Lexicon of Iraq War Lingo: Fightin' Words
GROUNDHOG DAY: another day on duty in Iraq
DEAD CHECK: to put bullets in a lifeless body to ensure it's dead
BAGHDAD CLOCK: Iraq's own timeline for progress, usually set several months behind the Washington clock
ALL-AMERICAN DECOY: guard posted out in the open; a sitting target.
HOLLOW ARMY: to fill out the ranks with untrained or unqualified soldiers
20 PERCENT SOLUTION: General David Petraeus' plan to arm the Sunnis to fight Al Qaeda in Iraq
80 PERCENT SOLUTION: plan to break the Sunni insurgency by siding with the Shiites and Kurds
CRUNCHIES: tank-driver slang for infantry. (Think of the sound of a tank rolling over a body.)
RED ON RED: enemy-on-enemy fire, such as when Shiite factions battle each other
FOBBIT: American soldier who never leaves a forward operating base (FOB)
DBIED: Donkey-Borne Improvised Explosive Device. Also known as "shock and hee-haw."
CROCKET: insurgent vehicle carrying rockets or artillery rounds. Also known as "cartillery."
HILLBILLY ARMOR: improvised vehicle armor made from scrap metal and scrounged parts. Also known as "Frankenstein" in the Marine Corps.
RHINO: 37-ton armored bus that shuttles VIPS from the Baghdad airport to the Green Zone
THUNDER RUN: high-speed military convoy in the midst of battle
ROAD APPLES: wake of defecation left by a convoy as soldiers relieve themselves from the backs of their trucks
AIRHEAD: base for supply and evacuation by air
FREEDOM BIRD: airplane flying American soldiers out of Iraq. Originated in Vietnam.
NEO: noncombatant evacuation operation
ASS AND TRASH: hauling people and things, usually by air. Originated in Vietnam.
ROLL UP: orderly dismantling of military facilities
CHU: Containerized Housing Unit (pronounced "choo"). A movable living space made from a shipping container. Often clustered in "CHUvilles."
RE-HAT: to give a local militia new uniforms, often without adequate training
LILY PAD: military base used as a jumping-off point to get to another part of the world
COMMO BLACKOUT: communication blackout for a dead soldier's unit until family is informed
TRUNK MONKEYS: derogatory term for Iraqi troops in a pickup truck mounted with a machine gun
ROUTE TAMPA: main military supply line into Iraq from Kuwait. Also the main route out of the country.
OVER-THE-HORIZON FORCE: post-withdrawal contingent of American forces that would remain in the Middle East
TINY HEART SYNDROME: affliction common among Iraqi units that shy away from combat
CHEWERS: insurgents who record the license plates and movements of Iraqi civilians working with the Americans to target them for assassination
RAT FUCK: to ransack
"SHUT UP AND COLOR": admonition to a soldier who is expected to do his duty despite less-than-ideal circumstances
SIMPLIFICATION: Iraqi slang for ethnic cleansing
FORT LIVING ROOM: civilian life
BUG OUT: to beat a hasty retreat
KMAG YO-YO: Kiss My Ass, Guys, You're On Your Own. Translation: Adios, Iraq!
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Trench talk: Used by soldiers to combat negative sensory overload. The only way to deal with it is with emotional distance and humor.
Particularly like "shut up and color" because of the emotive context of kindergarten. Performing tasks one would rather not is so much a part of being an adult. Yet for the soldiers in Iraq, the meaning goes over the top.
you forgot "Haji," the Iraq war's equivalent of "gook" or "jap," and which as far as racial epithets for arabs go, may be an improvement over the slurs of the first gulf war, because at least in arabic, "haji" is a term of respect for an old man or someone who has gone on the haj, or pilgrimage, to mecca. And there are "haji food," "haji time" and other variations
i am a viet nam veteran. i remember all to well the lies and bull[deleted] we were fedwhen i was in country. bush really has this nation in a terrible situation. God help us .
Survey about soldier language
FYI: An online research survey is underway to track and understand just this kind of soldier language from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan. Check here: https://www.psychdata.com/s.asp?SID=131021. They want to hear from any and all veterans and active soldiers, which is good since it seems like there are many opinions.
