Cadet Slang (1894, 1912, 1929)

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 A roundup of a few good articles, with some food terms in them (as usual).


 (WWW.NEWSPAPERARCHIVE.COM)
  Lafayette Advertiser - 3/3/1894
...cuardhouss balcony-, with CADET Dago, alias DUCROT, doubled up under a
zero t'-mpiirature.....enjoyab le en (ertainment was given by the MILITARY CADETs
at AVest Point, N. Y.....of the evening was a comic opera written by CADET.
I. A. Moss (Louisiana) 94; J N. A..
Lafayette, Louisiana Saturday, March 03, 1894  696 k
   3 March 1894, LAFAYETTE ADVERTISER (Lafayette, Louisiana), pg. 4?, col. 4:
   An enjoyable entertainment was given by the military cadets at West Point,
N. Y., Saturday.  (...)
   ...showing the tactical officer standing in his usual position on the
guardhouse balcony, with Cadet Dago, alis Col. Ducrot, doubled up under a zero
temperature soing Saturday extra duty,...


(WWW.NEWSPAPERARCHIVE.COM)
Chronicle Telegram - 5/31/1929
...Is printable, and now comes to light the SLANG lexicon of U. S. military
cadets; to.....Reg. Values Patent, Satin Red, Blue, Tan, BLONDE, Kaffor and
White Kid Jjcathers Straps.....in gymnasium: "boodle" candy, cake. Ice CREAM,
etc.: "boodle fight" a gathering where..
Elyria, Ohio Friday, May 31, 1929  717
   31 May 1939, CHRONICLE-TELEGRAM (Elyria, Ohio), pg. 18, col. 6:
_WEST POINTERS DISPLAY_
_ORIGINALITY IN JARGON_
   WEST POINT, N.Y.--The Army has long been noted for its picturesque
language, some stronger than is printable, and now comes to light the slang lexicon
of U. S. military cadets, to wit:
   "B.A."--busted aristocrat; "Augustine"--a cadet entering the academy in
August; "beast"--a new cadet; "muck"--work in gymnasium; "boodle"--candy, cake,
ice cream, etc.; "boodle fight"--a gathering where such luxuries are served;
"crawl"--to chastise a new cadet; very efficient in discipline (??-ed.);
"drag"--application of salve made of water, pomade and shoe-blacking to the
countenance of a plebe or newly made yearling corporal.
   A "Ducrot" is anything for which the name has been forgotten, and is
applied to all plebes.  "Mr. Ducrot," being the universal cognomen for such
newcomers.  Occasionally the term is altered to "Mr. Dumbficket," "Mr. Dumbguard" or
"Mr. Dumbjohn," but they all mean the same thing and are calculated to impress
upon the neophyte his abysmal insignificance.


