in the suck

Wilson Gray hwgray at GMAIL.COM
Wed Nov 3 20:19:04 UTC 2010


On Wed, Nov 3, 2010 at 1:06 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Six-By's

Sadly, the volume of HDAS containing this term hasn't yet appeared.

However, as an ex-GI and not an ex-marine/ex-Marine, I was much more
interested in what HDAS has for _deuce-and-a-half_. It was surprising
to see that the term goes back to the '40's *in print*! Until I was
actually *in* the Army a dekkid-and-half later, I was totally unaware
of its existence, though _six-by_ had long been an old friend found in
various writings about The War. IIAC, ME, _six-by_ is totally obsolete
in Army jargon.

OTOH, it's weird that, judging by HDAS's quotes, "old Army guys" (a
catch-phrase used by a Language- School teacher proud of his own
service in the Russian - as opposed to the *Soviet* - Army and wanting
to hook up with his students), still felt the need to define
"deuce-and-a-half" for outsiders at least down into the '90's.

--
-Wilson
–––
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"––a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
–Mark Twain

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