel head 1980+ U.S., UK Sand nigger 1980+ U.S., UK Table 22: Examples of Military Slang Expressions for Homosexuals
Expression Notes Country Seafood Gay; sailors (1930s+). U.S. Blueberry pie U.S. gay, member of the Air Force from the blue U.S. uniform (1980s+). Dog food U.S. gay; a soldier as a potential sexual partner (seldom U.S. used 1980s+). Government U.S. gay; a gay man in the US armed forces (currently not U.S. inspected used 1990s). meat Angel food U.S. gay (1950s 60s). U.S. Sea pussy U.S. gay; a gay sailor (1980s). U.S.
44 Table 23: Examples of Military Slang Expressions for Deserters
Expression Notes Country Cuthbert A conscientious objector; Cuthbert , seen as a U.K. stereotypically ΄weak΄ name (1910s 30s). Can even be heard today in reference to an officer as in “Rupert”. Chocolate soldier A soldier who was drafted into the WW II Aus. militia but never left Australia, 20C. Conchie / conchy A conscientious objector (1910s+). U.S. Concho A conscientious objector, 1960s. U.S. Draftnik A person who has avoided the military service U.S. (used by civilians, 1950s 70s). Lam man A deserter (i.e., one who is on the lam) U.S. Trotter A deserter, 1960s+. Flag flapper A noisily patriotic person who ensures their Aus. ineligibility for active service,1910s+.
45 1. 7. Productive Military Slang Word Formation
1. 7. 1. Lexical Compounds “These words are razors to my wounded heart.” Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus Some slang expressions related to the names of military personnel are compounds composed of a word that describes a certain characteristic feature of military equipment or other feature of an item related to a lexical unit such as chow hound (Any serviceman who is especially keen on his food, runs to the head of the mess hall queue, etc.). Many compounds are formed with the word – head . The head represents the person. When speaking about compounds realize that “one of the major mechanisms of word formation is composition. It allows, among others, the formation of compound nouns out of two nouns. For regular compounds, there is a corresponding semantic rule which can be described as follows: a regular compound has two parts, the first is called the modifier, the second the head; the modifier adds a specification to the meaning of the head noun” (Löbner 2002, 86). For example, in turret head , the modifier turret adds specificity to the concept head . Similarly, rotor head means head like a rotor, and jarhead means head like a jar. In all the cases, the meaning of the head noun refers to the brain and shape of the head. Lexical units beer head and hophead refer to a German from the stereotyped German liking for beer. These slang compounds in which head is used are quite progressive and they are used in the Armed Forces of English speaking countries. The first known military compound with head is from the 1750s when fathead was used within the Royal Navy (U.K.). Later, a similar compound was created – bottlehead . Sailors used to drink a lot and bottlehead indicated that the brain was full of alcohol – simply a stupid person. A fathead often resulted from sleeping in a crowded, stuffy berth. Many of the expressions stated in Table 24, Table 25, and Table 26 are equally used in the civilian sphere 36 such as the expressions dickhead (U.K., N.Z.), bonehead (U.S., Aus. / N.Z.) raghead or towelhead (U.S., Aus. / N.Z.) – Arab, sconehead (U.K.) – idiot or fool, slaphead (U.K.) – anyone who is slow in thinking (from the act of slapping their heads when thinking) or just bald, crackhead (U.S.) someone addicted to crack cocaine or just a stupid person, snakeheads (U.K.) – The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, etc. There are also examples of the shifting of military expressions into civilian usage 37 and vice versa. The lexical unit skinhead used to be an informal term for a marine recruit in the USA in the 1960s but was later adopted by civilian groups that called themselves skinheads . Currently the term onionhead is used for the close shaved haircut sported by Marines and soldiers of elite military units, such as the Special Forces. The neutral connotation was changed into a negative one. In a similar way, the humorous term meathead, that was used on U.S. TV (All in the Family) in the 60´s was adopted into the military vocabulary but with an offensive meaning. These expressions can be written together, separately or with a dash. There are basically no rules for this. Table 24 includes also the usage of these compounds in New Zealand, Australia and Canada.
46 Table 24: Compounds Used in U.S. Military
Lexical Unit Definition Notes Turret head Originally the navigator of a tank. In the 1970´s Army origin, it started to be used for any soldier in a tank. WW II (N.Z.) Rivet head A member of a tank crew. Army Tread head A member of a tank crew. Common expression. Army, 1960s Zipper head 38 A member of a tank crew. Common expression. Army (Canada) Wooden head 1. Any stupid military person (U.S.) Air Force Army, 2. Fireman (N.Z) Navy, (N.Z.) Jarhead Marine – after the short jar like haircut worn by Navy 1970+ many of that service (It is an insult unless said by another Marine. Sailors were originally jarheads, named for the white caps that sat on their heads like jar lids.). Any stupid military or civilian person (1940+) Onion head 1. Marine Navy 2. Soldiers of elite units such as the Special Forces Burr head Newly enlisted recruit, after the short, stubby Army haircut. Jug head 1. Marine (seldom used) Navy 2. Any stupid or stubborn military or civilian person (1910+) Knuckle 39 1. Fighter pilot – pejorative Air Force, Army, head 2. Stupid marine / soldier Navy, (Aus. / 3. Any stupid or stubborn civilian person N.Z.) (1930+) Rotor head Helicopter pilot or any helicopter crewmember. Air Force, Army, 1960+ (Aus./N.Z.) Wicker head A derogatory name for a Vietnamese person Army, 1960s Square head A German, from the “Prussian” haircut. Army, dated Flat head A German (soldier). Army, dated Table 25: Compounds Used in U.K. Military
Lexical Unit Definition Notes Wood head Any stupid military person (1990s) Army, Navy, Air Force (current) Fish head 1. Marine Navy (RAF) 2. Anyone who lives alongside a river (U.S.) Bonehead Any stupid person Navy (current) Bullet head Any stupid military or civilian person (Also Army, Navy, Air bullet headed) Force Loggerhead Thickheaded soldier (Metal or iron knob at the Army, Navy, Air end of a pole that was heated in fire and used to Force melt pitch. Used for civilians as well.) Piss head Soldier who enjoys drinking on regular basis Army
47 Table 26: Compounds Used in Both U.S. and U.K. Military
Lexical Unit Definition Notes Bucket head 1. German (soldier from the shape of the Dated German helmets). 2. Any German. Box head German soldier. Dated Cabbage head German soldier. Dated Kraut head German soldier. Dated Hard head German (soldier). Dated Bubble head 1. Submariner (U.S. common term) Navy (S.A.S. and 2. Any stupid military or civilian person with a U.S.N brain full of air (U.K.) later turned into airhead. Bonehead Any stupid military or civilian person Current Square head Any stupid military or civilian person Rag head Arab soldier or civilian Towel head Arab soldier or civilian Table 27: Number of Compounds with ‘Head’ Used in the U.S. and U.K. Military
Noun Compounds Used in U.S. and U.K. military
33% 47%
20%
Terms used in the US military 14 Terms used in the UK military 6 Terms used in both the US military and UK military 10 TOTAL 30
48 1. 7. 2. Abbreviations, Acronyms, Clippings and Blends ABBREVIATIONS The shortening of existing words is another mean of vocabulary expansion (see Appendix 10). As with many other military slang and colloquial expressions, many of the slang and colloquial abbreviations originated during war. There were several motives for introducing slang abbreviations but the main reason was to hide the real meaning and linguistic economy. “Abbreviations, one of the most noticeable features of present day English linguistic life, would form a major part of any super dictionary. Often though to be an exclusively modern habit, the fashion for abbreviations can be traced back over 150 years. The fashionable use of abbreviation – a kind of society slang – comes and goes in waves, though it is never totally absent. In the present century, however, it has been eclipsed by the emergence of abbreviations in science, technology, and other special fields, such as cricket, baseball, drug trafficking, the armed forces, and the media. The reasons for using abbreviated forms are obvious enough. One is the desire for linguistic economy – the same motivation which makes us want to criticize someone who uses two words where one will do. Succinctness and precision are highly valued, and abbreviations can contribute greatly to a concise style. They also help to convey a sense of social identity: to use an abbreviated form is to be ‘in the know’ part of the social group to which the abbreviation belongs” (Crystal 1995, 120). “We distinguish three highly productive ways in which abbreviation is involved in English word formation, giving us acronyms, clippings, and blends.” (Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, Svartvik 1985, 1580) In dealing with the following section, private materials from service with the UN and studies in the USA were utilized first. This was then supported by checking abbreviations from the following resources and taking excerpts: American Slang by Chapman, L., Robert, Slang and Euphemism by Spears, A. Richard, Talking Dirty by Green, Jonathon, The Big Book of Being Rude by Green, Jonathon, Cassell´s Dictionary of Slang by Green, Jonathon, I Hear America Talking by Flexner, Berg Stuart, Swear Like a Trooper by Priest, William, and Encyclopedia of the U.S. Military by Arkin W.M, Handler J.M, Morriessey J.A., Walsh J.M. ACRONYMS “I understand a fury in your words, But not the words.” Shakespeare, Othello “Acronyms are words formed from the initial letters of words or of constituents in a compound. There are two main types of acronyms: i. Acronyms pronounced as sequences of letters (also called alphabetisms), e.g. E. FBI, TV, UFO, VIP; Cz. MU, OSN. ii. Acronyms pronounced as words, e.g. E. NATO, WASP; laser, radar ; Cz. JAMU, SEVT.” (Hladký 1994, 49) The acronyms and alphabetisms have the same textual autonomy as words and they can take affixes (‘ He was medevaced. ’ ‘ I am going to G 240 the situation.’ ‘He was ALCPTed 41 yesterday .’).
49 Both of the above types of acronyms are quite common in the military. They are used in an official way such as FIST (fire support team), NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command), OPORD (operation order), PSYOPS (psychological operations), radar (radio detecting and ranging), RADINT (radar intelligence), RINT (radiation intelligence), SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe), SOP (Standard Operating Procedures), UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle), etc. It seems that the second type of acronyms pronounced as words are more frequent than those pronounced as letters. One reason for using acronyms as “words” might be for easier pronunciation. In spite of the above, however, there are obligatory military rules as to how to use alphabetisms, for example in aircraft designations (see Appendix 11). However, one of the exceptions to this rule is ‘ okay’ or ‘ ok’ , probably the most wide spread acronym and also one where the origin has been lost over the years. The expression is currently in use by the military and has been for over a century throughout the world. Etymology suggests military origins for the term but numerous attempts to explain this colloquial expression are mostly speculative and indicative of the ambiguity that is inherent in such linguistic research. The Scots expression och aye and the Greek ola kala ('it is good') are all candidates for its origination but the oldest written references to 'OK' result from its adoption as a slogan by the Democratic Party during the American Presidential election of 1840. Their candidate, President Martin Van Buren, was nicknamed 'Old Kinderhook' (after his birthplace), and his supporters formed the 'OK Club'. Despite the fact that Van Buren undoubtedly helped to popularize the term, misspellings were also fashionable in the 1830’s and the popular form orl korrekt is now given in many dictionaries as the true ancestry of the word. Other theories, however, point further back in time and to its adoption into American English from various West African languages through the slave trade. Unfortunately, the true origin of this expression may never be established and it is, therefore, only possible to theorize. Military traces are in bold below: 1. Orrin Kendall biscuits, which soldiers ate during the Civil War. 2. Short for Aux Cayes, a Haitian port that American sailors praised for its rum . 3. Old Keokuk, a Native American tribal chief who signed treaties with his initials. 4. OK stands for "all correct" or the illiterate phrase "Orl Korrect." 5. U.S. President Martin Van Buren's nickname "Old Kinderhook" OK for short. 6. Choctaw word "okeh," (or "hoke") meaning "indeed" (or "It is so."). 7. Scottish "auch aye", meaning "ah yes." (Or "och aye," meaning "okay."). 8. From the French maritime phrase "au quai" meaning "at dock" 9. '0 killed' the report of the night's death toll during the First World War. 10. All clear after the shoot out at O.K. Corral. 11. Instruments calibrated at the Observatory at Kew had, affixed to them, a stamp, or impression, to authenticate that calibration. This stamp was Observatory Kew. 12. The abbreviation is for Oberst Kommandant, German for "Colonel in Command."
50 13. It comes from the name of a freight agent, Obadiah Kelly, whose initials were widely disseminated on bills. 14. The abbreviation is for Open Key, popularized by telegraphers in the 1860s. 15. It comes from the names of Lords Onslow and Kilbracken, who initialed bills after they were read and approved in England's House of Lords. 16. Or from Finnish "oikea," correct. 17. From the Greek "olla," all, plus "Kalla," good. In the following Table 28 there are some examples of how different types of US NAVY military exercises are officially abbreviated. The more detailed list of these types of exercises is in the Appendix 12.
Table 28: U.S. NAVY Exercises Acronyms
AAWEX anti air warfare exercise; AIRBAREX air barrier exercise; AIRLEX air landing exercise; BLTLEX battalion landing team landing exercise; BOMBEX bombing exercise; CASEX close air support exercise; CAX combined arms exercise; COREX coordinated electronic countermeasures exercise; EWEX electronic warfare exercise; EWEXIPT electronic warfare exercise in port; FAIRDEX fleet air defense exercise; GUNEX gunnery exercise; HARDEX harbor defense exercise; HELILEX helicopter landing exercise (amphibious); JAMEX jamming exercise; LOADEX loading exercise; LOGEX: logistics exercise; MARFIREX Marine firing exercise; MEFFEX Marine expeditionary force field exercise; NAVEX navigation exercise; NOREX nuclear operational readiness exercise; NUCLEX nuclear load out exercise; PASSEX passing exercise; PLANEX planning exercise; RADEX radar exercise; READEX readiness exercise; SINKEX target/hull sinking/destruction exercise; SLAMEX submarine launched assault missile exercise; and TRANSITEX transit exercise. There are also recommendations on how to create acronyms. Strategic Air Command Regulation : Operations. SAC Exercise Program (16 November 1984, p.2 2) says that exercise terms (see Table 28) should be created as “A combination of two words, normally unclassified, used exclusively to designate a test, drill, or exercise. An exercise term is employed to preclude the possibility of confusing exercise directions with actual operations directives.” What has been said about official acronyms holds true for the formation of military slang and colloquial acronyms. These slang, colloquial, or vulgar acronyms have been frequently used. For example: flak (it came into English from a German contraction: Fl ieger aviator, Abwehr – defense, Kanonen – guns), Italy (WW II – I trust and love you.), Navy ( never again volunteer yourself), CYA ( Cover your ass i.e. look after yourself before worrying about anyone else U.S. 1950+), GOYA (get off your ass – U.S. 1960+). During WW II, there were many abbreviations and alphabetisms (or initialisms) such as F.O. ( fuck off ), F.T.A. ( fuck the army ), F.T.N. ( fuck the navy ), S.O.S. ( shit on a shingle or same old shit – WW II), M.F.U.T.U. ( mother fuck you too inscribed on B 17 bombers with a cartoon of General Hidek Tojo (1885 1948) with the meaning to get the finger). Only a few have survived the war. Other slang abbreviations such as KMAG ( kiss my ass good bye ), F.I.G.M.O. 42 ( fuck it, got my orders 1960), M.F.W.I.C. ( motherfucker who´s / what´s in charge 1970), FUJIBAR (f uck you, buddy I’m just a reservist – 1980+), HMFIC ( head motherfucker in charge ), HMFWIC ( head motherfucker who’s in
51 charge ), five F’s (sick mentality some soldiers have towards women find’em, feel’em, finger’em, fuck’em, and forget’em ), F.N.G. ( fucking new guy ), have appeared later. In World War II the very popular acronym SNAFU 43 (situation normal, all fucked up) appeared, meaning a mistake or confusion resulting from the actions of the enemy, weather, or friendly chaotic actions. The word SNAFU led to the creation of similar acronyms with the same vulgar root describing the same thing – the hopeless situation, or mistakes. However, the majority of other FU acronyms, describing miserable situations, were just temporary variations of SNAFU. See Table 29. Table 29: U.S. and British Abbreviations Describing Miserable Situations
Acronym Description Notes COMMFU Complete monumental military fuck up. U.S. WW II FUBAR Fucked up beyond all recognition. U.S. WW II FUBB Fucked up beyond belief. U.S. FUBIO Fuck you Bub it’s over. U.S. WW II FUBIS Fuck you buddy, I’m shipping out. US WW II FUMTU Fucked up more than usual. WW II G.F.U General fuck up. WW II JAAFU Joint Anglo American fuck up. WW II JACFU Joint American Chinese fuck up. WW II JANFU Joint army navy fuck up. U.S. WW II NABU Nonadjustable ball up. US WW II+ U.K. (early 1900) SAFU Self Adjusting Fuck Up. Confusing or chaotic WW II situation in which individuals somehow straighten things our so that they work. SAPFU Surpassing all previous fuck ups. U.S. WW II SNAFU Situation normal, all fucked up. U.S. WW II (Snafu) SNEFU Situation normal, everything fucked up. WW II SNRAFU Situation normal, really all fucked up WW II SUSFU Situation unchanged, still fucked up. U.S. WW II TAFUBAR Things are fucked up beyond all recognition. WW II TARFU Things are really fucked up. U.S. / U.K. WW II TASFUIRA Things are so fucked up its really amazing. WW II TUIFU The ultimate in fuck ups. (Terrible blunder.) U.S. WW II
52 Table 30: British Abbreviations Describing Miserable Situations
Acronym Description M.F.U. Military fuck up. U.K. (early 1900) SABU Self adjusting balls up. U.K. (early 1900) SAMFU Self adjusting military fuck up. U.K. (WW II) IMFU Immense / imperial fuck up. U.K. (WW II) GMBU Grand military balls up. U.K. (WW II) T.C.C.FU Typical coastal command fuck up. U.K. (WW II) TABU Typical army balls up. U.K. (WW II) CLIPPINGS “Clippings are frequent in English informal usage because they replace polysyllabic words, especially nouns. Most clippings preserve the initial fragment of the original word ( ad, lab, pub ). Occasionally, either the initial syllables have been discarded ( phone, plane ) or the middle fragment has survived ( flu, fridge ). (Hladký 1994, 48) Clippings are, however, not so frequent as acronyms in the military. In many cases they have become official after a brief time. For example: recon or recce (reconnaissance), illum (illumination flare), exec (executive officer), attrit (attrition), or in the Vietnam War cong (Vietcong) and nam (Vietnam). There are extremely few colloquial expressions in the military that could be considered clippings. In addition, they frequently reflect informal spellings; for example Sarge instead of Sergeant, ricco (ricochet bullet), chute (parachute), chutist (parachutist). BLENDS “Blends are compounds in which enough of each component is retained so that the new word is readily analysable. The second component in a blend has the same status as the second component in a compound. Just as a blackbird is a bird of black colour, so brunch is a lunch which has some features of breakfast, and smog means fog intensified by smoke.” (Hladký 1994, 49) However, it seems that blends in the military are the least frequent.
53 1. 7. 3. Phonetic Alphabet, Codes, and Prowords “What do you read, my lord?” “Words, words, words.” Shakespeare, Hamlet
Everyday activities are full of routine procedures and all services in the military abound with them. The military is a ‘closed society’ with a strict chain of command, rules and order, precise standing operating procedures, and ‘highly routine procedures.’ The phonetic alphabet, codes and commands, therefore, belong to a specific area of military language. They are official expressions. In radio communication and other certain cases they can be referred to as ‘routine procedures.’ With reference to routine procedures, Herbert Clark (1996, 296 297) refers to “Philosophical Investigations 44 ” and he calls transferring goods between builder A and an assistant B as ‘routine procedures:’ A simply calls out ‘Slab,’ and B brings one. How are routine procedures possible? A and B’s social situation is tightly circumscribed, fixed, or what I will call closed . In their roles as builder and assistant, A has the authority to order B to pass stones, and B has the duty to obey.” Similarly, Herbert Clark (1996, 297, 298) speaks about military commands. “A Sergeant on a parade field can yell out ‘March,’ ‘Left,’ ‘At ease,’ ‘Parade rest,’ and a Private under his or her command will comply. The parameter is what the Private is to do next, and the value is specified via a small class of phrases. Compare a ship Captain’s orders to the ship’s crew, ‘Full speed ahead,’ ‘Hard astern,’ and Bearing 20 degrees starboard.’ In the army, a soldier’s rights and duties are established institutionally. Sergeants have the right to order Privates to do certain things, and Privates have the duty to obey. For each permitted order, the Sergeant and Private don’t need to deal further with equity – say, through mitigating devices such as ‘Would you mind standing at ease?’ That has already been taken care of.” PHONETIC ALPHABET Every letter of the English alphabet is associated with a word beginning with that letter. The word is deliberately selected so that it is distinct via radio transmissions and has the primary function of helping to avoid ambiguity so as to limit any confusion as to whether, for example, it was either a V or W that was used in a word / message; M or N, B or V, P or T, etc. The phonetic alphabet’s words appear in a number of different military contexts. “RAF wartime bombers were known within their squadrons as ‘G George’ etc. U.S. fighter and cargo transport aircraft are occasionally referred to as (for example) ‘Fox 4s’or ‘Charlie 130s’ (Phantoms and Hercules) and aircraft designations can even lead to a phonetically based nickname, such as Able Dog for the Douglas AD Skyraider and H Pip for WW I Handley Page bombers. Also from the old WW I alphabet comes ‘Ack Ack’ for anti aircraft, but the other classic example from that era is actually a corruption of the system: air mechanics in the RFC were widely known as Ack Emmas (the sound ‘Emm’ being extended to Emma) possibly because Monkey was considered offensive. Another common use of phonetic alphabets is to enunciate suffix letters for different marks of an aircraft, as in the Bf 109E Emil, Ju 87R Richard, Hotel model Huey (UH 1H) and Saab J 35B Bertil. The current ICAO alphabet came into effect on 1 March 1956.” (Horton 1994, 175)
54 Table 31: Phonetic Alphabet
British Allied German Current (Pre.WW I) (From 1943) (WW II) (Adopted In 1955) A Ack Able Anton Alpha B Beer Baker Berta Bravo C Charlie Charlie Casar Charlie D Don 45 Dog Dora Delta E Edward Easy Emil Echo F Freddie Fox Fritz Foxtrot G George George Gustav Golf H Harry How Heinrich Hotel I Ink Item Ida India J Johnnie Jig Josef Juliet K King King Karl Kilo L London Lore Ludwig Lima M Monkey Mike Martha Mike N Nuts Nun Nordpol November O Orange Oboe Otto Oscar P Pip Peter Paula Papa Q Queen Queen Quelle Quebec R Roger Roger Richard Romeo S Sugar Sugar Siegfried Sierra T Toc Tare Toni Tango U Uncle Uncle Ulrich Uniform V Vic Victor Viktor Victor W William William Wilhelm Whiskey X X Ray X Ray Xantippe X Ray Y Yorker Yoke Ypern Yankee Z Zebra Zebra Zeppelin Zulu (Dictionary of International Aircraft Nicknames, Variants and Colloquial Terms 1994. 175) The current English phonetic alphabet (for information about phonetic alphabets of eastern countries see Appendix 13) has been used not only for official terms such as Lima Charlie 46 , Lima Zulu 47 , etc. but for many slang and colloquial expressions as well. For this purpose, the original meaning is ‘coded’ by letters from the phonetic alphabet. The first letters of the original expression are transferred into the letters of the phonetic alphabet (see Table 32).
55 Table 32: Examples of Slang Expressions Based on Phonetic Alphabet
Coded Meaning Original Meaning Alpha Hotel An asshole (Am.E. limited) Alpha Sierra Air support (Am.E, dated). Bravo Sierra Pilot slang (Army as well) for the word bullshit, also known by the letters BS (Am.E.). Charlie Bird Army and Marine slang for the helicopter carrying the tactical commander who takes to the air during combat operations to directly oversee the command and control of his troops. This command helicopter (Charlie is the phonetic alphabet equivalent for the letter “c“) is also referred to as Charlie in radio transmissions (Am.E.). Charlie Foxtrot Cluster Fuck (dated). Charlie Tango Official term for a control tower (Am.E.). Delta Sierra Deep shit – big trouble (Br.E. dated). Delta Sierra Dick splash – idiot or fool (Br.E. dated). Delta Sierra Dip stick – idiot or fool, or extremely thin person (Br.E. dated). Fox 48 Officially “to fire” during the Vietnam War (from the Phonetic Alphabet “Allied 1943”). A pilot says “fox one” to report that he has fired his first missile. Foxtrot Oscar Fuck Off (Am.E.). Lima Delta Line of departure – the jumping off point for an attack. Mike – Mike Slang for millimeter (i.e., mm). Thus a 105 mm cannon is referred to as a “One – oh – five mike – mike howitzer.“ (Am.E.) November Foxtrot No fucking way. It appeared for the first time during the Whiskey Vietnam War and has been used since (Am.E. – dated). Oscar Charlie Old Crow – slang for Old Crow bourbon whiskey, one of the alcoholic drinks favored by soldiers (Am.E.). Papa Sierra A Platoon Sergeant. Nickname used by the Army and Marines for a Platoon Sergeant. The term was used during the Vietnam War (Am.E. dated). Sierra Hotel Pilot slang (based on the phonetic alphabet) meaning Shit Hot. Anything that is good, reliable and / or useful is called Sierra Hotel (e.g., ‘That new navigation system is sierra hotel, if you ask me. It’s about time we had something that works. That sierra hotel pilot just shot down six MiGs and an ICBM!’) Fighter pilots commonly use the phrase (Am.E.). Tango Tough. Tango Sierra Tough shit (Br.E. dated). Tango Uniform In radio communications, the letters TU, which stand for “ Tits Up.“ Tits up 49 is slang for destroyed. Pilots often use the term when reporting damage assessment (e.g., “Two Soviet 72s Tango Uniform.”) It was often applied to an ill or tired soldier during the Gulf War (Am.E.).
56 Uncle Charlie It was used for the Vietcong (dated). Victor / Victor These terms were applied for the Vietcong as well as to the Charlie / V.C. North Vietnamese forces. Shortened form “Charlie” was used, too (Am.E.). Whiskey Charlie Who cares? (Am.E. Air Force) Whiskey Charlie Water Closet (Br.E.). Whiskey Delta Pilot slang meaning Weak Dick. The term is usually used in reference to a pilot who is not very talented and / or who is generally considered to be a wimp (Am.E.). Whiskey Papa White Phosphorus (Am.E.). Whiskey Tango What the fuck (Am.E. Air Force). Foxtrot Willy Peter / Willie White Phosphorus, during the Vietnam War (Am.E.). Pete50 CODE WORDS (CODE NAMES 51 ) A code word is a word or phrase that conveys a prearranged, usually secret meaning. Code words are also often used to verify identity, especially in the intelligence community. As Tomajczyk (1996, 153) states: “Words that replace others to encrypt a message so that it is safeguarded from being understood by unauthorized personnel. (A coded message can be copied by someone, but it will not be easily understood.) Both the sender and receiver must use the same codebook. The various intelligence agencies, especially the National Security Agency (NSA), constantly develop new codes for military use and attempt to decipher codes intercepted from foreign nations.” Codes that do not provide security but that have as their sole purpose the shortening of messages rather than the concealment of their content are also productive in military slang. These words have been used for centuries. “The history of code names goes back to prehistory – to the earliest forms of concerted efforts. By the time of Queen Elizabeth, codes and ciphers were relatively common, an example was the code cipher employed by Lord Burghley in which signs of the Zodiac were used. In Burghley’s scheme, ‘Cancer’ referred to the Estates – General, and ‘Leo,’ the Council of State.” (Ruffner & Thomas 1963, 15) Many code words have originated during wars. A good example is the famous code name ‘tank 52 ’ which originated during the First World War. It is estimated that during World War II there were more than 10,000 code words used. Many code words are based on famous names. Some of the code words that name different military operations are boastful. Other code words are grouped with common elements, as in the case of operation ‘Abigail 53 ,’ the subordinate parts of which were named after other Biblical women, ‘Jezebel 54 ,’ ‘Rachel 55 ,’ and ‘Delilah 56 .’ ‘Viet Cong’ is an example of how an official term was first abbreviated, then the phonetic alphabet was used to create a code word that then shifted to a slang expression. As Flexner (1976, 371 372) writes: “Many of these abbreviations were used as slang expressions at the beginning and sometimes these expressions were later accepted as official terms. For example in 1960 North Vietnam announced the formation of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam Communists. This South Vietnamese organization and its members were often called the NLF (National Liberation Front) in the early 1960s but soon it, its members, and especially its
57 uniformed soldiers and non uniformed guerrillas, were called the Viet Cong (a short form of the Vietnamese for “Vietnamese Communist”), or simply the Cong. The Viet Cong was recruited, trained, supplied, and led by the Viet Minh, but became the major communist fighting force as the war continued. Viet Cong was abbreviated to V.C., then since the US military communication code word for the letter V is Victor and C for Charlie , the Viet Cong was also called V.C. or Victor Charlie , and later simply Charlie . These terms were also used to refer to any enemy South Vietnamese soldier or guerilla.” Nowadays, the code names for military operations are unique as well. For example: Urgent Fury 57 , Desert Storm, Infinite Justice , or Enduring Freedom . The code names reflect specific features or a motto of military operations. BREVITY CODES Brevity Codes is an unclassified system of standardized words and phrases which provides no security but which shortens radio messages. In other words their intention is to shorten military broadcast messages rather than conceal their content. Brevity code words are often referred to as operational brevity terms. Brevity codes are used very frequently in the Air Force. Examples of brevity codes include: Grand Slam (i.e., all enemy aircraft are destroyed – you did it all), Sweet (i.e., I am receiving the radio transmission clearly), and Sinker (i.e., a disappearing radar contact). Other examples are the following: ‘ visual.’ ‘ tally’ or ‘tally ho ,’ ‘ no joy ,’ etc. ‘ Visual’ is a brevity code used on the radio and indicates sighting a friendly plane while tally or tally ho indicates the sighting of an aerial target enemy. No joy is phrase that indicates the failure to make visual sighting (of a target) or the inability to establish radio communications (i.e. I am unsuccessful). Blind indicates no visual contact with friendly aircraft or ground position – opposite visual . It is interesting how pilots say that there is no enemy. They will not say ‘ no tally’ ” Instead of this they will say ‘ no joy .’ The reason for this is simple. ‘No’ might not be heard on the radio and a pilot might hear only ‘ tally ,’ which could cause misunderstanding and possible accident. Another example of a special Air Force brevity code might be ‘break right,’ ‘break left,’ or ‘cross turn.’ While the first two do not have a slang equivalent, the third one has two common slang expressions, hard six and deep six . Sometimes, overlapping between codes and brevity codes occurs. The example for this case is ‘Charlie’ (an official pilot brevity code meaning ‘correct’). Charlie (short for ‘Victor Charlie’) also referred to the Vietcong during the Vietnam War (see part related to code words). PROWORDS Proword (Procedure Word) is a pronounceable word or phrase that is used to quickly and briefly express a longer, standard message. Prowords are used primarily in audio communications (e.g., radio, air – intercept messages). They are not substituted for the written content of a message. Prowords are also used in everyday conversation both professionally and jokingly. Examples of prowords in the Table 33 are taken from the “Handbook for Czech Armed Forces ” by Chaloupský and Konečný (2003, 111 117).
58 Table 33: Examples of Prowords
Proword Meaning Acknowledge Confirm that you have received my message and will comply. (WILCO) Affirmative Yes/Correct
Negative No/Incorrect All After Everything that you (I) transmitted after… All Before ... Everything that you (I) transmitted before… Correct What you have transmitted is correct, you are correct.
Execute Carry out the intent of the message Famished An air – intercept code meaning: “Have you any instructions for me?” Out This is the end of my transmission, and no answer is expected or required. Purple An air – intercept code meaning: “The aircraft indicated is suspected of carrying nuclear weapons.”
Read Back! Repeat the entire following transmission back to me exactly as received. I Read Back The following is my reply to your request to read back. Roger I have satisfactorily received your last transmission. Signals The (transmission) groups that follow are taken from a signal code book. Wilco I have received your message, understand it and will comply. ( Note: since Wilco Implies a “Roger,“ the two prowords are never used together.) Words Twice Communication is difficult. Transmit(ting) each phrase (group) twice.
