Marines have a verbal patois all their own, whether learning the Marine Corps way of referring to their equipment, or picking up slang from duty stations around the world. Some words in the Marine lexicon have become household words today; but many are unique to the service. It is not uncommon to hear a veteran of the Second World War, long removed from active duty, refer to "hitting the rack" or having a "field day."
The following is a glossary of some of the more common Marine terms used throughout this site. It was compiled from chapters in Henry Berry's book Semper Fi, Mac, William Manchester's Goodbye, Darkness, and Captain Wilbur D. Jones' Gyrene. All credit for the definitions is due to these authors.
- across: Overseas
- airedale: Pilot or flight crew
- AOL/AWOL: Absent over/without leave
- APA: Attack transport - from their hull classification. (See this link for an explanation.)
- ARC: American Red Cross
- armored heifer: Canned milk
- Asiatic: To go off the rocker and do something weird (usually after being in the Pacific for a while)
- aye aye, sir: Affirmative, understood
- baby shit: Mustard
- BAMs: Derogatory term for a female Marine, said to originate from "Broad-Assed Marine," or "Beautiful American Marine." Not to be used in presence of said females for fear of bodily harm. See also: WRs. (See this link for a history of women in the Corps during World War 2.)
- BAR: Browning Automatic Rifle
- battery acid: Pale, bitter, synthetic lemon drink
- bawl out: Chew out, chastise
- beat the gums: Lots of conversation about specific (or nonspecific) issues
- belly robber: Cook
- black gang: Marine motor transport
- blanco: Powder substance used to clean 782 gear.
- bloody: Aussie / New Zealand profanity - predominantly used by units who had been stationed Down Under.
- blues: Marine dress uniform, owned by no-one except the old salts
- boondockers: Field boots
- boondocks: A hostile or desolate environment (training or combat), wasteland, forest
- boot(s): Recruits at boot camp, or any junior new man in an outfit
- bought it: Killed in action
- boy(s): A male older than your father or his father, an officer or NCO, especially around your age, a buddy, or other members of your unit
- brass: High ranking commissioned officers
- brig: Navy or Marine Corps prison or confinement area
- brig rat: Marine who pays for disciplinary problems with brig time
- bucket: Parris Island's galvanized boot bucket
- buddy-buddy: Let someone into line ahead of you, displacing others
- bulkhead: Wall
- bum dope: Rumors or incomplete information
- bumps: Combination of jungle rot, ringworm, malaria, and eating "shitty rice"
- butcher: Barber
- by the book / by the numbers: Snappy or regulation Marine (usually pre-war "old salts") who tends to enforce policies
- cake and wine: Bread and water (in brig)
- cannon cocker: Artilleryman
- (garrison) cap: Marine non-combat headgear, AKA go-to-hell hat, cunt cap, piss cutter, overseas cap, fore-and-aft cap
- cat skinners: Navy Seabees
- chancre mechanic: Corpsman
- chicken (chick): Youngest man in the unit
- chickenshit: Excessive attention to petty details of military life
- chin music: Talking
- China Marine: Marine who served in China before the war
- Chinese Fire Drill: Screwups, disorganization
- chit: Paper for permission to do something (in Quantico OCS functioned as merit/demerit system)
- chow: Food
- chow down: Time to eat
- chow hound: Marine that loves to eat
- civvies: Not in uniform of some form (rare happening)
- clap shack: Dispensary (sick bay) for treating VD
- Cobber: New Zealand word for buddy, most commonly used in the 2nd Marine Division
- cold cock: To knock someone out; lower the boom
- collision mats: Pancakes
- condom fleet: Rubber boats
- cork off: To take it easy when you should be working
- corpsman: Navy hospital pharmacists mate on Marine Corps duty
- cow: Milk to drink or for coffee
- C.P.: Field command post
- crap out: 1). hitting the bunk for rest. 2). nonworking machinery or equipment
- crawl on your belly like a reptile: Get down and move
- CRS: Can't Remember Shit
- cruise: Term of enlistment, or tour of duty
- Dago: San Diego
- D-Day: Day of invasion (also L-Day, J-Day, etc.)
- deck: Any floor or the ground
- DI: Drill Instructor at boot camp [NEVER Drill Sergeant!]
- dilbert: An airman always making errors
- ding hau: Chinese word meaning "all right" or "Okay." Compared to ding bu hau, or not so very good.
- ditty bag / ditty box: Small personal container for storing treasures
- doc: Corpsman - in hospital, or one who gives physicals and shots
- doctor: Navy medical officer. Never called "doc"
- doggie / dogface: The best thing that can be said of a U.S. Army soldier or pilot
- doggone: The user wanted to say "dammit" or worse
- "Don't you know there's a war on?": Why are you asking for a privilege or special treatment? You've got to be kidding.
