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Military slang
 
 
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Military slang is an array of colloquial terminology
Terminology

Terminology is the study of terms and their use. Terms are words and compound words that are used in specific contexts. Not to be confused with "terms" in colloquial usages, the shortened form of technical terms which are defined within a Academic discipline or speciality field....
 used commonly by military
Military

A military is an organization authorized by its nation to use force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or Threat of force ....
 personnel, including slang
Slang

Slang is the use of highly informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's dialect or language....
 which is unique to or originates with army, naval/marine/coast and air armed forces
Armed forces

The armed forces of a country are its government-sponsored defense, fighting forces, and organizations. They exist to further the foreign and domestic policies of their governing body, and to defend that body and the nation it represents from external and internal aggressors....
. It often takes the form of abbreviation
Abbreviation

An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase. Usually, but not always, it consists of a letter or group of letters taken from the word or phrase....
s/acronyms or derivations of the NATO Phonetic Alphabet
NATO phonetic alphabet

The NATO phonetic alphabet, more formally the international radiotelephony spelling alphabet, is the most widely used spelling alphabet. Though often called "phonetic alphabets", spelling alphabets have no connection to phonetic transcription systems like the International Phonetic Alphabet....
, or otherwise incorporates aspects of formal military concepts and terms. Military slang is often used to reinforce or reflect (usually friendly and humorous
Military humor

Military humor is humor based on stereotypes of military life. Military humor portrays a wide range of characters and situations in the armed forces....
) interservice rivalries.






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Military slang is an array of colloquial terminology
Terminology

Terminology is the study of terms and their use. Terms are words and compound words that are used in specific contexts. Not to be confused with "terms" in colloquial usages, the shortened form of technical terms which are defined within a Academic discipline or speciality field....
 used commonly by military
Military

A military is an organization authorized by its nation to use force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or Threat of force ....
 personnel, including slang
Slang

Slang is the use of highly informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's dialect or language....
 which is unique to or originates with army, naval/marine/coast and air armed forces
Armed forces

The armed forces of a country are its government-sponsored defense, fighting forces, and organizations. They exist to further the foreign and domestic policies of their governing body, and to defend that body and the nation it represents from external and internal aggressors....
. It often takes the form of abbreviation
Abbreviation

An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase. Usually, but not always, it consists of a letter or group of letters taken from the word or phrase....
s/acronyms or derivations of the NATO Phonetic Alphabet
NATO phonetic alphabet

The NATO phonetic alphabet, more formally the international radiotelephony spelling alphabet, is the most widely used spelling alphabet. Though often called "phonetic alphabets", spelling alphabets have no connection to phonetic transcription systems like the International Phonetic Alphabet....
, or otherwise incorporates aspects of formal military concepts and terms. Military slang is often used to reinforce or reflect (usually friendly and humorous
Military humor

Military humor is humor based on stereotypes of military life. Military humor portrays a wide range of characters and situations in the armed forces....
) interservice rivalries. Military slang has often been incorporated into wider usage. Military slang and jargon
Jargon

Jargon is terminology which has been especially defined in relationship to a specific activity, profession, or group. In other words, the term covers the language used by people who work in a particular area or who have a common interest....
 are distinguishable, as the latter has official currency, while the former is a grassroots
Grassroots

A grassroots movement is one driven by the constituent of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it is natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures....
 phenomenon.

Some military slang terms have been come to be considered derogatory to varying degrees and audiences, and attempts have been made to curb their use.

See also

  • Grande Armée slang
    Grande Armée slang

    As with all armed forces throughout history, the French Grande Arm?e of the Napoleonic Wars used a colorful and extensive vocabulary of slang terms to describe their lives, times and circumstances and express their reactions towards them....
     (French Army slang during the Napoleonic Wars
    Napoleonic Wars

    The Napoleonic Wars were a series of conflicts involving Napoleon I of France First French Empire and changing sets of European allies and opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815....
    )
  • List of U.S. Marine Corps acronyms and expressions
    List of U.S. Marine Corps acronyms and expressions

    This is a list of acronyms, expressions, euphemisms, jargon, military slang, and sayings in common or formerly common use in the United States Marine Corps....
  • List of U.S. Navy acronyms
    List of U.S. Navy acronyms

    The U.S. Navy, like any bureaucratic organization, produces its own acronyms, which often come to have meaning beyond their bare expansions. Servicemembers sometimes refer to this as NAVSpeak....
  • Wiktionary:Appendix:Military slang
    • Wiktionary:Appendix:Canadian military slang
    • Wiktionary:Appendix:U.S. Navy slang


External links

  • from the Royal Navy
    Royal Navy

    The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British Armed Forces . From the mid-18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early 1940s....
    , by Covey Crump
    Covey Crump

    Commander A. Covey-Crump, Royal Navy , a former Naval Assistant to the Chief of Naval Information, was responsible in the mid-1950s for compiling a record of naval slang, abbreviations, legends and historical tid-bits....
  • – list of expressions used by soldiers