59 1. 8. Colloquial and Slang Loans from Other Languages
“The majority of words used in English today are of foreign origin – from Latin and Greek historically and from almost all the languages in Europe. Approximately 5% of the new words of the 20 th century came from abroad, and in this period of linguistic acquisitiveness many of them were from far and exotic corners of the world. In total, over 120 languages are on record as sources of modern day English vocabulary. The majority of these ‘loan words’ came about as a result of cultural rather than purely linguistic influence, and lifestyle terms are particularly likely to be picked up. Food, martial arts, health remedies and therapies, science, and plants are some of the areas where English is currently assimilating most rapidly.” (Dent 2003, 20) As Dent states the majority of English words are of foreign origin. But what about military colloquial and slang expressions? How many of these are derived from foreign languages? What is their ratio in comparison with ‘regular’ or locally spawned colloquial and slang expressions? In order to address these questions, British and American English have to be treated as distinct and separate entities. The reason for this is that although they share a great deal linguistically, they have very different histories militarily. This section has, therefore, been divided into two parts: British loans and American loans. 1. 8. 1. British Loans “The Regular Army used slang from at least as early as the seventeenth century; little survives from the Napoleonic and Crimean Wars, rather more from the Boer War; much from the War of 1914 18. Whereas the Regular Army’s pre 1914 slang consisted mainly of words from Hindustani and Arabic (e.g. rooty ‘bread,’ pawny 58 ‘water,’ wallah ‘fellow,’ Blighty ‘England,’ buckshee ‘free,’ maalish ‘never mind,’ bint ‘girl’) 59 , the civilian soldiers’ slang comes from all quarters of the world.” (Partridge 1969, 197 198) Table 34: The Most Common British Military Loans Origin of the Lexical Unit Lexical Unit Current Meaning and Date of Entering into Notes English Bint Tart Arabic (19th century) daughter Blighty England Hindustani bilāyatī (19th foreign land century) Buckshee Free, without charge Arabic baksheesh (20 th tip century) Bundu Hostile terrain / Bantu (20th century) uninhabited countryside wild region Bundug / Weapon / rifle Hindustani bandŭk (19th bundugiyya bundook century) rifle Char Tea. From Chinese ch’a through tea Hindustani char
60 Char wallah A person who From Hindustani (19 th In India this is prepares and brings century) a native tea. servant who brings early morning tea. 60 Charpoy A bed, frame strung Hindustani carpai (19 th type of bed with tapes or light century) rope Cheroot Type of cigar (dated) Tamil, curuttu (17th roll century) Chota wallah Little guy Hindustani (18th century) Cushy Easy (dated) From Persian khush through pleasant Hindustani khush (1915) Dekko To take a look (have a Hindustani deckna (19 th to look, to see look) (dated) century) Dhobi Laundry Hindustani dhŏb (19 th washing century) Dhobi wallah Indian who does the Hindustani (19th century) washing Dhoolie wallah Indian in charge of a Hindustani (19th century) local “dhoolie carrier” God wallah Priest or chaplain Hindustani (19th century) Imshi Clear off 61 (dated) Hindustani Khaki Uniform color Urdu khāk (19 th century) dust Kip Bed / sleep (dated) Danish kippe (16 th century) cheap tavern Kiwi Men who do not A word brought over by the The kiwi is a belong to air crews. 62 New Zealand airmen (WW bird that does II ) with a new meaning. not fly. Loot Plunder Hindustani lūt (18 th century) Nappy wallah Barber Hindustani (19 th century) Oolooh Hostile terrain / countryside Paddy field D. Rice field Malay pādī (17 th century) Pop wallah Non drinker Hindustani (19 th century) Pukka / pucka Genuine, authentic, From Sanskrit pakva cooked, ripe, first class through Hindustani pakkā solid (17 th century) Pukka sahib Excellent fellow (used From Hindustani for Europeans only), now dated Puggaree / Muslin cloth wrapped From Sanskrit parikara turban pugree around a pith helmet, through Hindustani pagrī now dated (17 th century) Punkah wallah Indian employed to From Hindustani work a fan, usually by a string attached to their toe or thumb.
61 Puttees Cloth band From Hindustani pattī (19 th century) (Sanskrit patta) Shufti / shufty Take a look (have a Arabic (20 th century) to look shufi) Topee / topi Pith helmet Hindustani topī (19 th hat century) Wallah / walla Person in charge of From Hindi wālā (18th something or a person century) (Sanskrit pālā – associated with an protector) activity–for example office wallah, sanitary wallah, camouflage wallah, etc. 63 The English language is typical of all languages in that it has been subject to an on going evolutionary process of change for centuries. Many words that would not have been recognized a few hundred years back are now part and parcel of the language. The reasons for this evolution are multiple, but the influence of other societies and cultures on English has been the primary impetus for this change. Moreover, military adventures conducted by the British and which led to the expansion of the Empire to almost one fourth of the earth’s surface, was a significant factor in developing the language to the stage that we see today. During and after these military operations, British soldiers and the civilian administrators were exposed to new cultures and societies. As a result of the influence from these cultures, they started to use expressions that were adopted from the impact of the foreign languages that surrounded them. Many British military slang words can therefore be traced directly to the Sub Continent and the Middle East and tracked from there to Great Britain and across what was Her Empire. 1. 8. 2. American Loans American soldiers adopted slang and colloquial expressions during the wars fought by the U.S. Armed Forces. “ Bullshit , a Services word, originally meaning ‘humbug,’ has now been intensified to mean ‘rubbish,’ ‘lies,’ ‘nonsense.’ It entered the mainstream of the language through army use in the Second World War.” (McCrum, Cran, MacNeil 1986, 283) However, unlike British troops (until recently, American soldiers had never been deployed to such a degree in places like India or the Middle East), there have been few military slang loans. Before the First World War, most of slang and colloquial expressions that came into American military English were actually from Spanish. This was accentuated especially throughout the period of the Mexican and Spanish American War. “During the World War 64 there was some compensatory borrowing of English army slang and argot by the American troops, but it did not go very far. Indeed, the list of loan words that came into anything approaching general use in the A.E.F. was about limited to ace, blimp, cootie, Frog, Jack Johnson, Jerry, blotto, over the top and whiz bang. The greater part of the American vocabulary came from the Regular Army, and some of it was of very respectable antiquity, e.g., hand shaker, Holy Joe (for chaplain), slum (stew), corned willie (corned beef hash), outfit, belly robber, dog robber, (an officer servant or orderly), doughboy, jawbone (meaning credit, or
62 anything spurious or dubious), mud splasher (artilleryman), buck Private, top kick, gold fish (canned salmon), gob, leatherneck, padre, chow, outfit and punk (bread). A few novelties came in e.g., tin hat, and a.w.o.l., and there was fashioning of counter words and phrases from French materials, e.g., boocoo or boocoop (beaucoup), toot sweet (tout de suite) and trez beand (très bien), but neither class was numerous.” (Mencken 1937, 573) Table 35: The Most Common U.S. Military Loans Origin of the Lexical Unit Lexical Unit Current Meaning and Date of Entering into Notes English Gringo 65 Foreigner (offensive) Spanish griego (1846 ) gibberish Boondocks 66 Wild and dense brush, Tagalog Bundok (1899) mountain Boonies rural country Padre A military chaplain From Latin pater through father Spanish padre (19 th century) Junta A group of military From Latin juncta through officers holding state Spanish junta (19 th century) power in a country after a coup d’etat Machete A large, heavy knife Spanish – diminutive of mace with a broad blade macho (19 th century) Khaki Uniform color Urdu 67 khāk through British dust English (19 th century) Ersatz Substitute, e.g. ersatz German ersatz (1940) to replace coffee Flak Aircraft defense gun, German Fl ieger Abwehr antiaircraft antiaircraft artillery Kanone (1938) gun / fire Gung ho Unswervingly dedicated Mandarin Chinese gong+ work + and loyal, extremely hé (1942) together enthusiastic Kamikaze Suicide pilot Japanese 68 kami + divine + Somebody doing things kaze (1944) wind recklessly Honcho Leader, boss Japanese han + chō (1947) squad + leader Mama – san Brothel madam (dated) Japanese san – suffix added Still used Any Asian female to many English words in within units working as a menial imitation of Japanese use deployed in worker (1947) Asia Papa – san Brothel chief (dated) Japanese (1947) Generic name for a middle age Asian female Hooch 69 Brothel (dated), Japanese uchi (1947) House Any temporary dwelling, thatched house GI has Nitnoid Little Thai
63 2. IMPACT OF MILITARY EXPRESSIONS ON ENGLISH
There is an abundance of military associated vocabulary in everyday speech. Politicians, economists and others habitually use and misuse it as the popularity for such language dictates. Besides regular military words, there are two additional areas in which slang is used. The first of these is related to proverbial diction and idiomatic phraseology. The second is commensurate to interdicted expression or language that is otherwise considered to be taboo in its nature.
2. 1. Idiomatic Expressions and Sayings
“Sharp words make more wounds than surgeons can heal.” Thomas Churchyard, Mirror of Man “The language of politicians, especially when they are speaking in public, is an interesting mixture of old and new: it displays much of the ritual phraseology and consciousness of precedent which we associate with religion or law; and it makes use of many of the rhetorical and dramatic techniques which we associate with advertising or the media. It is a variety which is much abused.” (Crystal 1995, 378) To achieve the required effect or to procure the attention of the public, politicians and orators are awash with stratagem. Sayings and idiomatic expressions are very much a part of this and many of the expressions used contain military vocabulary. This can be seen from the analysis below in which the following excerpts were used: “America’s Popular Sayings ” by Titelman G., “The Penguin Dictionary of English Idioms ” by Gulland D. and Howell Hinds D. and from Longman’s Dictionary of English Idioms . Table 36: Idiomatic Expressions for Peace
Give peace a chance (a temporary peace may eventually result in a permanent one). To hold one’s peace (to keep silent). To make one’s peace (to put an end to a quarrel). A peace offering (a gift made with the object of ending a quarrel and restoring a friendship). Peace at any price (the avoidance of war or violence, whatever the cost, the phrase applies not only to nations but also to private relationships). Peace of mind (inward serenity). First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen 70 .
Table 37: Idiomatic Expressions for Wars, Battles, and Fights
War is too important to be left to the generals 71 (war is much too serious a matter to be entrusted to the military). All’s fair in love and war (conventional morality does not apply to the most important activities in life). To be in the wars (to suffer from a number of minor mishaps to one’s health, all at the same time). On the war path (in an aggressive mood, in search of one’s enemy in order to start a fight with him). A war of nerves (constant attacks on the nerves of one’s opponent, for example by slandering him and writing abusive letters to him). A cold war (a diplomatic and economic struggle reflecting a high state of tension between the two power blocs which stops short of armed conflict).
64 A shooting war (an outbreak of fighting. A shooting war is often contrasted with a cold war, when the hostility of the adversaries is limited to economic and diplomatic measures). War is hell (war is an experience full of horror). In war there is no substitute for victory (diplomatic half measures can only prolong the conflict; the enemy must be totally vanquished). Between two fires (being attacked from two directions). Fight fire with fire (respond to harsh or underhanded attacks with similar methods; use tough methods with tough people). Fight hand to hand (to fight with an opponent at close quarters). A good beginning is half the battle (any endeavor with a good foundation is likely to succeed). A pitched battle (a battle in which large forces on both sides are committed. This phrase is used in contrast with ‘skirmishes’ or ‘guerilla warfare’. Half the battle (the first steps in accomplishing a difficult task which often decide the outcome). To fight a losing battle (to engage in a struggle, which one cannot hope to win). A running battle/fight (a long protracted dispute. The phrase comes from naval warfare. A running battle is one that takes place between two hostile fleets while they are on the move, one advancing and the other retreating). An uphill battle (a very difficult struggle). A struggle battle/fight (a very difficult struggle). To fight shy of (to avoid, to keep away from). To put up a good fight (to fight hard, to be a worthy opponent). To spoil for a fight (to seize on any pretext for a fight). To take the fight out of someone (to defeat one’s enemy so severely that he has no wish to continue the fight). To have plenty of fight left in one (despite a bad defeat, to be willing and able to continue the fight). A fighting chance (a fair chance, a reasonable chance). To fight it out (to settle a dispute by fighting). Fight the good fight (to struggle to live one's life according to the rules and customs of religion). Fighting fit (in excellent physical condition, this phrase derives from cockfighting). To show fight (to accept a challenge, to indicate one’s willingness to fight). Hang fire (to wait or be delayed referring to a gun that is not working properly and is slow in firing). Under fire (under attack; being shot at or complained about). To fight tooth and nail (to fight with the utmost ferocity). To blunt the attack (to weaken the attack of one’s opponent, to reduce its effect). In the line of fire / in the firing (in a position between two opposing persons or groups and thus in danger of being harmed by their attacks on each other). In the firing line (in a position where one is likely to come under attack, receive punishment, etc.) It is better to lose the battle and win the war 72 . I have not yet begun to fight 73 . Table 38: Expressions with Shoot, Shot, Trigger, Powder, Barrel, and Sight
Like a shot (at once, without the slightest hesitation). A long shot (an attempt to find an answer with very little information to assist one). A shot in the dark (a wild, random guess, one that has as little chance of being right as hitting a target in the dark). No more shots in the locker (at the end of one’s resources the derivation of the phrase is from the lockers on board a warship in which the ammunition was stored). To call the shots (to make the decisions). A shot in the arm (a strong encouragement, a stimulus a shot in the arm means an injection, which stimulates the patient and gives him fresh energy). To have a shot (to have a try and see how well you do). Trigger – happy (willing to use force on the slightest pretext). To keep one’s powder dry 74 (to hold oneself ready for action as soon as the need arises powder meant gunpowder, which it was necessary to keep dry for effective use somewhat dated). Not worth powder and shot (not worth making the effort old fashioned but still in use). Lock, stock and barrel everything, with nothing excluded the lock, stock and barrel are the three parts of a gun). A trouble
65 – shooter (an expert in industrial/diplomatic relations who is called in to mediate between the parties to a dispute). To shoot down (to demolish, to refute an argument). To shoot a line (to tell a wildly exaggerated story in order to create an impression or mislead). To shoot from the hip (to be quick with an answer, this comes from the American Wild West, when firing the first shot was essential for survival). Shoot first and ask questions afterwards (when in doubt, assume the worst; attack and be reasonable later). Don’t shoot the messenger 75 (don’t blame the person who brings bad news). Don’t shoot the piano player: he’s doing the best he can (don’t hurt innocent people – originated in the United States in the Wild West). Get something in one's sight (to have someone or something as the object of one's attention, desire, etc. referring to the sight of a gun i.e. the part of a gun through which a person looks when he takes aim to shoot at someone or something). Table 39: Idiomatic Expressions for Tactical Terms
The best defense is a good offense (it is better to attack the enemy head on than to prepare one’s defense and wait for the enemy to attack one). To go on the offensive (to change one’s tactics from defense to attack in a contest or argument). To be on the defensive (to be extremely sensitive to criticism, to imagine an insult when none is intended). To throw someone on the defensive (to seize the initiative from one’s opponent and turn from defense to attack). To open (up) a new front (to shift one’s attack to a new target, to approach a problem from a new angle). To beat a retreat (to withdraw, to abandon a position one has taken up). To make a tactical retreat (to retreat with the object of advancing later in more favorable circumstances). To steal a march on (to obtain an advantage over an opponent by making a sudden surprise move). To give someone his/her marching orders (to dismiss, to terminate someone’s employment abruptly). To go over the top (to act rashly, wildly the reference is to World War I when soldiers had to go over the top of their trenches in order to move forward and attack their enemy). To leave oneself wide open (to offer an easy target to one’s opponent/enemy). A pincer movement (an attack from two opposite directions, often used humorously). A sitting target /a sitting duck (a target that is vulnerable to attack). Bang / plumb on target (right in the center of the target, a perfect hit). An uphill struggle / battle (something that costs a great deal of effort and shows very little result). To use brute force (to use physical strength rather than one’s intelligence). To hold the fort (to accept responsibilities in the absence of the person in charge, a military phrase meaning to hold one’s position and not retreat). Quick on the draw (quick to attack, or defend oneself from an enemy, the reference is to the drawing of their pistols by American cowboys when their lives would depend on the speed of their reaction to the approach of an enemy). Table 40: Idiomatic Expressions for Weapons, Bullets, and Bombs
The pen is mightier than the sword (the written word is more powerful than any physical weapon). The sword of Damocles hanging over one (this expression is used when one has foreboding that some disaster is impeding). He who lives by the sword dies by the sword (those who view war as a solution to a problem will ultimately be destroyed by their own violence). A double edged weapon (a weapon which cuts both ways so that it may harm as well as benefit the user, particularly in an argument). To carry too many guns (to possess strong superiority
66 over one’s opponent). To go down with all guns firing (to suffer defeat fighting manfully to the very end). To stick to one’s guns (to defend one’s position against strong opposition). To spike someone’s guns (to spoil someone’s plans, to prevent him realizing them. The spike (obsolete term for nail) was pushed into the barrel of the gun to stop it firing properly). To bring up the heavy guns /artillery (the important people, the leaders). To gun for someone (to plot revenge on someone). Caliber (the relative worth of someone’s mind or character literally, the internal diameter of a gun). To cross swords with (to fight or quarrel with). To measure swords with someone (to test one' s strength against someone else’. In duels, the swords were measured by the seconds in order to check that they were of the same length). To beat one's sword into a ploughshare (to turn from war to peaceful pursuits). To break a lance with (to have an argument with). At daggers drawn (in open enmity, ready to attack one' s enemy when the dagger has been drawn from its scabbard, it can be used at once without any further preparation). To look daggers at (to look with hatred or fury at someone). To have one's knife in someone (to bear malice towards someone, to bear a strong grudge against him). To put the knife in (to deal one’s enemy a fatal blow). The knives are out for (a number of people are waiting for the opportunity to strike at their enemy a phrase that is often used in politics, for example about an ex prime minister who is blamed for the defeat of his party at the polls). Stiletto heels (high pointed metal heels on women’s shoes). To rattle the saber/ saber rattling (to make threatening noises, to attempt to frighten one’s opponent/enemy into doing what one wants). To use cold steel (to use bayonets or knives). Up to the hilt (completely, to the very limit the allusion is to the penetration of the full length of the sword into a body right up to the handle (hilt)). Up in arms ( in open revolt, as by demonstrating, shouting insults, etc.). To shoot one’s last arrow (to be left without resources in a contest). To draw the long bow ( to exaggerate). Cannon fodder (men who are regarded by the high command as unimportant enough to sacrifice in war). To hold a pistol to someone’s head (to use a dangerous threat to achieve one’s ends). To bury the hatchet (to end a feud with one’s enemy the reference is to the old custom of the American Indians who buried all their weapons so that they might not be reminded of past quarrels when they smoked the pipe of peace with their old enemies). A hatchet man (a person who is expert at destroying the reputation of an opponent). A hatchet job/ the hatchet work (the task of destroying the reputation of an opponent). A battle – axe (a domineering, aggressive woman, one who likes to take charge of any activity a battle axe with its long handle was used as a weapon in the Middle Ages it is not clear why the term should be applied only to women). Stick to your guns (to continue to support a particular course of action, belief, etc. refuse to change one's opinions referring to a soldier who continues to fire his gun at an enemy and does not run away). When I hear the word culture, I reach for my gun 76 . To bite the bullet (to accept with courage the prospect of a fight or unpleasant experience). To come as a bombshell (to astonish, to dumbfound). To cost a bomb (to cost a huge amount of money). To go like a bomb (1. to sell in huge numbers, 2. of transport to travel very fast).
67 Table 41: Other Military Idiomatic Expressions Armed to the teeth (fully armed, armed with a variety of weapons so that one is prepared for any attack). A chink in someone’s armor ( a defect or weakness in someone which makes him vulnerable to attack). A Pyrrhic victory (an apparent victory which in fact is no victory at all, the phrase comes from the victory won by King Pyrrhus at Asculum in 279 BC which cost him many of his best men). Victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan 77 (a lot of people claim to be responsible for victory, but nobody takes responsibility for defeat). Get one's marching orders (to be dismissed from a job, position of responsibility, etc. marching orders instruct soldiers to begin marching to another position). Give one's marching orders (to dismiss someone from a job, position, etc.). Steal a march on to gain an advantage over (someone) by doing something earlier than expected referring to one army getting ahead of an opposing army by marching on while the enemy is resting). Hit the mark (to do something successfully esp. to make a correct judgment referring to shooting arrows or bullets at the center of a specially marked object target). Miss the mark (to do something unsuccessfully, esp. to make a wrong judgment referring to shooting arrows or bullets at the center of a specially marked object – target). No man's land (a place or situation of uncertainty or danger, e.g. where normal rules do not exist originally the dangerous area lying between two opposing armies). A thin red line (a small group of courageous people that defend an area or principle and refuse to yield to any attack first used in1877 by W. H. Russell to refer to the British troops who wore red uniforms in the Crimean War). Off (one's) guard (not prepared for any attack, danger, surprise, etc.). On (one's) guard (prepared for an attack or surprise). Clear the deck (to make everything ready, esp. before great activity, a fight, etc. referring to getting a ship ready for a naval battle). Give the chop (to destroy a plan, idea, etc. or kill a person). Die in the last ditch (to make every possible effort up to the last moment to defend or fight for something). By main force (by the use of physical force or energy). Table 42: Number of Idiomatic Expressions related to Peace and War
SAYINGS AND IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS CONNECTED WITH: Wars, Weapons Shots, Tactical Other Peace Battles, Bullets, Triggers, Total terms expressions Fights Bombs Powder, etc. 7 37 18 39 19 17 137 Table 43: Ratio of Military Idiomatic Expressions
12% 5% Peace
14% 27% Wars, Battles Tactical terms Weapons, Bullets, Bombs Shots, Triggers, Pow der Other expressions 29% 13%
68 2. 2. Military Euphemisms and Taboo Expressions
“Here are a few unpleasant words That ever blotted paper.” Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice
Military expressions that have been adopted into civilian usage as slang (euphemisms or taboo) are equally absorbing. As with the loans to Czech and the changes of meaning through direct misunderstandings, the Polish word for ‘ bitch’ ” for example, has had a similar history of transition. As the Soviet Union crumbled and the face of Europe began to change in the early 1990’s, the French Foreign Legion became inundated with former soldiers and young men of the former Eastern Bloc countries. For varying reasons, a significant proportion of these were Polish and, with them, came their swear words, one of which was ‘ bitch’ or in Polish, ‘kurva’ . In the multinational environment, the legionnaires began to use the word but with a different pronunciation – kurva became couvre possibly because it sounded more French to the soldiers. In fact, ‘ couvre’ became the first ‘French word’ that many other non polish recruits first came across and hence stuck as a multi purpose, multi ethnic profanity. Its transition into British military slang and loss of original meaning / offensiveness – used akin to ‘d am’ or for chatting about a ‘sexy looking girl’ or “females” in general was most probably as a direct result of the many British soldiers that served in The Legion throughout the mid 90’s. To a certain degree; it could be argued that these lexical units have debased the language in respect of Gresham’s Law. 78 Originally, neutral military words changed their meaning either in connection with other words or a certain context. Due to this phenomenon, an analysis of their usage is abstract at best. As Crystal (1995, 172) says “it is difficult to generalize about usage of taboo words. They express varying degrees of force, and no two are exactly the same with respect to the way they are grammatically used. It is also difficult to define the ‘tabooness’ of a taboo word. Shit, for example includes a great deal more than its central, literal sense of ‘excrement’ (as in have a shit ). It has several figurative and idiomatic uses, which vary greatly in rhetorical force, from insult and rudeness to intimacy and solidarity, and it merges with an interesting range of euphemistic and jocular forms.” The excerpts below are taken from the following books: Green J. (1999), Green J, (2003), Chapman R.L, (1987), Spears R. (1981) and Holder R.W. (1995). Where possible, the date of origin and the country of use are indicated.
Table 44: Military Expressions for Penis
Up to Late 19th Century: Weapon (11C+), lance in rest (16C), pistol (16C+), lance (16C 17C), sword (16C 17C), bow (it “fires arrows” 17C), adam’s dagger (18C), bayonet (19C), blade (19C), cutty gun (19C), dagger (19C), lance of love (19C), pike (19C), gun (19C+), ball headed sailor (19C+), adam’s arsenal (19C), fixed bayonet (19C), shooting iron (19C). Early to Mid 20 th Century: Corporal (20C), corporal love (20C), chopper (20C), hogleg (nickname of the Colt .45 1940s), mutton gun (1940s – 1950s), bazooka (1950+), beef bayonet (1960+), pork sword (1960+), general (1960s), mutton dagger (1960+), musket (1930s – 1970s), cannon (1960s – 1970s). Late 20 th Century: Peacemaker (1970s), old soldier (1970s), guided missile (970s+), love gun (1970+), love torpedo (1970+), samurai sword (1980+), loaded gun (1980+), heat seeking missile (1990+), lamb cannon (1990s+), moisture missile
69 (1990s), bacon bazooka (1990+), mutton musket (1990s), mutton bayonet (1990s), sticky spud gun (1990s), trouser mouser (1990s), porridge gun (1990s), portable pocket rocket (1990s), sexocet missile (1990s). Table 45: Ratio of Different Military Expressions for Penis
Different Military Names for Penis
2% 10% 0%
Names of weapons 43 Names of ranks 5 Others 1 TOTAL 49
88%
The analogy between the penis and a kind of weapon is clear. McConville & Shearlaw (1985, 270) say the following: “The image of the penis as a weapon and penetrative sex as violence predominates in much slang and has done since Shakespearian times at least. Words like lance, spear, stick, sword, pork dagger and pistol – and even prick – are now commonplace words for penis.”
Table 46: Military Expressions for Breasts.
Artillery (1920+ U.S.), field artillery (1920+ U.S.), bazookas (1960+), T.N.T. (two nifty tits 1960+), bombs (1960s 70s U.S.), bombers (1970 U.S.), torpedoes (1970+ U.S.), rockets (1990s). Out of eight expressions, seven of them are names of weapons and one expression (T.N.T. – trinitrotoluene explosive) is a ‘false’ military expression. The analogy between the shape of a weapon and the shape of breast is obvious.
Table 47: Military Expressions for Masturbation
Mount a corporal and four (1700s BrE), clean one’s rifle (20C), feel one’s pocket for one’s big hairy rocket (20C), fire the flesh musket (20C), fire the hand cannon (20C), spin one’s own propeller (1960+), to have a whack attack (1970+), battle the purple helmeted warrior (1980+), empty the cannon (1980+), fire the wobbly warhead (1980+), friendly fire (1980+), get the German soldier marching (1980+), load the cannon (1980+), man the cannon (1980+), man the cockpit (1980+), polish one’s / the sword (1980+), polish the rocket (1980+), blast a pocket rocket (1990+), bomb the German helmet (1990+), cock one’s shotgun (1990+), salute the sailor (1990+), shine the helmet (1990+), spit polish the purple helmet (1990+), unload the gun (1990+).
70 Table 48: Ratio of Military Expressions for Masturbation
Different Military Names for Masturbation
9% 0%
Names of weapons 15 26% Names of equipment 6 Others 2 65% TOTAL 23
The majority of the expressions listed above denote obvious analogies between human sexual organs or sexual activities and kinds of weaponry. The linguistic shift occurs by metaphorical transfer and all of the above military taboo words that were adopted into civilian language were “vulgarisms.”
Table 49: Number of Taboo Expressions
Number of Taboo Expressions Found in Dictionaries
60 49 50 40
30 23 20 8 10 0 Penis Masturbation Breasts
71 3. INFLUENCE OF MILITARY ENGLISH ON THE CZECH MILITARY
Bozděchová (Daneš 1997, 273) says that ‘English loans came into Czech on a large scale during the twentieth century. The influence of English was strong after the First War, declined after 1948 but began to grow again in the 60’s. The real breakthrough, however, came after 1989, when English loans began to reflect the re orientation of society in areas such as western economics, politics, philosophy, and culture’. The massive influx of tourists into the country and the soaring trade that the Czech Republic has since developed with other countries has further compounded the susceptibility of Czech to English loans. However, English has had an impact not only on social areas connected with civilian life but from a military perspective too. As it was pointed out in the preface, the Czech military has been taking part in different UN missions and, more recently, in different peacekeeping and NATO missions and exercises. During these activities, Czechs are exposed primarily to English and they have either intentionally or unintentionally introduced some official and colloquial expressions into Czech. The origin and usage of some of these expressions has been substantiated through interviews with military veterans from the Second World War, including General Peřina. Unfortunately though, many of the veterans are now elderly and unable to corroborate much of what is known from written records. Major L. Chaloupský (ret.), however, who joined the Air Force in 1946 was of greater assistance. Whilst he did not recall any English slang expressions, he did confirm that English words such as ’ kokpit, kokpit drill, brífink, debrífing, redžiment ,’ had been in regular use and that all these expressions had been officially included in preflight briefings. In the 1960’s they were also using the word ‘ seržant‘ (sergeant) albeit, as with most of the loans, written in Czech. Table 50 shows several of the English loans that are in current use by both Czech military personnel from Český Krumlov and Czech UN military observers from the Educational and Training Center of MoD in Komorní Hrádek.
Table 50: Examples of Military English Influence on Czech 79 Language
Examples of Czech Sentences with an English Loan English Meaning Ti lokálové, kteří tam žijí.. Local people (locals) Potom jim rozdáte hendauty … Handouts Výcvik bude také na radiorůmu .. Radio room … rozdá jim rádia … Radio Kólněte jim až tam přijedete. Call somebody Nejede ripítr (vykrývač). Repeater … až dojedete k čekpointu.. Checkpoint S tím vám pomůžou konskripti . Conscripts Zpátky na bázi musíte být v… Base Dá s nima krátkej spíč a ověří znalosti. Speech Debrífujete celou grupu …. Debrief, Group Čekneme co se naučil. Check Za měsíc pojedu na misi . Mission Musíme jet bakroudem … Back road Máš to ve fajlu na stole. File
72 Table 51: Ratio of Nouns and Verbs Adopted into Czech
Ratio of Nouns and Verbs Adopted into Czech
Verbs 17%
Nouns Verbs
Nouns 83%
The majority of these were either nouns or verbs, the latter to a lesser degree but almost no adjectives or adverbs whatsoever. The Czech colloquial expression “ konskript ” disappeared with the introduction of the professional military January 1, 2005. A certain number of English expressions were adopted through misunderstandings. In the majority of cases, these are named so called ‘false friends.’ They are “words that have the same or nearly the same spelling in at least two languages, however, with different meaning. They are international words, that mostly originated from classical languages and that have changed semantic meaning. For example the Czech word ‘ sympatie’ and English word ‘ sympathy .’ The original meaning of the Greek parts of the word (later adopted by Latin) was ‘ together’ and ‘feeling .’ In classical Latin ‘ sympathia’ meaning affection. In English, the meaning was streamlined to ‘ sympathy with someone who suffers ’ while in Czech the meaning of the word represents ‘ the feelings ’ or ‘ emotional attitude ’ in a pleasant situation.” (Hladký 1990, 5) In the Czech military, the term ‘ base’ was adopted because of cultural and language misunderstandings. Base in U.S. terminology means either Air Force Base or Naval Base and not an Army Base. Czechs who were at the Air Force Base did not realize the difference and they introduced the word ‘ báze’ into Czech with both the wrong pronunciation and meaning, either as an area or barracks. (Chaloupský 2002, 134 136) A similar case was with the adoption of the word ‘ mission’ . In its general meaning it means a special task, usually for a Special Forces unit. However, in the Czech language it means any long term duty abroad, as in deployment. It is also used as a euphemism in British English. ‘ Last night I was on a mission, ’ meaning ‘ I was drinking ’. This expression is used by both military personnel and civilians. There are also some English expressions describing harassment that reflect social situations the world over. Whilst not loaning the word to the Czech language, there are similarities with regards to the vocabulary in some instances. These expressions actually denote the same “cultural activity” and this is why they have crossed into Czech. For example, the US terms to give somebody (or throw) a blanket party has its equivalent in Czech military slang as ‘ dát někomu deku .’ Other terms are for example chew out, wall to wall counseling, or haze the plebes 80 . Their Czech equivalents are ‘ seřvat, dát nákládačku, prohnat bažanty 81 ’ respectively.
