Query: "military brat" prior to 1981? (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Jonathan Lighter]

I can't comment on the idea that a "brat" might refer to a military person
who has served in many places except to say that I'm unfamiliar with it and
my Sprachgefuehl tells me it's improbable.

But stranger things happen every day.

JL

On Thu, May 5, 2011 at 2:09 PM, Jim Parish <jparish at siue.edu> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jim Parish <jparish at SIUE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Query: "military brat" prior to 1981? (UNCLASSIFIED)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Quoting victor steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM> (much snipped):
> > I've never heard children of enlisted men refer to
> > themselves as "X brat", only children of officers--of course, it could
> mean
> > that I don't know enough brats or it could mean that the there is an
> actual
> > distinction (the length of a career in the military seems to be the
> deciding
> > factor, especially when combined with the itinerant nature of the
> service).
>
> My father was a career NCO in the Army, and we - his five children - all
> referred to ourselves as Army brats.
>
> Jim Parish
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