Old Army Terminology

Old Army Terminology

The author, Peter B. Kyne, mentions in his book, Soldiers, Sailors and Dogs, New York: HC Kinsey & Co., 1936, what appears to be a series of expressions that probably originated during the Spanish-American War and could have it survived until the early part of American involvement in World War I. Evidently Kyne had some military experience or knowledge of it. In his book, some of the fictional stories take place in the United States and France during the World War. Kyne uses expressions like:

“Bluebird” – Obviously a reference to someone who left the service for a period of time and then re-enlisted in the military. The connotation could be made here with the hunting instinct of a blue bird, which returns to the same nest year after year. Lighter does not mention this term.

“Bob” – a dishonorable discharge from the service. To receive a “bob” or to be “bobbed” was to receive a dishonorable discharge. “Bobtail” is Indian Wars slang for dishonorable discharge. “Her bobtail of his comes back in the mail, O’Reilly’s gone to hell.”

In Paul Dickson’s book, War Slang… we read: “bobtailed. Dishonorably discharged; from the practice of removing (“bobtailing”) the honor-conferring portion of discharge documents. Dickson, Paul. War Slang. ..Pocket Books, 1994, page 44. Also the act of cutting the download below the character section denoted “no character.” Rickey, Forty Miles a Day on Beans and Hay.

Elting’s “A Dictionary of Soldier Talk” presents the definition “bobtail-bobtail discharge (Old, Old Army). A discharge from service under less than honorable conditions. Not a dishonorable discharge, but the following. The term comes from practice to cut out the final section of the discharge form, which covered the character of the discharged In World War II it was called “discharge without honor”.

In his article “Slang of the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe, 1917-1919 (American Speech, 1972) Joathan Lighter identifies:

–bobtail as a dishonorable discharge, an expression that dates back to the US Army in the late 19th century.

Paul Dickson’s “War Slang” has “bobtail hotel, an army disciplinary barracks.”

“Soldier to the fist” was to be an exemplary soldier. To the “handle” of what?

“Fogie” – a service strip. Lighter does not mention this term.

Elting also has “fogy, fogey, fogie (All services). A word whose origin and history would probably be very interesting, if it were precisely known. The oldest form, which is civil and from the mid-18th century, is “fogram , “meaning a retired person, an old fuddyduddy. 1. (Late 18th and early 19th centuries, British and American). An elderly or crippled soldier; hence a garrison soldier. 2. (19th century, with some survivors; US) Longevity pay, increased pay for time of service “I get another fogy next month, but my wife is already spending it.” Also called fogy pay, fogy pa. Both fogy and fogy pay (with variants) are now becoming obsolete.

Dickson’s “War Slang” offers a similar definition, much shorter, without reference to date or background. Lighter says that Fogy or fogy was a longevity bonus paid to officers and NCOs dating back to the Civil War; of “old old”.

In the late 1960s, a “fogie” was an incremental step in your salary due to longevity. It may be that it is the consequence of the service stripe, since service stripes were awarded for longevity.

One correspondence sent the fact that her father was in the US Army from 1910 to 1940 and that during that time period, Army slang for a “loose woman” was “cookie shooter.” Nothing is known of the origin of this expression.

Are all of these expressions of the Spanish American war army and did any of them survive into the First World War? Although author Kyne uses these expressions in the context of Hispanic-American war veterans serving in the US Army during World War I, I have never seen these terms used in any other American writing on World War I. World.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dickson, Paul. war slang. New York: Pocket Books, 1994

Elting, Soldiers’ Conversation Dictionary.

Kyne, Peter B. SOLDIERS, SAILORS and DOGS. New York: H. C. Kinsey & Co., 1936.

Lighter, Jonathan. “Slang of the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe, 1917-1919. American speech, 1972.

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