"boots on the ground"

[Dan Goncharoff]

Didn't the phrase begin as military jargon, before it moved into common use?

During the Vietnam War, what language was used to distinguish "advisors"
from fighting men?

DanG

On Fri, Sep 26, 2014 at 11:08 AM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: "boots on the ground"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 9/26/2014 09:55 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
> >If I hear this phrase again I'm going to scream. In fact, I might as well
> >do it now and get it over with.
> >
> >Ah, back to normal. Jake Tapper and his guests managed to say "boots on
> the
> >ground" *eight* times in less than two minutes, which averages out to one
> >boot roughly every seven seconds.
>
> Proves that the U.S. is heading for a massive re-engagement.
>
>
> >
> http://thelead.blogs.cnn.com/2014/09/24/roundtable-more-u-s-ground-troops-likely/
> >
> >(Read the text for the three additional "boots on the ground.")
> >
> >Plus. OED actually wants to link the "boot" in "boots on the ground" with
> >def. 1d, namely "A recruit at a boot camp."  So what these people  are
> >"really" talking about, I mean etymologically, is "untrained recruits on
> >the ground."   Make sense? It does to somebody.
> >
> >The service paper "Stars and Stripes" adds that "boots on the ground" is
> >"slang."   How would that be?
>
> Because it confused "slang" with "metaphor"?
>
> Joel
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org