Weird Words » military

Son of a Gun

dave — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 23:41:58 +0000

During 1800′s prostitutes that would come on board the ships would give birth between the cannons. These non-crew members were called “son of a guns”

Sin

dave — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 23:30:53 +0000

Most people think that the word ‘sin’ means that one has done a deed that is evil. The word arose from the Greeks, who used the term when an archer has missed his mark.
So, in essence, the word “sin” just means: “one has missed the mark.”

Marshall

admin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 03:13:55 +0000

A logical assumption is that ‘marshal’ is related to ‘martial,’ but the resemblance is purely coincidental. Although most French words are derived from Latin, a few result from the 3rd-century Germanic occupation of France, and the early French ‘mareschal’ is one such word. ‘Mareschal’ came from Old High German ‘marahscalc,’ formed by combining ‘marah’ (horse) and ‘scalc’ (servant). ‘Mareschal’ originally meant ‘horse servant,’ but by the time it was borrowed into Middle English in the 13th century, it described a French high royal official. English applied the word to a similar position, but it eventually came to have other meanings. By contrast, ‘martial’ derives from ‘Mars,’ the Latin name for the god of war, and is completely unrelated.

Jeep

admin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 02:41:44 +0000

Most people think of it as a proper word relating to an army styled vehicle.
In fact it does have a meaning “Just Engine and Essential Parts”. Therefore is more of an abbreviation adopted as a word.

Cold Enough to Freeze the Balls off a Brass Monkey

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 06:14:38 +0000

In the pirate days, the ships were all equipped with cannons. The cannon balls were places upon a holder that were called ‘Brass Monkeys’ Since the metal used to make the cannon balls were extremely different from the metal used to make the brass monkeys, on an extremely cold day, they would contract at different rates (Different metals react differently to temperature). The cannon balls would literally fall off the holder when the temperature drop to the extremes. Hence the term.

Chauvinistic

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 05:59:26 +0000

Chauvin was a soldier in the French Army during Napoleon’s time. He was know as the most nationalistic soldier in the French army.
People began to associate his name with nationalism and patriotism.
The Americans later used the term to describe the snobby French who believed that their country was better than others.
It eventually was perverted to the meaning today.