[Ads-l] soldier = sailor

[Bill Mullins]

Also contemporary with the growth of the number of women in combat assignments.  ""Warriors" or "warfighters" is gender neutral.
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From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Jonathan Lighter <00001aad181a2549-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Friday, August 14, 2026 7:27 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: soldier = sailor

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Subject:      Re: soldier = sailor
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OED has relevant exx. of "warrior" from as far back as the 14th century.

But routine use to cover all U.S. service members (not just "valiant
fighters" as in OED) seems to me to be a post-Vietnam, even
post-Reagan, development - more or less contemporary with "Hooah" and
the like.

JL

On Fri, Aug 14, 2026 at 7:58=E2=80=AFPM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmai=
l.com> wrote:
>
> By "young people," of course, I meant folks under maybe fifty, whether
> "soldier or civilian."
>
> JL
>
> On Fri, Aug 14, 2026 at 5:39=E2=80=AFPM dave at wilton.net <dave at wilton.net>=
 wrote:
> >
> >
> > Yup, my experience was that "warfighter" or "soldier" (and "trooper" fo=
r cavalry units) were the preferred terms in the US Army. I don't know if "=
warfighter" was common in the other services. I think "warrior" is a more r=
ecent development; it predates Hegseth by a few years, although he champion=
s the term.
> >
> > And while the bulk of military personnel are indeed young, I'm not sure=
 "young people" works for all. There are older mid-career and senior office=
rs and crusty, old master sergeants and chief petty officers.
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: "Bill Mullins" <amcombill at HOTMAIL.COM>
> > Sent: Friday, August 14, 2026 3:54pm
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: Re: [ADS-L] soldier =3D sailor
> >
> >
> >
> > > After fourteen years of this, I'm not sure which sounds weirder to me=
 as a
> > > generic: "soldier" or "warrior." In my day, we didn't need no generic
> > > beyond "military personnel."
> > >
> > > Though "warrior" is politically preferred, I suspect civilian "young
> > > people" commonly subsume all military personnel - including Air Force
> > > personnel,, Coast Guards, and "Guardians" - under both.
> >
> > I worked for the Army as a civilian engineer for 40 years until I recen=
tly retired. Recently, the standard term was "warfighter".
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth=
."



--=20
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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