Product Description

For the armchair linguist or the military historian, this is a comprehensive compilation of military lingo from Hannibal to Hanoi. William Priest traces the evolution of each term or phrase as it moves from its point of origin to other branches of service and into foreign countries. For instance, in the 19th century a "swab" was a mop made from condemned rope; however, it was also the sailor's slang for naval officer, from the shoulder epaulets (a mop-like braid) that marked an officer's rank. At that time, to call a sailor a swab was one of the highest forms of insult; it was not until the 1880s that sailors were called swabs or swabbies (men who swab the decks) in general lingo. Examples such as these can be found throughout SWEAR LIKE A TROOPER.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1193319 in Books
• Published on: 2000-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

About the Author
William L. Priest, a graduate of Towson State University in History and Social Studies, is a teacher with experience as a living historian aboard the U.S.S. Constellation in Baltimore Harbor. He performs annually at several maritime festivals.

Customer Reviews

Highly recommended for military history students
Swear Like A Trooper: A Dictionary Of Military Terms & Phrases is an invaluable reference, a comprehensive military lexicon that William Priest developed over a lifetime of listening, reading, and research. More than 5,600 entries chart the language and acronyms of the armed forces of the United States, Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, Vietnam, Japan, and Germany. The entries include usage dates, language of origin, and cross-references. Highly recommended for military history students, historians, writers, and the non-specialist general reader of both military fiction and non-fiction, Swear Like A Trooper is enhanced with the back-stories of such basic terms as "taps", "unconditional surrender", and the "twelfth general order".