Book on Vietnam War Slang

[Cohen, Gerald Leonard]

I invited Tom Dalzell to share with ads-l a few interesting items from his new (and very welcome) book on Vietnam War Slang. Today he sent me the list in the message below.

Incidentally, for "Charlie" (= Viet Cong), Dalzell gives eight quotes with the references cited, but I would now add the etymology, which I believe is already well known: "Viet Cong" > "VC" > "Victor Charlie" (in radio-transmission alphabet) > (for short) "Charlie." 

Again, his list is just a sample, and his book looks like a valuable addition to the study of war slang.

Gerald Cohen


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From: Dalzell, Tom [tmd9 at IBEW1245.com]
Sent: Sunday, August 24, 2014 8:54 AM
To: Cohen, Gerald Leonard
Subject: RE: Book on Vietnam War Slang

Sorry for the delay.

Some mainstays of the Vietnam war slang lexicon include:

Charlie
Country, in
Dink
Dinky dau
Double digit midget
FIGMO
FNG
Freedom bird
Gook
Graf (verb sense 2)
Grunt
Hump (verb)
Million dollar wound
REMF
World, the

Edgier entries include:

Bell Telephone hour
Boom Boom
Buddhist barbecue
BUFE; buffy
Carwash
Dap
Doughnut dolly
Flying lessons
FTA
LBFM


Thanks / Tom 

From: Cohen, Gerald Leonard [mailto:gcohen at mst.edu] 
Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2014 3:16 PM
To: American Dialect Society
Cc: Dalzell, Tom
Subject: Re: Book on Vietnam War Slang

I've kept Tom Dalzell posted on the ads-l messages concerning the supposed chemical agent "Howdy-Doody", included in his latest book, _Vietnam War Slang_. Tom replied with two messages, which I now (with his permission) share below with ads-l.

"Howdy-Doody" is clearly an outlier for Tom.  Might I now invite him to share with ads-l a few items that he finds very interesting and also better typify the material he came across in his research.

Gerald Cohen
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From: Dalzell, Tom [tmd9 at IBEW1245.com]
Sent: Tuesday, August 12, 2014 10:44 AM
To: Cohen, Gerald Leonard
Subject: Re: Book on Vietnam War Slang

This is the only cite I have for it. It was marginal for that reason and for the reason that the identity of the chemical agent is not revealed. I'm surprised that it got as much attention as it did. I have feelers out a couple places to see if I can find out anything more about it. Thanks, Tom

From: Dalzell, Tom [tmd9 at IBEW1245.com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2014 10:57 AM
To: Cohen, Gerald Leonard
Subject: Re: Book on Vietnam War Slang
Thanks. I have been seeing them. I stand by my description of the term as marginal. I continue to be surprised by the attention being paid to it. Thanks, Tom
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