signature, adj.

[Jonathan Lighter]

See, Gen. George H. Thomas was given the nickname of "The Rock of
Chicakamauga."

It doesn't mean a real rock.

So the joke was on them.

JL

On Thu, Mar 3, 2011 at 5:04 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: signature, adj.
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Thu, Mar 3, 2011 at 3:21 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > Chickamauga
>
> The 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Div, AKA "The
> Rock of Chickamauga," was rotated into West Berlin in reinforcement of
> the Berlin Brigade, USAREUR (YOOsa-roar in GI jargon)), after The Wall
> went up. Astoundingly, IMO, the unit was permitted to bring along with
> it, by plane at taxpayer expense, its "mascot," a big-assed fxcking
> *boulder* that must have weighed *tons*! It bore a plaque stating, for
> the delectation of the interested passer-by, that it was, indeed, none
> other than The Rock of Chickamauga.
>
> Well, anything to bolster the morale of the troops, I guess. After
> all, the balloon might well have gone up at any moment!
>
> Youneverknow.
>
> You know, now that I pause to give it thought, it's astonishing that
> people are able to overlook the fact that the *combat* troops of the
> U.S. Army are *children* (in basic training, cadre-members routinely
> shouted, "God damn it! I'd rather see *whiskers* on a man's cheek, not
> peach fuzz! (as a consequence of not shaving)), so young that
> automobile-insurance companies insist that they pay a surcharge,
> because their frontal cortices haven't developed sufficiently for them
> to be possessed of the common sense necessary to drive a car safely.
>
> During The War, *I* fervently hoped that it would last long enough
> that I could see combat, preferably in some swinging,
> South-Pacific-island jungle. Sadly, back then, wars lasted only a hot
> minute and not dekkids. I was just born too soon. :-(
>
> --
> -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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