# former Military...favorite jargon **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 10, 2014, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-military-favorite-jargon/692752 "2014-07-10T09:52:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![turner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/22d042/32.png) [@turner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/turner)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-military-favorite-jargon/692752/21 "2014-07-11T00:14:05Z")
My favorite is “flailex” when no one knows what to do, but feel like they have to do “something”. ---
**Author:** ![chicagowhitesox1173](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/46a35a/32.png) [@chicagowhitesox1173](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chicagowhitesox1173)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-military-favorite-jargon/692752/22 "2014-07-11T00:22:24Z")
Boatsenmaite punch. I learned the hard way on this one. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-military-favorite-jargon/692752/23 "2014-07-11T00:33:42Z")
OBE = overtaken by events: circumstances have changed enough to scuttle your plan ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-military-favorite-jargon/692752/24 "2014-07-11T01:07:36Z")
Cluster Fuck ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-military-favorite-jargon/692752/25 "2014-07-11T01:27:43Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > From my understanding, Carter served on the Seawolf, before it went to sea, as Engineer – he almost certainly was an EOOW or equivalent at some point, though probably only in port. You better specify _which_ USS Seawolf, there were 2 previous to Building 21 [SSN 21, the new spiffy one that stays in port most of the time] the one laid down in 1938, the one laid down in 1953 and the one in 1989. Though I do remember reading an interview with him where he said that he got more of his ideas about nuke power and weapons and such when he was doing cleanup at the incident at Chalk River. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-military-favorite-jargon/692752/26 "2014-07-11T02:55:55Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > Cluster Fuck Ah yes, similar to a goat rope. Who’s fuckin’ this dog?: when somebody is criticizing how you are doing something. ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-military-favorite-jargon/692752/27 "2014-07-11T07:12:52Z")
**Field day** , meanng a super cleaning above and beyond normal everyday cleaning. Sometimes used as a verb, as in “you will field day your bunks and footlockers.” Notice the use of the word “will”. Never “You must” nor “You are odered to” but “You will”. I think these may be limited to the Navy and Marines. ---
**Author:** ![RyJae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@RyJae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RyJae)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-military-favorite-jargon/692752/28 "2014-07-11T11:39:46Z")
100 mile an hour tape. Fixed damn near everything in the Army… Still does in my home 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-military-favorite-jargon/692752/29 "2014-07-11T13:25:37Z")
**Rub a dub dub, clean up the sub**. Self explanatory **Geedunk**. Unit patches, pins, tee-shirts, hats, coins, mementos, etc. **Monkeys fucking a football**. See Clusterfuck ---
**Author:** ![Absinthe\_Anecdote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f6c823/32.png) [@Absinthe\_Anecdote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absinthe_Anecdote)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-military-favorite-jargon/692752/30 "2014-07-11T13:36:57Z")
USAF Maggot and “ate up” Were always curious terms, both could be used to describe a slovenly person who was not dedicated, but I’ve also heard them used to describe a person who was meticulous about their uniform and overly Gung-Ho. Either way, it was an insult to be called one in Air Force parlance, and being called an “ate up maggot” was really bad. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-military-favorite-jargon/692752/31 "2014-07-11T13:43:32Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > OBE = overtaken by events: circumstances have changed enough to scuttle your plan It took me a long time to learn this one. I knew what it meant, but no one had ever told me what OBE stood for. Even today, I have to think a minute when I hear someone say it. But it is a most useful expression. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-military-favorite-jargon/692752/32 "2014-07-11T13:58:11Z")
SHORT!! That’s what a draftee would yell when his release was imminent. The Regular Army guys hated it. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-military-favorite-jargon/692752/33 "2014-07-11T14:29:05Z")
