Posts Tagged: military

  • Martinet did not invent the plug bayonet, it was being used 50 years before he died. The copper pontoon bridge is unlikely to be his invention. Food depots are not confirmed.

    Martinet—a word history

    This week I came across the word “martinet” for a military “officer who is a stickler for discipline and regularity “. It was first used in English in 1779. Since then it has become used for anyone who demands that rules and orders are always obeyed, even when they are unnecessary or unreasonable. Every online […]

  • AI image based on Claggett Wilson (1887–1952) picture "Rosalie, Rosalie! Rosalie is the Nickname for the French Bayonet"

    Bayonet

    The origin of the word “bayonet” is linked to the town of Bayonne in the French Basque country. There are several different stories that explain the link but in different ways. One suggestion is that the creation of the bayonet occurred during a peasant revolt in Bayonne in the 1660s, when the peasants, short of […]

  • AI generated image (plus PSing) of three assassins in the Middle East

    When did murder become assassination?

    With several assassination attempts on Donald Trump occurring in the last few months (September 2024) it’s worth examining the history of assassination and the origin of the word. Assassination means killing leaders and notable figures for political gain. This political gain may include to seize power, spark revolution, draw attention to a cause, seek revenge, […]

  • https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ Swift Boat on a quiet day-Photo Courtesy of Tom Lefavour

    The swiftboating of Tim Walz

    As the Trump presidential campaign team struggle to contain the groundswell of support for Kamala Harris (in August 2024) they are upping their smear campaign tactics. They are now using “swiftboating” a tactic of unfairly attacking or smearing a candidate with half-truths. They are going after the Democratic vice-presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz’s military record. […]

  • An AI generated image of an airline pilot as a boat captain with a parrot on his shoulder. Out of the cockpit window are two cyberpunk aircraft that look like winged sailing boats. It refers to how air travel words come from a maritime history.

    A word from your captain—air travel words

    I love the terminology we use when we travel by aeroplane. Even though it is the most modern form of transport, air travel words are the most retro, having been borrowed from the age of sailing ships. Air and sea travel’s shared vocabulary evokes a sense of elegant adventure while the vocabulary of domestic travel […]

  • Image of Neil Armstrong with the Scottish Reivers on the left background as his ancestors and the moon landing on the right.

    Armstrong and the Reivers

    The Scottish Borderland follows the Cheviot Hills. It is quite a beautiful part of Britain. Nearby is Hadrian’s Wall a symbol that even the Romans could not control this wild area at the edge of their empire. Between the 13thand 17thcenturies the Scottish Borders was a no-go area controlled by the Reivers, it’s local war-lords. They […]

  • Image of wreath at a war memorial saying Their name liveth for evermore -- the ultimate sacrifice

    Sacrifice—lest we forget

    It is the 105th Anniversary of Anzac Day today and I am reposting one of my most meaningful words of the week. Sacrifice means to give something of value, often altruistically, with the hope of gaining something in return or to avoid greater loss. And from this comes supreme sacrifice: to give your life in the belief that […]

  • BOGSAT - Bunch Of Guys Sitting Around Talking - 1960s-style illustration of President John F. Kennedy meeting with advisers around a White House conference table, with plum-coloured chairs, carpet and curtains.

    BOGSAT—a bunch of guys sitting around talking

    I was reading a very serious blogpost this week, which, much to my annoyance, kept dropping acronyms into the text without explanation. Nonetheless, it did make me laugh when I looked up BOGSAT. It means a Bunch Of Guys Sitting Around Talking. According to the Urban Dictionary, it refers to regularly scheduled but worthless daily […]

  • Picture of a tank with soldiers posing on top of it

    Tank

    While in the UK in 2105 we went to the Imperial War Museum. I was looking forward to seeing some WWI tanks but there were very few there. However, I did pick up a little word history: tanks as armoured, gun-mounted vehicles moving on caterpillar tracks got their name as part of their top-secret development […]

  • IMAGE of a Roman centurion—after a very serious offence by a Roman army such as mutiny or cowardice in battle, the commander of the legion would take the decision to punish the cohort by decimation. An officer would assemble the men into groups of ten and then one man from every ten men was chosen by lot. The remaining nine men were ordered to club the man to death.

    Devastated by decimation

    I always struggle with a bit of personal pedantry when I hear the word decimate. Its literal meaning is quite different from its modern usage. It originally meant the destruction of one in ten but now means to destroy a significant proportion. Decimate comes from the Latin word decimare which meant the removal or destruction […]

  • Print from the British Museum—Ban-yan day on board the Magnificent; or, pease porridge hot from the coppers!

    Pease porridge old

    Pease pudding (also pease pottage or porridge) is a traditional dish from the industrial north of England. Making the pudding involves soaking split yellow peas (or Carlin peas) in stock (usually ham stock) and boiling them for approximately 40 minutes. It is the English version of dhal from India or fava from Greece. It is […]

  • Image of a berserker with sword and BERSERKER in large type behind

    Bear-shirted vikings go berserk

    Beserk was a great warrior from Norse mythology. He didn’t fight in armor but in his bera serkr, literally bear shirt or bearskin in Old Norse. He gave his name to the berserks, the wild frenzied shock troops of the marauding Vikings.