Vietnam War Slang

A Dictionary on Historical Principles

Tom Dalzell

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781317661863
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Languages
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

In 2014, the US marks the 50th anniversary of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, the basis for the Johnson administration's escalation of American military involvement in Southeast Asia and war against North Vietnam. Vietnam War Slang outlines the context behind the slang used by members of the United States Armed Forces during the Vietnam War.

Troops facing and inflicting death display a high degree of linguistic creativity. Vietnam was the last American war fought by an army with conscripts, and their involuntary participation in the war added a dimension to the language. War has always been an incubator for slang; it is brutal, and brutality demands a vocabulary to describe what we don't encounter in peacetime civilian life. Furthermore, such language serves to create an intense bond between comrades in the armed forces, helping them to support the heavy burdens of war.

The troops in Vietnam faced the usual demands of war, as well as several that were unique to Vietnam – a murky political basis for the war, widespread corruption in the ruling government, untraditional guerilla warfare, an unpredictable civilian population in Vietnam, and a growing lack of popular support for the war back in the US. For all these reasons, the language of those who fought in Vietnam was a vivid reflection of life in wartime.

Vietnam War Slang lays out the definitive record of the lexicon of Americans who fought in the Vietnam War. Assuming no prior knowledge, it presents around 2000 headwords, with each entry divided into sections giving parts of speech, definitions, glosses, the countries of origin, dates of earliest known citations, and citations. It will be an essential resource for Vietnam veterans and their families, students and readers of history, and anyone interested in the principles underpinning the development of slang.

---

Aa

aardvark noun

an F-111 combat aircraft or any aircraft that is awkward-looking or difficult to fly US, 1963

• — Linda Reinberg In the Field, p. 1, 1991

Able Dog noun

the propeller-driven Douglas AD Skyraider US, 1961

Based on the phonetic alphabet. The Skyraider was manufactured between 1946 and 1957; it saw service in Korea and Vietnam.

• — J. E. Lighter, Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Volume 1, p. 1, 1994

ace verb

to kill someone US, 1975

• Of all the words American troops used to describe death in Vietnam, aced, blown away, bought it, croaked, dinged, fucked up, greased, massaged, porked, stitched, sanitized, smoked, snuffed, terminated, waxed, wiped out, zapped – the one I heard most was “wasted.” — John Laurence, The Cat from Hue, p. 442, 2002

acting Jack noun

1 a lance sergeant US, 1917

• I took my “acting jack” job most seriously, and was thought to be a shoo-in for the “best trainee” (an honor that included a promotion to PFC on completion of the course until a week before basic was over[.] — David H. Hackworth, About Face, p. 41, 1989

2 a soldier temporarily appointed to higher rank, especially to serve as a platoon leader in basic training US, 1942

• — Carl Fleischhauer, A Glossary of Army Slang, p. 1, 1968

actual noun

a unit commander US

• — Linda Reinberg, In the Field, p. 2, 1991

air noun

air support, air power, bombing US

• — Linda Reinberg, In the Field, p. 5, 1991

air-to-mud adjective

(used of shots fired or bombs dropped) from the air to the ground US, 1961

• Air-to-ground bombing or shooting missiles from an airplane to a target on the ground. Sometimes called air-to-mud. — Robert Wilcox, Scream of Eagles, p. 293, 1990

AK amp noun

an amputation at the knee US

Vietnam war medic usage.

• —Gregory Clark, Words of the Vietnam War, p. 18, 1990

Alamo Hilton nickname

a heavily fortified bunker beneath the Khe Sanh base in South Vietnam during the Vietnam war US

• The grunts called it the Alamo Hilton and thought it was candy-assed, while almost every correspondent who came to Khe Sanh tried to get a bed there. — Michael Herr, Dispatches, p. 124, 1977

albatross noun

a Grumman HU-16 amphibian aircraft, best known as a rescue aircraft during the Korean and Vietnam wars US

• — Linda Reinberg, In the Field, p. 6, 1991

all-purpose capsule nickname

the APC tablet freely dispensed by Army medics US

The tablet contained aspirin, phenacetin (an analgesic), and caffeine.

• —Carl Fleischhauer, A Glossary of Army Slang, p. 34, 1968

all-the-way man noun

an ambitious officer destined for success US

• At the time of the la Drang fight, Hal Moore was already being described as an “all the way” man, meaning four stars and probably Chief of Staff one day. — David H. Hackworth, About Face, p. 487, 1989

Aloha Airlines nickname

an aviation unit attached to the 25th Infantry Division during the Vietnam war US

• — Linda Reinberg, In the Field, p. 7, 1991

alpha alpha noun

an automatic ambush US

From the phonetic alphabet.

• — David Hart, First Air Cavalry Division Vietnam Dictionary, p. 2, 2004

alpha sierra

an air strike US

From the phonetic alphabet and the initials AS.

• Right now, they’re putting in an air strike, or Alpha Sierra, about a click away, but the trouble is the fighters are making their passes parallel with our perimeter. — Don Bishop, Letters Home: Vietnam, p. 101, 4 March 1969

aluminum box noun

an armored personnel carrier US

• The “aluminum boxes” were easy targets, and all it takes is a nervy NVA with an armor-piercing rocket. — Fred Brown, Vietnam War Diary, p. 221, 1998

ambush academy noun

training in jungle warfare, especially of the unconventional sort US

• The Tropic Lightning’s Ambush Academy teaches all the basics necessary for a success...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Structure of the entries
• Preface
• Entries A–Z
• Numeric slang
• Bibliography