73 To conclude this part, it is both important and beneficial to study these terms alongside the anomalies associated with the cultural aspects of language. For linguistic and contrastive analysis it is therefore necessary to show the influence of these expressions on Czech (both for the benefit of interpreters and translators alike). The latter group, for example, would learn to avoid mistakes whilst working meetings, paraphrasing official documents or even in translating novels and movies. By way of illustration, a typical mistake would be to translate the rank of sergeant into Czech as ‘ četař’, for in Czech this rank does not equate with its U.S. counter part and involves far less responsibilities. Another example could be taken from the translation of the movie M.A.S.H. into Czech, where the rank of Lieutenant Colonel is translated into Czech as Colonel. If the translator had been familiar with the insignia for Colonel and furthermore with the fact that in colloquial speech Lieutenant Colonel is shortened to Colonel, he would not have made such a mistake.
74 4. MILITARY INTERVIEWS
Speech is the best show man puts on. Benjamin Lee Whorf The main purpose of this part is to conduct interviews with military personnel in order to find out if the speakers use any of the slang expressions in question, whether there are any grammatical irregularities, whether there are unusual characteristic features of military speech, or even if there is a difference in the register used between NCOs and officers. Originally, I was pondering whether or not to analyze written military documents such as orders, field manuals, and rules. Almost immediately, however, I realized that there would be no colloquial or slang expressions or grammatical irregularities in these documents and, for that reason, decided to analyze spoken language instead (see Appendix 14). Moreover, as Thorne (1997, 194) says: “For many people, written language is more prestigious than spoken language and yet far more people use speech on a daily basis. Writing does have obvious benefits: it is permanent; it makes communication over a physical distance possible; it can be revised and carefully crafted; it can be reread at any time; it can overcome limits of the human memory and therefore encourages intellectual development; and it has made it possible to preserve the canon of literature. Spoken language, however, has strengths that cannot be matched by written language: it enables people to take an active role in social groups; responses are often immediate; and the speech of each user is made distinctive by characteristic sound qualities, mannerisms and accompanying gestures – it is far more difficult to establish a personal style of writing. Even though participants may not be equal, most forms of spoken language are interactional: points can be clarified; questions can be asked; topics can be easily changed; and any number of people can take part. Because communication usually takes place in a face to face situation, speech does not have to be as explicit as writing. We can rely on non verbal signals like gesture, facial expression and non verbal sounds as well as the words themselves to understand an exchange. Equally, because the audience is more likely to be known, shared knowledge will prevent problems arising from any vagueness.” We can therefore see that spoken language is fundamental to any linguistic study and that discourse, as the dominant means of communication in society, is the center of our daily lives.
75 Material under Investigation The military interview analysis examines fourteen interviews including two with immigrants (newcomers to the Army), one from Morocco and the other from Turkey. This is to demonstrate the differences in language between them and other regular military personnel. The concrete material under investigation is as follows: • Corpus from authentic recordings personally carried out with US military personnel, (interviews with Officers and NCOs both on active service and retired), in the USA during my stay in Texas between 2002 and 2004. The corpus includes transcripts of the following interviewees. AIR FORCE Male Female Officers Lou Walt NCOs Samuel Janet NAVY Officers Bryn Stephanie NCOs Joe Sheila Noriega ARMY Officers Steve NCOs Charles Danetra Tim Boucid Jackson • Authentic recording (interview) that was carried out with ex BMATT (British Military and Training Team) NCO working with Czech Armed Forces.
76 4. 1. Approaches to Analysis It was also necessary to decide what approach to use for the analysis. These were not typical job interviews and it was therefore important to choose what sort of linguistic analysis to employ. Whether or not to analyze either just the words and their meanings or to take the situational context into account was the question. At the beginning I was contemplating an analysis using only lexical items but, as Graddol, Cheshire and Swan (119, 2002) say: “Analyzing word meaning is useful, but there is more involved in communication than simply adding together the meaning of individual words. Linguistic context can be all important in determining which of a number of meanings of a word is intended: compare, for example, the two phrases Here’s a mug of coffee and He’s an ugly mug! The linguistic context alone is still not adequate, however. The phrase Here’s a mug of coffee can have many different meanings depending on such factors as the way in which it is uttered, what has been said before, and the general situational context. It could be a straightforward piece of information mentioned by a speaker as they pass across a steaming mug; but at the end of a party it could be a polite hint that it is time the guests were leaving; or it could be a not very polite way of telling someone they are looking half asleep at work and that they ought to wake up. Many other interpretations are possible in different contexts.” Mentioning the context of situation “Malinowski’s context of situation is a bit of the social process which can be considered apart and in which a speech event is central and makes all the difference, such as a drill sergeant’s welcome utterance on the square, ‘ Stand at – ease !’ The context of situation for Malinowski is an ordered series of events considered as in rebus .” Influenced by that, the decision was taken to comment on some unusual lexical units and grammatical irregularities with respect to context and culture. With regards to what other approaches of analysis should be taken into account. The following question was posed; to concentrate on register analysis or just discourse analysis? “In the 1960s, the focus was on register analysis , whereby statistical analyses were conducted into, for example, verb tense frequencies and vocabulary frequencies and vocabulary frequencies for different subjects in order to provide grammar registers and lexicons of those subjects. Register analysis operated almost entirely at the word and sentence levels. Consequently, one needs to look elsewhere for information about the structuring of longer stretches of speech or text. This need led to a different approach in the 1970s – discourse analysis , or a rhetorical approach. Discourse analysis is concerned with describing the language and its structure that is used in speech or text that is longer than the sentence, e.g. conversations, paragraphs, complete texts. It examines the communicative contexts that affect language use, for example, in social transactions, the relationship between the discourse and the speakers and listeners. It looks at how, for example, the choice of verb tenses or other grammatical features affect the structure of the discourse. The analysis also looks at the relationship between utterances, for example, aspects of cohesion, and the discourse markers or cohesive devices that are employed.” (Jordan, R.R. 1997, 228 229).Yule (2000, 83) adds: “Discourse analysis covers an extremely wide range of activities, from the narrowly focused investigation of how words such as ‘oh’ or ‘well’ are used in casual talk, to the study of the dominant ideology in a culture as represented, for example, in its educational or political practices.” In addition to the above, some areas of the discourse such as degree of interactivity, discourse markers, etc. are taken into consideration.
77 4. 2. Language, Culture and Military Environment
“Language, that is to say, is the indispensable mechanism of human life – of life such as ours that is molded, guided, enriched, and made possible by the accumulation of the past experience of members of our own species. Dogs and cats and chimpanzees do not, so far as we can tell, increase their wisdom, their information, or their control over their environment from one generation to the next. But human beings do. The cultural accomplishments of the ages, the invention of cooking, of weapons, of writing, of printing, of methods of building of games and amusements of means of transportation, and the discoveries of all the arts and sciences come to us as free gifts from the dead. These gifts, which none of us has done anything to earn, offer us not only the opportunity for a richer life than our forebears enjoyed but also the opportunity to add to the sum total of human achievement by our own contributions, however small they may be.” (Hayakawa 1972, 13) In the previous paragraph, it is indicated that a language is culture bound. The question therefore arises as to what is culture? Is there a definition for culture? So that we can have an idea of what effect it has on military language, it is important to realize what we understand from the term. Similar problems were faced in finding a precise and clear definition of culture as with finding definitions for slang, colloquialism and jargon. After going through several books dealing with sociolinguistics or culture itself though, the following definition was found in Language as Discourse: Perspectives for Language Teaching by Michael McCarthy and Ronald Carter (150 151). “ Culture can be generally defined as the set of values and beliefs which are prevalent within a given society or section of a society. In the practice of language teaching, however, more specific definitions can be discerned. At least three main meanings of culture can be defined. First, culture with a capital C. This refers to the most prestigious artistic achievements of a society: its art, music, theatre and, especially, its literature. Second, culture with a small c . This refers to the habits, customs, social behaviour and assumptions about the world of a group of people. Third, culture as social discourse . This refers to the social knowledge and interactive skills which are required in addition to knowledge of the language system.” As it is mentioned, the way in which a person communicates is very much shaped, in a large part, by his or her culture and not simply by the learning of vocabulary and grammatical structures. It requires an understanding of the social graces and conventions that govern appropriate communication specific to individual societies and their subordinates. Due to its nature, the military as a social group is able to bridge such boundaries and, as a consequence, grow more akin in terms of language to its cohorts across the world.
78 4. 2. 1. Specific Military Features Before analyzing the transcripts, specific military issues, and questions related to them, were taken into account prior to the analysis of the transcript. With regard to this it is also necessary to bear in mind that many of these issues are particular to the military and that it was necessary to build upon the traditional methods of linguistic analysis. It was therefore decided to answer questions posed by Holmes (1992, 12) who says: “Not all factors are relevant in any particular context but they can be grouped in ways which are helpful. In any situation linguistics choices will generally reflect the influence of one or more of the following components 1. The participants : who is speaking and who are they speaking to ? 2. The setting or social context of the interaction: where are they speaking? 3. The topic : what is being talked about? 4. The function : why are they speaking? In addition to these components it is useful to take into account four different dimensions for analysis which relate to the factors above and which have been only implicit in the discussion so far. These are: 1. A social distance scale concerned with participant relationships 2. A status scale concerned with participant relationships 3. A formality scale relating to the setting or type of interaction 4. Two functional scales relating to the purposes or topic of interaction” The answers to the above issues are as follows: All speakers are military, both on active service and retired including males and females of different ranks (NCO’s and Officers), and branches. Interviews are conducted at the workplace and all speakers have to answer the primary question “ Why did you join the military ?” Furthermore, all of the participants know that their discourse is being recorded and analyzed. “People’s speech reflects not only aspects of their identity such as their ethnicity, age, gender, and social background, it also reflects the contexts in which they are using the language. The way people talk in court, in school, at business meetings and at graduation ceremonies reflects the formality of those contexts and the social roles people take in them. We use more relaxed language at home with those we know well. When we talk differently to babies and adults, or to people from different social backgrounds, we are adapting or accommodating our language to our audience.” (Holmes 1992, 282) Yule (2001, 239) basically adds to the above paragraph “Two people growing up in the same geographical area, at the same time, may speak differently because of a number of social factors. It is important not to overlook this social aspect of language because, in many ways, speech is a form of social identity and is used, consciously or unconsciously, to indicate membership of different social groups or different speech communities. A speech community is a group of people who share a set of norms, rules and expectations regarding the use of language.” With respect to the above two paragraphs, it is quite clear that the environment and culture have a deep impact on the way of communication. In this case, it is the military environment and military culture, including military customs and traditions. These are inseparable components of the military and a part of what distinguishes it from civilian life. From the very moment a soldier enters the military, special customs and traditions become a part of his life. It is the chain of command (status of superiority) and leadership, the names of ranks, the uniform, saluting (sign
79 of respect paid to a superior), how soldiers address one another, courtesies rendered to the national flag and superiors, and customs and traditions that go back to ancient times. Further on, the social role of military personnel is influenced by factors such as: 1. Branch of Service (Air Force, Army, Navy, etc.). Within these branches there are special sub categories such as Green Berets, 82 720 th STG, 83 SEALS, 84 Delta Force, Rangers, Medical Corps, Judge Advocate General Corps, Chaplain Corps, etc. Although NCOs, Officers, and Generals in each of these sub categories have differing personnel and communication skills, they share the same group identity and thereby use similar expressions (see Table 52).
Table 52: Military Sub categories
Military Army Air Force Navy Army Air Force Navy Army Air Force Navy Special Forces Special Forces Special Forces Green Berets – STG SEALS Green Berets – STG – SEALS Green Berets STG SEALS NCOs Officers Generals 2. Military field of expertise: Military Police, Aviation, Artillery, etc. 3. Motivation to serve (economic reasons education, ethical reasons, etc.). 4. Gender and military service (number of women integrated in regular armed structures has been increasing every year). 5. Race, ethnicity (the U.S is a multi ethnic society, racial and ethnic integration in the armed forces is high), and military families (U.S. military has increased its responsibility to the families of their personnel and tries to ease the impact of frequent movements, disruption of spouse’s career, or possible danger to the military member). 6. Education (Civilian and Military). Generally, civilian and military education also has an impact on speech behavior. Yule (2001, 240) writes that: “it has been found that, among those leaving the educational system at an early age, there is a greater tendency to use forms which are relatively infrequent in the speech of those who go on to college.” Usually the higher the rank, the higher the education, completed courses and experience with other nationalities, or the more responsible the job and the higher the rank, the higher the military education is required. In other words, higher ranks, such as senior NCOs, Officers and Generals, have a tendency to speak more intelligently. They also possess higher degrees of cross cultural awareness. The higher ranks also stay longer in the military and hence, usually have experienced more missions abroad. Table 53 is simplified because what has been said about higher ranks holds true within each group (NCOs, Officers, Generals) and appropriate rank.
80 Table 53: Level of Education and Cultural Awareness Generals Officers NCOs Cross – Cultural Awareness 7. Work under stress (wars, emergency situations). The status of superiority and work under stress has an impact on the selection of vocabulary. To observe status superiority during everyday conversation is therefore a must for the military. However, there is a difference in speech during peacetime and wartime or work under stress. For example Spolsky (1998, 22) writes about differences in addressing superiors or subordinates during peacetime and war conditions: “Military usage related to address systems shows special patterns. Peacetime armies with strict discipline and emphasis on ceremonial are likely to have strict rules for addressing superiors. In the US Marine Corps, senior officers were addressed in the third person (‘Would the General like me to bring him a cup of coffee?’) and other officers received ‘sir’ from their inferiors. Non commissioned officers were addressed by rank (‘Yes, sergeant.’). In a different setting, such as under battle conditions, things changed. An officer was addressed directly, often by a regular nickname. Company commanders, for instance, were addressed as ‘Skipper’ and sergeant majors as ‘Gunny.’ More democratic armies often make a point of dropping special address rules along with saluting.” 8 Social distance (Military hierarchy). The social distance is closely connected with the status of superiority. The aim is to find out to which extent the social distance had an impact on code choice. “Many factors may contribute in determining the degree of social distance or solidarity between people – relative age, sex, social roles, whether people work together, or are part of the same family, and so on. These factors may also be relevant to people’s relative social status.” (Holmes 1992, 247). In addition to the above, the social distance is also determined by the military hierarchy. The military as a social group works in a particular environment and is organized into hierarchy. To illustrate military hierarchy from a lexical point of view: “A lexical hierarchy is a graded series of lexemes in which each item holds a particular rank, being ‘higher’ or ‘lower’ than adjacent items. The sequence corporal sergeant lieutenant is part of one such hierarchy. The relationship between corporal and sergeant is not one of synonymy (they are not the same in meaning),
81 nor antonymy (they are not opposites), nor hyponymy (a corporal is not a kind of sergeant , or vice versa). It is really one of incompatibility, but of a rather special kind: the relationship between corporal and sergeant is not like that between clarinet and oboe . Sergeant is ‘higher’ than corporal , whereas neither of the instruments can be said to outrank the other (though soloists of either instrument might disagree).”(Crystal 1995, 168) Although Table 54 is simplified, it shows the basic structure of the U.S. hierarchy in the military.
82 Table 54: The Hierarchy of Military Ranks
NCOs Officers Generals Air Force Army Navy Air Force Army Navy Air Force Army Navy Chief Master Sergeant Major, Cmd. Master Chief Colonel Colonel Captain General of the General of the Fleet Admiral Sergeant Sergeant Major Petty Officer Air Force Army Senior Master First Sergeant, Master Senior Chief Lieutenant Lieutenant Commander General General Admiral Sergeant, Sergeant Petty Officer Colonel Colonel 1st Sergeant Master Sergeant Sergeant 1 st Class Chief Petty Major Major Lieutenant Lieutenant Lieutenant Vice Admiral Officer Commander General General Technical Staff Sergeant Petty Officer Captain Captain Lieutenant Major General Major General Rear Admiral Sergeant 1st Class Staff Sergeant Sergeant Petty Officer First First Lieutenant Junior Brigadier Brigadier Commodore, Rear 2nd Class Lieutenant Lieutenant Grade General General Admiral Sergeant, Corporal Petty Officer Second Second Ensign Senior Airman 3rd Class Lieutenant Lieutenant Airman 1 st Class Private 1st Class Seaman Airman Private Seaman Apprentice Basic Airman Private Seaman Recruit
83 4. 2. 2. Military Interviews There is nothing more complex, structured, and revealing of our human nature than ordinary talk, and nothing more interesting than learning to notice it and to understand it as an object of beauty. Barbara Johnstone (Stories, Community, and Place) The interviews were recorded at the military Air Force Base Lackland, San Antonio, TX USA between 2002 and 2004. Ms Angel Bishop Petty, Project Officer at the Defense Language Institute in Texas, had already recorded four interviews and the approval was given to use them for this research. These interviews were later used as teaching aids in classrooms as listening activities for air traffic controllers to improve their listening skills. The rest of the interviews with military personnel were recorded and analyzed personally. As the military is a sensitive organization, it was necessary to ask the commandant and the chief of operations for permission. It was explained that the recordings were for research and they were assured that there would be no sensitive questions. They agreed and gave permission to carry out the interviews. The interviews consisted of sergeants and officers from the Army, Air Force, and Navy, males and females, and both active and retired personnel. Before starting with the recordings I realized that it would not be without certain difficulties. One immediate issue was the need to inform interviewees military personnel, for both ethical and security reasons, that they would be recorded. In view of this it was necessary to assure that their anonymity would be respected. In the book ‘Language the Social Mirror ’ (1989, 30) it is stated that “Basically, interviews must be conducted so that subjects are put at ease, unless one is specifically investigating behaviors associated with nervousness or hostility. If subjects are to be at ease, then the investigator must conform to their culture. If members of the culture are most comfortable talking in competition with peers, then there must be group interviews. If members of a culture are uncomfortable talking to someone who is wearing a shirt and tie, then no shirt and tie should be worn. If they are happiest at the kitchen table, then the kitchen it is.” An attempt was made to get as close as possible to these recommendations, but it was important to ‘play it by ear’ sometimes. This was due to the fact that the interviews were taking place between military personnel as opposed to academic staff. The wearing of uniforms, for example, led to some artificial responses and defeated the overall objective of some interviews. This was especially noticeable when I, as a Lieutenant Colonel, had to interview those of a lower rank. The majority of interviewees observed the status of superiority and their speech was unusually formal. However, in order to ease the tension, I talked casually with them at the beginning of the interviews before recording them one by one. Another issue was the recording itself, namely that the work was in the field and interviewing military personnel in their offices and not in language laboratories equipped with headphones. For this reason background noises could not always be avoided and this led to complications with the transcripts. After conducting the interviews, the dilemma was to decide which kind of convention to use for transcribing the recordings. The end decision was to use that suggested by Graddol D., Cheshire J., Swann J. in the book Describing Language. (2002, 181 182) “Transcriptions sometimes use conventions of written language – capital letters, full stops and other forms of punctuations – to represent speech. This
84 in itself is a form of analysis of the data, indicating such features as sentence or clause boundaries, speech acts (question marks), etc.” The work connected with transcribing spoken data was extremely time consuming. Besides replaying some parts, because of the speed of speech for example, some sequences needed replayed several times in order to make proper transcriptions. This was primarily because of background noises that had occurred when making the recordings in the field. Other problems connected with the transcription also appeared. One example is when dividing the speech into sentences. As speakers had used common techniques of oral story telling, conjunctions were often lost in the flow of repetition and digression. The use of ‘ so ,’ and ‘ and ’ in two grammatically different ways – connectors between sentences and as a conjunction – is but one of several examples. Fortunately, many of the interviewees made distinctive pauses in between the sentences and only a few of them talked ‘without any pauses.’ Fifteen interviews were selected and they included representatives from all three Services, the Air Force, the Navy and the Army. As the social status has an impact on code choice I have taken into account the status of the speakers, which was rank, branch of service, and current social position – active duty or retirement for selecting the speakers. Unfortunately, it was not possible to accomplish an interview with a female from the Air Force. Instead, therefore, two interviews with immigrants, newcomers to the Army, Boucid from Morocco and Jackson from Turkey to demonstrate the language difference between them and other regular military personnel. The U.S. Army recruits some personnel 85 who are not native speakers of English. The largest source of these recruits is Puerto Rico, where Spanish is the prominent language. In other cases the individuals may be immigrants to the US or may be from families who immigrated and who still speak their native language in their home—so called “heritage speakers.” The US military has established certain minimum language requirements for these recruits, depending on whether they will follow an officer or enlisted track. Language proficiency is measured by the Department of Defense (DOD) English Comprehension Level (ECL) test, which assesses the ability to understand oral and written English. Recruits who do not achieve the required ECL score of 75 may receive up to 24 weeks of training using the American Language Course (ALC) at the Defense Language Institute English Language Center (DLIELC), Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, to improve their English skills. There are a few cases when the length of the course is extended for people who have not reached the required level. However, if a person reaches the required level, he or she finishes sooner. There are basically two reasons why the lower score is required for them in comparison with the groups mentioned below. First, a majority of them will stay in the military. Second, they usually have some command of English but lack knowledge of a certain language skill or pronunciation; once they start their basic duties in regular military units, their language skills will improve significantly as they work in an English speaking environment – in total immersion. Moreover, they have a strong motivation. They would like to get promoted as soon as possible, and for that reason they want to be qualified for it. One of the qualification requirements is a good command of English. One group of USA recruits, (in a special program for translator aides) are heritage speakers of Arabic, Farsi, Dari, etc. Because of the importance of their mission as interpreters with deployed units, these recruits are required to achieve an
85 80 ECL score. They are also required to achieve a 2 in listening and speaking on the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI). OPI 86 is a speaking test in which speaking abilities and comprehension are being tested. The two numbers refer to listening ability and speaking ability, respectively. The score of 2+/2+ is roughly equivalent to a person with upper intermediate or advanced knowledge of English. Non native English speaking US officer candidates must make a 90 on the ECL and a 2+/2 (listening/speaking) on the OPI. US Air Force officer candidates who speak English as a learned language have requirements of a 90 ECL and a 2+/2+ OPI, as do candidates for such specialized courses as the Interservice Physician Assistant Training Program.
Table 55: List of Speakers
AIR FORCE GENDER Male Female Officers Lou Walt NCOs Samuel Janet NAVY GENDER Male Female Officers Bryn Stephanie NCOs Joe Sheila Noriega ARMY GENDER Male Female Officers Steve NCOs Charles Danetra Tim Boucid Jackson
86 4. 2. 3. Transcriptions and Comments Speaker 1 (Lou From Texas, Air Force) Rank Gender Years of Service Mission Abroad Officer Male 25 S. Transcript Commentary No. 1 Why I got in the Air Force and why I became American use of got. a pilot. 2 That's an interesting story. This statement is presumptuous: he assumes that his life interests others or akin to hmmmm (discourse marker). 3 I was going to Texas A & M 1 University the British would have said fall 2 of 1970. ‘studying’ or ‘at.’ 1. A & M is a term known by everyone in the USA. It is the name of a university with a well known football team. 2. AmE term for autumn. 4 And as you all 1 remember, the Vietnam War 1. He uses the phrase you all to was still going on; that was kind of 2 mean plural. In the southern interesting. part of the USA this phrase is contracted into y´all and is commonly used whenever two or more people are addressed. 2. “Adverbial kind of turns up in informal contexts (now esp. in AmE) in the types I kind of thought you weren´t coming; She kind of wasn´t listening (in which kind of is called “downtoner” in CGEL, meaning “I rather thought…” “She was not listening carefully”. Example: I kind of want to choose my war since it´s my life – Boston Sunday Herald Mag., 1967 .” (Fowler 1996, 433 4). It is not a part of standard language but part of informal speech and often abbreviated to ‘kinda’. 5 I didn't know what I wanted to do when I grew up. 6 I was taking undecided liberal arts at Texas During the first two years, you A&M. have to declare a major, so he was not sure what to take. 7 Just kind of trying to figure out where my 1. Phrasal verb
87 S. Transcript Commentary No. life 2 was going to go. 2. He pronounces ‘ life ’ more like ‘ laff ’ in Texan spoken English. 8 I was in the Corps Cadets, 'cause my father ‘Aggie’ is a colloquial and grandfather were Aggies , and in the expression that has been in use Corps Cadets. since 1910. It means a graduate from the agriculture college Texas A &M University. The graduates used to be called ag /eidžís/ at first. 9 One weekend they had us take the officer In British English there would qualifying test , on a good Saturday morning. be sit for a test or sit the RCB (Royal Commissions Board) 10 We went out and got good and drunk 1 Friday 1. They got very drunk, like in night so that we would feel our all the sentence ‘He was very American 2 best on Saturday morning. mad,’ which means very mad. Good is used as an adverb. 2. “Of all the Americas. Often All American” (The American Heritage Dictionary 1985, 94). 11 Test results came back, and they offered me I’ll give you my decision a scholarship to go into the Air Force (opinion, etc.) later. Colloquial Reserve, which I said, "Let me think about English – missing the that. I'll, I'll get back with you." preposition “to” (to which I said). 12 Well, about the next semester, the draft 1. “A group of civilian citizens board 1 came out with the announcement that responsible for the local they were considering doing away with administration of the Selective student 2deferments, and that got my Service System 87 * or other attention. compulsory military service laws.” (The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military 2001, 124). 2. “In British English, a student is someone who is studying or training at a university or college. In American English, anyone who studies at a school, college, or university can be referred to as a student. high school students .” (Collins Cobuild English Usage 1993, 673 4) 13 So I went back into the professor of aerospace science there at A&M, talked to him, and accepted the scholarship. 14 In effect, it would put me in the Air Force 1. Gettin´ spoken American Reserve, and I wouldn't have to worry about English omits ´g´ in ´ing´
88 S. Transcript Commentary No. getting 1 drafted 2. words. Some British regional accent would keep the “g” but leave out the ‘tt’ ‘ge ing’. 2. Draft is an American expression. “In American English, if you are drafted, you are ordered to serve in one of the armed forces. ( I was drafted into the Navy. He took a temporary job while he was waiting to be drafted. )” (Collins Cobuild English Usage 1993, 199) 15 I figured it'd be good for me. “As verb, figure (often with out ) is used, esp. in AmE, to mean “to conclude, think, work out” ( He figured he could write the book in six months ), or with on in the sense “plan” (he figured on being home by six o’clock ). Also predominantly American is its use to mean “seem likely or understandable” (that figures ). Each of these uses is informal.” (Fowler 1996, 296) 16 I could have something to do after I got out Compound, phrasal verb of college. 17 It was a two year commitment. 18 And I thought that'd be a good resume A good item to add into a builder , and that I could go on with my life. resume (CV / Curriculum Vitae in British English). 19 Well, about my junior year at A&M, they 1. “Slang . Specific talk or asked me in for another test that had to do actions: Don’t give me that stuff with pilot/navigator stuff 1, and I took that about being tired .” (The test, did real well, and they offered me a American Heritage Dictionary pilot scholarship, only five 2 years after 1985, 1208) even – ‘I don’t finishing pilot training for a total of a six give a stuff’ I don’t care year commitment. 2. Similar pronunciation as in the case of life (laff ). Here, he pronounces ‘ five’ as ‘ fav’ . 20 And that sounded like a deal that was too It means too good not to take it: good to pass up. I had to take it. Pass up means to reject. 21 I'd always been interested in airplanes, had He omits subject. never really flown because I didn't have the money.
89 S. Transcript Commentary No. 22 So here was an opportunity where the Air 1. Gonna – colloquial English Force was going to 1 teach me how to fly (originally in the USA, airplanes and pay me for doing 2 it. nowadays in UK as well). 2. Pronunciation is don´ not doing . 23 So, I accepted the scholarship, finished Could either be a presumptuous A&M, went to pilot training, and the rest is statement. ´The rest is history´ history . means that everyone knows it, a sensing that the listener is bored (or himself) with the conversation and used as an apt way in which to change the subject or that he has exaggerated and can’t continue with the story. 24 My whole life has kind of worked out like that. 25 I just fall into a good deal. Phrasal verb meaning that he did not initiate it. 26 I'm not one of these people that has a long Has? term plan on where I'm going to be in five years. 27 It's worked out so far. Phrasal verb 28 Been flying for 25 years now. He omits subject in this sentence. 29 It's been a lot of fun; it beats working. The meaning is “it is better than working” or “ it is a good job” Analysis of a Speaker’s Idiosyncratic Ways of Expression: Lou was born in Texas and graduated from the Agriculture University in San Antonio. He speaks like an educated person using partially informal language ( kind of ) because there is more or less equality between the interviewer and the interviewee. It is also indicated in the openness in his statements ( we went out and got drunk ). The lexis is linked directly to the topic, the flow of speech and graduation reveal that he has been used to talking in different situations. He is relaxed and sometimes uses slang and colloquial expressions. For example ‘A & M’ is a term that is known by everyone in the USA. It is the name of a university with a well known football team whilst aggies is regional slang in Texas. However, he does not use any military slang. He uses colloquialisms such as stuff or you all. The last lexical unit is typical for the area of Texas and it is also used in the contracted form you’ll . In the northern United States, people frequently use the phrase you guys when addressing more than one person. Although the term guy is generally used to denote male gender, Northerners will use it when addressing either man or women, as will the British on occasion. The usage of lexical units such as draft, draft board , or take a test are exclusively American, however these terms are understood by British speakers as
90 well. Lou does not use any special military terms or expressions that civilians would find difficult. The only expressions he used were Air Force, Corps, Cadets, Officer etc. His kind of is a sign of informal talk. His grammar has similarities with casual conversation, he omits subjects (did real well, been flying, had never really flown ) and he also contracts forms such as “I’ll (2x), I’m (2x), I’d (1x), It’s (2x), Didn’t (2x), It’d (1x), That’d (1x), That’s (1x), ‘cause (1x), Wouldn’t (1x).” The intonation pattern is even, the same is with the rhythm of speech, pauses are acceptable and there is no presence of non fluency features such as voiced hesitations or filled pauses. Despite his education however, his use of the language is poor with regards to his ability to express himself and there are few adverb + adjective + noun descriptors. Moreover, his character is reflected in his speech and this could be construed as arrogance by an Englishman.
