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Regimental nicknames of the Canadian Forces
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Many regiments have over the years earned nicknames; some laudatory, some derogatory, but all colourful. Sometimes, the nicknames themselves have overshadowed the actual regimental title, e.g. the "Van Doos" for the Royal 22e Régiment. In some cases the nickname actually replaced it: in 1881, the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment of Foot became officially known by its nickname, The Black Watch.
What follows is a list of nicknames of Canadian regiments, arranged alphabetically by regimental title.
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Encyclopedia
Many regiments have over the years earned nicknames; some laudatory, some derogatory, but all colourful. Sometimes, the nicknames themselves have overshadowed the actual regimental title, e.g. the "Van Doos" for the Royal 22e Régiment. In some cases the nickname actually replaced it: in 1881, the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment of Foot became officially known by its nickname, The Black Watch.
What follows is a list of nicknames of Canadian regiments, arranged alphabetically by regimental title. A brief explanation of the origin of the nickname, where known, is included.
Regimental nicknames
#
- 1 Combat Engineer Regiment (1 CER)
- 4th Air Defence Regiment, RCA (4 AD REGT)
- 4th Alcohol and Drug Regiment
- 5th Field Regiment, RCA (5 RCA)
- 5 Service Battalion
- 5 Battalion, No Service: from '"5 BN S"' and soldiers' beliefs their individual needs cannot always be met. Can be applied to any service battalion.
- 6e Régiment d’artillerie de campagne, ARC (6e RAC)
- 6e Rack à bicycle (6th Bike Rack)
- 48th Highlanders of Canada (48 HIGHRS)
- The Dirty Four Dozen: most likely a play on The Dirty Dozen, where “48” equals four dozen
- The Forty-Eighths
- The Glamour Boys:
- According to Farley Mowat's The Regiment, the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment were known as "Ploughjockeys" due to their rural recruiting area, while the 48th Highlanders—who recruited from Toronto—were known as "Glamour Boys." This origin is also cited by the The War Amps.
- An alternate explanation comes from the blue puttees they wore; during an inspection by King George VI in World War II, the regiment wore blue puttees due to a shortage of khaki material. The king reputedly liked the blue puttees better than the khaki ones worn by the rest of the brigade, and authorized the regiment to keep them. This is the origin cited by the regiment itself.
A–G
- The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's)
- Ash Cans, from “ASH of C(an)”
- Canadian Special Operations Regiment
- Canadian Soldier on the Run
- Double-doubles, from the similarity in colour between their tan berets and coffee with cream (a double-double is a Tim Hortons coffee with two measures of cream and two of sugar)
- The Fort Garry Horse
- The Garrys
- Fugahwees, informally, from the initials FGH, as in "where the fugahwe?"
- Fags, Gays, and Homos, from the initials FGH
- Les Fusiliers de Sherbrooke
- The Fuzz de Sher , from Fus de Sher, or just the Fuzz, particularly by cross-town rivals, the Sherbrooke Hussars. The regiment's newsletter is also titled Fuz.
- The Governor General's Foot Guards
- Guards.
- Foot Guards.
- Googoo Foogoos, from “GGFG”.
- God's Gift to Fat Girls, from “GGFG”.
- Gustav Gone for Good or Good God, Forgot the Gustav! Used after the regiment left an 84 mm Carl Gustav anti-tank weapon by the side of a road after a weekend exercise and then drove off. When the mistake was realized, and a party sent to retrieve it, the weapon had vanished.
- Gods Gift For Gays
- The Governor General's Horse Guards
- God’s Gift to Horny Girls, from “GGHG”
- Gugga Huggas, from “GGHG”
- Gee Gee H Gees, from "GGHG"
- Gee Gees, from "GGHG"
H–Q
- The Irish Regiment of Canada
- 2 Irish (from the regiment in Sudbury, 2nd Battalion)
- 2nd Irish
- 2 Lep (2 Leprecaun)
- The NOB's (Northern Ontario battalion, also includes The Algonquin Regiment)
- North Saskatchewan Regiment
- Nisker, a humorous pronunciation of their abbreviated name 'N Sask R'
- Niskers, pluralization of the singular 'Nisker'
- The Nova Scotia Highlanders
- Ladies from Hades: from the First World War; a jocular reference to their kilted battle dress and their fierce fighting.
- Highlanders: This name can also be applied to other highland regiments, but is used mainly to describe this regiment. The could also be derived from the common name (highlander) of the unit's cap badge.
- The Ontario Regiment
- Ontars from “OntR”
- Scaredy Cats: from the unit's cap badge, a cat with an arched back
- The Pissing Cats, as above
- Screaming Pussies, as above
- Meow!
- Princess Louise Fusiliers
- The Prancing Little Fairies: used generally by the West Novies and Nova Scotia Highlanders
- Flaming Testicle: taken from grenade with flames on the regiment's cap badge.
- Pretty Ladies Fuck Us: from their shoulder flashes that read PL Fus. Used by members of the regiment when asked what it stands for.
- Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry
- The Patricias: the preferred nickname among soldiers actually serving in, or who have served with, the regiment.
- The Pats
- Princess Pat's: generally used only by the media.
- The Picklies or Picks, from “PPCLI”
- Ping Pong Champions of Long Island
- Ping Pong Champions of Lulu Island
- Pud-Pulling Cowboys Learning Italian: extremely derogatory name that is both a mockery the Patricias' geographic location in Western Canada and an allusion to them being D-Day Dodgers.
- Peanuts, Popcorn, Candy, Licorice and Ice Cream
- Please Protect Canada's Little Idiots
- Piss Pot Cleaners and Latrine Inspectors
- Princess Pocahontas' Cute Little Indians
- VP: from Victoria Patricia, Regimental Matron. Often preceded by battalion number.
- The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada
- Queen's Own Rentals, a reference to their being a militia unit
- Queers on the Run, from "QOR"
- The Hobo Beaters, from an incident where some soldiers from the regiment beat up a homeless man.
- Quickest out of Ridgeway, a reference to their disorganized retreat at the Battle of Ridgeway
- The Queen's York Rangers (1st American Regiment)
- Q'wairang, from "QYRng"
- KY Rangers,
- The Black Plague, Black from black headdress—Plague from not breaking contact with the enemy—'plaguing the enemy'.
R–Z
- The Rocky Mountain Rangers
- Rim Rangs
- The Rocky Mountain Ram Fuckers Referring to the unit cap badge of the big horn sheep
- The Rocky Mountain Rabbit Rapers
- Royal 22e Régiment
- The Vandoos: from English corruption of the French vingt-deux for “twenty-two”
- Les hosties de queues plates: (literally, "the communion wafer flat-tails". Better translated as "the damn flat-tails": hostie is a mild and common Canadian-French curse) from the beaver on the regimental badge. Seldomly used within the regiment or the 5 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group anymore.
- Les Vingt-Deux: the Twenty-Twos.
- Régiment Canadien Français: literally, "French Canadian Regiment."
- The Royal Canadian Dragoons
- The RCDs: taken directly from their shoulder titles.
- Bambi: taken from their cap badge.
- Dancing (Prancing) Goats: again a reference to their cap badge.
- Dragoons: Shortened title.
- Drags: reference made to the RCD in early (1920s–30s) editions of the regimental journal of The Royal Canadian Regiment, which shared the Toronto garrison with the RCD
- The Dragons: common non-service mispronunciation of the word. Known to irritate RCD troopers to no end, and thus, is sometimes used deliberately for that purpose.
- Deer-Jumping Fairies: derogatory reference to the springbok in their badge. Usually used by Strats.
- The Goons or Da Goons
- The Royal Canadian Regiment
- The RCR: the official short title of the regiment
- Royal Canadians
- The Royals (incorrect, but often used colloquially by those who do not know this is more properly used to refer to The Royal Regiment of Canada)
- Shino Boys: a First World War nickname given to The RCR by soldiers of other units, noting the regiment's high standards of dress and deportment
- Run Chicken Run: A widely repeated but highly apocryphal story has the nickname resulting from a romantic liaison between a member of the regiment and a chicken. In reality, it probably stems from the fact that the chicken is jokingly referred to by envious others as "the regimental bird." Which explanation is offered usually depends on whether or not the person asked is a member of the regiment. Chickens feature greatly in derogatory nicknames assigned to The RCR, such as Rubber Chicken Regiment, etc.
- Coop: Used by military members to refer to the unit's battalions, ie. 1 coop, 2 coop, 3 coop.
- Rocking Chair Rangers
- The Brasso Kings: First World War nickname mentioned in 1935 Connecting File, the regimental journal of The Royal Canadian Regiment
- The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (Wentworth Regiment)
- The Rileys, from “RHLI”
- The Rock Hudson Light Infantry
- The Royal Newfoundland Regiment
- The Blue Puttees: name actually limited to the first 500 volunteers of the Newfoundland Regiment in 1914, as there was only blue broadcloth available to make puttees
- The Royal Regiment of Canada
- Royals (also used to refer to The Royal Canadian Regiment)
- The Royal Refugees of Canada
- The Fugees: used to illustrate the high number of members of different ethnicities. Two subcategories are eastern european (Winter battalion) and African-Canadian(Summer Battalion)
- The Royal Regina Rifles
- The Reginas
- The Farmer Johns: the majority of the first members of the Regiment were farm labourers
- The Johns: derived from “The Farmer Johns” and now the "official" unofficial nickname
- The Royal Westminster Regiment
- The Royal Winnipeg Rifles
- Little Black Devils: Infantry of the line usually wore scarlet tunics, while rifle units wore dark green—almost black—tunics. After the Battle of Fish Creek during the Northwest Rebellion of 1885, a captured Métis asked, "The red coats we know, but who are those little black devils?"—hence also the Latin motto: “Hosti Acie Nominati”, “named by the enemy in battle”
- Retards with Rifles
- The Saskatchewan Dragoons
- The Sask Buffoons
- The Gap Dragons (The Gap in between Alberta and Manitoba)
- The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada
- The Seafroth
- Seafilth
- The Gow Deeks: mispronunciation of the Scots Gaelic motto “Cuidich’n Righ”, “Help the King”
- The Bullwinkles: based on the stag’s head of the cap badge supposedly resembling the cartoon character Bullwinkle J. Moose
- The Horny Stags: a derogatory reference to the stag's head cap badge
- The Sherbrooke Hussars
- The South Alberta Light Horse
- The Sally Horse, from the “SAL” in “SALH”
- Sally-Ho, with a play on the phrase "tally-ho"
- Silly Horse
- Super Amazing Legendary Heroes
- Suitcase and Luggage Handlers
- The Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders
- The Glens
- Sand, Dust and Gravel from the “SD&G” in “SD&G Highrs” (also "Sand, Dirt and Gravel").
