Heard on The judges: "Ripping and running"

[Dan Goncharoff]

I have a double-handled double-bladed post-hole digger. It is about 60
years old. I still use it when a hole must be dug.

I have several shovels, which have a flat edge. I also have several
spades, which come to a point, like the symbol for the suit on playing
cards.

I do not have a trench spade, but I used to.

I have seen the Red Army Chorus -- in the Soviet Union, where they
were not nearly as scary.

DanG

On Sun, May 1, 2011 at 7:20 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: Heard on The judges: "Ripping and running"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Sat, Apr 30, 2011 at 7:27 PM, victor steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> the survivalist-type, short-handled (about 40 cm long) multi-tool that has a
>> digging blade--the type that's sometimes associated with the Soviet/Russian army.
>
> The version used by the U.S. Army in my day - when "Red Army" was
> still the only term available for denominating the Soviet Army,
> though, as has been pointed out here, "Soviet Army" was already the
> *official* term as far back as During The War - was called an
> "entrenching tool," thereby avoiding the problem of having to decide
> whether to call a spade a spade. <har! ar!> It had a folding blade so
> that it could be hung comfortably - yeah, right - from your
> pistol-belt (known as a "web[bed] belt," in other branches of service,
> I believe). Only officers were issued pistols with holsters for
> attachment to this belt.
>
> Does anyone else remember the _Red_ Army Chorus, so-called into the
> '60's, at least, despite the official usage?
> --
> -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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