More slang from the Military History Institute

Bapopik at AOL.COM Bapopik at AOL.COM
Tue Jun 15 06:10:40 UTC 1999


     I have lots of other stuff here.

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---------------------------------------------ARMY SLANG DICTIONARIES BY PARK
KENDALL (1941, 1942)

     GONE WITH THE DRAFT: LOVE LETTERS OF A TRAINEE (1941) by Park Kendall
has a "Dictionary of Army Slang" that's 14 pages long.
     The sequel, STILL IN THE DRAFT (1942), has an 18-page dictionary of
slang.  It's much the same thing, but bigger!
     "SNAFU" is not in Kendall's 1941 book, but the 1942 book has
"_Snafu_...situation normal--mormal being all balled up."  THE F-WORD doesn't
have this citation.
      I thought the RHHDAS had Kendall, but I'm going down term by term and
the 1941 or 1942 citations aren't there.  If Lighter can't get the book, I
have copies.  What a resource!
     ARMY SOCIAL CUSTOMS (1958) by Ester Wier has "A collection of Army
Terms" on pages 131-145.
     THE POCKET BOOK OF WAR HUMOR (1943, edited by Bennett A. Cerf) has "A
Glossary of Army Slang" on page 227-242, but this appears to be the list that
made AMERICAN SPEECH in 1941.
     FAMOUS FIRSTS IN THE ARMY (1`944) has a brief "List of Army Slanguage"
on pages 110-111 and 122-123.

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THE GREATEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD (continued)

     This (a pun on the phrase?) is from DESERT WINGS, 26 November 1954, pg.
11, col. 2:

     QUOTE OF THE WEEK--Mrs. Donna (former Bollinger) Hill goes on record as
endorsing the ancient custom of marriage with "It's the greatest invention
since hash."

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"POSTAGE STAMP" AIR FIELDS

     A few years ago, there was a winter accident in La Guardia Airport in
New York City as a plane went off the runway.  One pilot was quoted that
landing on La Guardia's short runways was like trying to land on a postage
stamp.
     DESERT WINGS, 15 March 1954, pg. 11, col. 5, the cartoon "HOT AIR," has:
"I hate these postage stamp air fields!"
     ARMED FARCES: MILITARY CARTOONS BY VIP (Virgil Partch) (1968;
unpaginated) has a cartoon of an aircraft carrier.  "SEE?  IT JUST _LOOKED_
LIKE A POSTAGE STAMP FROM WAY UP THERE."

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"LOST--BUT MAKING GREAT TIME" (YOGI BERRA-ISM)

    Yankee baseball great Yogi Berra never said everything he said.  Or so
he's said.
    One of the famous ones was when he was on the team bus (He was the
manager in the version I remember), and someone said they were lost.  To
which Yogi replied: "Yeah, but we're makin' good time!"
     From DESERT WINGS, 30 April 1956, "The Little Corporal" cartoon:

PANEL TWO:
LATER...
"Some shortcut!  We're lost."
"What's the difference..."
PANEL THREE:
"...now, we're making great time!"



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