- dope: Information, whether true (straight dope) or false (bum dope), usually unconfirmed
- doping off: Lazy, avoiding work
- down: Pass something along (usually chow or the Word)
- eagle shits: Payday
- ear banger: Gain favor, butt kisser or self promoter with lots to say
- eightball: A derelict character to whom things just happened
- EMs: Enlisted men
- false Word: (see bum dope)
- fart sack: Bed, bunk, or cot
- feathermerchant: Minimum height or weight, or small Marine
- field day: General cleaning and squaring away, regardless of how long it takes
- field music: Bugler, drummer, any musician
- field scarf: Uniform necktie
- field stripping: Taking weapon apart, or tearing up and disposing of cigarettes
- Fighting Fourth: Motto of the Fourth Marine Division
- fisheyes: Tapioca
- FMF: Fleet Marine Force, based in the Pacific
- F.O.: Forward Observer (artillery)
- Follow Me: Motto of Second Marine Division
- foxhole buddy: Close friend
- gab: Informal talk
- gear: Marine equipment. See also 782 gear
- geedunk: Sweets, snacks, soft drinks, junk food; geedunk shop is a Naval PX aboard ship, but may also be used while ashore
- gizmo: Anything that defies description
- "glad I found you out": What kind of fellow you really are
- glory hound: Looking for the exciting in combat, or chance to make one's name
- go through channels: Proceed up the chain of command
- going in: Invasion begins
- goldbrick / goldbricker: To be lazy, uncooperative, avoiding work
- gone ashore: On liberty
- gook: Any native west of California
- greens: Winter service uniform
- grinder: Parade or assembly field
- grunt: Slightly derogatory term for an enlisted Marine; never used seriously by fellow Marines
- gun: Mortar or artillery piece. NEVER used to refer to one's rifle.
- gung ho: Chinese for "Work Together"; rallying cry adopted by 2nd (Carlson's) Raider Battalion. Common use to describe extremely conscientious, ambitious, "let's go get 'em!" Marine
- gunny: Gunnery sergeant; or a twenty minute egg
- gyrene: Marine. Origin unclear, possibly a portmanteau of "GI Marine"
- (in) hack: Confined to quarters
- hand: A man (as in "all hands")
- hang loose: Take it easy
- hashmark: Service longevity stripe
- hard-charger: Fearsome fighter; used as a term of derision until proven in combat, then a term of respect
- hatch: Door
- head: Toilet, bathroom, latrine
- hit the deck: Reveille; turn loose your cock and grab a sock
- hitch: (see cruise)
- Hollywood Marines: Marines going (or went) through boot camp in San Diego, or training in Southern California
- honey cart: Garbage wagon or barge
- horse cock: Lunch meat
- horseshit: Demanding instant obedience to tasks or regulation
- hot beach: Taking lots of incoming fire on landing
- hot cargo: High priority cargo to be landed or sent to the lines (ammunition, rations, water, etc)
- housewife: Sewing kit
- jarhead: (see grunt)
- J-ville: Jacksonville, NC
- Joe: 1) coffee (made in a Joe-pot) or 2) Joe Blow, any generic individual whose name is unknown
- junk on the gunk: Marine gear laid out on the sack for inspection
- ka-bar: Fighting knife with leather sheath, after the manufacturer
- khakis: Summer service uniform
- lad: generic term of address for a subordinate, regardless of age
- ladder: Stairs
- lashup: Unit, outfit
- leatherneck: Time-honored term for a Marine
- LFM: Landing Force Manual (to be studied)
- liberty: Authorized personal free time away from duty station; issued in terms of a forty-eight or seventy-two, depending on the number of hours allowed
- liberty hound: Always on liberty (when authorized)
- looie: Lieutenant
- LST: Landing ship, tank
- Mac: Any Marine, but watch out how you say it, to whom, and about what
- Man, the: The officer in charge, or skipper. The one who passes out the word. “If you don't shape up, I'll run your ass up to the Man.”
- Maggie's Drawers: Missing the target on the firing range
- (the) Marine way: Do it by Corps tradition and regulation. A third option to the "right way" and the "wrong way."
- MB: Marine Barracks
- MCB: Marine Corps Base
- MCRD: Marine Corps Recruit Depot (Parris Island or San Diego)
- meathead: Brainless individual
- monkey men: Japanese soldiers
- M.P.: Military Police
- mud: Coffee, good or bad
- mustang: Officer who rose from the enlisted ranks
- nervous pudding: Jell-o
- NFG: No Fucking Good
- Ninety Day Wonder: Brand new lieutenant out of officer's school
- nose-to-toes: Man forced to lean against wall on nose with hands behind the back
- officer's country: Area where enlisted men are prohibited except on official business
- Old Breed: The First Marine Division
- Old Man: Commanding officer, regardless of age
- old salts: 1) pre-war Marine, usually with service in WW1, China, Caribbean, or Central America. 2) any Marine who has seen more service or action than the next man
- on post: On guard duty, or not on liberty
- on report: Written up for alleged infraction
- one way: Stubborn or selfish
- over the hill: (see AWOL/AOL); did not return from liberty in time
- P 38 Ward: Hospital's mental ward (for crack up cases)
- peasoup: Fog
- pecker checker: Corpsman
- PI: Parris Island; garden spot, where the sand is deep and hot
- piece: Only acceptable synonym for rifle
- piss and punk (P&P): Bread and water
- pound sand: Get out of here. Shortened from "go pound sand up your ass"
- pogey bait: Sweets, treats (like geedunk); sometimes refers to
fourragère worn by members of the 5th and 6th Marines, as in "Pogey Bait Sixth"
- police duty: Cleanup detail
- post trooper: Marine with rear echelon or soft duty
- pot walloping: Cleaning pots and pans
- pulling butts: Marking targets on the firing range
- PX: Post Exchange
- queer toast: French toast
- Raggedy-Assed Marines: The First Marine Division
- ration: 1) a meal. 2) a reprimand, or dose of shit
- Rear Echelon Pull: Anyone who is behind you in battle. For instance, mortar teams were usually behind riflemen, sometimes by only a matter of yards. The mortar men would jokingly be called “Rear Echelon Pull” by the riflemen. [The farther back the individual, the less sense of humor]
- red lead: Ketchup or tomato sauce
- Red Book: 1) Marine Corps regulations. 2) similar to a Naval "cruise book," album issued by regiment containing photographs of the unit in training, as well as pictures of each Marine on the rolls, yearbook style.
