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At a young age, I was exposed to military lingo. When I would ask my dad if a friend could spend the night, he would answer “negative” for no. When my mom would request a task from my dad, he would reply, I got your 6. All. My. Life.
Even with early conditioning as a child, I have scratched my head here and there because the military culture, just like with any culture, has evolved since my dad’s time in service. Plus, I’ve come to realize that each branch has their own interpretation too. I still had a lot to learn.
Recently, I sat down with my husband and went over all the expressions and sayings that I’ve heard my dad and him say time and time again. With his help on clarifying the sometimes not so obvious, we’ve come up with our list of the most commonly used military phrases below.
Common Military Phrases Your Service Member Uses at Work and May Use at Home
Roger: Yes
Got Your 6: Got your back
Rack: Bed
Rack Time: Sleep
Civies: Civilian clothes
Camies: Uniform
Cover: Hat
Unsat: Unsatisfactory
Boot: New military member
Battle Rattle: Wearing all your combat gear
Downgrade: Drop your jackets
High and Tight: Expression for a military type haircut, where hair is extremely short on the sides and a patch of slightly longer hair at the top
Good Idea Fairy: Somebody that comes up ideas that lead to extra work
Joes: Generalizing military members, shortened from G.I. Joe
Command/Big Boy Voice: Speaking up and authoritative
Ground Pounder: Infantry service member
Geardo: Buys and wears more tactical equipment than they need
High Speed: Someone that performs well
Ate-Up: Someone not doing a good job, not within regulation
Household 6: Spouse, my husband says, commander of the household
Bird: Aircraft, spoken about helicopter
Helo: Particularly helicopter
Liberty/Leave: Time off
Moon Beam: Flashlight
Head: Toilet
Hit the Head: Go to the bathroom
Klicks: Kilometers
Beat Your Face: Push-ups
Back on the Block: Civilian life
Zero Dark Thirty: Really, really early in the morning, pretty much still dark outside
Aye, Aye: Heard and understood
Bag Nasty: Take out food given in chow halls or foreign areas
Galley: Kitchen
Drive On: Keep doing what you’re doing
Soup Sandwich: Could be a person that does something wrong or a situation
Bravo Zulu: Good Job
Hooah/Oorah: Exclamation, typically used to acknowledge a message
This list only touches on a handful of common military slang phrases and words. It obviously isn’t the comprehensive list! There are tons more out there and lots that are also specific to military branch.