91 Speaker 2 (Walt from Texas, Air Force) Rank Gender Years of Service Mission Abroad Officer (ret.) Male 25 Germany, Korea, LtCol Iceland, Vietnam, Taiwan, etc. S. Transcript Commentary No. 1. Good afternoon, sir. Please, would you tell me something about yourself? Why did you join the military and something about your military career? 2. Sure, would. He omits subject. 3. 1. He hesitated to gather ideas. I was, I joined 1 the Air Force back in the late 60’s, 2. ‘Like’ is used here to like 2 1969 and actually got in the Air Force 3 then stress the date and hence, around 1970. exaggerate his age 3. Enlisted permanently 4. But I joined the Air Force because I was flying 1. US expression, there is airplanes, I was working as a commercial not such activity as agricultural pilot 1, and so flying was what I was commercial agricultural doing for a living, and, and, I had a good friend of pilot in Great Britain mine that had joined the Air Force and was while in the USA; it is a currently 2 flying the T 37 3 in undergraduate pilot regular, everyday job. training. 2. Misuse of currently with regards to tense. 3. “T 37B Tweet is a twin engine jet built by Cessna for use by the Air Force as its standard primary trainer.” (Tomajczyk 1996, 560) 5. Well, he would write me letters and call me on the “American speakers often phone and tell me how much fun it was and so I omit the ‘to.’” (Collins got very interested in becoming a military pilot Cobuild English Usage through my friend who was now a military pilot. 1993, 803) a habit that perplexes the British when they first come across it. 6. And one weekend he brought home a fighter pilot that was his instructor pilot from Laughlin Air Force Base. 7. And his instructor pilot had just come back from 1. Vietnamese called the the Vietnam War 1 where he flew F 100’s, the Hun 2 war American War or in, in, in missions during Vietnam. American War of Aggression. Analogy
92 S. Transcript Commentary No. with French War. 2. Type of fast, attack plane. “Super Sabre – The North American F 100 is a single seat single engine interceptor and fighter bomber developed for the USAF and first flown in 1953.” (Quick 1973, 428) 8. So I got to meet his, his instructor pilot, who was 1. Memories of interesting this fighter pilot, and he told me all of these times. stories 1 about flying the F 100 and attack missions 2. Fascinated, curious, he went on, and as a result of that, I became what drawn towards, addicted. I call “hooked 2”. 9. I just got so fascinated about becoming a military “BrE to offer oneself for pilot, but more importantly, a military fighter pilot military service” that I had to go join up and, and try to become a (Courtney 1987, 309). fighter pilot. The meaning is to include filling out entrance forms. 10. Colloquial So, eh it was through my, my best friend, and him Got me interested – as bringing home his instructor pilot that, that got me opposed to the BrE – interested into the military. interested me. 11. So, you did like the job? 12. Oh, I loved the job. 13. The job, eh, you know, there’s not many jobs that, eh, where people work their entire life as an adult doing a job that they can say ‘That’s just exactly the job I wanted to do. 14. That’s the job I dreamed about when I was a little Something thought about boy,’ but being a fighter pilot and flying fighters since you were a child. was pretty much a boyhood dream where you just sometimes don’t think you’re ever going to achieve those dreams. 15. But in my case I did. 16. I was able to join the Air Force, I was able to go Sit in the cockpit. to pilot training, and I was able to be eh, put into the fighter where I flew the fighter then for, for 20 years before I retired. 17. Eh, so it’s, it’s a dream come true for me, and I was very happy doing, doing that. 18. I wudda stayed and did it forever, you know ? Colloquial contraction “ I would have ...” Kept doing the same job. Misuse of did – done.
93 S. Transcript Commentary No. 19. So, yes, I was happy. 20. Well, yesterday during your briefing you mentioned that there’s also a difference in terminology within different branches, within different services. 21. Right, eh, what happens, es especially associated with, like, let’s say, my career, which is flying fighters. 22. There is a, there is a, there is a language that we call aviation language that involves brevity code . 23. Eh, and brevity code just means that there’s one word that has significant or very clear meaning to those that have learned it. 24. So brevity code is an aviation language, for instance, the word negative is an aviation word. 25. And it just means just that, that no, it’s over, stop, it’s not correct. 26. So negative is one word that has a big meaning. 27. There’s other words 1, eh, such as eh, talley ho 2, 1. Colloquial and, or talley as we call it, and talley means that I 2. Tallyho – pilot code see the enemy. word. BrE – ‘ let’s go ’ and/or ‘ goodbye’. 28. Where visual would mean I see my wingman. When flying, jet that is off to one side. His main job is to cover the blind six O’Clock spot. 29. So that’s a typical example of an aviation brevity code so it’s a specialized language within the military. 30. Sometimes eh, special operations people have a specialty language that they use, but it’s – so if you’re not part of it or haven’t studied it or use it on a daily basis you may not understand what those words mean because sometimes they take on separate meaning. 31. And especially in aviation there’s many, many eh brevity code words and slang, words that, that are used by pilots that are not necessarily found in the same meaning in the dictionary. 32. And those things take on different meaning so the Information meeting only way you learn those often is through about the tasks at the experience and in briefings and debriefings from mission. Evaluation of the aviators. mission. They are often contracted into briefs and debriefs. 33. Eh, and that particular eh language, if you would the slang portion of aviation language in English Defense Language becomes very frustrating to our foreign students Institute
94 S. Transcript Commentary No. here at DLI . 34. And that’s why I’m here, is to help out on that and help the technical side of aviation become the communication side of just basic English. 35. So, it’s, it’s a kind of a two pronged attack to Two ways (views) to understanding English. solve a problem – attacking target from two angles. Interesting example of military terminology that has been absorbed into standard English – moreover that he used this expression as opposed to the more civilian orientated kill two birds with one stone. 36. Our mission that I’m associated with now, I wish I 1. “C 130 Hercules (Herk, could say I was flying fighters, but I’m retired Herky Bird) A highly from that, eh and now I just help young pilots, successful medium range sometimes they’re fighter pilots, sometimes they’re tactical transport aircraft helicopter pilots, sometimes they’re flying C130’s 1 designed by Lockheed or heavy type airplanes 2, but, and sometimes and presently in use with they’re controllers, or weapons controllers that the Air Force, Navy, control intercepts on, with airplanes, eh, but Marine Corps, and Coast they’re all connected to 3 aviation. Guard.” (Tomajczyk 1996, 125) Favored too by the British, 4 engined & the workhorse of the Cold War. 2. Types of heavy aircraft used for moving e.g. tanks, vehicles, etc. 3. Associated with. 37. And sometimes they’s, they have trouble understanding the English side of brevity code or the communication side of slang. 38. And so what I do is I get to sit with them and “It is interesting to see discuss this with them to help their understanding. how new uses can be found for this small word. It is perhaps not surprising that most of them are verging on non standard, and that they all seem to have begun their life in Am.E. (used with a to infinitive ‘to secure an opportunity to’)” (Fowler 1996, 337)
95 S. Transcript Commentary No. 39. I see. Were you actually assigned outside of CONUS or TDY for a while? 40. Ya, Yes, during my military career I, obviously, as a fighter pilot, I spent, eh, you know, a fighter can take off at one place and land on another continent with the air refuelling. 41. Over the ocean flights In So, eh, it was, I’ve had many what we call over the BrE ‘p ond’ is a direct pond eh trips where you take off and then reference to the water whatever fuel, and then land in another place in between the States and the world. England – North Atlantic. 42. Eh, and so we call those TDY’s or temporary duty, Temporary Duty. “In the and temporary duty assignment. Air Force and Army, duty performed away from one’s unit, base or station for up to 180 days. Upon completing the TDY assignment, the individual is returned to his original unit.” (Tomajczyk 1996, 578) 43. I’ve had many of them, such as eh in Iceland, I’ve had some to Europe, eh, such as eh, England, some into Germany, I’ve had some into Korea. 44. I’ve had some which would have been TDY but it “Continental United was CONUS for us which was in Alaska. States. The territory of the United States, which includes adjacent territorial waters but excludes Hawaii and Alaska.” (Tomajczyk 1996, 166) 45. Alaska’s a long ways from where I am in Texas, but it’s still part of the United States. 46. We considered it an overseas tour , but it really “Tour of Duty. A period isn’t. of military duty at a single place. A tour of duty is often referred to as a ‘tour.’” (Tomajczyk 1996, 595) 47. In military this term is Eh, we have several bases in, in Alaska that we usually connected with have, both the Army and the Air Force and, of the Navy and the Air course, the Navy. Force, not with the Army. 48. So, eh, I spent a lot of time there. 49 Eh, and I had some eh training exercises that would have taken me to other parts of the world, eh, such as Vietnam, eh such as eh, you know
96 S. Transcript Commentary No. Taiwan. 50. Eh, I had a whole lot of eh temporary duties where you go to deliver airplanes, and stay and get a little training and then you come back home eh on another type of airplane. 51. Eh, and, so I have been literally eh all over the world on temporary duty. 52. I see. How did you find different cultures? Do you have some nice or bad experiences with any other culture? 53. I think that’s a very good question, eh, and, since Defensive – that’s a very I’m an American. good question means: a – he isn’t going to answer it b – it’s not a good question or c – stalling for time / since I’m an American is an elitist slip of the tongue and, again could be interpreted as defensive. 54. Eh, in Europe they call us Yanks 1, okay ?2 1.Slang for U.S. citizens (Yankees), people from the northern part of the USA. 2. ‘ Okay ’ here is used to establish that he was in the right and is certainly not a question. 55. The Yanks. 56. You know – suggests that Eh, that never did bother me, you know. it obviously did. 57. I’m not one that gets too upset with words and eh Still defending himself. what you call me. 58. I guess I’m more, I get upset more on how you Gathers ideas slip of the would treat me not on what you would call me. tongue. 59. But sometimes by being an American and being a Realized how he has military person, sometimes when we go to places positioned himself in front and we’re just looking, or or visiting or of a non American and sightseeing. now trying to justify. 60. We’re just out in the country, eh, just looking 1. Sightseeing. around 1, sometimes, in some countries, there’s 2. To make feel like you there’s a real apprehension of being able to are friends. accept us 2, because we’re military and we’re in the country and we’re Americans. 61. So sometimes there seems to be eh an automatic , At first sight, first thought they’re not so happy, we’re there. 62. Eh, you know, sometimes I believe that the world Gathering ideas. The
97 S. Transcript Commentary No. doesn’t, they don’t understand what we’re doing pronoun ‘they’ in the first place and why we’re there in the first (foreigners) is not polite. place. ‘The first place’ is an assumption that the deployments were righteous. 63. Backing down (see But for the most part those are isolated incidents. previous sentence). 64. I’ve…Everyplace that I’ve been, and I’ve been in lots of places in the world, with the exception of the enemy that I was there to maybe fight, eh, I Relatively is used here to have been relatively accepted and felt eh, contradict welcomed. welcomed by the country. 65. And it didn’t matter which country I was in, I felt that there was people, even though I couldn’t always understand them, and they couldn’t always Contraction of ‘ because .’ understand me cuz we didn’t always speak the same language, that, that they knew that I was not a threat, or they they welcomed me into their their world or their home or their country. 66. So, eh there was a few isolated incidents where it was not that good a feeling, but for the most part I felt that, eh, very welcomed. 67. And obviously, they didn’t allow us to go places eh as a military person eh where they felt that we would have been in danger. 68. They tried to keep us away from places like that. 69. But, but I sure did enjoy, though, the visits. 70. Eh, sometimes it was a little scary eh just being out in a strange country and not understanding the people when they’re talking eh and not knowing whether you were doing something good or bad, you know, and how you were going to be taken, whether you were going to be accepted. 71. Embarrassed because of If you walked into a restaurant and you wanted to doing something different get something to eat or something to drink eh were than local people you going to make a fool of yourself or not, you normally do. know. 72. So, but it was, it was a lot of fun. 73. I looked at that as exciting and fun. 74. Okay, thank you very much. Analysis of a Speaker’s Idiosyncratic Ways of Expression: Walt was born in San Antonio and he was raised in the South of the United States. He is 58 years old. He studied college in Texas and in the US Air Force College. He got an MA in management.
98 The lexis is linked to the topic and also the flow of speech and graduation of the answer to the first question. It is obvious that he is used to talking in different situations. His vocabulary reveals that he is a military person. As a retired officer pilot he uses aeronautical terminology including special military terms ( brevity code, visual, wingman, types of planes , etc.) that are not understood by non military personnel. The terminology might sometimes be difficult to understand for a person who is not an expert in the field, for example the term ‘ two pronged ’ attack (otherwise known as a pincer attack). This term probably does not come from his own military experience. It is an infantry (cavalry, meaning pincer attack) term and Walt comes from the Air Force. It might be the reason why he uses the term metaphorically in describing language. Another example of special military terminology he is using might be the term ‘ tally ho’ or ‘ tallyho’ . This term is a code word meaning in military context: “Target is visually sighted .” Presumably, the target is the same one that the pilot has been ordered to intercept or attack. Whenever possible the sighting is amplified, by the pilot indicating his intentions. For instance, “ Tally pounce. ” means the target has been sighted and the pilot is in a position to engage it. “ Tallyho! Heads up. ” means the target has been sighted, but the pilot is not able to engage it. Tallyho is an old fox hunting cry. www.phrases.org.uk describes the origin of tallyho in the following way: “It is still shouted by English hunters to arouse their hounds when a fox is finally spotted. Two hundred years ago, according to a magazine of that date, the English fox hunter's cry was ‘Tallio, Hoix, Hark, Forward,’ which is a corruption of the French hunter's call. Four hundred years ago the French hunter encouraged his dogs with the musical cry of ‘Thia hilaud a qui forheur!’ sometimes printed ‘Tya hillaut a qui forheur!’ (These huntsmen's shouts are given in a quaint and rare old French book illustrated with the strange pictures of the day and entitled ‘La Venerie de Jacques du Fouilloux, a Paris 1573.’) From this the English manufactured ‘Tallio, hoix, hark, forward.’ Later it has been abbreviated to simply ‘Tally ho.’“ Walt is aware of the fact that he talks to a military person who is familiar with military terminology but not familiar with specialized military aviation terminology. For that reason he does not give an explanation to abbreviations such as TDY, DLI, because he presupposes that the listener is familiar with them but he immediately gives explanation of some special terms as in the case of ‘ tally ho’ or ‘ visual ’. He feels relaxed and he uses military colloquial terms ( over the pond trip, overseas tour ). He is also fully aware of the fact that there are differences in terminology and slang expressions within military branches. He stresses the fact several times (e.g. “ it’s a specialized language within the military ” and “ especially in aviation there’s many, many brevity code words and slang, words that are used by pilots that are not necessarily found in the same meaning in the dictionary ”). He also mentions that new pilots are not familiar with special air force colloquial and slang expressions that are used in this profession (“ And sometimes they have trouble understanding the English side of brevity code or the communication side of slang.” ) His grammar tends to be looser and more in line with colloquial and slang expressions which points to rather informal talk. In spite of being an experienced speaker and talking fast, there are had slips of the tongue several times and there is a presence of non fluency features such as voiced hesitations ( er, eh ) and filled pauses. Here, there are also features of informal talk and they are attributed to his gathering of ideas during fast speech.
99 The prosodic features seem more prominent in comparison with Lou. Even if the intonation pattern is even, he sometimes uses emphatic stress to highlight key lexical items and ideas ( a specialized language, especially, and sometimes etc.). The rhythm of speech is even and pauses are acceptable. Speaker 3 (Samuel from Hawaii, Air Force) Rank Gender Years of Service Mission Abroad NCO Male Retired Vietnam, Pacific S. Transcript Commentary No. 1 Why I joined the military... Actually, I had no choice. 2 It was that or either go to jail. Directness suggests either joke, regret or, if truthful, a lack of education and tact. ‘Either ‘ is misplaced in the sentence. 3 Let me clarify that for you. 4 I was a juvenile delinquent. 5 I had a record with the Honolulu Police He pronounces ‘ poliz.’ Department, and, I was involved in many things theft; pahkololo, which is Hawaiian for marijuana; aggravated assault; and other things. 6 Captain Lopahka of the Juvenile Department Final “t” in “interest” is missing took an interest in me and felt that I had in pronunciation (South). potential to become someone. 7 And we talked about joining the service. Service or the Services stands for the armed forces. 8 And he talked to the Air Force recruiter about my case, and they felt that they could help me. 9 So I went into the service and realized that Came to understand. after about eight months of being in a military, that this was the best thing for me, that ever happened. 10 So I stayed. 11 And, actually, I made it a career. 12 I retired in April of 1980. “To withdraw from active military duty and either find civilian employment or live on one’s own income, savings or pension.” (Tomajczyk 1996, 469) 13 I served two tours in Vietnam 1965, 1969. Tour is a colloquialism and stands for Tour of Duty. 14 And most of my tours were in the Pacific, Grammar mistake – he has not which I can't complaint . finished the sentence and it should be complain about .
100 S. Transcript Commentary No. 15 I, to this date, I have no regrets. 16 If I had another chance to do it, I would Colloquial expression. It means jump on it immediately. that he would eagerly and willingly do that; he would take advantage of it immediately. 17 I appreciate the military and everything it's done for me. 18 And I would encourage any young man to join the military and make a career out of it; It will not be a mistake. you can't go wrong. Analysis of a Speaker’s Idiosyncratic Ways of Expression: Samuel was brought up in Hawaii. He is open in his description of how he joined the military. He might realize that ‘his juvenile delinquency’ is in his record and that his superiors are aware of the fact. In spite of being retired there is a social distance that is revealed in the formality of his speech. Moreover, he does not go into details and his interview is short. His lexis is directly linked to the topic. He used ‘ pahkololo’ and he explained that immediately being aware that usually even native speakers would not understand that unless familiar with the culture. He is aware that he is speaking to a military person and he uses the military term ‘ two tours ’ which has been explained earlier. He would not probably say it to a civilian. Civilians would use the term for holidays. He avoids using slang and, with the exception of ‘ jump on it, ’ he does not use any colloquialisms. He uses simple but clear grammar, for example, the contractions ‘ can’t ’ only twice. The intonation pattern is even, as is the rhythm of speech, pauses are acceptable and the only presence of a normal non fluency feature is the repetition of the question ‘ why did I join the military… ’. During the interview, there are no voiced hesitations or filled pauses. He uses a noticeable non standard southern accent. Speaker 4 (Janet from Detroit, Air Force) Rank Gender Years of Service Mission Abroad NCO Female 12 Yes S. Transcript Commentary No. 1 You asked me why I came into the Air Force. Phrasal verb, usually British, meaning to join (a group or activity). Transitive verb with a noun direct object. 2 Well, that's a good question. Regret re: life prior to joining. 3 Let me say this: I didn't really come in the Air Force for an education. 4 I had already received my degree before I came in .
101 S. Transcript Commentary No. 5 But the thing is , after I received my degree, I Colloquial expression didn't find a job. meaning “actually”. 6 I wasn't able to get a job. 7 So, I had taken a teachers' training. 8 And, I decided to, well, actually I got tired of waiting to find a job. 9 I waited nine months. 10 And I couldn't find one. 11 So I decided to come into the Air Force. 12 I thought that would be sort of a fun thing to do. 13 Actually, also it, at that time, I needed a roof over Idiom – a place to live, my head . housing 14 I needed a job. 15 Since I wasn't working, I needed money, and that was a quick way, and I heard Uncle Sam 88 calling Uncle Sam – U.S. me. 16 So I came into the Air Force as a linguist. 17 And, I, it gave me a great opportunity to learn some languages that I didn't know. 18 It gave me some good training, so I was happy to come in as an airman, at that time we were called airmen. 19 And, also the opportunity for travel was there, and I thought that would be exciting to be to be able to travel around the world and to meet some interesting people. 20 And, in fact, I wasn't disappointed. 21 I enjoyed every minute of the four years that I was in the service. 22 Where did you study to be a linguist? 23 I was out in Monterey, California. 24 That was really an enjoyable experience for me. 25 I had never traveled really much within our own country. 26 So I got to take my training out there in Monterey. 27 OK, where did you go after Monterey? 28 I, actually, I went back and forth from Monterey to San Angelo, Texas, a few times. 29 And then finally I got an assignment overseas. 30 And I was stationed over in England. 31 And I ended up, actually, I ended up staying in England for almost eight and a half years. 32 So that when I came, I was really pretty much Intensifier – very BrE British in my thinking, and my accent had changed. 33 I came back with a husband and two children, and I was a different person than when I went over there.
102 S. Transcript Commentary No. 34 But I would say I enjoyed my, my time in the Air Force, very very much so. Analysis of a Speaker’s Idiosyncratic Ways of Expression: Janet is a linguist, however, she uses simple and short sentences. She handles the question easily, with openness, admits her motivation to serve ‘ I needed money, and that was a quick way… ’ However, she is rather formal which is an indication of the inequality in social status – military hierarchy between the interviewer and the interviewee. The lexis is directly linked to the topic. She is formal which is shown by not using any colloquial or slang expressions. She completely avoids using military terminology. The only expression she uses is ‘ the Air Force.’ Her usage of the British phrasal verb ‘ come into ’ shows that she was influenced by the British environment which she confirms saying that she spent almost eight and a half years there. On the other hand, she uses the typically American I got to take. Only one idiom is used ‘ I needed a roof over my head’ . She uses simple grammar in spite of being a linguist. She contracts Didn´t (3x), Wasn´t (3x), and Couldn’t (1x). The prosodic features show the typical variations in intonation patterns that mark formal conversation. Rhythm of speech is regular. Quite a lot of her sentences begin with ‘ and’ and ‘ so .’ There is a presence of normal non fluency features such as the repetition of the question ‘ You asked me why I came into the Air Force ’ or ‘ And, I, it gave.’ However, there are no voiced hesitations. She also uses intensifiers very very much , actually, in fact, pretty much . The intensifiers 89 that occur are mostly hearer oriented and as Urbanová (2002, 54) mentions: ”During regular conversation the intensifiers often occur and their repertoire is wide. At the same time, it is to be mentioned that usage in this area is to a certain extent individual because every speaker has a tendency to use his/her own idiosyncracies.” Her usage of well in the sentence ‘Well, that's a good question. ’ might be either in the sense admiration or as a filler in order to gather ideas for the answer. ‘Well’ can be used in different meanings. Chaika (1989, 140) writes “When well appears at the beginning of a conversational turn it often functions as a warning that you are about to contradict what someone just said as do phrases like ‘ I don’t like it but…’ These are lexical warnings . In this function, the message is ‘ I am going to respond to your last statement.’ If the other has requested that you do something, the well can indicate that you are giving an excuse for not doing it. If the other has given an opinion, the well can signal that you disagree and are about to say why. Sometimes it indicates that a change of topic is in order because the speaker doesn’t wish to engage in verbal pugilistics. Sometimes it even indicates happy surprise, as in ‘Well, look who’s here!’ said with the right intonation. With a different one, it can mean ‘Oh, no, he’s back!’ Well also can be used to terminate an interaction. This is done with or without a then , as in ‘Well, then, we’re through.”
103 Speaker 5 (Bryn, Navy) Rank Gender Years of Service Mission Abroad Officer LCDR Male 13 Yes S. Transcript Commentary No. 1 Good afternoon sir, please will you tell me why did you join the military er or something about yourself about your military career? 2 Well, I grew up in Alcar in New Mexico and I went to school in Las Cruces, New Mexico 3 And I joined the military er to serve my country and also I wanted to be a a pilot and er when I looked at all the services. 4 I thought that the Navy was the best so I applied to their Pilot Training Program and I got in so er becoming a pilot was er er that particular job career aspect was one of the Motivation, incentive. main drivers in in what the service had to offer for me. 5 So that was the real reason I joined erm to Direction of career path. get started down that road and that’s what I’ve been my entire career. 6 How did you like it? 7 Er it’s it’s been great. 8 I’ve had a lot of opportunity to fly a lot of Opportunities. different airplanes that the Navy er their training program has changed over the the years. 9 But erm when I got in 1 you you flew three 1. Got in – joined. airplanes before you er got win 2 if you were 2. Heard. going in the fixed wing jet pipeline which I did. 10 Er I flew a T34 er Charlie erm which is a small prop trainer. 11 Then I flew er T2 erm it’s called a turbo mentor er actually that was a T34 the T2’s Plane; insect. the buckeye and it’s a er er pretty docile jet in initial jet training. 12 And then I flew an A4 Skyhawk which was advanced jet training. 13 I see 14 And then I went on to fly S3 Vikings erm in the fleet, which was my, that’s when I was er a real productive member of the Navy. 15 I er that was you know the Navy was using me to do a job.
104 S. Transcript Commentary No. 16 I was flying er a combat aircraft at that time and er it was great fun. 17 I flew it off the carrier for 3 years er as I told Colloquial for aircraft carrier you earlier. ship. 18 I did two deployments six month deployments ‘Work ups’ – military and work ups associated with those. terminology for pre deployment training 19 So I have a lot of carrier landings er somewhere in the neighborhood of 460 if I remember correctly and that was quite a fun thing to do also. 20 Erm and then I went back to be er an instructor and I flew T45 Goshawks what they fly in Kingstonisle 21 So I’ve flown you know 4 naval aircraft or er five naval aircraft and all of them have been great fun you know there’s a lot of diversity there and a lot of different things you can do in them. 22 Well you said that you were also abroad outside the country er you certainly met people from different countries how did you find them did you have any difficulties with communication? 23 Er well certainly I I speak only English ha Embarrassed about his lack of ha I I have unfortunately I would like to language skills. know another language but I I don’t so yes. 24 I I found er difficulties everywhere I went although there are er certain ways that you can speak to people visually. 25 You know if you need to know the time you can point at your wrist if you don’t happen to have a watch on or or er and I do speak a little Spanish. 26 I was born in New Mexico and so when I did go to Spain I could converse with them a little bit. 27 But er the German people that they didn’t Want to. wanna er if they didn’t speak English ha ha they didn’t wanna try there was absolutely no conversing with them you know. 28 Er I remember being in Germany one time and I kept wondering what sud was and it means south ha ha. 29 And I thought where what does does that mean city or whatever you know because
105 S. Transcript Commentary No. everything was sud and like you know do you go south er when I figured out it was south 30 I was like do you go south to get everywhere you know er so there there were a lot of challenges going over there. 31 They all seemed to work out because whenever we were in port er most time I was on the ship when I was doing my job so in port was leisure recreation. 32 So, er there’s not any real you’re not trying to actually accomplish anything other than to have fun and you know if it was too hard to communicate you just moved on and found another pub to have another beer and so ha. 33 Okay and er speaking about your service, did you meet er people from other branches I mean Army or or? 34 All branches all branches well the Navy and the Marine Corps work very closely together because they’re both department of the Navy. I mean the Marines are the Marines but 35 they’re owned by the department of the Navy so we had marines squadrons on our ships so we had Marine Corps and naval aviators on the same same ship. 36 And and because of my job one of my jobs was to er assist er aircraft in landing aboard the carrier. 37 I had to go around and grade everybody’s landing so I knew the entire air wing I’ve talked to. 38 You know both naval and marine corps pilots all the time and I gave briefs on things like proper tanking procedures behind S3’s to different service pilots. 39 Er air force pilots, Italian air force pilots, French air force pilots erm you know. 40 So I did converse with them in that manner Joint Exercises used here as er when we did training and when they were MNF (Multinational Force) as gonna use our assets and we were doing opposed to combined unit force joint joint exercises. type exercises. 41 And did you notice some significant differences er in vocabulary I mean when speaking with people from the Army or er er the Air Force?
106 S. Transcript Commentary No. 42 Er hey the the biggest difference I found I think was that the Air Force er speaks more than the Navy in ter in terms from er most of the dealings I’ve had with them was in terms of aviation. 43 And so the Navy’s very quiet in their aircraft an er they do a lot of things visually with their hands to try and er maintain communications security. 44 Whereas we always make the joke that the Air Force chatter up their radios like crazy Talk fast, not clearly. so that was one of their big things is that they talked a lot you know ha ha. 45 And about everything they er they wrote you a whole story to tell you what to do over the radio. 46 So that was pretty funny to us you we always knew what they were doing that way so aer and they do have different terms er aviation terms I mean. 47 Er, well I don’t know if they are so much aviation terms but er they call well we had a deedam which is where we had candy in in our old breadery room and the Air Force has Cooking, baking. got a flight kitchen. 48 I see. 49 Er and er we call the the bathroom the head Head – as in the British Navy and the Air Force calls it the latrine. too. 50 I see 51 You know so those are the kind of words that that really stood out because most of the time if you were in an air force bases and you saw another guy and you were lost you were looking for like the head. 52 So you’d say where was the head and you’d go, the latrine is over there. 53 So those those key words were stuff like that is where you saw the big differences. 54 Okay so thank you very much for that. 55 You’re welcome Analysis of a Speaker’s Idiosyncratic Ways of Expression: Bryn was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. After studying at a college he obtained an MSc. degree. Then he joined the Navy.
107 His lexis is related to the topic and the terminology he uses indicates a military person. However, he does not use any special military terms. The only military terms are related to the names of planes Skyhawk, Charlie, Viking, Goshawk , etc. He is relaxed, rather informal, which is shown by colloquial expressions such as brief, kind of, stuff , or the colloquial expression prop trainer or contractions such as wanna and gonna . He uses only one slang term for a plane turbo mentor . He also gives examples of different terminology used in the Navy and the Air Force such as deedam , breadery room , and flight kitchen. Similarly he mentions head and latrine . His non fluency features are quite distinctive. He repeats words. Typical example of this, is I, and, all branches, in, etc. In spite of talking fast he uses many voiced hesitations ( ers, erm ). These expressions, including you know are features of spoken language as Urbanová and Oakland (2002, 25) mention: “One of the features of spoken language is that there is often an occurrence of discourse markers and the occurrence of pragmatic expressions, that exist only in spoken language, e.g. well, I mean, you see, you know, anyway, all right, really, so, I see, m, hm, yeah, fine, etc. These words do not possess meaning from the point of view of informativeness because they are well nigh meaningless, but they mainly serve as intimacy signals. These signals are at the same time indispensable from the point of view of the communication process.” The prosodic features seem to be prominent as well. He uses emphatic stress to highlight key lexical items and key ideas ( a specialized language, especially, and sometimes etc.). The intonation pattern is more or less even as well as the rhythm of speech. Pauses are acceptable. Speaker 6 (Stephanie, Navy) Rank Gender Years of Service Mission Abroad Officer CDR Female 17 S. Transcript Commentary No. 1. So good afternoon please er will you tell me why did you join the military or something about yourself? 2. O.K. I was a school teacher for five years before I joined the Navy. 3. And er I had initially planned to join the service when I was in college. 4. And and didn’t join the service. 5. I got married instead taught school I gotta divorce ‘got a’ and I waned erm a retirement. ‘wanted’ 6. I came into the Navy to do service for my country and to get the retirement. 7. And er after I’d been in for a few years I thought I might just get out. 8. I didn’t plan I didn’t think I’d do the retirement anymore I wanted to go back but I’ve been 17 years now. 9. And er it’s been I’ve liked most of my every other job.