- riding the range: Cleaning the galley stoves
- rooked: Screwed, hoodwinked, infringed upon
- ruptured duck: Pin/button denoting honorable discharge
- sack: Bed, bunk, cot; also called rack
- sack out: Go to sleep
- salty: Having had much time in the Corps. All Marines try to look salty.
- the scoop: News
- scow: Potentially any Navy or merchant troop carrying ship, if you are on it
- scuttlebutt: 1) drinking fountain. 2) gossip, rumors, loose talk; theoretically the latter originates around the former
- seabag: Large cylindrical canvas clothing bag to hold everything
- sea daddy: Older man who teaches a boot
- secure: Everything as it should be; objective conquered and pacified
- Semper Fi: Depends on how it's used: 1) traditional meaning: Hi buddy, hi Marine, all's OK, to the Corps. 2) WW2 modification: screw you, I've got mine; better you than me; up yours
- seagull: Chicken dinner on a Sunday
- seventy-two: Three-day liberty (from number of hours off)
- 782 gear: Web gear, canteen, packs, their contents
- Shanghai: A transfer from another unit
- shavetail: A green second lieutenant
- ship over: Reenlist
- ship's company: Crewmen (including Marines) assigned to a ship
- shit can: Trash recepticle. In verb form [shitcan], to dispose of something emphatically
- shitbird: DI's name for a boot
- shit hits the fan: Something really bad happens
- shit list: Someone in authority's bad guys
- shit skillets: Mess kits
- shortarm inspection: Doc inspects genitals for VD
- shortstop: Any knucklehead who intercepts food when it's going down
- short timer: Nearing transfer or discharge
- sick bay: Dispensary
- sight in: process of determining a weapon's accuracy
- sing the blues / sing 'em: Gripe, complain
- skipper: (see old man)
- skivvies: Cotton drawers and t-shirt
- slacker: 1) on active duty, one who does not do his share. 2) at home, a man who avoids military service
- sling a lot of bull: Stretching the truth, or telling lies
- slop chute: Beer establishment on post
- slum burner: Cook
- smoke blower: Modified earbanger, puts out well-placed compliments
- smoker: Organized unit boxing matches
- SNAFU: Situation Normal: All Fucked Up
- snapping in: Preparing to (practice) fire for rifle qualification. Alternately used to indicate angling for something; a Marine version of "bucking for."
- snow job: Mixing exaggerations and fabrications with a little truth
- SOS: Shit On a Shingle; creamed chipped beef on toast
- S.P.: Shore Patrol; Naval military police
- Spam can cut: Slight flesh wound
- Spearhead: Motto of the Fifth Marine Division
- square away: Straighten up your uniform/your area/yourself
- stateside: The United States of America; anything having to do with back home in the contiguous 48 states
- stacking swivel: The nape of the neck, after a rifle part (as in, "I'm gonna grab you by the stacking swivel)
- straight dope: The true/real version of something
- Striking Sixth: The Sixth Marine Division
- survey: 1) medical transfer or discharge. 2) exchange or dispose of item. 3) seconds or refills
- swabbie, swab jockey: The best thing that can be said of a Navy sailor, from Admiral Halsey on down
- things are tough all over: No sympathy; we're in this together
- tie-ties: String used like clothespins
- Top, topkick, top soldier: First Sergeant
- tough shit chit: Too bad - take your complaint elsewhere
- under hack: Under arrest, the usual result of being over the hill
- USO: United Services Organization
- utilities: Dungarees, working or combat uniforms
- WACs: Army females (Women's Army Corps)
- WAVES: Navy females (Women Appointed for Voluntary Emergency Service)
- weeds: Cigarettes
- white patch: Medical discharge
- (the) Word: Information a Marine should know; confirmed dope, to be taken as gospel when issued by the skipper
- working on a survey: Trying to get a discharge (alternately, snapping in for a survey)
- working your bolt: Manipulating others
- WRs: Women Reserve Marines. See also BAMs.
- yardbird: A man you had to prod into doing anything; someone flaky
- you people: Recruits at boot camp, or group of junior Marines being addressed
- zero: see sight in