# "This is my rifle/This is my gun" scene from Full Metal Jacket. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 7, 2010, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-my-rifle-this-is-my-gun-scene-from-full-metal-jacket/559776 "2010-11-07T07:19:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-my-rifle-this-is-my-gun-scene-from-full-metal-jacket/559776/21 "2010-11-09T00:06:36Z")
> [@what\_do\_I\_type\_here](#): > > And I always assumed everyone understood the point of this scene. One could be very anal and say you can understand the point of the scene without understanding the point of the chant. The chant is not the scene, it is an element of the scene. You meant to say: “And I always assumed everyone understood the point of this chant.” But yes, very anal. ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-my-rifle-this-is-my-gun-scene-from-full-metal-jacket/559776/22 "2010-11-09T02:00:20Z")
there is an interesting reversal in _Casualties of War_ in which Sgt. Meserve (played by Sean Penn) says: “This is my rifle (grabs penis), this is my gun (grabs rifle)… this is for fighting (penis), this is for fun (rifle)” ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-my-rifle-this-is-my-gun-scene-from-full-metal-jacket/559776/23 "2010-11-09T02:09:09Z")
Outside of that ridiculous ditty, after nearly 3 years in the army, I never heard the word “gun” used for a penis. The gun/rifle disciplining procedure is a way of humiliating a soldier, nothing more. It’s a lot like fraternity hazing, only more serious. ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-my-rifle-this-is-my-gun-scene-from-full-metal-jacket/559776/24 "2010-11-09T02:10:42Z")
Nitpick: The defining factor of a rifle is it’s rifled barrel _and_ the fact that it’s fired from the shoulder. A lot of artillery pieces have rifled barrels as well; rifling works just as well with a 120mm round as with a 7.62 NATO. The “genus” point is “firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a rifled barrel.” After that, you’re getting into subgroups. (Assault rifle, battle rifle, carbine rifle, sniper rifle, etc, etc.) FWIW, I always interpreted the scene to as a way to instill the marines with a proper relationship with their weapon. (Along the lines of the bedtime chat to the rifle.) ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-my-rifle-this-is-my-gun-scene-from-full-metal-jacket/559776/25 "2010-11-09T02:11:54Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > It’s called negative reinforcement; supposedly, the march/chant/crotch grab was silly and/or humiliating to the recruits, therefore driving home the lesson to NOT be imprecise in terminology. Nitpick: I think you mean positive punishment? Negative reinforcement is to get you to do something more by withdrawing something unpleasant (the alarm clock beeps and you hit snooze–it’s a negative reinforcer). Positive punishment is to get you to decrease a behavior by adding something unpleasant. I’m also curious about what the OP means. And I’m also curious about why he didn’t just tell us what he meant, rather than being all coy and “everyone knows what I mean, right?” ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-my-rifle-this-is-my-gun-scene-from-full-metal-jacket/559776/26 "2010-11-09T04:08:06Z")
> [@Gukumatz](#): > > Nitpick: The defining factor of a rifle is it’s rifled barrel _and_ the fact that it’s fired from the shoulder. See, I didn’t know that. This is interesting to me. Is it actually _wrong_ to refer to a rifle as a gun, or is it just insufficiently specific to please the Marines? I tend to think of a rifle as one type of gun. I’d probably be the guy pointing to his crotch 100 times. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-my-rifle-this-is-my-gun-scene-from-full-metal-jacket/559776/27 "2010-11-09T04:28:40Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > … I’m also curious about what the OP means. And I’m also curious about why he didn’t just tell us what he meant, rather than being all coy and “everyone knows what I mean, right?” Me, too. Seems a little too ironic to bring up a movie scene that he claims is about proper communication, but then to go out of his way to NOT make his point clearly. [QUOTE=the OP] And I always assumed everyone understood the point of this scene. But do they? Let me explain why I have my doubts… [/QUOTE] Okay, but why not explain THE POINT of THE SCENE instead? > [@](#): > > So I started worrying that oh shit, maybe the population in general didn’t understand that scene? Maybe the population in general didn’t understand what you were getting at. Can’t you just tell us? > [@](#): > > So please tell me I’m wrong. Most of you understand why Marines have to differentiate between guns and rifles, right? Why? Do tell. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-my-rifle-this-is-my-gun-scene-from-full-metal-jacket/559776/28 "2010-11-09T04:53:47Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > or testicles. I think those count as a bipod. \>\_\> ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-my-rifle-this-is-my-gun-scene-from-full-metal-jacket/559776/29 "2010-11-09T06:24:38Z")
I always figured it was to drive home the need to be specific. Civilian example scenario: Somebody posts to the SDMB with a computer problem and explains, “Every time I launch Adobe, my computer slows to a crawl. Does anybody else have this problem with Adobe? How do I fix it?” (The question cannot be answered, because “Adobe” is the name of a software company that produces numerous, different applications, not the name of a program. The poster would need to specify _which_ Adobe program was giving him trouble. Photoshop? Acrobat? What?) ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-my-rifle-this-is-my-gun-scene-from-full-metal-jacket/559776/30 "2010-11-09T06:57:15Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > The poster would need to specify _which_ Adobe program was giving him trouble. Photoshop? Acrobat? What?) \*This is my Adobe Illustrator! This is my Bezier Curve! This one is for Scalable Vector Artwork! This one is for Lurve…\* ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-my-rifle-this-is-my-gun-scene-from-full-metal-jacket/559776/31 "2010-11-09T07:49:47Z")