(WWW.NEWSPAPERARCHIVE.COM)
 Sheboygan Press - 12/7/1929
...meaning is quite something else A "BOODLE FIGHT" is a gathering at which "
BOODLE" is.....the whole squadron To a cadet the word "BOODLE" means cake,
candy, ice cream or a..
Sheboygan, Wisconsin Saturday, December 07, 1929  723 k
   7 December 1929, SHEBOYGAN PRESS (Sheboygan, WIsconsin), pg. 16?, col. 2:
      _Cadet Slang at West Point_
   The slang of the cadets--which they employ only in private and barrack
room conversations--is indeed provincial and has little in common with the
colloguialisms of the soldiet.  In fact the cadets appropriated some of the
soldiers' slang and gave it an exact opposite meaning.
   No one has ever tried to trace the history of cadet slang, but it must
have a most interesting background.  For instance, why are all plebes--the new
men--called "Mr. Ducrot" by the upper class men?  Such deignations as
"Dumlicket" and "Dumbguard" and "Dumbjohn" for the freshmen is understandable to
students of adolescent psychology, but "Mr. Ducrot" is a bit too deep to explain so
easily.
   Many of the other slang expressions are, however, quite clear.  An
"elephant" is one who can't dance--(apparently applicable to a young lady who is none
too light on her feet)--and also means a cadet who is taking dancing lessons.
 An "engineer" neither runs locomotives nor is interested in constructive
bridges, but is "one well up in his studies, a cadet in the first section of
academic work."  A "femme" is a young lady, with thanks to the jolly French for
supplying the word.
   "Brace" is defined as "the correct military carriage for a plebe."  Used
as a verb, it means to take up a military position or to correct a plebe's
set-up.  A "buck" is an enlisted man, presumably whether he is a sergeant,
corporal or lance-jack.  In the army, of course, it means a low-ranking private.
Used as a verb, when one "bucks" anything he works against it, opposes it.  To
"bugle," strange as it may seem, does not mean "sounding off," as a soldier
might take it to mean.  When a cadet "bugles" he "avoids reciting by standing at
the board until the end of the recitation period."
   WHen a cadet is "busted" his appointment as a commissioned officer or
non-commissioned officer of the corps is revoked, and that bit of slang means the
same thing in the army.  But "to police" means, to the cadet, "to throw away,
to discard."  It means the exact opposite to the soldier.  When he "polices"
something he picks it off the ground.  "Policing" in the army means cleaning up
the barracks, the drill field or the camping site.  When a cadet is thrown
from his horse while in riding practice he has been "policed," and the
colloguialism also means "to be transferred down to a lower section in academic work."
   Some well-meaning muddleheads tried to fasten the designation "Sammy" on
the doughboys during the world war.  Luckily it didn't stick, but the word
"Sammy" in cadet language is sirup.  "Slum" is the same both at West Point and in
the army--it means that heterogeneous mess of meat, potatoes, carrots, gravy
and what not that the cooks call stew.  "Turkey," likewise, is hash both to the
cadet and the soldier, and "small cow" is the tin or pitcher of milk for the
coffee.  The cadets call any sort of dessert that is served them in their mess
hall a "small plate," while the soldiers have a variety of expressions for
such things, most of which lose both their flavor and dignity in print.
   A cadet's "wife" is his roommate; in the army he would be his "buddy."  A
plebe who cannot swim is called a "wairi," for what reason it would be
difficult to explain.  It is a bit apparent why the cadets call their battalion
sergeant-major a "Woof-Woof," but it is hardly likely that soldiets would be caught
dead with such an elfish word in their vocabularies.
   "Sound off" means the same thing to both schools of slang: "To use the
voice loudly."  But it has an added significance to the soldiet.  Some fellow who
is bragging or boasting is "sounding off," whether he is doing it for the
benefit of his best girl or telling the whole squadron.
   To a cadet the word "boodle" means cake, candy, ice cream or a similar
sweet delicacy, while its soldiet meaning is quite something else.  A "boodle
fight: is a gethering at which "boodle" is served, and "the boodler" is the cadet
restaurant where delicacies may be had for a price.  A "Bootlicker" means the
same to the cadet and the soldiet--a fellow who tries to curry favor with a
superior.  It, by the way, is one of the most full-bodied and finest flavored
bits of slang in anybody's lexicon.


(PROQUEST or NEWSPAPERARCHIVE)
Washington Post - 5/5/1912
...to ranks. He has become a once more, aa the CADET private is termed. CADET
officers are.....and beast are also the following terms: DUCROT. crow.
Dunckel. Dumguard, and DumJohn.....Is unique. Nowhere. than thft United States
MILITARY Academy, can be [.Hind a dialogue so.....I work hard, The Slang of the
West Point CADET Out-Choctaws Choctaw ff charge to be..
Washington, District Of Columbia   Sunday, May 05, 1912  709 k

(This extremely long article is difficult to read.  Gerald Cohen might want
to order a reprint, or someone else can type it here.  It's great stuff--ed.)