A couple of examples of black-GI slang influenced by German

[Wilson Gray]

On Jul 27, 2004, at 12:09 PM, Duane Campbell wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Duane Campbell <dcamp911 at JUNO.COM>
> Subject:      Re: A couple of examples of black-GI slang influenced by
> German
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> On Tue, 27 Jul 2004 02:14:18 -0400 Wilson Gray
>
>> They referred to the US as "The States" or as the "Land of
>> the
>> Big PX," whereas the "Unites States Colored Troops," to revive a
>> term
>> from the Civil War, referred to the US as "The World."
>
> As a white GI, same place, same time, we often referred to the US as
> "the
> World."  Also "the land of the round doorknobs."

I'm not surprised, given that your unit was one-third soul. I never
heard the doorknob one, but I do remember the time that one of our guys
paid five bucks for one of those faceted, imitation-crystal doorknobs
that another GI had had his mother send him from home. And that was
really big bucks, at a time when you could buy a Rolex in Los Angeles
for about $125.00.

-Wilson

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