The Navy also has “ropeyarn Sunday”, which, for some reason, falls on a Wednesday. It’s a half-day during the week, ostensibly to mend clothing. Ditty bag: your toiletry bag, also called a ‘douche kit’. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-military-favorite-jargon/692752/34 "2014-07-11T14:34:35Z")
> [@chicagowhitesox1173](#): > > Boatsenmaite punch. I learned the hard way on this one. Bos’n punch on our boat. “Butterbar” was a less than endearing term for a newly commissioned ensign who didn’t know shit from Shinola but ordered everyone around as if they did. BOHICA was a popular one with me. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-military-favorite-jargon/692752/35 "2014-07-11T14:37:31Z")
> [@Absinthe\_Anecdote](#): > > USAF > > Maggot and “ate up” > > Were always curious terms, both could be used to describe a slovenly person who was not dedicated, but I’ve also heard them used to describe a person who was meticulous about their uniform and overly Gung-Ho. > > Either way, it was an insult to be called one in Air Force parlance, and being called an “ate up maggot” was really bad. I always wondered where the term “ate up /eat up” came from; my dad (USAF enlisted 1969-1973) always used it in a very disparaging and disdainful way for people who were too gung-ho and enthusiastic about something trivial. He pronounces it ‘eat up’, as in “He’s all eat up with it.”, but I suppose that’s his Texas accent coming out. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-military-favorite-jargon/692752/36 "2014-07-11T15:04:44Z")
[insert number] days and a wake up! : You’ve got [insert number] 24 hour days left plus part of the next day. I.e., you’ll have breakfast there but by dinner you’ll be long gone. DILLIGAS: This may have been local. It’s the acronym for “Do I Look Like I Give A Shit?” Butter Bar: A 2nd Lieutenant. The subdued collar insignia was a tan single bar. Sympathy Chit: a theoretical pass for one to go see a chaplain to air one’s complaints. In reality, it’s a way to tell a subordinate “I don’t care”. “Sounds Like A Personal Problem” - another way to tell someone “I don’t care.” “Field Day” was also used in the Coast Guard. “FNG” = Fucking New Guy. Generally, you didn’t bother to learn a FNG’s name until they survived their first 30 days in country. “Hammered Whale Shit” was what a CG seaman recruit was lower than. “Beef with Gravy Chunks” one of the more palatable offerings in C-rations. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-military-favorite-jargon/692752/37 "2014-07-11T15:05:24Z")
Forgot about “ate up”, similar phrase was “soup sandwich”. You could also use the nuclear option and say someone was “ate up like a soup sandwich” ---
**Author:** ![SanDiegoTim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-military-favorite-jargon/692752/38 "2014-07-11T15:46:05Z")
One of a Marine Corps Drill Instructor’s favorite description of a recruit: Cock-Breath Mother Fucker. Doubtful one would hear this today. ---
**Author:** ![Absinthe\_Anecdote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f6c823/32.png) [@Absinthe\_Anecdote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absinthe_Anecdote)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-military-favorite-jargon/692752/39 "2014-07-11T15:51:47Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I always wondered where the term “ate up /eat up” came from; my dad (USAF enlisted 1969-1973) always used it in a very disparaging and disdainful way for people who were too gung-ho and enthusiastic about something trivial. He pronounces it ‘eat up’, as in “He’s all eat up with it.”, but I suppose that’s his Texas accent coming out. I have no idea where this term came from, your dad’s service predates my service by well over a decade, so it has been around a while. The way he used it is certainly inline with how Air Force enlisted members commonly apply the term. I’ve heard Army troops use it too, but they more commonly use it to denote a person who is an apathetic slob. In my opinion, Air Force enlisted members place a high premium on getting the mission accomplished, without a bunch of theatrics or drama. The overly zealous and the overly apathetic seem to draw an equal amount of contempt. That’s just my analysis, and the use of slang like maggot and “ate up” can differ from one AFSC (career field) to another. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-military-favorite-jargon/692752/40 "2014-07-11T18:33:09Z")
US Army from the mid 80s. “Assholes and elbows!” What an NCO would yell he wanted to see when he was ordering everyone to get busy doing something. “bolo’d out” - to fail at something And not a phrase, but using your whole flat hand to point at somebody. I still do that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-military-favorite-jargon/692752.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-military-favorite-jargon/692752.md?page=3)