108 S. Transcript Commentary No. 10. Sometimes I get a good job. 11. And then I get a bad job but er I can retire at the end of this tour and er I think I’ve had a good career. 12. Well were you in charge of erm soldiers or…? 13. Sailors. 14. Yeah oh sailors. 15. Yes all of my jobs have been leadership jobs. 16. Em when I first came in I came in to a field that Common grammatical was exclusively women and it was em it was error – should read – ‘For established in the seventies to give women the women or female.’ opportunity serve as officers in the Navy. 17. We didn’t go to sea we did not have a sea duty Go to sea TDY. requirement. 18. So we were shore based managers and they told us that the most important aspect of our career would be leadership. 19. So, em I’ve always been in charge of sailors my Many personnel changes first division was a pretty big division it was a lasting only a short time. transient line in an airfield in Levell Texas. 20. Erm and I was the OIC of the outlining field and Officer in charge. er mainly I had aviation bosun’s mates working Petty Officer in charge of for me. seaman’s work. 21. And they handled the parking the planes and fueling the planes and turning them around so they could you know take off. 22. It was just a transient line. 23. We didn’t own any of the aircraft. 24. Em and then I worked in a family service centre em had a few sailors I had civilians working there for me too. 25. And then I transferred to Jacksonville and I had all services I had Air Force, Coast Guard, Army and Navy. 26. We all over all joined working there at the maps. 27. Em, I didn’t really like that job I went to a helicopter squadron at May Port Florida 28. And em I I had it was total military no civilians no other services it was all Navy. 29. Em we had about three hundred and twenty 1 1. ‘tweny’ people in the squadron about sixty officers and the 2. Enlisted Personnel rest were enlisted personnel 2 em they deployed 3. Can be ambiguous (including or excluding ‘Warrant officers’?) but generally understood to mean those without a
109 S. Transcript Commentary No. commission i.e. below 2 nd Lt (or Midshipman in the Navy). 3. Relocated 30. I didn’t deploy there was a shortity detachment er Shortity – common portionate squadron. grammatical error = shortage Small section – small portion of 31. We stayed there everybody else deployed I was there for three years. 32. And er went to Kingsville ran the computer center. Ran – managed. 33. I had sailors, civilians and contractors working for me there when I ran the computer center went to Pensacola taught at officer candidate school. 34. And er it was once again it was all military that worked for me I had er officers and enlisted personnel working for me there. 35. And then I did my XO tour in Meridian Mississippi Executive officer at the A Schools. 36. Erm we taught nine schools soft skills Navy and Book learning. Marine Corps admin and supply’s schools or what that was there. 37. I was the XO we had contractors, civilians and military. 38. Erm that was my best tour that was my favorite tour and then I went to Jacksonville Florida again. 39. I was on the Admiral Staff . BrE Admiralty 40. I had eight sailors working for me. 41. I had the only all military department there. 42. The rest of them we had about 500 civilians so it Good, happy / awkward. was er quite chuffed to be military on that kind of a staff. 43. Erm and then here I don’t ha really have a job yet haven’t been assigned for any responsibilities. 44. I’m the OIC of the Navy we’ve got 12 enlisted and me… 45. Ehm 46. That’s the navy contingency here so… Finishing half way through a sentence in this manner is an attempt to end the conversation. 47. So when you mentioned that you were with the Army and the Air Force did you notice some let’s say differences er in vocabulary or using for example some technical terms or… ? 48. Absolutely the hardest has been here coming to the an air force base they use acronyms that they use more acronyms than we do in the navy i think
110 S. Transcript Commentary No. 49. And I don’t know what any of them mean and you can ask them what they mean and sometimes they don’t know 50. They, they use the acronyms so solidly that they don’t even know what they stand for. 51. And pretty much in the navy people will know what their acronyms stand for. 52. So I’ve been a little bit surprised by it. 53. They’ve had to go back and check to tell me what they stand for but yes we all use different. 54. My brother’s in the army or was in the army and we all use different acronyms for the same thing, you know. 55. The people who control our careers in the Navy A detailer is a person who we call them detailers . selects and dispatch duties (delegates duties). 56. Er, in the Army and the Air Force I’m not sure what they call them but they don’t call them detailers. 57. Our specialties what our designators are we have Naval Enlisted Personnel designators as officers our enlisted personnel have in BrE are called Ratings er rates in the Navy. 58. I see 59. Erm in the Army they have MOS’s. Military Occupational Specialty – job. 60. I I don’t know what they have in the Air Force but I I know that there’s a lot of areas that we are we use completely different terminology. 61. I have done a lot of admin work and our admin is completely different. 62. Our formats our letters our alph, alpha terminology that we use is completely different than in the Army and the Air Force 63. Here, it’s run by the Air Force but when I was at Maintenance, Equipment, the METS it was run by the Army erm you know and Transport System. I’m comfortable with the Navy but I need a lot of help. 64. Okay, thank you, Colonel, very much. Analysis of a Speaker’s Idiosyncratic Ways of Expression: Stephanie was born in North Florida. She studied at a college and got her MA in education. After graduation she had worked for five years as a teacher and before joining the Navy. In spite of equal social status the interview has semi formal features. It might be related to talk with the male – female gender. Her lexis is military and shows great military experience. She regularly uses both regular ( enlisted, squadron, deployed, tour ), technical – special military terms (transient line, bosun’s mate, detailer ), and military official and unofficial
111 abbreviations ( OIC, XO, MOS, Mets ). She uses jargon as well ( admin work, alpha ). Seldom does she use colloquialisms ( gotta divorce ) or regular slang ( chuffed ). She unintentionally uses non fluency features. She repeats words such as and, they, I . She also uses many voiced hesitations ( ers, erm, em ). Moreover, she uses emphatic stress to highlight key lexical items and key ideas (sometimes, etc.) and intensifiers ( absolutely ). The rhythm of speech is even and micro pauses are acceptable. Speaker 7 (Joe from Arizona, Marine Corps) Rank Gender Years of Service Mission Abroad NCO Male 8 ? S. Transcript Commentary No. 1. Yes, I joined the United States Marine Corps because my father was in the Marines when I was growing up. 2. He, being exposed to that environment, you know, I was seeing him shine his boots and iron his uniform and talk about the Marine Corps. 3. Growing up that way that was pretty much my main motivation initially. 4. Of course, you know, I always knew that I There is no problem about its would be in the Marine Corps, and that's ordinary intransitive sense ( he pretty much where I ... my focus was when I graduated from Yale in 1984; graduated high school, and that's exactly she graduated last year ). The what I did was join the Marine Corps. newish AmE transitive type he graduated Yale in 1984 is much more controversial and is best avoided. It should be noted that in AmE the word is not restricted to the completion of a university degree: it is also used for the completion of a high school course. (Fowler 1996.339) 5. Now it changed my motivation somewhat. 6. I stayed in the Marine Corps for eight years. 7. And initially, like I said, my motivation was because of my experiences with my father; however, like I said, it did change after I did join the Marine Corps, and it became an option whether or not I wanted to get out or stay in. 8. And I ended up staying in. He pronounces stayin . 9. And, at that point, my motivation was a deep respect for my country, and an extreme pride in my country, and in the Marine Corps also. 10. I like to sometimes toot my own horn 1 and 1. Same as “blow one´s own
112 S. Transcript Commentary No. say, you know, I'm highly motivated, and my trumpet“ or “sing one s own loyalty is well beyond maniacal 2 fanaticism, praises”which means to praise and it really comes to not only the Marine oneself, to boast of oneself. Corps, but, you know, but also my pride in 2. He mispronounces the my country. adjective maniacal . Analysis of a Speaker’s Idiosyncratic Ways of Expression: Joe has high school education. Certain features in his discourse indicate poor education. In spite of using some specific features – for informal context ( you know 4x, clichés, idiom, voiced hesitation ), the interview is rather semi formal. The above conversational lexis indicates an informal atmosphere. His lexis is regular. He does not use any military vocabulary (with the exception of Marine Corps ), no colloquial or slang expressions. He uses one idiom ‘toot one’s own horn .’ He uses cliché ‘ My loyalty is well beyond maniacal fanaticism .’ The question is how much beyond fanaticism can you get? His grammar is poor. ' He, being exposed to that environment, you know, I was seeing him… ’ Only a few people would use emphatic ‘ do ’ twice in one sentence. Here, ' It did change after I did join the Marine Corps. ’ the second did is excessive / redundant. Joe is sometimes difficult to understand. He has been using ‘clumsy’ language e.g. ‘ My motivation was because of my experiences .’ There is ambiguity in the sentence ‘ Now it changed my motivation ’ he wants to say that his motivation changed. Otherwise something changed his motivation – what changed his motivation? Another ambiguity is in the sentence ‘ My motivation was a deep respect for my country .’ It would have sounded better e.g. ‘my motivation grew out of respect….’ Motivation is not equal to respect. The reason for the ambiguity is that he uses language inexplicitly and the results are unclear sentences. He changes ‘directions’ in the middle of a sentence ‘ …where I … my focus was when I graduated high school. ’ The reason for using ‘ you know ’ is not to response from a listener but to get time to search for words and ideas. The same is with his scores of voiceless hesitations ´ uh ´ as filler pauses that are used almost everywhere. He also uses intensifiers ‘ pretty much ’ and contractions ‘that’s, I’m’ Speaker 8 (Sheila from Mississippi, Navy) Rank Gender Years of Service Mission Abroad Female Spain, Greece S. Transcript Commentary No. 1. I joined the Navy because I basically wanted to get away from home. 2. I was the oldest of six children product of a very young mother and father. 3. And seems all my female relatives were staying home and doing nothing but having kids. 4. And I wanted to try and break that cycle. 5. So I decided one of the ways, well the best
113 S. Transcript Commentary No. way actually for me to do that, since money was an issue, was to join the military. 6. So, 20 years later, here I am. 7. Where were you living at the time? 8. I was living in Mississippi. 9. Oh, OK, What were the, what have the positives and negatives been serving in the military, in the Navy? 10. Well, one of the main positives is I get to Have the opportunity to… retire in a couple of months and start a second career, which I think is pretty good because I still feel I'm pretty young, and to start on a second career, I think that's a major accomplishment, especially coming from a very small town in Mississippi. 11. I find that, when I go home, most of the people that I went to school with are still there doing the things that I left to get away from. 12. So, that's one plus. 13. And I've gotten to see a lot of the world 1 that 1. She does not pronounce ‘ d’. I know otherwise I wouldn't have been able 2. Use of “basically” for the to see, meet a lot of different people, and be second time indicates insecurity exposed to just a lot of different cultural and/or lack of vocabulary. things and things I wouldn't have done in Mississippi, basically 2. 14. OK, what are some places that you've been to? 15. I've been to Rota 1, Spain; Greece; Guam; 1. U.S. Spain military Navy California; Patuxent River, Maryland; base near Cadiz Virginia Beach; and here in San Antonio. Analysis of a Speaker’s Idiosyncratic Ways of Expression: Sheila was born and brought up in Mississippi. She openly admits that she joined because of money. Her talk was short, she does not give extra details, and it is rather formal because of the social distance. Her lexis is linked to the topic without giving extra information. She does not use any military vocabulary, slang or colloquial expressions, and no idioms. I’ve gotten and get to retire are parts of the American variety of English. Her grammar is simple. She omits the subject ‘ And seems all my female… ’ It should be ‘ It seems that… ’ It might indicate a poor education but the subject in spoken, informal American English in many cases is omitted. She uses contractions ‘That’s, I’ve gotten, I wouldn’t have been able, I wouldn’t have done. The intonation pattern is even, the same is with the rhythm of speech, pauses are acceptable and there is no presence of normal non fluency features. She uses intensifiers ‘ pretty good, pretty much .’
114 She has a black southern accent, not overtly strong, which is obvious from her pronunciation of ‘ I’ . She pronounces it as ‘ ah ’ instead of long ‘ I’. Another example is pronunciation of ‘ that ’ in ‘ …for me to do that… ’ She pronounces it as ‘ daat ’. Moreover, she drops R’s, e.g. in mother, father . Speaker 9 (Noriega, Navy – Seals, Mexican American) Rank Gender Years of Service Mission Abroad NCO Female 11 Korea S. Transcript Commentary No. 1. Good afternoon. Please, will you tell me something about yourself, why did you join the military, about your military career, if possible? 2. Uh, I, as an immigrant I came from Mexico, and, I wanted to join the military to see the world, basically. 3. I wanted to go different places, different countries. 4. I wanted to just join the Navy and you know, go, around the world and I joined in 1993, right after graduation I joined, I was uh, umm, pursuing college as well, you know and I figured joining the military would help me with college and with seeing the world, and so far I’ve gone to Japan, Okinawa Japan, I’ve been to Tokyo, I’ve been to Guam and the Marianas islands. 5. Korea, you know, to visit there, and um now I’m here, in San Antonio, Texas. 6. So I’ve only been to a few places but I still have half my career to go. 7. How did you like it there, I mean, did you find something different from the U.S military? 8. Uh, people are friendly in some way in Japan. 9. Umm, some are not very friendly, because of all the problems that happened over there, but most of them, most of the part was friendly, uh, friendly Japanese, Okinawans. 10. They’re very friendly and um, they just very uh how, how do you say it? 11. They like to invite you out to eat a lot, they like company. 12. So they like uh, they want you to know their culture as well. 13. Did you actually learn some vocabulary, Japanese words or sentences?
115 S. Transcript Commentary No. 14. One that they always say is ‘Konichiwa’, you know, which means, you know, ‘good afternoon’ you now, um, just you know little words, probably by now I don’t if I don’t practice them I don’t remember them, but I still have friends over there and she sends me, you know nice pictures of Okinawa and um, but most of them it was most mostly you know ‘Konichiwa’ which was ‘good afternoon’ ‘cause we always would leave Because work and that was one to stay with me and that was about it. 15. Did you actually - do you have some cultural experience that might be related to language? From Japan…? Or from Korea? 16. Um, I just love their food. 17. I live over there and ever since I live over there it seems like, you know, their foods stick with me. 18. Where, you know, it’s, it’s just very tasteful, it’s, it’s good and now I cannot live without eating white rice. 19. So, it kind of, you know, living there you get used to their ways and, you know, that’s a good thing 20. And how did you like, let’s say Korea? 21. Korea, I don’t like kimchee. 22. Kimchee, Korea, you know, people are more about business I think. 23. It’s not, I don’t know, it’s like people are afraid of you most of the time, talk to you, you know. 24. It’s more about business, it’s not about friendly, you know, going talking to you finding about you. 25. So, it’s more about business over there, like everything else 26. So what is kimchee? What does it stand for? 27. Kimchee, that’s a, it’s a food that they like over there. 28. It’ s kind of like cabbage with some kind of seasoning on it and vinegar and people smell like it. 29. Their, their bodies smell like, you know, when you eat garlic, you smell like garlic, well they smell like kimchee, all the time and
116 S. Transcript Commentary No. it’s just overwhelming, the smell is just overwhelming, strong. 30. And you mentioned that you worked with SEALs, so did you like it? 31. I loved it. 32. I love working out , you know, Physical exercise. 33. As a military person I like my physical training, you know, to keep in shape and the Also called ‘frogmen.’ In SEAL Navy SEALs they run all the time, they slang the acronym also stands exercise all the time so I loved it because it for ‘sleep, eat, and live it up.’ was keeping me in shape as well, even though the Navy, the regular Navy only PTs three times a week, where the Navy SEALs PT every day, so we would be running three to four miles a day and I used to be, you know, heavier and with them I lost all my weight and I was happy. 34. I was happy to work with them for four years and it was a good experience, you know, these guys train very hard and I respect them for that. 35. I know that it is a pretty demanding job to work with SEALs, 36. Yeah, yeah, it’s, it’s, I loved it. 37. I loved it. 38. It was, it was a great experience and I would probably do it again. 39. Wow. 40. Yeah, it was very interesting I, I like the physical you know challenge. 41. You must get up very early then… 42. Yes, it was, they used to run trails. 43. Trails, just, you know, we would, they would take us in a bus, drop us off. 44. We had to run back to work. 45. Wow . 46. And it was six miles. 47. Yeah, so you had to go to work somehow, right? 48. So they would uh, do that for us, or just hiking, we would do hiking, you know, trails and it was mostly running. 49. So it was a lot of training, and it was very, um, you know, um, exciting. 50. I just loved it. 51. I loved it. 52. It was very, very exciting, very interesting and I just loved it.
117 S. Transcript Commentary No. 53. It was the best so far it has been the best, um, you know, duty station I’ve had in Guam, a tropical place, you know, where it’s very family oriented, where, you know, it’s like a vacation… yeah. 54. So, it was really nice, working with them. 55. And, actually you mentioned that you studied also in Mexico… 56. Yes. 57. And how did you actually, you were born here, what about your parents, do they speak…? 58. My parents don’t speak any English. 59. They speak Spanish mostly, they understand some English and uh, when we lived in Mexico, I didn’t know any Englishes either. 60. So I came here and went to bilingual classes, with a high school, with an elementary school. 61. They have special teachers just like here in Defense Language Institute DLI , and they have teachers where they (Lackland Air Force Base) teach you you know the basics of English and then as soon as you know the basics, they transferred you to a regular class, which means, all English speaking students so you can practice and communicate and learn more. 62. So that’s how and you know, and it took a year and a half for me to be able to communicate, you know, clearly with somebody. 63. So and that was when I was in fifth grade, I was about ten, eleven years old. 64. Oh, so it was pretty fast, one and a half years… and taking a regular class load. 65. Yeah… yeah it was, it was interesting and um, since then we live here and you know my parents still don they don’t they don’t wanna, for some reason, they don’t want to learn E…the, the language, you know, because here in Texas it’s you know bilingual, so, you know, it’s kinda hard, you know, for them to try and learn it because they think they’re so much older now that it’s harder for them to you know, understand it, but I think my parents understand it; they just don’t want to speak it.
118 S. Transcript Commentary No. 66. They ‘re afraid to, you know, to open their mouth and say it the wrong way. 67. So, so they would rather not say it. 68. O.K, so thanks a lot for the interview and I wish you all the best in your military career 69. Thank you. You too. Analysis of a Speaker’s Idiosyncratic Ways of Expression: Noriega was born in Texas, spent half of her high school studies in Mexico and the second half of her studies in Texas. She is 30 years old. She has been in the military for eleven years and she is an E 6 sergeant – petty officer. She stayed in Okinawa, Japan and in Korea (she stayed in Korea for two weeks). Her discourse is semi formal. She uses many features that characterize informal speech but rather because of a lack of English vocabulary. Although her native language is Spanish, there were no typical traces of it to be found in her English (pronunciation, structure). Noriega uses simple vocabulary. She does not use any idiomatic or slang expressions. Her lexis lacks special military terms. She sometimes uses regular terms as Navy, or military. She uses three abbreviations SEAL, PT, and DLI. She does not explain them. Some vocabulary is wrong ‘ I didn’t know any Englishes …’ By this, she means friends. Grammar is characteristic of many irregularities. She sometimes changes directions of speech flow ‘ I cannot eat without eating white rice. So, it kind of, you know, living there, you get used to their ways… ’, which has an impact on understanding her properly. Her answers are sometimes direct such as: ‘How did you like Korea? Korea, I don’t like kimchee. Kimchee, Korea, you know, people are more about business I think. ’ She uses contractions ( wanna , etc.). Noriega speech is distinctive for many non fluency features. She uses many voiced hesitations ( yeah, ers, erm, em ), and many high frequency conversational clauses ‘ you know .’ Together with other hesitation phrases e.g in ‘ It’s not, I don’t know, it’s like… Kimchee, that’s a, it’s a food… ’ they indicate groping for ideas and word searching. She uses contractions where possible and she sometimes uses emphatic stress. Speaker 10 (Steve from Chicago, Army) Rank Gender Years of Service Mission Abroad Capt. Male 24 Germany S. Transcript Commentary No. 1. OK, about one year ago I retired from the United States Army, having spent 24 years in the United States Army field artillery. 2. And very briefly like to tell you how I got there. 3. Back in 1970 at Loyola University of Chicago, I was registering for my, oh, freshman classes.
119 S. Transcript Commentary No. 4. And a friend of mine said, "Why don't you get in the ROTC 90 line and join the Reserve Officer Training Corps with me?" 5. And I said, "What are you, nuts? ” Slang expression meaning: ‘ Are you crazy?’ It is negative, somewhat insulting term. 6. I have absolutely no desire whatsoever to go into the Army, don't really want to do it. 7. He said, "Well, I don't want to go to class alone, why don't you come on with me?" 8. Being 1 a nice guy 2, I said, "Sh... Ray, what 1. He omits ‘ g’ in the heck? pronunciation. 2. ‘ Guy’ stands for men and women. It is informal and usually used in the North of the USA. 10. We went to high school together. 11. I said, "I'll go to class with you, do a semester, and I can always drop out." 12. He said, "Absolutely." 13. Well, after the first year, the Reserve Officer Training Corps wasn't all that bad, and I was having a hard time paying the tuition. 14. And also at that time they were offering three year scholarships to pay the rest of my college tuition. 15. So I applied for the three year scholarship, knowing that if I got it, I would owe the United States Army four years at graduation. 16. Well I thought, "not a bad deal." 17. I'll do my three years at Loyola. 18. If I got the scholarship, I'd have a job waiting for me when I graduated, do my four years, and get out. 19. Well I got the scholarship, graduated, went to basic training at Fort Sill 91 , Oklahoma. 20. And my first assignment was in Germany, Admission of accomplishment / where, at the age of 22, I was put in charge pride. of two bunkers worth of nuclear weapons. 21. Working in Germany with the Belgian Army, also somewhat working with the German and the United States Army on the side. 22. After four years, it wasn't all that bad. 23. Came back to the States, and at about year five had really thought about leaving the service for civilian employment. 24. At that time, oh, I was in my late 20's.
120 S. Transcript Commentary No. 25. I put on the three piece suit, went for the interviews, and Procter & Gamble said, "We'd probably like you to come work with us." 26. So they flew me to Chicago and said, "We'll put you in the field for three days and see if you like it and we like you." 27. So for three days I rode around with this fellow about my age. 28. And we rode to grocery stores and looked at cookies and cake mixes and brownies and cupcakes. 29. And I said, "What in the world are you He omits “ g” in pronunciation. doing ?" 30. He said, "This is the dry goods division of Procter & Gamble. 31. Procter & Gamble is an absolutely excellent company." 32. And he said, "This is what you'll do for the first couple years." 33. So I said, "Well, OK." 34. We did the three years, three days rather, Use of “rather” here in the and then I went back in with the supervisor, correction as opposed to “I and he said, "We like you; it appears that mean” shows an education. you can do this, and after a couple of years of going into the grocery stores looking at the cookies and cake mixes, you'll move up into the middle level management." 35. And I said, "Oh, OK. 36. What else?" 37. And he laid out the pay benefits. Explained 38. I have to admit, the pay was more than I was making as a junior captain, the benefits were better than I had as a junior captain, and the possibilities for promotion were much better. 39. Also, I could've been back in my hometown of Chicago. 40. Well, we sat there in the office, and he said, "What do you think? 41. And I said, "In all honesty, it doesn't look like fun." 42. I said, "I just left Germany, where I was working with senior officers, nuclear weapons, and here I am riding around with this fellow for three days looking at cookies and cake mixes." 43. I said, "Guy, it ain't fun." This expression “ain't” was used by people with poor
121 education. Nowadays it used on a large scale, especially for emphasis. Its meaning has changed a little. It also means common, obvious opinion. ‘She ain´t bad’ means ‘Everyone can see her beauty.’ 44. I said, " I can't do it, in all honesty to you." 45. He thanked me, and we, I went back to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. 46. And, in all honesty, one year just kind of went into the other. 47. The reason I stayed in for 24 years, I have to Four Star General, US Army, think back to when I graduated the Advanced Europe Course at Fort Sill, Oklahoma in 1979, and General Merrit was our guest speaker. 48. And General Merrit said, "Guys, I'm going to tell you two things: you're going to remember my name, you won't remember at all what I talked about during the graduation speech." 49. And he's right: I couldn't tell you one thing he talked about. 50. But at the end of this speech, he said, "Guys, have fun." 51. He said, "As long as you're having fun in the military, stay in." 52. And I did, for 24 years. 53. I honestly had fun every year. 54. Now fun doesn't mean always having a good He omits “ g” in pronunciation. time. 55. You can be out, be hot, be cold, be miserable, and be wet, and still be having He omits “ g” in pronunciation. fun. 56. In all honesty, that's what got me through 24 years. 57. It was enjoyable every minute of it. 58. If I could do it again, I'd start back as a 22 year old lieutenant and start all over again. 59. Thank you. Analysis of a Speaker’s Idiosyncratic Ways of Expression: Steve was born in Chicago, and he graduated from Loyola University in Chicago. He is relaxed, using partially informal language. The interview is like narrative as he describes the sequence of events and direct speech is used to give a sense of the people involved – a ‘familiarity trait” that is characteristic of many Americans as is their constant use of Christian names. The lexis is linked to the topic, the flow of speech proves that he has been used to talking. He does not use any special military terms. However, he uses regular military terms. In the case of the military abbreviation ROTC , he immediately gives
122 an explanation. The only slang expression is in the sentence ‘ What are you, nuts ?’ The used colloquial expressions are ‘ what the heck, three piece suit , drop out. ’ He has been using the word ‘ guy ’ frequently. It stands for men and women, usually in the North of the USA. In the South of the USA, ‘ you´ll ’, is more frequently used instead of ‘ guy ’. His grammar is proper and has similarities with casual conversation. He omits the subject once ‘ Come back to the States… ’ He organizes sentences well and provides concrete details. He omits the subject once again ‘ …don’t really want to do it .’ The intonation patterns (omitting ‘ g’) confirm what has been mentioned in connection with ‘guys’ i.e. he comes from the North of the USA. The rhythm of speech is even, pauses are acceptable and he seldom uses non fluency features such as voiced hesitations ( oh , well, ok ). He uses the phrase ‘ in all honesty …’ as an intensifier with the meaning I am going to tell you the truth. The interview is cohesive and coherent. Speaker 11 (Charles from Texas, Army) Rank Gender Years of Service Mission Abroad Officer Male 4 yrs., 11 months, Korea 5 days S. Transcript Commentary No. 1. Good morning, could you tell me something about yourself, your past experiences, how did you study language? Did you join the military? 2. Well, to begin with, I was born on March the He probably means the local 2nd , 1922 and, on a farm, with my parents school here as opposed to a and when I became the age of eight; that was language school but it is when I was sent to school, English school, obvious that this is what is was American school. called and perceived to be in the family home. 3. I didn’t know how to speak Cz… English, but we had to learn English because we were not allowed to speak Czech. 4. So I went there for two years and then from there we moved to another farm, and from there I went to a Catholic school and they taught Czech and English, and which, my English and Czech both got confused because in school I would be learning Czech and English and what little English I learned I would forget by the time I got home because my mother didn’t know how to speak English. 5. So we had to speak Czech, what little Czech we knew and as I grew up, mostly working on the farm and things like that, for a dollar Colloquial. a day from sun up to sun down hard labor,
123 S. Transcript Commentary No. ‘bout the time I was eight nineteen World About. War II had broken out. 6. And my father had experience serving in the military during World War I and he told me. 7. ‘Son , do not wait until you are drafted. American expression, used in John Wayne movies. Can be derogative in BrE “Listen son” “Listen Sonny” Listen Sonny Jim” 8. Go volunteer and join the Army, that way you can pick some branch you like better than the other.’ 9. So I joined the Army in March the 10 th , 1941. Before Pearl Harbour 10. I enlisted for three years but it took me five years before I could get out because of the ‘Finish’, usually used in war. military. ‘Debag’ is another term from this era. 11. After, after the war was over I got out and went to work for an aircraft factory, building airplanes, eh, mainly B 36 bomber and after about two years I decided, since the war is over, we are not needing any new airplanes. 12. So I transferred to mobile Alabama, to work for them repair them, and that’s what I did for, oh, until 1966, of course in the meantime, um, in 1950 I volunteered for the Air Force reserve and the Korean War broke out, so I was called to active duty and I served a year in Korea during the Korean War. 13. After the war was over I came back and continued working in the civil service repairing airplanes and then they closed the place down and we had to move from mobile Alabama to San Antonio because I didn’t have enough time, I wasn’t old enough to retire. 14. So I continued my work here in San Antonio, and so I retired in 1980 I think it was. 15. And I’ve been retired ever since and just love to do gardening work, travel, fish anything that I can do for a man age 82. 16. So, that’s basically the short story of my life, up till now. 17. Did you have some, lets say, did you notice some differences when you talk to people from the South or from the West, I mean in
124 S. Transcript Commentary No. pronunciation, vocabulary and so on? 18. Well, very much so, because I was used to speaking Czech mostly. 19. But when I started learning English I learned the way we used to speak here in Texas and then after I volunteered for the Army I was stationed in San Antonio, Texas Usually military term. and people began to volunteer from all over the United States, some were drafted in and then I began to notice that some people spoke differently. 20. People, say, from California, they used to Yous, youse – dialectical (esp. say ‘Yous guys’ instead of ‘you people’ or Liverpool and Glasgow) and something like that. low prestige substitutes for the plural noun you. In printed work (as distinct from dialectical fieldwork) both yous and youse turn up most frequently in representations of the speech of poorly educated Amer., Aust., and NZ speakers. Some examples: Youse kids makes me tired – S. Crane, 1938 (US); Say, yous guys, this is fellowworker McCreary – J.Dos Passos, 1930 (US). (Fowler, H. 1996, 861) Also widely used in Irish English: What did yous do today? How are yous (doing)? Hawa yous? Irish going to the States – also indicate Boston New York. Irish ‘yousuns’ you ones i.e. are yousuns coming to lunch? 21. People from up north , New York, New This expression comes from Jersey, Boston and thing like that so it was BrE he is from up north a very, it was very odd for me to listen to northerner, indicating North of people the way they talk English. Birmingham and the Midlands – old industrial areas – little pejorative. People from up north would say in a similar slightly pejorative way he is from down south (southerner). (džoojzi, boostn) 22. And of course while I lived in Mobile Alabama those people used to speak so slow that it made me feel like I wanted to pull the
125 S. Transcript Commentary No. words out of their mouth, because it was coming out too slow for me, and speaking the way they spoke like we were taught to pronounce the word ‘four’ they would say ‘fowr’ or ‘fourteen’ they would say ‘fowteen’ and, you know, just things like this you noticed that they’re different in different parts, the area, Louisiana, Mississippi. 23. I can not say that I could even understand some of the people in Louisiana because they had their own slang because of the French minority or majority there and after so many years now, this I’m talking about back in the 40s and 50s but in the 2000 year, because of Colloquialism the radios and television and things like that, people begin to kind of speak use the same language because they hear each other on television and everything and it’s beginning to blend in so it’s a little, it’s a little harder to determine where you’re from. 24. Every once in a while some people say ‘hows yous guys’ or things like that and so you know they’re from California. So, I don’t know, being that I’ve been around here I listen to it all the time I don’t pay much attention to it, but people from other countries, say like Czech Republic or from somewhere, they might notice it a little more that I do. Analysis of a Speaker’s Idiosyncratic Ways of Expression: Charles was born in Texas (for military documents of his father see Appendix 16). He is 82 years old. His parents were Czechs. He did not speak English until the age of eight. He finished his high school education and he studied for two years at a university. Although he speaks openly and the talk is informal, he takes the interview very seriously and avoids any slang or colloquial expressions. Charles stresses that he is American (introducing, country, state, town, having American school) but he is still proud of his Czech heritage. When he talks about the 40’s and 50’s, he is dreaming happily about a younger age. He was not asked why he joined the military, however, he explains that he joined the military during WW II. His lexis is regular, he scarcely uses military terms ‘ enlisted, Air Force reserve, stationed, draft .’ He does not use slang expressions. The only idiomatic and colloquial expressions he uses are ‘ sun up to sun down ’ and ‘ back in the 40s ’. Words such as ‘ draft, got ’ are typical of the American variety of English as well as the expression ‘ son ’ that was often used in John Wayne movies. His grammar is without irregularities. He uses contractions. The interview is cohesive and coherent. There is an absence of voiced hesitations (uhm, er, erm…). He uses ‘well’ twice at the beginning of sentences – a
126 common trait when old people are reminiscing about the past. The first usage and its continuation ‘ Well, to begin with,… ’ indicates hesitation, gathering ideas. The second usage ‘ Well, very much so, because… ’ modifies the intensifier ‘ very much .’ The only unfinished sentence is at the beginning ‘ I didn’t know how to speak Cz… English… ’ The intonation pattern and the rhythm of speech is even and micro pauses are acceptable. Speaker 12 (Tim from Texas, Army) Rank Gender Years of Service Mission Abroad NCO Male 9 ? S. Transcript Commentary No. 1. I joined the military at the age of 29 because Immediate negativity and to the I didn't have anything better to do. degree of nonchalance, almost rudeness. 2. Also, because I'd been living with a woman The frankness of his who was the ex girlfriend of my best friend. conversation here shows disdain for either himself, his girlfriend, his best friend or all three. There is certainly a lack of respect somewhere. 3. And I fell in love with her. 4. But they got back together, and I needed to 1. Colloquial expression make a sharp 1 departure and leave that meaning immediate . scene 2. 2. Situation. 5. And I was a little disappointed because they In America, a high school is a wouldn't let me be an officer because I had a school for older pupils up to the letter from West Point in my senior year of age of 18. In Britain, the high school . general term for a school of this kind is secondary school. (Collins Cobuild English Usage 1993, 295) 6. I shudda be an officer, if I had gone to West Regret / bitterness. Contracted Point. pronunciation shudda, instead of ‘should have but lacking + been .’ 7. But, they said if I wanted to be an enlisted To sign a contract. man and if I did well on their tests, I could work in military intelligence; I could go to a foreign country. 8. So, that sounded good to me, and I decided Idiomatic expression meaning to go ahead and make a commitment . to take advantage of something. 9. And, it was a better job than the ones I'd had. 10. I'd been a clerk in a hardware store. US pronunciation. 11. I drove a truck for Halliburton for six weeks Again, frankness of before they fired me. conversation is giving more insight into the character of the soldier than what he actually
127 S. Transcript Commentary No. says. A truck is a large vehicle that is used to transport goods by road, used mainly in American English. The usual British word is lorry. Now and then they heard the roar of a heavy truck . (Collins Cobuild English Dictionary 1997,1792) 12. And I'd been a teacher in the public schools 92 , and one of the ninth graders knocked out one of my colleagues. 13. And I decided that wasn't a safe living. 14. And they were only paying me four thousand dollars a semester back then anyway, in 1980. 15. So, it was the best job I'd had, and it put food 1.Idiomatic expression. The on the table 1, and we raised two kids 2, well same as ‘ It pays the bills’ or ‘ It the second kid 3 came after the military. keeps the wolf away from door.’ 2. Colloquial expression meaning children . 3. Singular of kids. 16. But I was in for eight years and eight months, in the, in the U.S. Army, and I made sergeant. 17. Just E 51 promotable 2 when I got out. 1.‘E’ stands for enlisted and digit “5” indicates pay grade. 2. He was selected for being promoted but for certain reasons he was not promoted. 18. They dangled that carrot in front of me. Idiomatic expression meaning to give somebody an incentive, to motivate somebody. 19. They wouldn't let me go to BNOC 1 until I re 1. Basic Non commissioned enlisted 2. Officer Course. 2. To sign another contract. 20. So, I did not reenlist because I had an He did not sign another inheritance from my father. contract. 21. Otherwise, I would have gone 20 years. 22. And I liked it, but it's a dangerous job. 23. You have to be careful.