Just to confuse matters, in the terminology used at the time, HMS Warrior 1860 carried ten 110lb [rifles](http://www.wargames.co.uk/randoms/library/warrior.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Dumbguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dumbguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dumbguy)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-my-rifle-this-is-my-gun-scene-from-full-metal-jacket/559776/32 "2010-11-09T09:04:29Z")
If you think the filmmaker was trying to teach the audience military terminology, then you’re not understanding the point of this scene. ---
**Author:** ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-my-rifle-this-is-my-gun-scene-from-full-metal-jacket/559776/33 "2010-11-09T15:27:04Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I’m also curious about what the OP means. And I’m also curious about why he didn’t just tell us what he meant, rather than being all coy and “everyone knows what I mean, right?” Thirded. It’s all a setup so the OP can swoop back into this thread full of neophytes and drop some :rolleyes: on us. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-my-rifle-this-is-my-gun-scene-from-full-metal-jacket/559776/34 "2010-11-09T16:07:28Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > …Is it actually _wrong_ to refer to a rifle as a gun, or is it just insufficiently specific to please the Marines? To answer your question, it is indeed actually wrong to refer to a rifle as a gun. In the U.S. naval forces (comprised of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps), a “rifle” is a type of small arm firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove (“rifling”) cut into the barrel walls. A “gun” is a crew-served weapon which includes land-based and sea-based artillery pieces (i.e. “cannon”). A gun may or may not be rifled. It’s an important distinction, because as others have stated, precise terminology in the military is critical. The point of the ditty is to to drive the point home. After being forced to walk around the barracks in boot camp singing the stupid ditty, a recruit will never, ever use the incorrect term after that. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-my-rifle-this-is-my-gun-scene-from-full-metal-jacket/559776/35 "2010-11-09T16:29:59Z")
> [@robby](#): > > In the U.S. naval forces (comprised of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps), a “rifle” is a type of small arm firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove (“rifling”) cut into the barrel walls. > > A “gun” is a crew-served weapon which includes land-based and sea-based artillery pieces (i.e. “cannon”). A gun may or may not be rifled. Two more questions: 1. How do the Navy/Marines refer to non-rifled handheld or shoulder-supported firearms, such as shotguns, handguns, or machine guns? 2. Does the army also use the restricted (to crew-supported weapons) definition of “gun”? ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-my-rifle-this-is-my-gun-scene-from-full-metal-jacket/559776/36 "2010-11-09T16:36:32Z")
The fact that the terminology chosen by the military is contrary to common usage - and what the recruits presumably associate with the terms - is surely relevant, I’d think. “Forget what you used to think the word ‘gun’ meant. Here’s what it means in the context of the Marines.” All these names for various types of firearms were not handed down on stone tablets - they are at their core somewhat arbitrary (which is not a criticism). ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-my-rifle-this-is-my-gun-scene-from-full-metal-jacket/559776/37 "2010-11-09T16:53:28Z")
> [@robby](#): > > To answer your question, it is indeed actually wrong to refer to a rifle as a gun. From what follows, it seems to me your answer was really “just insufficiently specific to please the Marines.” ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-my-rifle-this-is-my-gun-scene-from-full-metal-jacket/559776/38 "2010-11-09T16:59:50Z")
Still waiting to hear back from the OP. And try as I might, based on that clip, I don’t see what possible difference it makes that it’s a rifle as opposed to a shotgun. It seemed to me that the point of the scene was to compare weapons to penises and to make military types in Vietnam look like horny idiots firing their “guns” everywhere they could. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-my-rifle-this-is-my-gun-scene-from-full-metal-jacket/559776/39 "2010-11-09T17:00:43Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > From what follows, it seems to me your answer was really “just insufficiently specific to please the Marines.” Huh? I took his answer to mean that, _within the Navy/Marines_, it’s _wrong_–they use a different (from civilian use) definition of gun which does not encompass rifles, or for that matter a lot of other things that civilians would normally refer to as a “gun”. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-my-rifle-this-is-my-gun-scene-from-full-metal-jacket/559776/40 "2010-11-09T17:03:53Z")
Which is the same thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-my-rifle-this-is-my-gun-scene-from-full-metal-jacket/559776.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-my-rifle-this-is-my-gun-scene-from-full-metal-jacket/559776.md?page=3)