- Stupid, Dumb and Gay Highlanders, also from SD&G
- The STDs, also from "SD&G"
- The Ladies from Hell from wearing their kilts to battle in World War II
- The Toronto Scottish Regiment
- The Tor Scots from “TOR SCOT”
- The Trot Scots: rhyming nickname
Disbanded or inactive regiments
- The Canadian Airborne Regiment (Disbanded 6 March 1995)
- The Regiment: the precise origin is unknown, but may come from the fact that the British 22nd Special Air Service Regt is also called familiarly "The Regiment", although the Airborne was never affiliated with the SAS, but rather, The Parachute Regiment. However, that use of "The Regiment" to refer to one's own regiment amongst members is not unique, it was presumed by members of the CAR that all others would 'know' which regiment they meant.
- The Stillborn (As the rest of the Army knew them)
- Meat Bombs
- Lawn Darts
- 4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards (reduced to nil strength 1964)
- Pretty Little Dancing Girls
Corps, Branch, and Nonspecific Nicknames
- The Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
- Part Changers: Seen as only changing parts, not making repairs.
- The Maintainers
- Dirty EeMEes: jocular reference to the technicians' having the dirtiest and greasiest jobs in the army. Later reclaimed by EME technicians to describe being "dirty" in another usage of the word.
- Les Mécanos: used in French to describe any EME technician, mechanic or otherwise.
- CF Intelligence Branch
- Green Slime: green formerly being the corps colour of the Royal Canadian Intelligence Corps.
- CF Logistics Branch
- The Logs: taken directly from their shoulder titles: both English and French.
- Blanket Stackers: derogatory slang taken from the British Army nickname for the Royal Logistics Corps.
- The Paperclip Badges: from the resemblance of the two chain links in their cap badge to two linked paperclips. Sometimes referred to as "Crossed Paperclips" in reference to crossed rifles, a marksmanship badge once issued in the Canadian Army (and still issued in Army Cadets and at RMC).
- Bin Rats: referring to the general assumption made by members of other branches that Logistics members root through the boxes of the newest and shiniest kit available, leaving the remainder for the front-line soldiers.
- Circus Battalion: (derogatory name for any service battalion, regular or reserve). Usually employed by members to describe the lack of organization that traditionally plagues these units, i.e. They bring big tents and are staffed by clowns.
- CF Medical Branch
- Pecker Checkers: as soldiers tend to put things where they shouldn't.
- Canker Mechanics: Compares the Medical Branch to other Service Trades.
- Military Police
- Thunder Chickens: from the branch cap badge a thunderbird.
- Meatheads: general nickname for Military Police. There are two possible explanations: the first being the obvious derogatory meaning of the word or; a metaphorical reference to their scarlet berets. Most CF personnel seem to concur that the former is much more likely to be the origin of the name than the latter.
- Royal Canadian Artillery
- Herbies after a Second World War cartoon whose lead character was a gunner named Herbie. Now fallen out of common usage.
- Thirty-Mile Snipers: a derogatory reference to their location on the battlefield
- The Royal Canadian Armoured Corps
- Tankies
- Tin Can Commandos
- Zipperheads
- The Canadian Military Engineers
- Chimos: from the Corps greeting, chimo
- Thumper Heads (From the Beaver on their Cap Badge)
- The Royal Canadian Infantry Corps
- Crunchies: from the sound they make when vehicles drive over them. Also known as Speed Bumps for the same reason.
- Knuckle Draggers
- Gravel Technicians for the American penchant for specialist grades with no meaning beyond private, and the belief infantry privates should be recognized as specialized in something...
- Grunts
- Infantards
- Pongos
- SPUTS: from Self-Propelled Pop-up Targets
- Bayonets: From their weapon of last resort
- The Communications and Electronics Branch
- Jimmys: nickname for signallers, from the figure of Mercury on their cap badge, commonly referred to as "Jimmy". Used mainly in the reserves.
- Buddy: anyone, anytime, anywhere in the cf, is buddy.
See also
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