24. Don't run over anybody's foot with your two and a half ton truck, as I did. 25. Do you need more? 26. Where were you living at the time?
27. When I joined, I was in Austin, Texas.
128 S. Transcript Commentary No. 28. And I came down here to San Antonio to the Military Enlistment Processing Center, and, so I'd get some benefits from the state of Texas. 29. I could go back to school, and they'll pay for my tuition. Analysis of a Speaker’s Idiosyncratic Ways of Expression: Tim was born in Texas; which is revealed from his southern accent. It is not very strong, but it is noticeable. The sequence of events is rarely fluent (he switches into other topics). The lexis is linked to the topic. He uses some idiomatic expressions ( put food on the table, they dangled that carrot in front of me, go ahead and make a commitment ), phrasal words ( fell in love, knocked out, ) and he also uses a couple of expressions related to military culture such as to enlist, to reenlist , and join the military . These expressions are well understood. The same is with the colloquial expression ( sharp departure ). He does not use special military vocabulary, however, he uses some special military abbreviations ( E 5 and BNOC ). E 5 stands for enlisted (someone who signs a contract) and indicates pay grade. Military personnel or someone with a military background know that it is the rank of a sergeant that has a wide scope of responsibilities. BNOC stands for Basic Non commission Officer Course. There are several courses for non commissioned officers if they seek promotion. Primary Leader Development Course (PLDC), Basic Non commission Officer Course (BNOC), and Advanced Non commissioned Course. The sentence “ Just E 5 promotable when I got out. ” is vague for somebody who has no military background. There is a Battalion Promotion Board that gives a number of points to every non commissioned officer (NCO). In our case let us say that the range of points for being promoted is from 300 to 500 points. Anyone having less than 300 points cannot be promoted. Anyone having 300 to 400 points is qualified and anyone having more than 400 points is considered as the best qualified. Tim was E 4 and he received 350 points. It means that he could have been promoted (he was promotable), but only those who had more than 400 were promoted. He does not say that he was not the best qualified. In this part he observes the maxim of quality, however he intentionally violates the maxim of manner. He intentionally violates the same manner in the following sentence: “ They wouldn't let me go to BNOC until I re enlisted.” He does not provide us with full information. In the US military system he signed a contract, let us say for three years. He wanted to get more points for promotion and he asked to participate in the BNOC course that takes five months (for our case). He had already finished the second year of his contract. After finishing the course he would have been allowed to quit the military in seven months. Thus, he was asked to sign another contract in order to serve and pay expenses for the course and not to leave shortly after finishing the course. He usually engages in proper grammar and proper tenses. The exception is ‘ I shudda be an officer .’ He should have used could have/would have been . Another improper use of grammar is in the last sentence ‘ I could go back to school, and they'll pay for my tuition .’ The tense is unclear. Does it mean now or then? If he
129 means now he should use would . Most probably he is referring to the past and for that reason he should have said: ‘I could have gone…they would have paid…’ The intonation patterns (he pronounces ‘ I’ as ‘ ah ’ instead of long ‘ I’, ‘because ’ as ‘ buhcause ’) reveal that he comes from the South of the USA. The rhythm of speech is even, pauses were acceptable and he never uses non fluency features such as voiced hesitations. He regularly uses contractions ( I’ll, I’d, wouldn’t, don’t, wasn’t, shudda ). In general, the interview is cohesive and coherent. Speaker 13 (Danetra from Houston, the Army) Rank Gender Years of Service Mission Abroad NCO Female 4 Korea S. Transcript Commentary No. 1. Okay, please, will you tell me, why did you join the military, or something about yourself? 2. Why did I join the military? 3. Um, actually I had a good job but I just was lookin’ for somethin’ different, a challenge, something more challenging and that’s why I joined the military. 4. Not for school, not for anything like that, just for a challenge. 5. And that’s it, basically. 6. How did you find it? How did you find life in military? 7. Um, from civilian life it’s quite different. 8. I mean, it’s more disciplined but it’s, it’s okay. 9. I really have no complaints. 10. I don’t know how to elaborate more on that, but – [Another voice: I could get out ] 11. No, [incomprehensible] there’s really nothing to, to elaborate. 12. It was, I joined for a challenge. 13. It wasn’t, initially it wasn’t what I expected, you know, but, the more I stayed in, I mean, it got better so I don’t really have any complaints. 14. So, basically you like it? 15. Yeah, basically I like it. 16. And you were in Korea – how did you find people in Korea? And, let’s say, cultural differences? 17. The culture is, it was quite different. 18. To be honest with you, I was mad because I had to go to Korea, you know, because it was so far from home. 19. But, you know, you get over there, you have some people, as with anywhere you go, you know, they’re not so friendly because, you know.
130 S. Transcript Commentary No. 20. We have protestors there who didn’t like, you know, the American soldiers in their country, you know. 21. And they would always protest, but you have some Government Issue. that were very friendly towards the, the GI s over there. 22. So, I mean, you have both good people and bad people and I mean, culturally it was, it was different. 23. I mean, the, the type of things that they did and we did but we found, like, um, some way to meet in the middle. 24. You know, I have a lot of Korean friends, as a matter of fact, so it’s, it’s different but it works. 25. Can you describe, let’s say, the best experience in Korea and the worst experience in Korea? 26. Uh, the worst – I, I really can’t, can’t speak on that because nothing bad ever happened to me. 27. I mean, it was just different because that was the first time I saw, like, a protest going on, you know. 28. And people were screaming angry things, you know, at us when we were only over there trying to help. 29. But the best part was just, like, me learning about a different culture because that was the first time that I’ve ever been out of the US. 30. And, um, just meeting different people, you know, getting to know them as a person, you know, it was, it was nice. 31. And what about language and local customs? 32. The language it was, it was different, of course, you know. 33. But actually, I know a few things in, you know, Hanguma[?] is the, the language for Korean 34. Well, for Korea, so, um, my friends, you know, they taught me a little bit of their language, so it’s, it’s nice. 35. And, what about local customs and habits? 36. Um, customs, habits, I mean, it’s, Korea – it’s, it’s a lot. 37. Um, I just can’t, can’t point one thing right now. Um, I – 38. Okay. 39. No, I I I it’s not you, I mean, it’s just 40. 3rd voice: You know I’m not listenin’ to whatever you say. 41. No. Ko Korea, I mean, is, is, is different, you know, so they do a lot of things different than, than
131 S. Transcript Commentary No. we do. 42. Um, their customs … it’s… 43. Different . 44. Yeah, it’s, it’s different. 45. Okay. Thanks a lot for that. 46. Oh, not a problem. Analysis of a Speaker’s Idiosyncratic Ways of Expression: Danetra is 26 years old, she was born in Houston, TX. She graduated from a college (no detail) and she has been in the Army for four years. Her rank is E 4. The lexis is without military expressions. She uses one military, official abbreviation ( GI ). She avoids using slang, colloquial expressions and idioms. Her vocabulary is limited. The plethora of the same expression ‘ you know ’ is not a speaker’s way of encouraging the interviewer to acknowledge that he listens but functions as a voiced hesitation. It also functions as internal link and its abundance reveals that Danetra gropes for words and ideas. Other voiced hesitations ( uhm ) are common. She uses them to pause without communication breaking down. Repetitions ( the… the, I… I… I, is… is ) serve as voiced hesitations. Grammar is extremely simple and there is a presence of grammatically incomplete utterances. Her answers are short, sometimes incomplete which results in ambiguity. They are not fluent, and the flow of speech – ‘direction’ is changed in the middle of the sentence. They show incoherency. For example: What about local customs and habits? Um, customs, habits, I mean, it’s Korea – it’s, it’s a lot. Or ‘ You know, I have a lot of Korean friends, as a matter of fact, so it’s, it’s different but it works ’. What works? Intellectually, her replies shows a remarkable level of naivety and there is absolutely no attempt to engage the subjects in depth. Speaker 14 (Boucid from Morocco, the Army) Rank Gender Years of Service Mission Abroad E 4 Male 2 months – basic S. Transcript No. 1. Good afternoon, sir. Will you tell me why did you join the military or will you tell me something about yourself? 2. Well, first of all, I came here in ninety nine, nineteen ninety nine. 3. I came to US Arm…eh I came to the United States. 4. So I’ve been working different jobs, going to school, and doing my stuff, and different jobs. 5. And em I enjoy the military because I want to serve the United States, because the United States gives me a lot of stuff that I was missing back home. 6. And I want finish my school and do something different for me and for the United States. 7. Are you married? 8. Not yet. 9. And where did you come from?
132 S. Transcript No. 10. I came from Morocco, Casablanca. 11. Okay, so was it difficult for you to come, I mean was it difficult for you to be in a different environment? 12. Actually, here you can keep your religion, freedom, it’s not totally different. 13. It’s just you need to get yourself used to this stuff, that’s it, that’s all. 14. And how do you like it here in the military? It’s a pretty tough job, so…. 15. Well, this is my choice. 16. I choose it, so I got to deal with it. 17. So you want to make it your career? 18. That’s my, I want to make it my career, yes. 19. And you said that you studied at the college. 20. Yes, Bachelor, I was studying merchant’s marine. 21. I was in the ??? Navy, Moroccan Navy. 22. So – you’ve got large experience. 23. Yes, 12 years. 24. Twelve years. So what was the reason why you started from the beginning here? Why didn’t you continue there? 25. It’s different. 26. Like I said, I choose to change, and I, I wanna make my, I did my choice, I choose my choice, so it’s different, you know. 27. I, I moved from my country. 28. So I came here five years then after that I decide to go to the Army. 29. So this is, this was my choice, bases on the stuff that I told you before, that I wanna serve, I want to something to do for myself, and finish my master’s. 30. Did you study English in Morocco? 31. Well, actually, I studied English for seven years then I studied English in Columbus State, Ohio, then I took some basic English, and then I’m here in DLI to take more English. 32. So you are in a way lucky because this is, you must speak English all the time? 33. Well, actually, I like to speak English all the time. 34. I speak English all the time anyways. 35. And who is your teacher in DLI? 36. Eh, well actually eh it’s second my second teacher in DLI. 37. The first one, his name is Landon, second Franklin the second one is Mr.???. 38. Two teachers. 39. I took the Book 25 with the first one, and Book 26 and 27 with the second one, eh second teacher. 40. And what was your OPI score? 41. My OPI score was seventy seven. 42. Oh, you mean ECL. 43. ECL, not OPI. OPI I didn’t take it yet, was seventy seven. 44. Well, that’s a good score. 45. Next time I’ll make it, maybe. 46. Okay, so thank you for that. And I wish you all the best in your military career. 47. You are welcomed any time, thank you very much.
133 Analysis of a Speaker’s Idiosyncratic Ways of Expression: Boucid was born in Casablanca, Morocco. He obtained his BA degree at a college in Casablanca. He is 24 years old now and holds the rank of E 4 thanks to his college education. He gets Army training and language training. He is not talkative and he rather waits for specific questions. The interview is formal because of the social distance. Lexis is simple and limited. He does not use military terminology and the only abbreviations he uses are related to language school. Cases of repetitions ( I came…I came, I…I, second…second, ) are used as voiced hesitation and the purpose is to get time in searching for words. You know is used for the same purpose. He uses some polysemic expressions in different context ( doing my stuff – everyday things, a lot of stuff – different experience, used to this stuff environment, on the stuff – the story,). This proves his lack of vocabulary. He uses colloquialisms (stuff, anyways ), contractions ( wanna ), non standard expressions ( I took some basic English ), and makes many vocabulary mistakes ( this was my choice bases on the stuff – based). Boucid’s grammar is still poor and is equivalent to a pre intermediate level. He omits prepositions and particles ( working different jobs, want finish ). He makes mistakes in word order ( I want to something to do for myself, and finish my master’s. ). The speech is not fluent, he changes ‘direction’ of speech ( that’s my…I want to, this is…this was ). There are pauses caused by thinking of what to say and how to say it. He uses voiced hesitations ( eh ). The part (24 – 29) is ambiguous. Boucid does not properly answer the question ‘Why didn’t you continue there?’ (studies in his country). He repeats the phrase ‘ it’s different’ and stresses ‘ I did my choice, I choose my choice and I wanna serve’ . He either doesn’t understand or doesn’t want to give a truthful answer. He says it’s different but he doesn’t say what is different. The interview, as a whole is characterized by incoherence, self justification and an attempt to ingratiate himself. Notes: I got deal with it – problems you have to face, make it your career lifetime job, OPI – Oral Proficiency Interview, ECL – English Comprehension Level. Speaker 15 (Jackson from Turkey, the Army) Rank Gender Years of Service Mission Abroad E 3 Female 4 months – basic S. Transcript No. 1. Good afternoon, ma’am. Please will you tell me why did you join the military or will you tell me something about yourself. 2. Sure. 3. I joined the military because, because it my job is very interesting to me. My job is translator. 4. That’s why I like my job. 5. Which is Zero Nine Lima, they call it. 6. And is, when I joined the military my recruiter he told me about the job I gonna get it, and what I should expect, I mean basically explained to me that I’m going to English school I can learn English better, they gonna teach me grammar, the gonna teach me to talking everything. 7. And first, I went here, as, I mean, I feel so lucky that I am here.
134 S. Transcript No. 8. I am, I feel wonderful here. 9. Because my teacher, my old teacher was great. 10. They know how can teach the people. 11. They know how can handle the program. 12. Was great. 13. I mean, they give you opportunity; military people, they give you opportunity to learn English. 14. I cannot ask more. 15. I cannot ask more. 16. And, but I went to school, all our supervisor were nice, and teachers were nice. 17. We spend almost seven, eight hours in classroom and we learn very, very, very good English. 18. They teach us very good. 19. They, they play you games the same moment they teaching you the English. 20. And all they are professional. 21. They are very professional. 22. They are very professional. 23. And for example, if you have problem or something, they know, and they call you and they say, okay. 24. Come on, let make the fun, they make you relax, they share your problem, at same moment they give you the, they give examples everything. 25. I mean, I am, I always say I am so happy I am here. 26. They give me this opportunity to take my English classes, learn English the better, and my drill sergeants all of them is they’re great; my senior drill sergeant is the best . 27. I mean, they are, they are wonderful, they are helping to us, they are helping to us to prepare basic training. 28. I always tell myself if, if, if I just go first to basic training and I didn’t come to here, I know I gonna have many, many problems. 29. They teach us to hear the marching, they teach us the salute, they teach us the dress by dress, everything, And they give peoples … 30. Excuse me, what does it mean “dress by dress”? 31. Like when we go in formation time, when we go in formation time, and you need, you are holding the position attention, and after that they call dress by dress and you are making your distance, and that’s why they call it dress by dress. 32. And I mean, they teach us the salute, they teach us marching, left face, right face, about face, I always say, I mean, my husband’s in the military too, but I never know this stuff, I never know, because my husband he never carry stuff in the house. 33. But when I came here they teach us so good. 34. Now I’m, I am motivated, I am so motivated. 35. And I graduated, and I am, I am, I am so excited to go basic. 36. When I was in my, my city, and many people was like, oh my gosh, what we gonna do, we’re going to basic, how can I handle the basic, how can I do the push up, how can I do sit up, oh my gosh, how can I gonna handle the mile, the two mile run?
135 S. Transcript No. 37. I can run 10 miles now, just even you don’t need look to clock. 38. I know I can make it. S. Transcript No. 39. I mean, they train us that slow, but, step by step, step by step, not like the… When you come here they start with first one mile, then you get one half miles, then two miles. 40. For example, I have been here fifteen weeks I can run very, very easily ten miles. 41. I mean my age is twenty nine, and I run two miles fifteen minutes. 42. But thing is, they help us, they know the way how can how can handle. 43. I mean, they, they start step by step. 44. Nothing..I mean first, when I came here, my running was three, three minutes. But next, step by step, everything takes step by step. 45. But they know. 46. That’s why I tell everybody, I mean this is the very good opportunity, they need to use it. They’re helping to us with everything. 47. You mentioned that you worked as a translator. Which languages did you translate? 48. Eh, my formal language is Turkish. 49. But I also speak Kurdish, because my Mom and my father they are Kurdish. 50. But in my country we have a like Kurdish, like 15 different, what they call different dialects, and I can understand all of them. 51. Then you are right. This is an excellent opportunity to be here and study English. 52. Yes, that’s why I am so happy the Army give me this opportunity I can use. 53. I can be useful to my country I can be useful the Army. 54. I mean, I am, I am, I don’t know, I’m so happy to be here. 55. I’m so happy to be here. 56. All my drill sergeants always, if you are really good soldiers, and you do the right things; they really, really help you. 57. I mean, if you have family problems, anything, they, they’d do anything for you. 58. You must need to do the right things, that’s the rule, that’s the military. 59. I understand. It must be pretty tough actually. You said that you’ve been married, and do you have children? 60. Not yet. 61. We’re planning in maybe two more years. 62. So I wonder, with the children, how would you manage all that stuff? 63. Well, thing is, when you join the military you know that you are going to, I mean when you sign the paperwork you say, I serve, I will serve my country. 64. You know, wherever it takes me to serve this country. 65. I mean, if they are gonna send to Iraq, I am, I am more than happy to stay over there and help peoples. 66. That’s my job.
136 S. Transcript No. 67. If they want to send me for three years over there, I go there, no problem. 68. I mean, me and my husband, when we signed the paper we signed honestly. 69. That’s the, that’s the, that’s what we are doing, that’s our job, that’s why they are paying for us, and we need to deserve it with this money. 70. And where did you study English? 71. I started study English in my country when I was in college. 72. But actually, my husband, he is American and he help me in speaking English. 73. My problem was, because I went to here, my problem was grammar. 74. And that’s why I learn the grammar over here. 75. And I always say our teacher is best. 76. That’s like if you write some orders, say some written orders or memos. 77. Yes, Yes. 78. I already take the tests. 79. I also take the OPI, too. 80. Because my MOS requires the OPI, too. 81. I took the OPI, too. 82. Did you pass it? 83. Yes, 2+, 3. 84. Well, congratulations. 85. Thank you, thank you sir. 86. Thank you sir. 87. Just, I want to, I want to let you know, sir, I mean, this is the – they give us a great opportunity to be here. 88. I always, every, every morning, I get up, I say thanks to God they sent me to here. 89. I learn everything good, now. 90. I am so ready, I am so ready for basic. 91. I hope they send me to basic that twenty months. 92. I’m, I’m ready. 93. I’m ready. 94. Because I always say, when I first went to here, I was motivated, but now when I am here, I am two hundred per cent motivated. 95. Because this is my drill sergeant all my drill sergeants and all my teachers they help me a lot, they help me a lot. 96. They make me strong. 97. They help me, I mean; they help me to they help me to which way I need to take it. 98. Okay, so I thank you very much, and all best in your military career. 99. Thank you, sir, you too, sir, thank you, sir, you too, sir. Thank you. Analysis of a Speaker’s Idiosyncratic Ways of Expression: Jackson was born in Turkey. She studied at a college in Turkey. She is 29 years old and she got the E 3 rank thanks to her studies at a college. She gets Army training. She is talkative and knows my rank. Her politeness is excessive (the most striking example is the last sentence ’ thank you, sir, you too, sir, thank you, sir, you too, sir ’) and has traces of naivety / sycophancy. She probably thinks that I might help her (or not help her) in her career. Similarly, she emphasizes best when she speaks about her Sergeant. The interview is formal because of the social distance.
137 She makes many grammatical mistakes and for that reason she is in language training. Her lexis is larger in comparison with Boucid, but as equally chosen with care. She uses minimum military terminology. There are many cases of repetitions (very, very, very – I cannot ask more, I cannot ask more – they are all professionals, they are all professionals, they are all professionals – I am, I am, I am, etc.). She uses colloquial contractions (gonna). She makes mistakes in using the proper vocabulary ( good, well, better, time – line ), omits prepositions, etc. Her grammar is slightly better than Boucid’s grammar. She omits subjects (and is, I mean basically explained to me , etc.), makes mistakes in word order (because it my job is very interesting to me ). She sometimes mixes tenses, leaves sentences unfinished and changes direction in the speech flow. Wrong usage of 3 rd person, singular (h e never carry stuff… ). She has a foreign accent. Her intonation reveals that she has not been in the U.S for a long time. She exceptionally uses voiced hesitations ( eh, oh ), her speech is fast as if she were afraid of being interrupted. Notes: dress by dress is U.S. military term – dressing is BrE term, when I first went to here arrived
138 5. CONCLUSION
“And the whole earth was one language, and of one speech…. And the Lord said, Behold the people is one, and they have all one language…. Let us go down and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of the earth. Genesis 11 : 1, 6 – 8
Effective communication is important in everyday life. Knowing the words and grammar itself is not enough. We have to know when to say what and to whom and we must be able to communicate effectively with each other on both a personal as well as business level. Different groups of people form the society and the society is intertwined with language into such extent that it is impossible to understand one without the other. The military is considered as one social group with different sub groups. These groups and sub groups have their own technical vocabulary and jargon and they also have their own slang and ways of expression. “It is widely believed that there is a natural connection between the language spoken by members of a social group and that group’s identity. By their accent, their vocabulary, their discourse patterns, speakers identify themselves and are identified as members of this or that speech and discourse community. From this membership, they draw personal strength and pride, as well as a sense of social importance and historical continuity from using the same language as the group they belong to.” (Kramsch 2000, 65)
5. 1. Lexical part
The field of combat was a long, narrow, green baize covered table. The weapons were words. Admiral C. Turner Joy, USN (on a year of truce negotiations in Korea, December 31, 1952 )
It has been shown that the majority of military slang and colloquial expressions originated in tandem with the political situation of the time (see Table 1 and Table 3). In short, military conflict leads to a surge of technical invention, weapons development and mass production plus, consequently, an explosion in official terms for these creations. In turn, as these are often technical, acronymic and benign in meaning, the machines are quickly re christened by those who use or face them. The majority of military slang expressions originated during wars, especially during the World Wars and the Gulf War (see Table 3). Wars create new strategic and tactical situations that require ever newer descriptions, names and substitutions for them. Miller, Wood, de Dwyer (1989, 508) briefly and distinctively describe how new military words, both official and colloquial, originate in conjunction with a conflict: “The first world war, called the Great War , was eventually called World War I with the advent of World War II . The doughboys or Yanks , American soldiers of the First War, came to know the meaning of words like barrage, bombproof, camouflage, chow line, civvies, dud (bomb that fails to explode), grenade, hitch
139 (period of enlistment), parachute, red tape (used on government documents in English), sabotage, shell shock , and trench warfare . Soldiers fighting in the trenches or foxholes were accustomed to digging in before going over the top to charge into no man’s land (the land between two military lines). The GI of World War II took his name from the initials stamped or stenciled on Government Issue underwear or Jeeps . Swabbies in the navy passed around scuttlebutt (gossip) about new inventions such as radar and sonar . Flyboys signaled a code word, roger (message received; later it would mean OK). If hit with flak (antiaircraft fire; later criticism), they could be helped with penicillin . Servicemen everywhere taped photos of their favorite pin up girl ; one of movie idol Rita Hayworth was put on Fat Boy, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in August, 1945. The bomb brought fission, countdown, fireball, mushroom cloud, radioactive , and fallout . The world had entered the atomic age . America’s influence and language were pervasive.” The slang and vulgar expressions reflect the situation of soldiers, their suffering in trenches and in combat areas. They also reflect the situation of soldiers in which they see their friends or enemies being injured or killed. Moreover, the long term remoteness of soldiers from their families and everyday casual social life contributed to the creation of slang expressions as well. Table 29, and
140 Table 30 clearly show that events such as wars have a creative impact on the development of new slang and colloquial expressions. Last but not least, “Slang words and phrases are often ‘invented’ in keeping with new ideas and customs. They may represent ‘in’ attitudes better than the more conservative items of the vocabulary. Their importance is shown by the fact that it was thought necessary to give the returning Vietnam prisoners of war a glossary of eighty/six new slang words and phrases, from acid to zonked. The words on this list – prepared by the Air Force – had come into use during only five years.” (Fromkin & Rodman 1983, 265) In addition to what has been said, it is the daily routine, environment and culture of military life as a whole that causes the coinage of contemporary colloquial and slang expressions (see Table 10 and Table 11, in which the expressions depict the members of the Air Force and Navy). The process in which military slang expressions originate is the same as with the word making of other regular lexical units. Some slang terms come from other languages; some may be pure inventions. Other words were created as compounds or abbreviations or came through a semantic or functional shift. With regard to “borrowings” Burghes, A., (1992, 153) mentions: “It is also interesting to see what military English does with foreign importations. ‘The Blitz of Blitzkrieg’ lost its native meaning of lightning and now carries connotations of wanton aerial destruction and massive civic bravery. Conversely, ’ spiv’ (which had a brief currency after World War II meaning ‘loudly dressed black marketer’ and a cluster of other bad meanings) was taken over by the French as an epithet that, when applied to a garment, meant ‘stylish.’ The Malay word p rang meaning ‘ war, ’ passed into RAF usage with the particularized meaning of an attack, usually a ‘wizard’ one. An age that has worried about its approaching nuclear destruction was quick to coin ‘megadeath.’” In certain cases, new slang words were created due to misunderstandings between cultures. For example the word mungy . “British troops on duty at the Gibraltrar Spanish frontier used to point at the baskets of home going Spanish workers and say ’ Mungy?’ The workers would reply, ‘ Si, mungy’ ” The British thought it was Spanish, and the Spanish thought it was English.” (Burghes 1992, 245). British troops thought that mungy stood for food in Spanish. However, Spanish workers thought that the British were asking about monkeys being taken from Gibraltar and they answered yes. In this way the word evolved. Another military example of this in Czech, would be the words base, mission and, on a smaller scale, backroad . These were adopted into Czech with a different semantic meaning in the early 1990s (see Chapter 3, dealing with the influence of military English on Czech military language). Some slang expressions are just plain old terms with new meanings and others are combinations of existing words or foreign imports. Many are also just blends in their own right or indeed blends of all the above. A military type of national insult is that of referring to nationalities by their food habits such as krauts or differences in facial physiognomy such as slants, slopes, slant eyes , etc. See Table 21. Some terms may derive from the names of (famous) people (e.g., Bouncing Betty 93 ) Many slang terms involve some kind of semantic shift from an existing English word, especially through metaphor or generalization. Occasionally, the meaning would then cross over into official ‘civilian’ English language, either intact
141 or with a further alteration in the semantics. An example would be the offensive slang expression jerry, which changed its meaning during WW II. This term became a modifier for another slang expression in jerry can and later came to be used as a technical term both in military and civilian speech. Similar alterations also occurred with various abbreviations. For example, the official military expression ‘as soon as possible’ was shortened to the slang ASAP that later became an official military abbreviation and then later adopted as an official English abbreviation. Another example would be M.R.E. It is an official abbreviation of ‘meal ready to eat,’ a field ration. However, it has several reinterpretations. One of them is ‘meal refusing to exit’ reflecting the belief that the plastic packed filled ration caused constipation. Another widely used reinterpretation is ‘meal rejected in Ethiopia’ or ‘meal refused/rejected by Ethiopians,’ alluding to the extended period of famine in Ethiopia. Ironically, during the summer of 1991 the Pentagon offered to give away surplus M.R.E.’s from the Gulf deployment, and one of the few nations that agreed to take the food was Ethiopia. In other words M.R.E. shifted its meaning into slang expression, firstly within the military and then within civilian English. Abbreviations flourish not only in official military terminology (Table 28) but in military slang as well (see Table 29 and Table 30). Burridge (2004, 54) supports this conclusion by saying: “Some acronyms become so fashionable they trigger copycat formations. The military acronym snafu ‘situation normal, all fucked up’ has spawned a number of similar acronyms including commfu ‘complete monumental military fuck up’, tarfu ‘things are really fucked up’ fubar ‘fucked up beyond all recognition.” Some “military slang expressions”, however, are simply the inventions of Hollywood. For example the term “ code red 94 ” meaning harassment. Several colloquial and slang expressions are polite; others are considered as vulgar or taboo (see Table 44 Table 49). 5. 1. 1. U.S. Armed Forces Slang At the beginning of each world war most of the American soldiers’ first point of contact was with British soldiers. British soldiers were present in the battlefield before the Americans and they had developed a huge vocabulary of jargon. As the American and British soldiers spoke the same language, the American soldiers did not feel the need to invent other slang expressions, especially in the initial stages of each of the major European conflicts. Basically, the slang in existence sufficed. This is also the reason why many military and colloquial slang expressions that originated during WW I, WWII and the Gulf War are the same for Americans and British. In the closing chapters of the wars, however, much of the slang can be attributed to the North Americans. It is interesting to note though, that after the end of the wars, very little of this jargon actually survived in the military or made its way into the general speech of the United States. The American forces were also engaged in several battles either by themselves or where far more interaction with the local people was enforced. This led to a considerable level of slang acquisition by the military (see Table 35) and was especially noticeable during the Korean, Vietnam, and Gulf Wars. Like the European Wars though, much of this failed to make it into the day to day discourse of the American public. However, this is not to say that America’s influence and military history have not had a significant impact on the language. Indeed, on a scale broader than the subject of this dissertation work, the opposite is in fact true.
142 It is obvious; from the analyzed part, that the main groups (Army, Air Force, and Navy see Table 15 Table 16 Table 17) use their own slang and colloquial expressions. Moreover, the sub groups (Rangers, Green Berets, Delta Force, SEALS, etc.) also have their own slang expressions. Only a few expressions are used in all three services or understood by civilians at large. A typical example might be ‘grunt ,’ but even this expression is more frequent in the Army than the Air Force or Navy. The USAF (United States Air Force) has its own chain of command and its members usually do not work with other branches. Hence, they have been using a jargon that is not understood by members of the other services. In other words, members of the Army or Navy would not understand them. Moreover, because of the necessity of condensed and coded expressions during missions in the Air Force, there is a very high tendency towards brachylogy. This tendency is closely connected with the usage of the phonetic alphabet (see Table 31) which results in other slang expressions (see Table 32).
143 5. 1. 2. British Armed Forces Slang The British Armed Forces have adopted many forms of buzzwords, slang, and colloquial expressions throughout their military adventures. Colonialism and enforced interaction with different cultures led them, in turn, to adopt these new words as jargon in their conversation (see Table 34). Although these words were indeed foreign to the language, the public, albeit after considerable periods of time, warmed to a proportion of them and began to utilize them in everyday speech. Indeed, a number of these expressions have even been adopted by the American public. In conclusion to this part, the slang and colloquialisms used by the military have indeed brought about a noticeable change in the English language. New words have been introduced and foreign words adopted, be it for purely military use or propagandistic and civilian purposes – for example where propaganda has been disseminated through popular expressions, chauvinistic jargon or even false senses of patriotism and sensationalism. In addition, military equipment, weapons and new inventions have greatly influenced the public’s idiomatic, slang, and vulgar expressionism. As the cultures of Europe dusted off the Second World War and prepared for a Third, so too did the language and these, in tandem, fuelled the largest armies ever to grace the earth.
