20 Slang Terms From World War I

Michie

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One of the subtlest and most surprising legacies of the First World War is its effect on our language.


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Photo by A. R. Coster, Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

One of the subtlest and most surprising legacies of the First World War—which the United States entered more than 100 years ago, when the country declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917—is its effect on our language. Not only were newly named weapons, equipment, and military tactics being developed almost continually during the War, but the rich mixture of soldiers’ dialects, accents, nationalities, languages, and even social backgrounds (particularly after the introduction of conscription in Great Britain in 1916) on the front line in Europe and North Africa produced an equally rich glossary of military slang.

Not all of these words and phrases have remained in use to this day, but here are 20 words and phrases that are rooted in First World War slang.

1. Archie

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20 Slang Terms From World War I
 
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Bob Crowley

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There's a story here about the "last man standing". He was an Australian soldier from Tasmania and of the approximately 1 million men who fought at Gallipoli, it seems he lived the longest. The Gallipoli Campaign started in 1915, and was the origin of the term ANZAC for "Australian and New Zealand Army Corps".

Centenary of ANZAC - Alec Campbell
 
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