Hollywood and "SIR!"

[Dave Wilton]

In my experience (service in the Army from 1985-89), I never heard this
intonation with "sir"--except perhaps in jest. (I also knew a grizzled, old
master sergeant, who if he was particularly disgusted with you, had a way of
intoning "sir" that made it sound like the most pejorative insult possible.)

I suspect the exaggerated "SIR!" comes from characterizations of Marine boot
camp where recruits address the drill instructors as "sir." (Or I think this
is the case. My knowledge of Marine boot camp comes from Hollywood.) This is
*not* the case in the Army, where basic training (not "boot camp") drill
sergeants (not "drill instructors") are addressed as "drill sergeant" or
"sergeant." Any Army recruit who addressed any sergeant as "sir" would get
in reply, "don't call me 'sir'! I work for a living!" Followed by some sort
of punishment, like push-ups. Basic trainees rarely even see an officer,
much less get a chance to address one. And once you get into the "real"
Army, things are much, much more relaxed.

At airborne school, we used such intonation when addressing the "black hats"
(instructors). There it was "Sergeant AIRBORNE!"

As to "HOO-ah!" and "OO-rah!," my recollection is that these came into vogue
during my term in service. I don't recall ever hearing them in ROTC or
officer's training. But by the time I got out in 1989, they were fairly
common.


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
Jonathan Lighter
Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2009 3:51 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Hollywood and "SIR!"

Some years ago  I began to notice that movies about the Vietnam War were
starting to represent enlisted troops in the field as addressing or
responding to commissioned officers with the barked word "SIR!"  This was
notably the case in _We Were Soldiers_ (2002), set in 1965.

I don't recall _ever_ hearing this ultra-hearty intonation in earlier films
about World War II, Korea, or even Vietnam.
Nor can I recall reading any comment to the effect that it was current. In
basic training, maybe, or at West Point.  But elsewhere?

My suspicion is that this "SIR! Yes, SIR!" is a latter-day (circa
1990?) affectation, though I wouldn't be surprised to find that movies have
reinforced it.  ("HOO-ah!" and "OO-rah!" both seem to post-date Vietnam as
well: they were discussed here a few years ago.)

Wilson, Bill, Jim, Dave, et al. What say you?


JL


--
"There You Go Again...Using Reason on the Planet of the Duck-Billed
Platypus"

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