Example: 'Meet me in my office when you're ready for the 411 on your mission.' 5 fingers of death (U.S. 411 (U.S.) Briefing prior to one's mission. 4-10-4 (U.S.) A 'Desert Queen': a reference to the physical attractiveness of women in the armed forces, used contextually to refer to someone who is normally considered a '4' on a '1-10' scale of attractiveness (back in the States), becomes a '10' upon arrival in the AOR, but reverts back to a '4' upon return to the States. Army) Cannon Crewman, also 'Gun Bunny', 13 Bang-Bang (or Boom-Boom), 13 Boogaloo, Red Leg (due to red trouser stripes on 19th century uniforms) 2-IC (Canada and U.K.) Second in Command. Trained in the use of explosives, mines and battlefield obstacles. Army) A Combat Engineer, from the Military Occupational Specialty designation '12B'. Army) 8 up, see 'ate up' 12B picket pounders! Essayons! (U.S. Army) An infantryman, from the Military Occupational Specialty designation '11B'. 11 Bang-Bang / 11 Boom-Boom / 11 Bush / (pejorative) 11 Bulletstop(per) (U.S. Marine Corps, Navy) Someone who is suicidal, implying that they should dive off the third deck. Marine Corps) The 'First Civilian Division', the (fictitious) division made up of Marines who leave the military and go back to civilian life. Some of these terms have been considered gregarious to varying degrees and attempts have been made to eliminate them.įor the purposes of this article, 'military slang' includes slang used by any English-speaking armed forces (armies, navies, air forces).Ī B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZĠ - 9 1st CivDiv (U.S.

Military slang is also used to reinforce the (usually friendly) interservice rivalries. They are often abbreviations or derivatives of the NATO Phonetic Alphabet, or otherwise incorporating aspects of formal military concepts and terms. Military slang is a set of colloquial terms which are unique to or which originated with military personnel.

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