144 5. 2. Military Interviews
Modern war needs modern lingo. William Safire
The military interviews share a similar social context; they have their own generic structures, lexical and grammatical features and patterns of usage that reflect the relationship (social distance – power and status) between the interviewer and the interviewee. The relationship between the interviewees and interviewer is, in the majority of cases, impersonal and formal (see Table 56). The main reason for this is due to the fact that many of the interviewees are of a significantly low rank and have difficulty in comprehending the apparent informality of a Lieutenant Colonel. The interviews are, therefore, more or less monologues and, despite being told to relax and speak freely, soldierly and prescribed with regards to their speech patterns. Due to culture or confidentiality, the answers to the questions related to age, education or missions abroad are avoided in some cases. Age in the U.S. military is connected with the years of service, education and rank and this has an enormous impact on the register of single personnel. The example might be Speaker 13 whose speech shows incoherency and limited vocabulary in contrast with Speaker 1 or Speaker 3. The interviews prove that those with a longer service and higher rank speak more freely and openly. Their speech is rather semiformal than formal though and they try to speak ‘proper English’ even when they invoke slang and colloquial expressions (see Table 56). On the contrary, those with a lower rank, for example Speaker 7 and Speaker 13, use rather substandard English, which is generally connected to a lesser education. The exception to this might be the interview with Speaker 11. In comparison with other speakers Speaker 11 served a relatively short time. In spite of that his rank is high within NCOs and he speaks ‘proper English’ without any substandard features. As he has not finished his college education the question remains whether he took part in specialized courses during his military career or later during his civilian career. The interviews with Speaker 14 and Speaker 15 should serve only as examples because they both are immigrants and both of them have been only a short time in the US and the US military.
145 Table 56: Detailed List of Speakers Name Gender, Age, Branch Rank Years Missions Formal Military Military Abbrev. Voiced Placeof Birth, and of of Abroad or Slang Expressions Features Education Service Service Informal Speaker 1 M, MA Air Force Officer 25 Semiformal No Yes No (Lou) degree Speaker 2 M – 58, San Air Force Lt Col 25 (ret.) Germany, Semiformal Yes Yes (Walt) Antonio, TX Korea, Japan, MA degree Vietnam, etc. Speaker 3 M Air Force NCO (ret.) Vietnam, Formal No No Yes (Samuel) Pacific Speaker 4 F Air Force 12 Yes Formal No No Yes (Janet) Speaker 5 M – 45 MSc Navy LCDR 13 Yes Semiformal Yes Yes Yes (Bryn) degree Speaker 6 F MA Navy CDR 17 Semiformal Yes Yes Yes (Stephanie) degree Speaker 7 M Navy NCO 8 Semiformal No No Yes (Joe) Speaker 8 F Navy NCO Spain, Greece Semiformal No Yes No (Sheila) Speaker 9 F – 30, TX, Navy E 6 Petty 11 Korea Formal No Yes Yes (Noriega) High school Officer 1 st Class Speaker 10 M Army Captain 24 Germany Semiformal No Yes Yes (Steve)
146 Name Gender, Age, Branch Rank Years Missions Formal Military Military Abbrev. Voiced Placeof Birth, and of of Abroad or Slang Expressions Features Education Service Service Informal Speaker 11 M – 82, TX, Army E 8 Chief 5 WW II, Korea Informal No Yes No (Charles) High school, Master 2 yrs. Sergeant College Speaker 12 M Army E 4 9 Formal No Yes Yes No (Tim) Corporal Speaker 13 F – 26, TX, Army E 4 4 Korea Formal No No Yes (Danetra) College Corporal Speaker 14 M – 24, Army E 4 2 months Formal No No Yes (Boucid) Morocco, Corporal BA Speaker 15 F 29, Army E 3 4 months Formal No Yes Yes (Jackson) Turkey, Private 1 st College Class Speaker 16 M Army Semiformal Yes Yes Yes No (Dave) Appendix 15
147 5. 2. 1. Slang Expressions Used in Interviews The presence of a small cassette recorder intimidates some of the speakers and prevents them from speaking naturally. “ It is well known that most people will behave differently if they are aware of being tape recorded, and as a result the language they use simply cannot be taken as a reliable sample of spontaneous informal conversation. Even if it seems that they have ‘forgotten’ about the microphone, the data cannot be trusted. In our experience, there seems to be a cyclic pattern of forgetting and remembering about the microphone, with consequent alterations in the manner of speaking. The only safe way of obtaining data is through the technique of surreptitious recording and this requires a degree of technical preparation which precludes its frequent use.”(Crystal & Davy 1973, 96) In addition to the intimidating effect of the cassette recorder, the fact that I am a visiting Colonel (in a foreign uniform) has a further influence on the language that they use. Hence, the speakers consider the interviews official, very serious and formal and their speech is extremely officious (see Speakers 4, 9, and 12). Although the retirees and military veterans speak more freely (see Speakers 1, 2, and 11), they try to avoid using military colloquial and slang expressions, as they know them to be dated and old fashioned. Saying this, however, the use of both formal and informal register is encountered. Due to the above (and in order to have concrete evidence of the slang in use today), it was necessary to conduct a further interview in which the questions prompt not only a colloquial response but also a natural one from the speaker. This is compounded by substituting myself with a third party. This approach successfully negates the problems associated with rank and leads to a marked difference in the discourse. The interview is carried out with a retired British NCO; aged 40 (see Appendix 15 Speaker 16). He is given the familiar question ‘ Can you briefly tell me about your career with the British Army ?’ and an additional twenty four questions that were thoughtfully considered with the third party before the interview was carried out. Closed questions result in the response that I was initially searching for with regards to proving the existence of contemporary military slang and colloquial terminology. In addition to the slang expressions e.g. pig, to get flattened, your backside is giving it ten bob five bob, grass, heavies , he uses a plethora of military jargon “batton guy, snatch squad, player, trigger ops, stoppage, spot codes, joker, etc. Moreover, he regularly uses military abbreviations and aware that his listener is military, does not bother to explain them ( OP, ops, QRF, VCP, GP). 5. 2. 2. Prosodic Features and Other Features It has already been mentioned several times that the interviews are, in the majority of cases, rather more formal than informal. “Interviews differ from face to face conversation and telephone conversation by a greater balance with regard to the degree of indirectness, the balance depending partly on their level of formality. The informal interview shows similarity to informal conversation.” (Urbanová 2003, 46) Hence, before launching into their life stories, the natural openings of ‘ Why did you join the military ?’ are often parried by the interviewees’ repetition of the question ‘ Why did I join the military ?’(see Speaker 1, 3, 4, and 13)
148 As the answers are in effect monologues, it is not fully possible to analyze their prosodic features. The intonation patterns are more or less the same and there is little in the way of enthusiasm or excitement in pitch. The paces of utterances are directly linked to the speed of the activities taking place, seldom increasing and decreasing with excitement. The style of delivery is also more or less the same and it is only on a few of occasions that an emphatic stress to highlight key lexical items is observed. “Other verbal clues help people keep their place in conversation and to give instructions about how to take the next words. Because they so thoroughly belong to spontaneous speech, they haven’t been nearly so well analyzed as have the written discourse markers. Phrases like so anyways, well, ya know , and ya know what I’m saying ’, have the function of marking places in conversation, giving clues that the sequence of spoken sentences can be shown to have cause and effect, or are a series of actions that occur together” (Chaika 1989, 140). Generally speaking, the lower social classes tend to have less formal education and more Blue Collar occupations than those from higher social classes. They are also far more likely to have a regional accent. Due to their education and background, speakers from higher social classes speak in what has been adopted as the “National Accent“ General American Standard for the States and Received Pronunciation for the United Kingdom (interestingly indicative of social status and education alone in the U.K. as opposed to region or place of birth). However, as those from lower social classes progress through the ranks, the distinction between the two classes starts to merge. The same holds true for non native speakers in the U.S. military (see Speaker 14 and Speaker 15). The situation in which the interviews occur is characterized by a military environment and one in which participants observed the status of superiority. That is why there is a lack of paralinguistic features. There are no examples of adjacency pairs such as greetings or commands and response the only vague example being the question that is asked and the detailed answer. The scope of non verbal signals is invariably limited. Urbanová and Oakland (2002, 25) say “Participants in communication are expected to signal verbally or paralinguistically that they follow the speech and understand it. Backchannelling is an important part emphasizing an interaction.” The majority of non verbal signals are on the side of the interviewer, a deliberate show of understanding, encouragement and appreciation. To conclude this, it is the context of the situation and social status that determines the spoken features. 5. 2. 3. Military Branches The translatability of words of texts between two languages is not a matter of mere readjustment of verbal symbols. It must always be based on a unification of cultural context. Even when two cultures have much in common, real understanding and the establishment of a community of linguistic implements is always a matter of difficult, laborious and delicate adjustment. Bronislav Malinowski (Coral Gardens and their Magic)
Generally speaking, there are three main branches in the U.S. military (the Air Force, Navy including Marine Corps and Army) and many sub branches. Each of
149 the branches is independent and for that reason their personnel have been using their own slang and colloquial expressions. They imitate different ranks and different insignia. Many of these expressions that are unknown to other branches are reflected in their speech. Note that unlike the Navy, Marines (they are a separate part of Navy per se) are said to have an additional unwritten principle of war that is termed the “Violence of Action.” If we abstract the idea of “Violence of Action”, as a principle of winning a war, it becomes a destructive power rather than a military finesse or technique. This could be said to manifest itself verbally in their preferred use of expletives for verbal violence and aggression. It is quite clear that all three branches are technologically oriented. Some of them are more technological than the others. Technology always implies accuracy and accuracy has its own eloquence preferring the principles of parsimony. Despite the fact that we are now living in an era that demands multi interoperable forces to a much greater degree than previous times, the question of language has as yet to be sufficiently addressed and, training at the academy level is still failing to preclude the types of confusion that have brought many operations and exercises to a halt. In the wake of Operation Eagle Claw, for example, (the failed rescue of American staff held at the U.S Embassy in Tehran), thought was given to improving the inter operability of the three armed services and overcoming their distaste for working alongside each other, but it was short lived with regards to language. Although, there have been major inroads with respect to what was hitherto a doctrine of in built competition, the hurdle of language remains or, more appropriately, the ability to speak the same language remains. Unfortunately, due to the nature of language, a fully synchronous linguistic operability is unattainable and, although the risks can be lessened through training and experience, the military will always be susceptible to disasters such as Eagle Claw. The fact is that language develops in tandem with progress and, by default therefore, each of the three services quite simply “need” to operate under a jargon of their own. That these “languages” can be confusing to outsiders or, at worse, simply incomprehensible, is beside the point. At the core of the matter with regards to retraining, lies the government itself, a myriad of sub organizations, similarly entrenched with their own special jargons and very much a parenting influence on the armed forces. Unfortunately, at the combat level this all translates into linguistic technicalities that demand the skills of interpreters that, in the field, are either rarely available or indeed on time. Hence today, although training at the academy level could help lessen the risks, it is really only through trial and error that the services can operate smoothly together from a linguistic perspective. 5. 2. 4. Inherent Dangers and Language Barriers An order given in battle, an instruction issued by the master of a sailing ship, a cry for help, are as powerful in modifying the course of events as any other bodily act….You utter a vow or you forge a signature and you may find yourself bound for life to a monastery, a woman or a prison. Bronislav Malinowski (Coral Gardens and their Magic)
For example, the standard procedure for the army when requesting an air strike is still for them to use seconded air force officers as "controllers", a modus operandi that worked well in the simulated battle hypothesis of the Cold War and
150 hence an S.O.P. (Standard Operating Procedure) but one that stands at odds with the fact that it led to incalculable risks during the Gulf War, a decade later. This was because most of the tactical aircraft were actually being flown from carriers and naval aviators have very different terms and phraseologies to air force pilots. Moreover, existing within the parameters of the three forces individually lie a plethora of potential misunderstandings that would otherwise be lessened in impact were there a commonality between the services at the academy level. The naval aviators above for example, being from the Pacific Fleet, would (due to many differences in their linguistic operating procedures) themselves have difficulties had they, for instance, to fly in formation with their counterparts in the Atlantic Fleet. Whilst many differences are harmless, such as the army calling a toilet a "latrine" and the marines and navy calling it "the head”, misunderstandings over terminology have lead to fatal accidents. When compounded by the added implications of combat and Multi National Forces (be they from English speaking countries or not) innocent sounding terms like “repeat” (destroy my position) are potentially lethal. Since the close of the Vietnam War, the Air Land Forces Application Agency has indeed published countless "how to" manuals in an effort to coordinate terminology between the army, navy and air force but it is a mammoth task and, despite their efforts, it takes decades for terms to disappear from general usage. The “correct” term for “MEDEVAC” (medical evacuation), for example, is in fact now "CASEVAC" (casualty evacuation). Barriers to effective communication are primarily due to language development in succession with progress, lack of training and limited cross experiences. The evidence for this can be seen in the accelerated growth of slang during periods of war when units suddenly have to work together and re acquaint themselves with the jargon of their comrades in arms. In short, a communicator’s words cannot communicate a desired meaning to another person unless the listener or reader has had some experience with the objects or concepts to which these words refer. As with computers the uninitiated is in a sense without any ontological component and simply (sometimes with catastrophic consequences) infers meaning from syntactic analysis. i.e. “CO to Bravo Two Zero – position Zulu Blue Advance” Here a computer or the uninitiated would advance Zulu Blue (the position) as opposed to Bravo Two Zero (the unit). Even were there to be significant advances in format and training however, battlefields can never be formatted and the standard and natural languages of each of the services– along with their individual flaws, vagueness, ellipsis, and ambiguities – must, for the military, be as expected as the unexpected. In conclusion, military slang and colloquial expressions have had an enormous impact on the language and one only has to consult England’s legions of poets to concur. Of the last century, however, it could be argued that the astonishing advance in warfare and the unmitigated scale of the slaughter has caused immense damage to the linguistic purities and inherent liberties hitherto associated with it. Indeed, it could be said that, like the soldiers who spoke it, English barely survived the 20 th Century. Military slang migrated into Standard English and brought with it a separatist ideology of sententious defiance, sacrifice, blood and the pursuit of war, an armory for parliamentarians and a chain on the consciousness of those that speak it.
151 I would like to express my hope that this work will contribute to further investigation of military spoken language, both formal and informal. I also hope that it will stimulate further discovery of human communication in which, unfortunately, are cases of misuse and misunderstandings that lead sometimes to the most tragic of consequences.
152 SUMMARY
This first part of this dissertation is devoted to the analysis of military lexical, colloquial and slang expressions. The second part consists of a series of interviews that formed the basis for an investigation into the existing usage of the terms under analysis. The core of the work is primarily based on an analysis of American Military English. However, in certain cases and where elucidation is necessary, the British forms are taken into perspective with regards to their interaction and how they made their way into everyday spoken English. Current works have not underlined these differences, and as far as I have noticed, there are some that should not be left unnoticed. The purpose of the first part is to explore the origins of military slang and to reason as to whether the adoption of new forms is an unending process. This involves an analysis of the main lexical areas that appear in professional conversations: ranks, their origin, insignia and forms of address. The most progressive, official and lexical types are then followed by some of the most common expressions, abbreviations and acronyms, as well as slang expressions. Differences in slang usage amongst the armed services (Air Force, Army, Navy) then follows. The second part of the work encompasses an analysis of the primary resources involved analysis of the actual military interviews involved throughout the research for this dissertation, with a view to finding out whether the former is, in fact, contemporary; to discover to what extent and whether or not there are any differences in register with respect to rank, age, and education, or any cultural or individual differences in using grammatical or lexical units. In other words, a linguistic exposé of the social hierarchy that has existed amidst the military throughout the ages. Lexical Analysis Bar two authors, it is noted that the plethora of definitions of slang, jargon and colloquialisms are unsuitable for the task in hand the borders being either too vague in demarcation or bold in their ambiguity. Eble’s definition of slang (Eble 1996,11) however, stands out alone for its malleability and, as it readily compliments Flexner, is taken as a definitive point of direction. “Slang is an ever changing set of colloquial words and phrases that speakers use to establish or reinforce social identity or cohesiveness within a group or with a trend or fashion in society at large. The existence of vocabulary of this sort within a language is possibly as old as language itself, for slang seems to be part of any language used in ordinary interaction by a community large enough and diverse enough to have identifiable subgroups.” On investigating the origin of official militaristic terms, slang and colloquial expressions it is found that the majority of them originated during wars and conflicts, especially those of the 20 th Century. It is also found that many of them are connected to the names of new weapons, instruments, or other innovations of war. From the perspective of technological events, this is particularly evident from the history of World War I, World War II, the Cold War, the Vietnam War and the Gulf War. The Armed Forces have a strict chain of command that can only function given a certain set of social niceties. In this chain, the ranks and insignia of the personnel play an inevitable role. The etymology of ranks and accompanying slang is therefore explored in depth (e.g. bird colonel, chicken colonel, bottle cap colonel,
153 butter bar, gold bar , etc.). Some of these slang expressions are found to originate from insignia, others from function, post or specialization. In terms of the above, the etymological origins for British, Australian and New Zealand Forces are very similar and, therefore, only covered in brief. Some productive military slang word formation areas are also explored and it is shown that compounds, acronyms and, more recently, that the military phonetic alphabet and some code words are highly active in this area. In order to address the questions related to lexical loans, British and American English have to be treated as distinct and separate entities. The reason for this was that, although they share a great deal linguistically, they have very different histories militarily. Another part explores the impact of military slang expressions on “civilian” English. There is an abundance of military associated vocabulary in everyday speech. Politicians, economists and others habitually use and misuse it as the popularity for such language dictates. Besides regular military words, there are two additional areas in which slang is used. The first of these is related to proverbial diction and idiomatic phraseology. The second is commensurate to interdicted expression or language that is otherwise considered to be taboo in its nature. Finally, the influence of military English on military Czech is tackled. Bozděchová (Daneš 1997, 273) says that “English loans came into Czech on a large scale during the twentieth century. The influence of English was strong after the First War, declined after 1948 but began to grow again in the 60’s. The real breakthrough, however, came after 1989, when English loans began to reflect the re orientation of society in areas such as western economics, politics, philosophy, and culture.” The massive influx of tourists into the country and the soaring trade that the Czech Republic has since developed with other countries has further compounded the susceptibility of Czech to English loans. However, English has had an impact not only on social areas connected with civilian life but from a military perspective too. The Czech military has been taking part in different UN missions and, more recently, in different peacekeeping and NATO missions and exercises. During these activities, Czechs are exposed primarily to English and they have either intentionally or unintentionally introduced some official and colloquial expressions into Czech. Military Interview Analysis The main purpose of this part is to conduct interviews with military personnel in order to find out if there are any colloquial or slang expressions from the first part, whether or not there are any grammatical irregularities or even if some features characteristic of military speech would appear. As the environment and culture have a deep impact on the way of communication, the main aspects of the military environment and military culture (including military customs and traditions) are tackled. These are inseparable parts of the military and a part of what distinguishes it from civilian life. From the very moment a soldier enters the military, special customs and traditions become a part of his life. It is the chain of command and leadership, the names of ranks, the uniform, saluting (sign of respect paying to a superior), how soldiers address one another, courtesies rendered to the national flag and those in command, customs and traditions that go back to ancient times. Further on, important factors such as branches of service (Air Force, Army, Navy, etc.), military field of expertise, motivation to serve, gender and military service, race, ethnicity and military families, education, work under stress (wars,
154 emergency situations), and the status of superiority that have had an impact on the social role of military personnel and thus on communications is undertaken. Following this, the problems connected with the fieldwork and arduous data processing are described. These problems include prior permission, informing participants about the purpose of the interviews, wearing a uniform (this results in more formal interviews), using a cassette recorder in the field and not in the laboratory (background noise), time consuming transcriptions, etc. After that, fifteen interviews are selected. They include representatives from all three services, the Air Force, the Navy and the Army. As the social status has an impact on code choice, the status of the interviewees, rank, branch of service, and current social position – active duty or retirement is taken into account for selection. In order to demonstrate the level of English of people whose language abilities are lower because of their status, the interviews with Boucid and Jackson are included. In connection with this, the military intensive U.S. language program for recruits with low English skills is described, including the length of courses and evaluation process. All speakers are first asked the same question to get comparable data. AIR FORCE Male Female Officers Lou Walt NCOs Samuel Janet NAVY Officers Bryn Stephanie NCOs Joe Sheila Noriega ARMY Officers Steve NCOs Charles Danetra Tim Boucid Jackson It has been shown that much military slang and colloquial expression originated in tandem with the political situation of the time (see Table 1,Table 2, and Table 3). In short, military conflict leads to a surge of technical invention, weapons development and mass production and, consequently, an explosion in official terms for these creations. In turn, as these are often technical, acronymistic and benign in meaning, the machines are quickly re Christened by those who use or face them. The majority of military slang expressions originated during wars, especially during the World Wars and the Gulf War (see Table 2 and Table 3). Wars create new strategic and tactical situations that require ever newer descriptions, names and substitutions for them. The slang and vulgar expressions reflect the situation of soldiers, their suffering in trenches and in combat areas. They also reflect the situation of soldiers in which they see their friends or enemies being injured or killed. Moreover, the long term remoteness of soldiers from their families and everyday casual social life contributed to the creation of slang expressions as well.
155 The interviews the answers were similar to monologues and it was not possible to fully analyze the prosodic features. The intonation patterns were more or less the same and, in the majority of interviews, there was no show of any enthusiasm or excitement in pitch and the scope of non verbal signals was invariably limited. The pace of utterances was directly linked to the speed of the activity taking place, seldom increasing and decreasing with interest. The style of delivery was also more or less the same and it was only on a few of occasions that an emphatic stress to highlight key lexical items was observed. The mode of interviews was spoken. The manner was formal in most of the interviews. This was because officers and NCOs observed military courtesies in spite of being told to relax and speak freely. It was only distinctive with regards to the above when sergeants were interviewed. In conclusion, military slang and colloquial expressions have had an enormous impact on the language and one only has to consult England’s legions of poets to concur. Of the last century, however, it could be argued that the astonishing advance in warfare and the unmitigated scale of the slaughter has caused immense damage to the linguistic purities and inherent liberties hitherto associated with it. Indeed, it could be said that, like the soldiers who spoke it, English barely survived the 20 th Century. I hope that this work will contribute to further investigation in the military spoken language, both formal and informal. It should stimulate further discovery of human communication in which, unfortunately, are cases of misuse and misunderstandings that can result in tragic consequences.
156 RESUMÉ
Předložená dizertační práce se věnuje lexikální analýze hovorových a slangových výrazů a analýze těchto a jiných nespisovných prvků při komunikaci ve vojenském prostředí. Práce je rozdělena na dvě hlavní části: lexikální analýzu a analýzu vojenského diskurzu. Zabývá se především analýzou americké vojenské angličtiny. V některých případech je uvedeno srovnání amerických termínů s termíny britskými. Cílem první části práce je zjistit, co tvorbu vojenského slangu ovlivňuje a zda je vznik nových slangových prostředků ve vojenském prostředí produktivní proces. Následuje analýza hlavních lexikálních oblastí, které se objevují v každodenní profesní mluvě. Cílem druhé části práce je ověřit, zda se výrazové prostředky zkoumané v první části vyskytují v analýze ústního projevu konkrétních vojenských subjektů při provedených interview, a zda jsou tyto hovorové a slangové výrazy aktuální. Tato část také přináší analýzu ústního projevu jednotlivých mluvčích s cílem zjistit, zda existují a jak se projevují rozdíly v registru vzhledem k hodnosti, věku a vzdělání. Má tedy zjistit, zda se vojenská promluva liší u důstojníků a poddůstojníků, případně jednotlivých druhů ozbrojených složek. I. Lexikální analýza Vlastní lexikální analýze zkoumaných výrazů předchází přesné definování termínů jako jsou slang, žargon a hovorové výrazy. Obtížnost těchto definic vzhledem k vágním hranicím mezi jednotlivými termíny je zřejmá. Protože se práce převážně zabývá vojenským slangem a hovorovými výrazy z prostředí americké armády, byly použity definice Flexnerovy ( Preface to the Dictionary of American Slang in Language – Introductory Readings 1972. 272 273) a jako klíčová definice slangu od Eble ( Slang and Sociability 1999. 11 ) „Slang jsou stále měnící se módní slova a fráze v jednotlivých sociálních skupinách. Existence slangu je zřejmě tak stará jako jazyk sám, protože slang se jeví jako součást jazyka používaného v běžné interakci v komunitě, která je dostatečně velká a natolik rozmanitá, aby mohla utvářet identifikovatelné podskupiny.“ Dále se v této části věnuje autor disertace progresivním spisovným a hovorovým výrazům, nejčastěji používaným zkratkám a akronymům, spisovným i hovorovým, a slangovým výrazům pro jednotlivé hodnosti. Vzhledem k tomu, že mnoho slangových a hovorových výrazů se vztahuje jak k hodnostem, tak i k hodnostnímu označení, jsou v práci uvedena hodnostní označení důstojníků a generálů a je také detailně uvedena etymologie názvů jednotlivých hodností. Další slangové a hovorové výrazy se vztahují k jednotlivým funkcím, služebnímu zařazení a oblastem působení. Ve stručnosti jsou uvedeny také vojenské slangové výrazy používané v britské, australské a novozélandské armádě. Původ těchto výrazů je obdobný jako u výrazů amerických. Tato část se také věnuje zjištění rozdílů v používání slangových výrazů u letectva, pozemního vojska a námořnictva. Pokud je to možné poukazuje se v této části i na rozdíly mezi americkou a britskou variantou angličtiny. Byly prozkoumány některé produktivní oblasti tvorby slangu jako je například tvorba složených výrazů, kdy spojení dvou základů vyjadřuje vztah koordinace a determinance, dále abreviace, a to zkratky iniciálové a akronymy. V neposlední
157 řadě se práce zabývá také dalšími, méně známými produktivními slangovými typy, které jsou založeny na mezinárodní vojenské fonetické abecedě, na kódových slovech. V oblasti přejímání výrazů z cizích jazyků se muselo s britskou a americkou variantou vojenské angličtiny zacházet jako se samostatnými entitami. Přestože se jedná o dvě varianty téhož jazyka, vývoj historie vojenství u obou variant probíhal naprosto odlišně. Dále se poukazuje na to, jaký vliv mají vojenské termíny na způsob vyjadřování v nevojenské sféře. Politici a ekonomové tyto výrazy pravidelně používají a zneužívají tak, jak jim to popularita daných výrazů diktuje. Kromě formálních vojenských termínů, které používají politici, má vojenská terminologie dopad na dvě další oblasti. První oblast se týká idiomatických a frazeologických výrazů a druhá se týká slov spadajících do kategorie „tabu“. Poslední oddíl této části se zabývá vlivem vojenské angličtiny na vojenskou češtinu. Lze konstatovat, že většina anglicismů se u nás rozšířila převážně až v průběhu 20. století. „Výrazněji se vliv angličtiny začal projevovat po 1. světové válce, značně byl oslaben po r. 1948, ale už v 60. letech začal zase sílit. Skutečný zlom nastal po r. 1989, kdy anglicismy dokládají orientaci společenského života na jiné a nové oblasti, tj. např. na západní ekonomiku, politiku, filozofii nebo kulturu“. (Daneš Bozděchová 1997, 273) II. Analýza vojenského ústního vyjadřování – interview Tato část uvádí cílené rozhovory s vojenskými osobami a zjišťuje, zda se v rozhovorech objeví některé hovorové nebo slangové výrazy, které byly zkoumány v první části práce, a zda se vyskytují gramatické jevy nebo struktury typické pro vojenský způsob vyjadřování. Protože způsob komunikace je sociálně podmíněný a má na něj vliv prostředí a kultura, uvádí práce i některé sociální aspekty vojenského života, jako jsou například vojenské zvyky a tradice. Ty jsou neoddělitelnou součástí vojenského prostředí. Mezi sociální faktory patří i další specifika vojenského prostředí, například systém nadřízenosti a podřízenosti, systém hodností, způsob zdravení nadřízených a vyjádření respektu vůči nadřízenému, způsob oslovování, vzdávání pocty národní standartě a další zásady vojenské zdvořilosti, zvyky a tradice, které mají kořeny v minulosti. Dalšími důležitými faktory, které mají dopad na sociální roli vojáků, a tím i na způsob komunikace, je charakter služby u jednotlivých druhů vojsk a služeb (letectvo, pozemní vojsko, námořnictvo atd.), vojenská odbornost, motivace sloužit v armádě, pohlaví, rasová a etnická příslušnost, vzdělání nebo práce ve stresových podmínkách (války, krizové situace). Proto byla při výběru rozhovorů k analýze brána v úvahu také hodnost a funkce dotazovaných, jejich příslušnost k druhu vojsk a současný stav (aktivní služba nebo záloha). Další část práce uvádí potíže spojené s nahráváním a zpracováním rozhovorů, jejichž zdrojem bylo především prostředí vojenské základny, a omezení, která toto prostředí přináší. Před vlastním nahráváním bylo třeba získat souhlas nadřízeného orgánu a účastníci byli jednotlivě informováni o účelu rozhovorů. Nahrávání probíhalo ve vojenském prostředí na letecké základně, v místnostech, které byly k dispozici, tedy ne v jazykových laboratořích. Tento fakt i použití kazetového magnetofonu
158 ovlivnily vlastní kvalitu nahrávek, což mělo za následek časově značně náročné zpracování přepisu těchto nahrávek. Analýza diskurzu je založena na práci se vzorkem mluveného jazyka, těžištěm je transkripce výše uvedených autentických interview zaznamenaných v letech 2002 2005. K vlastní analýze byl vybrán vzorek patnácti interview, ve kterých byli zástupci tří hlavních složek ozbrojených sil (zástupci letectva, námořnictva a pozemního vojska). Velení armády USA vynakládá finanční prostředky na jazykový program (je uvedena délka kurzů a systém přezkušování absolventů), který má za úkol zlepšit jazykové znalosti vojáků, převážně osob, které do USA emigrovaly. Proto jsou v práci zařazeny dva přepisy nahrávek, jeden se seržantem Boucidem a jeden se seržantkou Jacksonovou. Jmenovaní mají statut emigrantů a v USA jsou teprve krátkou dobu. Sociální vzdálenost je ve srovnání s ostatními analyzovanými rozhovory relevantní. Z důvodu získání porovnatelných dat byla na začátku rozhovoru položena dotazovaným stejná otázka „Proč jste vstoupil do armády? “Následující promluva měla charakter monologu, přesněji řečeno odpovědi podřízeného nadřízenému. Silně převažovala referenční komunikativní funkce. Tempo ústního projevu bylo individuální, v závislosti na mluvčím. Zřídkakdy se stávalo, že by v průběhu promluvy rostlo či klesalo. Rytmus projevu byl také individuální. Styl projevu byl subjektivní, založen na individuálně proměnlivých prvcích. Rytmus byl izochronní, typický pro anglický jazyk. Bylo zaznamenáno několik případů emfáze, která subjektivně zdůrazňovala některé lexikální jednotky. V jiných případech se vyskytlo porušení syntaktických vztahů (apoziopeze a anakolut). V mluveném projevu má každá změna v neverbální nebo suprasegmentální rovině vliv na záměr výpovědí, ale vzhledem k charakteru prostředí, ve kterém interview probíhala (vojenská základna, komunikanti, produktor i recipient vojáci z povolání, důstojníci a poddůstojníci, kteří dodržovali zásady vojenské zdvořilosti, měli oblečen vojenský stejnokroj a tento fakt spolu s hodností měl vliv na formálnost rozhovorů) byl rozsah neverbálních signálů (proxemiky a kinesiky) omezen na minimum. Ze stejného důvodu měla většina rozhovorů formální character a v průběhu rozhovorů byl uplatněn aspekt zdvořilosti a princip kooperace. Současné práce zaměřené na problematiku slangových výrazů dostatečně nezohledňují rozdíly mezi americkou a britskou variantou vojenské angličtiny. Protože tato oblast má vliv i na obecnou angličtinu, neměla by se zanedbávat. Při analýze původu formálních vojenských termínů bylo zjištěno, že většina z nich vznikla v průběhu konfliktů a válek, a to zvláště těch, které se odehrály ve dvacátém století. Některé vojenské hovorové, slangové a vulgární výrazy odrážejí situaci, při které vojáci na frontách trpěli v zákopech a na bojištích. Jiné výrazy jsou produktem neúprosné válečné reality, ve které vojáci vidí buď své kolegy nebo nepřátele zraněné nebo usmrcené. K tvorbě hovorových a slangových výrazů v armádě přispívá také psychologický faktor dlouhodobého odloučení od rodin a působení “mikroklimatu běžného pracovního života”. Mnoho formálních vojenských termínů je spojeno s názvy nových zbraní, vojenských prostředků a dalších inovací způsobů vedení bojové činnosti. Z hlediska vývoje nových technologií je to evidentní v období první světové války, druhé světové války, studené války, války ve Vietnamu a války v Perském zálivu.
