GI: "Government Issue"?

[Wilson Gray]

On Dec 27, 2004, at 7:21 PM, Douglas G. Wilson wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Douglas G. Wilson" <douglas at NB.NET>
> Subject:      Re: GI: "Government Issue"?
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>> Is there any evidence of any kind, even anecdotal, to support the
>> claim
>> that "GI" means or once meant "government issue"?
>
> The usual story (HDAS, RHUD, MW3) is that "GI" was an abbreviation for
> "galvanized iron" which was reinterpreted (ca. 1917) as "government
> issue"
> (or "general issue" or whatever) -- presumably on the basis of some US
> Army
> inventory item such as "bucket, G. I." -- and then applied to all
> things
> Army. I don't think there's any evidence of an antecedent expression
> "government issue". Basically another folk-etymology apparently.
>
> -- Doug Wilson
>

Thank you, Doug.

-Wilson Gray