[Ads-l] Paul Revere Quote

[Peter Reitan]

Contemporary accounts refer to the British troops as "the Regulars" or, less frequently as the "British troops".  The Americans were referred to as the militia or "the Provincials" or "American troops".
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From: W Brewer<mailto:brewerwa at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: ‎4/‎13/‎2017 23:14
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Paul Revere Quote

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Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Poster:       W Brewer <brewerwa at GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Paul Revere Quote
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JB:  <<The British troops in Boston were I think commonly referred to as
"regulars", perhaps because that term referred to the "standing army" that
the colonials were so antagonistic to, especially when imposed on their
soil.  >>
WB:  Once upon a time, US Army personnel were given a service number
consisting of letter-prefix followed by 8 numbers; RA standing for "Regular
Army". Draftees, on the other hand, were distinguished by a US prefix.
IIRC, National Guard (NG) and Reserve troops were also discriminated by
separate prefices. Later, SSAN was used, and I couldn't tell who was friend
or foe anymore.

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