159 Příliv anglicismů do češtiny po roce 1989 není omezen na společenskou oblast civilního života, ale má také dopad na oblast vojenství. Česká armáda se účastní různých vojenských a mírových misí v rámci OSN a mírových misí a cvičení v rámci NATO. V průběhu těchto aktivit jsou vojáci vystaveni v první řadě vlivu angličtiny, která je dorozumívacím jazykem armád NATO, a do mateřského jazyka přejímají z angličtiny (ať už úmyslně nebo neúmyslně) spisovné i nespisovné lexikální prvky. Proces přejímání anglicismů je dynamický, přejímání prochází v daném časovém bodě různými fázemi a pohybuje se na ose „jazykový standard – substandard“. Velká část vojenského slangu a hovorových výrazů vzniká v návaznosti na aktuální politickou situaci (viz tabulky 1, 2 a 3), a proto většina vojenských hovorových a slangových výrazů vznikala v průběhu válek, zejména pak ve světových válkách a v průběhu války v Perském zálivu (viz tabulky 2 a 3). Při přípravě válek, v průběhu jejich vedení a vedení vojenských konfliktů dochází k intenzivnímu vývoji nových zbraní a zbraňových systémů, k taktickým a strategickým změnám vedení formy boje. Pro všechny tyto inovace se zavádí nová terminologie, která bezprostředně působí na vznik nových hovorových a slangových výrazů. Lze konstatovat, že vojenské hovorové a slangové výrazy sehrávají a nadále budou sehrávat nezanedbatelnou úlohu ve vývoji jazyka. Z perspektivy minulého století se bohužel ukazuje, že tato nezanedbatelná úloha není vždy pozitivní. Nesmírný nárůst objemu bojové činnosti a politické situace s tím spojené měly za následek ohromné množství obětí. To mělo z jazykového hlediska dopad na “čistotu” jazyka a svobodu projevu. Na závěr chci vyjádřit naději, že tato práce přispěje k dalšímu výzkumu způsobů komunikace v ozbrojených složkách, a to v oblasti formální i neformální. Zároveň snad podnítí i další výzkum v oblasti lidské komunikace obecně.
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163 DICTIONARIES CONSULTED
A Dictionary of United States Military Terms (1963) USA: Washington, D.C.: Public Affairs Press. Bowyer, R. (1999) Dictionary of Military Terms . GB: Peter Collin Publishing. Chantrell, G. (2004) Dictionary of Word Histories. GB: OUP. Chapman, R. L. (1987) American Slang . USA: Harper & Row. Collins Cobuild English Dictionary (1997) GB: HarperCollins Publishers. Collins Cobuild English Usage (1993) GB: HarperCollins Publishers. Collins Dictionary of the English Language (1986) GB: London & Glasgow, Collins. Courtney, R. (1987) Longman Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. GB: Longman Ltd. Crystal, D. (2000) A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. USA: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. Dickson, P. (1994) War Slang . USA: Pocket Books. Elting, J.R. Cragg D. Deal E.L. (1984) A Dictionary of Soldier Talk . USA: Charles Scribner’s Sons. Green, J. (1988) The Slang Thesaurus . GB: Penguin Books Ltd. Green, J. (2000) Cassell´s Dictionary of Slang . GB: Cassell & Co. Green, J. (1999) The Big Book of Filth . GB: Cassell & Co. Green, J. (2000) The Big Book of Being Rude . GB: Cassell & Co. Green, J. (2003) Talking Dirty . GB: Cassell & Co. Hartman, R.K. and Stork, F.C., Dictionary of Language and Linguistics. GB: Applied Science Publishers Ltd 1976. Holder, R. (1995) A Dictionary of Euphemisms . GB: Oxford University Press. Horton, J. (1994) Dictionary of International Aircraft Nicknames, Variants and Colloquial Terms . USA: The Grub Street. Hunt, J. and A. G. Pringle (1943) Service Slang . GB: Faber and Faber Limited. Longman Dictionary of English Idioms (1979). GB: Longman Group Limited McConville, B. and J. Shearlaw (1985) The Slanguage of Sex . GB: Futura Publications. Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military (2001). GB: Oxford University Press. Partridge, E. (1948) A Dictionary of Forces’ Slang 1939 1945 . GB:: Secker & Warburg. Priest, W. (2000) Swear Like a Trooper (A Dictionary of Military Terms and Phrases). USA: Rockbridge Publishing. Quick, J. (1973) Dictionary of Weapons and Military Terms . USA: McGraw/Hill Book Company. Ruffner, F. and R. Thomas (1963) Code Names Dictionary (Introduction by Eric Partridge). USA: Gale Research Company. Spears, R. A. (1981) Slang and Euphemism . USA: Jonathan David Publishers. The American Heritage Dictionary Second College Edition (1985). USA: Houghton Mifflin Company. The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military (2001). GB: The Berkley Publishing Group. The Penguin Dictionary of English Idioms (1994). GB: Penguin Books Ltd. Tomajczyk, S. (1996) Dictionary of the Modern United States Military . USA: Wentworth, H. & Flexner, S. B. (1975) Dictionary of American Slang. USA: Thomas Y. Crowell, Publishers.
164 1 Schiffrin (2004, 67) adds: “The names given to words such as and, oh , and y’know vary: for example, pragmatic particles, discourse particles, cue phrases; some labels are used by other scholars to include words not typically considered as markers (e.g. use of ‘pragmatic particles’ to refer to the tag eh ?). More crucial than the range of labels, however, is the variety of definitions, for this has an impact on the items included within theories and analyses of discourse markers. 2 LePage, R.B., The National Language Question: Linguistic Problem of Newly Independent States, Oxford University Press 1964. 3 Ms Martha Herzog from DLIFLC (Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center) in Monterey, Ca., worked at establishing the US test descriptors. These were later adopted in NATO as STANAG 6001. In 2001 she lead a team that elucidated STANAG 6001. I talked to her and asked her for detailed information about the origin of the language proficiency scale. She sent me a paper that is under Appendix 1 (History of Stanag 6001). 4 True (genuine), average person, can of beer. 5 “It memorialized the massacre of the Alamo (from Spanish alamo , cottonwood tree) – an old Spanish mission in San Antonio.” (Flexner & Soukhanov 1997, 143) 6 :”The insignia which appeared on the coat sleeves of U.S. noncommissioned Officers at this time, traced their name to a 14 th Century English word for ‘rafters’ and, ultimately to the Vulgar Latin word for goat, caprio , from Latin caper , since rafters raised on end resembled butting goats.” (Flexner & Soukhanov 1997, 143) 7 “It refers to those Federalist who wanted war with France which, like England, had tried American neutrality severely. War Hawks were what easterners called ‘war Republicans,’ congressmen from the South and West who, fueled by concerns about commerce and territorial expansion, directed their war fever against Britain. War Hawks remained vital in the language through the Vietnam era, though by then usually shortened to hawks.” (Flexner & Soukhanov 1997, 142) 8 “The frigate Constitution was “Old” merely as a familiar nickname, having been launched in 1797; she was “Ironsides” because of her indestructible performance during the war, it being said that a seaman first called her that when he saw enemy shot rebound from her oak sides.” (Flexner & Soukhanov 1997, 143) 9 “U.S. marine term for the unglamorous side of warfare, such as foot patrol. A play on the term blue collar worker .” (Dent 2003, 35) 10 “Grid squares into which RAF Tornadoes fire their laser guided bombs. A ‘hot’ killbox contains a specific target which is posing a direct threat to troops.” (Dent 2003, 36) 11 The term rank is synonymous with the term grade (Officers are often said to hold rank while enlisted personnel are said to hold grades or ratings. The term grade can also refer to authorized pay levels for both enlisted personnel and Officers. Grades above Private and airmen are called noncommissioned Officers (NCOs) and grades above seaman are petty Officers. 12 Enlisted personnel are members of the armed forces who are not commissioned Officers or commissioned warrant Officers. 13 A soldier is a general term that can mean any rank. 14 “Though outmoded and inadequate, the medieval combat formation of three massive ‘battles’ dense blocks of mounted men and infantry lingered on into the early years of the century. These unwieldy masses were particularly vulnerable to firearms and artillery. The Spanish took the lead in efforts to solve the problem by thoughtful experimentation and improvisation. Based upon the experience of Córdoba (and possibly at his suggestion or instigation), in 1505 King Ferdinand created twenty units called colunelas (columns) each consisting of some 1,000 1,250 men: mixed pikemen, halberdiers, arquebusiers, and sword and buckler men, organized as five companies. This was the first clear cut tactical formation based upon a coherent theory of weapons employment to be seen in Western Europe since the decline of the Roman cohort. The colunela was, for all practical purposes, the genesis of the modern battalion and regiment. It was commanded by a cabo de colunela (chief of column), or Colonel . Interestingly, this title soon became corrupted in the land of its origin. The colunelas, standing formations of the permanent Spanish royal army, or ‘crown’ troops, were frequently called coronelia . Through inaccurate usage (similar to the corruption of the world “shrapnel” in our own time) colunelas were frequently called coronelias , and their commanders became commonly known as coronels .” (Dupuy & Newitt 1993, 500) 15 “The year 1066 marks the beginning of a new social and linguistic era in Britain, but it does not actually identify the boundary between Old and Middle English. It was a long time before the effects of the Norman invasion worked their way into the language and Old English continued to be used meanwhile. Even a century later, texts were still being composed in the West Saxon variety that had developed in the years following the reign of King Alfred. The main influence on English
165 was, of course, French strictly, Norman French, the language introduced to Britain by the invader. Almost all the English words to do with the aristocracy and their servants are of French origin… Some French military loans in middle English: ambush, archer, army, barbican, battle, besiege, Captain , combat, defend, enemy, garrison, guard, hauberk, lance , Lieutenant , moat, navy, peace, portcullis, retreat, Sergeant , siege, soldier , spy, vanquish.” (Crystal, 1995, 30 and 47.) 16 “Most armies of the Western Hemisphere and parts of Asia favor symbolic nature. In the Republic of Korea, for example, one, two, and three diamond shaped metal pins denote Officer ranks on (Second Lieutenant), two (First Lieutenant) and three (Captain). Field grade Officers wear one, two or three small insignia in the form of the Korean national flower; Generals wear the requisite number of stars. These insignia are symbolic in that the diamond is valuable and found in the ground, the flower is more important because it is found above the ground (over diamond), and the stars are most important because they are found above both the diamond and the flower.” (Dupuy 1993, 699 700) 17 “Peirce makes a clear cut distinction between the “material qualities,” the signans of any sign, and its “immediate interpretant,” that is, the signatum . Signs (or representamina in Peirce’s nomenclature) offer three basic varieties of semiosis, three distinct, ”representative qualities” based on relationships between the signans and the signatum . “(Jakobson 1995, 409) 18 “The need to identify leaders in the Continental army and distinguish their ranks was recognized by General Washington from his experience with the British army. In 1775, he ordered the use of stripes to designate rank for officers and noncommissioned officers. Since then, U.S. Army insignia have undergone numerous alterations, to include various types and numbers of epaulets to designate rank, as well as colors to designate a functional branch (e.g., artillery red, cavalry yellow, or infantry blue). In 1821, regulations prescribed a cloth stripe or chevron to be worn on the sleeve of the uniform, point upward, to designate noncommissioned officer rank. This method of identifying noncommissioned officers remains to this day for dress uniforms; for the field uniform, insignia are worn on the collar. Officers wear insignia of rank on the shoulder epaulets of the dress uniform and on the collar of the field uniform.” (Chambers II 1999, 589) 19 The golden bar is a symbol representing 2 nd Lieutenant. It symbolizes the lowest rung of a horizontal fence piece made of oak, onto which 2 nd Lieutenant stands above his subordinates to oversee and lead them. The rung used to be from an oak wood which color is slightly yellowish. It is a sort of bailiwick. The silver bar (1 st Lieutenant) represents a higher rung made of ash wood (which is lighter in color), onto which he can oversee his subordinates including the 2 nd Lieutenant. The double silver bar (Captain) represents the highest rung of the fence. The Major’s leaf cluster represents the tree from which he can oversee those below him. Lieutenant Colonel’s insignia represents the top of the tree from which he can oversee those below him. Eagle is an insignia for a Colonel. Eagle flies high in the sky and can see all trees with Lieutenant Colonels, Majors, Captains, Lieutenants and the whole battlefield – troops. One star in the sky could see part of the globe and one star represents Brigadier General. Two stars in the sky could look on half of the globe, four stars in the sky look at the whole globe – one at the north, one at the south, one at the east, and one at the west. These stars could see all eagles. Finally the fifth star looks at all stars below – Generals, looking at the globe. Another explanation was as follows: 1. The ‘eagle wings’ are ‘for the birds’ who fly above the trees 2. The stars are for the ‘starlit’ sky that sets above the gentle breeze 3. One star represents the stratosphere and two the sphere of TROPO 4. Three stars represent the Ionosphere and four stars live in a world of their own. 20 In the Navy and Coast Guard, an officer whose rank is above that of Captain (above grade O 6). Flag Officers (Rear Admiral, Vice Admiral, Admiral and Fleet Admiral) are authorized to display a flag with the color of his service branch and the proper number of stars representing his rank. A Flag Officer is equivalent to a General Officer in the Army, Air Force or Marine Corps. Currently used in the US and British Navy. 21 Soldier is not a rank. Although this term should apply to all ranks it is, however, commonly connected with the lowest ranks. 22 The origin is contributed to a movie “GI Jane.” It could have originated in 1970s or 1980s where more women entered military. 23 Derived from “chicken breading preparation.” The Czech equivalent with the same meaning is “rychlokvaška.” 24 Lieutenant Colonel is generally addressed as ‘Colonel.’ If we want to stress his / her real rank we should say ‘Lieutenant Colonel.’
166 25 Historically, a shavetail was an untrained mule. It was common for people to trim the tail of a newly purchased, untrained mule to differentiate it from the older, trained and better behaved mules. 26 It is a Navy tradition to serve the newly promoted Lieutenant commander scrambled eggs for his first meal as a way of celebration. 27 Boot camp is a recruit training camp in the ‘NAVY.’ The Army has training centers. 28 Colonel Michael J. ‘Boots’ Miller 29 “Montgomery, Bernard Law 1887 1976. British field marshal and Allied commander during World War II, known as Monty. Montgomery first gained fame in 1942 with his defeat of the forces of Erwin Rommel at the battle of El Alamein. He led the Allied invasion of Normandy (1944) under the command of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, with whom he had a contentious relationship throughout the war. In Britain he was hailed as another Wellington and made viscount of Alamein in 1946.” (Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military 2001, 276) 30 Field Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck, known as The AUK. General Auchinleck was C in C based in Cairo, with responsibility not just for North Africa but also for Persia and the Middle East. The AUK, as he was known to his troops, was unfortunate with some of his Senior Officers in North Africa: some were incompetent, some were killed and some were captured. Auchinleck was sacked by Churchill in August 1942, almost certainly because he refused to be bullied by Churchill into ordering a major offensive before he and his troops were properly prepared. Although a somewhat dour character, he was known as a generous and welcoming host. Despite being a General for longer than almost any other soldier, he was never pompous, and hated all forms of display and affectation. Rommel considered him to be one of the greatest generals of the war. 31 He commanded 2nd Australian Brigade from July 1915 until October 1916. The nickname ‘Dad’ was bestowed on him by the men of the 4th Light Horse Regiment during training in Egypt. 32 He was an able staff officer. After a few months as chief of staff Third Army in the summer of 1915, he was sent with General Monro to report on the military situation on Gallipoli. He supported his chief’s view that the peninsula should be evacuated. After this was done Lynden Bell became chief of staff of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, commanded by Sir Archie Murray. 33 He was an able, educated, serious minded soldier who lacked the dynamic personality to be a successful staff officer or commander in the field. His nickname captures his difficulties. This was the name by which he was known to his contemporaries , who thought he was older, greyer and graver than his years. 34 “ Hunnen , one of an Asiatic race of warlike nomads, who invaded Europe, and under their leader Attila (c. 406 453), overran much of Europe. The original Huns were the Chinese Hiong nu or Han . The modern use originated during WW I and stemmed directly from the speech made by Kaiser Wilhelm II to German troops setting sail for China on 27 July 1900: ‘No quarter will be given, no prisoners will be taken. Let all who fall into your hands be at your mercy. Just as the Huns a thousand years ago gained a reputation in virtue of which they still live in historical tradition, so may the name of Germany become known in China that no Chinaman will ever again even dare to look askance at a German.” (Green 2000, 625) 35 “Before the First World War, the Germans were a popular element in American Society, renowned in the universities for their science, their philosophy and their pedantry. After Lusitania was sunk in 1915 with the loss of 1200 lives, they become Huns, the Boche (from the French al boche: al lemand ca boche i.e. German blockhead), and finally, in the movies, Jerries. This was borrowed from British troops in the trenches – the English slang word for a chamber pot, “Jerry,” was applied to the Germans because their coal scuttle helmets looked like chamber pots.” (McCrum, Cran, MacNeil 1986, 264 265) 36 In the civilian sphere there are also many compounds with head. For example for a stupid person there are expressions such as fuck head, shit head, tool head, boof head, cunt head, balloon head, rockhead. Ball head stands for a white men (black slang), baldhead stands for an old man, longhead stands for a shrewd person, blanket head is a term for a Native American, duckhead stands for a woman with short hair (black slang), etc. 37 These compounds are also progressive outside military terminology. J. Green in “The Big Book of Being Rude” (2000, 344) gives marble head (a Greek, from the association of Greece with classical statuary), panzer head (term that originated in 1980 – a German, from the Panzer tanks used by the German forces in WW2), round head (a Swedish immigrant), etc. 38 This term was also used as a derogatory term to indicate a Vietnamese during the Vietnam War. 39 Your knuckles will break but your thick head will not. 40 “G 2 stands for Intelligence service at the level of division. The term G 2 is used in everyday conversation to indicate the latest supposed facts on a particular item or event going on (e.g.,
167 “What’s the G 2 on my transfer request?”). The G 2 section is commonly referred to as ‘Two Shop.’ ” (Tomajczyk 1996, 270) 41 He was tested. ALCPT stands for American Language Course Placement Test. 42 It is probable a shortened version of FUJIGMO from the WW II Fuck you Jack, I got my orders. During WW II British troops used a similar expression FUJIAMA – Fuck you Jack, I am all right. 43 It began in a joke, which was popular around army camps in the summer of 1942. A Private in the front was charged with the duty of sending reports back to the battalion CP (Command Post) by messenger, and he had been filling up page after page of the message book with inconsequential detail. Battalion instructed him to send only the rough line outline of the situation and to use as many abbreviations as possible. The next message was the single word, ‘ SNAFU ,’ which was explained as ‘Situation normal. All fucked up.’ 44 In Philosophical Investigations, Ludwig Wittgenstein designed a primitive language that he described this way: “The language is meant to serve for communication between a builder A and an assistant B. A is a building with building stones: there are blocks, pillars, slabs and beams. B has to pass the stones, and that in the order in which A needs them. For this purpose they use a language consisting of the words ‘block,’ ‘pillar,’ ‘slab,’ ‘beam.’ A calls them out, B brings the stone which he has learnt to bring at such and such a call. Conceive this as a complete primitive language.” (Wittgenstein 1958, 3) 45 During WW II the colloquial term “Don R.” was used to indicate a motorcyclist “Dispatch Rider.” (D – Don) 46 The phonetic abbreviation for the letters LC means “Loud and Clear.“ The phrase is used during a communications check of radio equipment to indicate that the voice reception is good. 47 The letters LZ stand for “Landing Zone” (Lizzy), which is a cleared area for aircraft, or helicopters to land in and either insert or extract troops or supplies. Landing zones can be cleared by hand if the vegetation is light, or blasted away by using a so called “daisy cutter” bomb if the vegetation is heavy and time must be considered. 48 There was a slight shift in meaning during the Gulf War. It meant a missile fired by an aircraft. “Fox one” meant that the first missile fired hit its target, “fox two” meant that the second missile fired hit its target and so forth. 49 In UK it refers to unserviceable equipment. 50 Willie peter bag stands for a bag for white phosphorus. 51 In the Air Force the phrase “code name” may designate a word which refers not only to matters which are classified for security reasons, but to a word which is itself likely to be classified. 52 “Tank was British Colonel Sir Ernest Swinton’s secret code name for this new weapon when it was built and tested (the workers who assembled the first ones were told they were working on a new type of portable water tank for use in Mesopotamia). The parts of a tank, turret, hatch, hull , etc., have nautical names because this new weapon was originally sponsored by the British Admiralty, rather than the War Office.” (Flexner 1976, 411) 53 “British plan for concentrated bombing of a selected German town by 235 aircraft.” (Ruffner & Thomas 1963, 23) 54 “Code name given to Bremen, Germany, as one of three possible objectives for a concentrated British bombing.” (Ruffner & Thomas 1963, 271) 55 “Name given to Manheim, Germany, as one of three possible objectives proposed for a concentrated British bombing; was eventually target selected.” (Ruffner & Thomas 1963, 404) 56 “Code name given to Dusseldorf, Germany, as one of three possible objectives for a concentrated British bombing.” (Ruffner & Thomas 1963, 152) 57 The code name for the 1983 invasion of Grenada. 58 I found words rooty and pawnee in A Dictionary of Forces’ Slang 1938 1945 by Eric Partridge (1948) 59 “From the armies of the British Empire, stationed in India and the Far East, Cockney picked up words like buckshee , the Cockney word for “free,” strictly speaking “surplus,” or “going a begging.” Doolally , from Deolali ( a town nearby Bombay and site of a mental hospital for British troops), is “demented,” “barmy.” “Let’s have a shufti ,” a Hindustani word means “let’s have a look around.” One piece or rhyming slang khyber for “backside,” came from the British soldiers stationed on the Khyber Pass.” (McCrum, Cran, MacNeil 1986, 281) 60 In Gibraltar, a dining – hall waiter. 61 Dated 62 Now denotes a New Zealander
168 63 The word is used rather more by Officers than other ranks in the Army. It is also used collectively, e.g. the ordnance wallahs. 64 World War I 65 Berlitz (1990, 264) in Language Awareness says about the word “The opprobrious Mexican word for an American gringo , for example, is essentially simply a sound echo of a song the American troops used to sing when the Americans were invading Mexico – ‘Green Grow the Lilacs.’ Therefore the Mexicans began to call American something equivalent to ‘los green grows’ which became Hispanicized to gringo . But from this innocent beginning to the unfriendly emphasis with which many Mexicans say gringo today there is a world of difference almost a call to arms, with unforgettable memories of past real or fancied wrongs, including ‘lost’ Texas and California.” I also heard another explanation, however I could not find any material supporting it. “During the Spanish – American War the Caucasian Americans wore green coats when they were deployed in Cuba. Locals used to call green goes whenever they saw a soldier but they pronounced it first as greengoes and later as greengo – gringo.” The term is not used militarily any more. 66 Some personnel say that this was derived for the name of Daniel Boon. 67 “An Indic language, the official literary language of Pakistan, also used by Muslims in India.” (Flexner & Soukhanov 1997, 145) 68 “Americans learned the word kamikaze in October 1944, when the Japanese pilots first attacked U.S. Navy ships in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. They crashed obsolete planes, each carrying a 55 pound bomb, into American ships and other targets.” (Flexner & Soukhanov 1997, 149) “In about 1274 Kublai Khan made the mistake of sending a fleet against Japan. The Japanese took warning and began to prepare their defenses, and the attack was unsuccessful. The great Khan then sent envoys, inviting the Japanese ruler to pay him homage, but the Japanese beheaded these envoys and continues to build up their defenses. Finally, in 1281, Kublai Khan sent an immense fleet. Athough Japan was prepared and her defenders were determined, the Mongol horde was not easy to resist. But after some weeks of inconclusive fighting, a great and sudden storm arose and destroyed the Mongol fleet. To the Japanese this salvation was kamikaze , ‘divine wind.” (The Merriam Webster New Book of Word Histories (1991, 260) 69 “Used by U.S. troops in the Korean War primarily to mean the hut, house, or room of a prostitute or a house where a serviceman set up housekeeping with his native girlfriend. In Vietnam, it first meant a typical Vietnamese jungle hut, and later, any living quarters, especially a barracks.” (Flexner & Soukhanov 1997, 154) “ Hooch, first recorded in 1897, is a short form of hoochino, a distilled liquor made by the Hoochinoo (Hutsnuwu) people belonging to the Tlingit tribe, who inhabited the southeastern coast and island of Alaska. It refers either to cheap, inferior liquor or illicitly distilled liquor.” (Flexner & Soukhanov 1997, 29) 70 “The phrase was first used by General Henry Lee (1756 – 1818) in a funeral oration for George Washington given in the House of Representatives in December 1799. Lee had served under Washington in the Revolutionary War and was deeply devoted to him.” (Titelman 2000, 97) 71 “The phrase is of French origin ( La guerre! C’est une chose trop grave pour la confier à des militaries .) It is attributed to Talleyrand (1754 – 1838) and Clemenceau (1841 1929).” (Titelman 2000, 351) 72 “On June 14, 1940, for the third time in the last century German troops marched into Paris. France fell. Four days later, De Gaulle went on the air from London to tell the world, La France a perdu une bataille! Mais la france n’a pas perdu la guerre! – France has lost a battle. But France has not lost the war!” (Titelman 2000, 167) 73 “Reply of American naval hero John Paul Jones (1747 – 92) to a demand to surrender his sinking ship, the Bohomme Richard , to the English in 1779. As his ship sank, Jones boarded his opponent’s vessel to achieve a spectacular victory.” (Titelman 2000, 144) 74 “Originally “Put your trust in God, and keep your powder dry.” Advice allegedly given by Oliver Cromwell to his soldiers when they were about to cross a river.” (Titelman 2000, 280) 75 This idea was expressed by Sophocles as far back as 442 b.c. and much later by Shakespeare in Henry IV, Part II (1598) and in Antony and Cleopatra (1606 – 07). 76 „The saying is of German origin: Wenn ich Kultur höre … entsichere ich meinen Browning ! „Whenever I hear the word culture ... I release the safety catch of my Browning!” It was used by German novelist and playwright Hanns Johst (1890 – 1978), although it is often attributed to Herman Goering.” (Titelman 2000, 362) 77 “This saying was popularized by President John F. Kennedy (1961), but it was coined by the Italian diplomat, and son in law of Mussolini, Count Galeazzo Ciano (1903 – 44).” (Titelman 2000, 349)
169 78 “Gresham, Sir Thomas 1519? –1579, English merchant and financier. As the royal financial agent in Antwerp after 1551 he proved himself very able, though his methods were frequently more effective than ethical. After the accession of Elizabeth I to the throne he spent most of his time in London but went on diplomatic and financial missions. He also accumulated a great private fortune as a banker, mercer, and merchant. He was the principal figure in the founding of the Royal Exchange, and he endowed Gresham College in London. His name was given to Gresham's law, the economic principle that in the circulation of money “bad money drives out good,” i.e., when depreciated, mutilated, or debased coinage (or currency) is in concurrent circulation with money of high value in terms of precious metals, the good money is withdrawn from circulation by hoarders. It was thought that Gresham was the first to state the principle, but it has been shown that it was stated long before his time and that he did not even formulate it.” http://www.answers.com/topic/thomas gresham 79 Besides scores of officers, warrant officers, and draftees in Český Krumlov and Komorní Hrádek, these terms were officially used at the meetings by LTC Miroslav Marek (2000 2001) 80 This expression is used only for cadets. A plebe is a freshman, usually at West Point. 81 The Czech term “bažant” disappeared from usage shortly after 1990. Then, draftees were using the term “myš” and are no longer familiar with the term “bažant.” 82 “The distinctive headgear worn by members of the Army’s Special Forces. The forest green colored, wool beret (aka, blanket) with the insignia of the Special Forces on its peak, was authorized as a part of the uniform by President John F. Kennedy in 1961. The Special Forces were initially the only Army unit allowed to wear a beret. Today, several military units are authorized to wear berets as part of their uniform, but they are of different colors (e.g. red, maroon, black).” (Tomajczyk 1996, 282) 83 Special Tactics Group 84 “(Sea Air Land, Black Berets) The Navy’s elite unconventional warfare teams. Supposedly in SEAL slang, the acronym also stands for ‘Sleep, Eat, And Live it up.” (Tomajczyk 1996, 487) 85 In the US Military alone there are an estimated 30000 immigrants (British Royal Navy numbers only 39000 personnel) who have difficulties with the language and over 4800 Puerto Ricans (825 of whom are currently in Iraq – the largest number of Puerto Ricans ever mobilized in US history). 86 OPI was introduced in DLIELC by Ms Karen Sacre and Mr Keith Wert. Currently, Ms Karen Sacre is a Chief of Testing Department and Mr Keith Wert is deputy chairman of BILC 87 The U.S. federal agency that organizes the mobilization of armed forces. 88 It originated in 1812 as the equivalent symbol to UK´s John Bull. The figure is supposed to have been based on Samuel Wilson, an inspector of provisions. The symbol gained further currency during WW1 when he was painted by James Montgomery Flagg as a stern figure pointing a finger at passers by, in a celebrated recruiting poster. It means the USA, especially the armed forces of federal agencies of the USA. (Uncle Sam´s action means military draft.) 89 Semantically, intensifiers include “Expressions that support empathy, i.e. the process of mutual understanding and empathy, and expressions that function as empathisers and emphasizers . These expressions are sometimes combined with direct address and are hearer oriented. (you see, you know, you remember, as far as you could gather, etc.)” (Urbanová, Oakland 2002, 54) 90 A scholarship program established at U. S. colleges and universities to train and qualify selected students for appointment as an officer ( in the grade of ensign or second lieutenant ) in one of the armed services upon graduation. The purpose of the porgram is to provide the military with unrestricted line officers. Students receive specialized military training ( bookwork and physical applications ) at the hands of NCOs and officers during the week, in addition to their normal schooling requirements for a college diploma. The scholarship usually provides tuition, book fees and a small monthly subsistence check. Since ROTC members ( called “Rot Sees“ ) are part of the inactive service, they do not receive pay and allowances. There are 2 – and 4 – year scholarships available. 91 “U.S. Army base located just north of Lawton, OK and home of the Army´s Field Artillery Center and School, as well as the Army´s III Corps Artillery.” (Tomajczyk 1996, 263) 92 “In England and Wales, a public school is a private school that provides secondary education which parents have to pay special fees for. In Scotland and the United States, a public school is a school for younger children that is supported financially by the government.” (Collins Cobuild English Usage 1993, 547) 93 “Anti Personnel Mine ‘M 16A1’ triggered by foot pressure (8 20 lbs.) or trip wire (3 10 lbs.). When disturbed, a preliminary charge blows the mine up and out of its buried container to a height
170 of 2 to 3.5 feet. Following a delay of about 1 second, the main ignitor detonates the charge, releasing the steel shrapnel. It has a lethal radius of 90 feet.” (Tomajczyk 1996, 58) 94 It officially means urgent situation – alert.
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