[Ads-l] soldier = sailor

[Jonathan Lighter]

This is a comment from yesterday on the submarine movie Das Boot:

 https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/movies/articles/5-most-realistic-submarine-movies-161800353.html
<https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/movies/articles/5-most-realistic-submarine-movies-161800353.html>
:

"It should be stressed that [director] Buchheim himself was unsatisfied,
feeling it overly dramatized the reality, where soldiers were more
emotionally composed."

JL


On Mon, Aug 17, 2026 at 2:18 PM Bill Mullins <amcombill at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Also contemporary with the growth of the number of women in combat
> assignments.  ""Warriors" or "warfighters" is gender neutral.
> ________________________________
> 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
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: soldier = sailor
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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".
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
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> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
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> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > "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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> 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."

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