Language Police flunk teachers from Estonia to Arizona (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Wilson Gray]

WGAF "WEE gaff" was used in Berlin at least as early as 1961 by EM in
the old Army Security Agency as the initials of a secret
pswaydo-order. Supposedly, the officers and NCO's thought that this
stood for "We Guard America's Freedom." In fact, it stood for "(Like)
We Give A Fuck" about the Army and its chickenshit. There was a secret
badge, made from wet Polaroids of the Statue of Liberty modified so
that she held up the finger instead of the Torch of Liberty, a secret
password, etc.

I doubt that the officers and NCO's had a clue about this. Hence, they
weren't tricked by any phony reading of the letters, etc. It was an
inside joke among the EM that was so trivial that higher headquarters
wouldn't have given a damn about it.

I doubt that even any EM regarded WGAF as anything but
tension-breaking silliness. Before The Wall went up, Berlin had been
an official, military vacation spot, like Berchtesgaden. Afterward,
things got tense.

-Wilson

On Wed, Jun 9, 2010 at 11:33 AM, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC
<Bill.Mullins at us.army.mil> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>
> Subject:      Re: Language Police flunk teachers from Estonia to Arizona
>              (UNCLASSIFIED)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
>> Behalf Of Wilson Gray
>> Sent: Tuesday, June 08, 2010 8:51 PM
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>> Subject: Re: Language Police flunk teachers from Estonia to Arizona
>>
>>
>> "After all that we've done for those people! They're trying to destroy
>> the great, unifying language of the former Soviet Emp... uh, Union!
>> Why, until the Red Army conquered, uh, *civilized* these peoples, they
>> were still swinging through the trees! (Of course, these two little
>> countries had long formed part of the Tsarist Empire, but, like, WGAF
>> about non-Sovieticized history.)
>
> "WGAF" -- That's a new one on me.  Too bad that didn't make it into
> Jesse Shiedlower's _F-Word_.
>
> MORALE OF SCH'DY POLICE CRITICIZED
> Times Union, The (Albany, NY) - Tuesday, February 7, 1989 p B4
> Author: Marv Cermak Staff writer
>
> "Councilman Albert P. Jurczynski held up a sweatshirt with the initials
> WGAF on a sleeve at Monday's City Council meeting.
>
> "If I said the initials stand for 'Who Gives a Darn' I'd be close,"
> Jurczynski said."
>
> Joel Redon, "Who Wrecked the Buffett?" _New York Native_; 2/2/87, Issue
> 198, p29, 2p
>
> [refers to a gay bar in the East Village named WGAF]
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



--
-Wilson
–––
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"––a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
–Mark Twain

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