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The Veteran's Tongue
By Aaron Young and Joe Strauser
By Aaron Young and Joe Strauser
Biddy, Hoosey Dooksy, Jularky, Pig Duck, Pigeon - Names
for Sweethearts back home.
Big Bug - An Officer. also known as;"Shoulder Straps and Brass Hats".
Blue Pill - Bullet.
Bubs - Friends. also known as;"Pards, Chums, Comrades, or Messmates".
Bug Juice - Liquor. also known as;"Pop-skull, Noggin, and Smile"
Bully - Term that can be used for almost any occasion.
Bungay - 19th Century equivalent for "Go To Hell!"
Camp Canard - False news or rumors.
Carry Guts to a Bear - To Do Something Worthless.
Cheese Knife - Officer's Sword. also known as;"Toad-Stabber".
Company Q - Fictious unit where all cowards went.
Cotbelly - Man who meddles in woman's work.
Damaged - To Be Drunk.
also known as; "Slewed, Walking like a Virginia Fence."
Dipper - Tin Cup.
Dough-Face - Easily Influenced Person.
Dunky - Clumsy.
Dyed in the Wool - Something ingrained.
Feather Bed Soldiers - Troops permanently stationed in the
Rear.
Fetch Up - Stop Suddenly.
Fid - A Plug or Small Bunch.
Fill the Bin - To Agree With Someone.
Fire in the Wrong Flock - A Mistake.
To Flat Someone - To reject a Lover.
Flummix - To Give Up.
Get the Mitten - To be Rejected by a Lover.
Grub Bag - Haversack.
Honeyfuggle - Swindle.
Hoof or Tramp - To March.
Indian Style - To March in a Strait Line.
Jack at a Pinch - A last resort.
Jackass Batteries - Mountain Howitzer Cannons.
Jigadier-Brindle - Brigadier General.
Johan - Worthless Soldier.
also known as; "Coffee-Coolers, and a Galoot".
Kit - All of Soldier's Belongings and Equipment.
Lincoln Pie - Army Bread. also known as "Tooth dullers, Worm Castles,
Hardtack(Eastern Theatre), and Hard Cracker(Western Theatre)."
Loco Foco - Self Igniting Match.
Logger Head - Union Soldier from Pennsylvania.
Mung - False.
Nobby - Stylish.
Old Birds - Veterans.
Old Nick - The Devil.
On the Square - To Tell the Truth.
Paper Collars - New Recruit.
also known as "Awkward Squad, Fresh Fish, Straw Foots, GreenHorns,
and Tenderfoots."
see also "Dough-Face".
Things to Say to a New Recruit:
-"Hello Sonny does yer mother know your out!"
-"Say, bub, give us a hunk o' gingerbread!"
Pie Eater - Country Boy.
Potato Digger - Irishman.
Rocks, Greenbacks - Money.
Sand - Nerve. also known as; "guts or spunk"
Sardine Boxes - Officer's Shoulder Straps.
Scrouge - to Crowd or Squeeze.
Sink - Latrine.
Soft Corn - Flattery.
Spin Street Yarn - To take a walk.
Spoopsy - A Silly Fellow.
Stepper - A High Spirited Person.
Stretch Yer Blanket - To Lie.
Sucker - A person from Illinois.
Talking Iron - Pistol.
Tippybob - Wealthy Class.
Traps or Trucks - Soldiers gear which hung from straps.
Turn up His Toes - To Die.
Virginia Quickstep - Diarrhea.
Wake the Wrong Passenger - To Catch the Wrong Person.
Webfoot - Infantryman.
Miscellaneous Phrases
Grab a Root! - Can be used in two instances; When Foraging for food(this is where it was developed), or when someone trips or falls.
Here's Yer Mule! - A greeting to any mounted soldier.
Same Ol' Rijiment! or Same Ol' Rijiment Only We've Drawed
New Clothes! - An answer to any passerby who dared to ask; "What Regiment is this?".
Who Wouldn't be a Soldier? - Synonomous with "Who Cares?".
Sources:
Hardtack and Coffee; Billings, John J. 1887.
Corporal Si Klegg and his Pard; Hinman, William F. 1887.
Reenactor's Journal. Oct. '94. Vol. 5, No.1. "Language of the Time".
Co. G, 31st Indiana Volunteer Infantry, December, '95. "Some Mung News from Joe Strauser".