Military Sayings in Everyday Life
Moderator: maddog986
RE: Military Sayings in Everyday Life
David G. Farragut, Battle of Mobile Bay. Did not have any minesweepers with him (hadn't been invented yet). Attack stalled under the guns of Fort Morgan when monitor Tecumseh was sunk by a mine (torpedoe).
"Life's a b***h, then you die."
RE: Military Sayings in Everyday Life
Can anyone tell us what these military acronyms are[;)]
DFAC=?
TRATS=?
DFAC=?
TRATS=?
RE: Military Sayings in Everyday Life
I hear the term 'Hang-Fire' used incorrectly all the time.
- JudgeDredd
- Posts: 8362
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- Location: Scotland
RE: Military Sayings in Everyday Life
Sorry...who actually says "Damn the Torpedoes" in everyday life? [:D]ORIGINAL: Ironfist738
" Damn the Torpedoe's " I beleave was a battle cry from a American Naval officer.
means: Forward / Attack at any cost.
And maybe I shouldn't have picked on yours specifically...HansBolter's MRE is another (and the one about the French rifle)...the thread is about military sayings used in everyday life...hence the topic title...Military Sayings in Everyday Life"
Just thought I'd point out the error of peoples ways [:'(]
Alba gu' brath
RE: Military Sayings in Everyday Life
Living up to your name Judge Dred?ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd
Sorry...who actually says "Damn the Torpedoes" in everyday life? [:D]ORIGINAL: Ironfist738
" Damn the Torpedoe's " I beleave was a battle cry from a American Naval officer.
means: Forward / Attack at any cost.
And maybe I shouldn't have picked on yours specifically...HansBolter's MRE is another (and the one about the French rifle)...the thread is about military sayings used in everyday life...hence the topic title...Military Sayings in Everyday Life"
Just thought I'd point out the error of peoples ways [:'(]
Favoritism is alive and well here.
RE: Military Sayings in Everyday Life
ORIGINAL: Zap
Can anyone tell us what these military acronyms are[;)]
DFAC=?
TRATS=?
Dinning facility/ Chow hall
As for “TRATS” I’m not sure but I have heard it used. I think it has something to do with Tactical Reconnaissance Assessment ?
- MadmanRick
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- Location: New York City, U.S.A.
RE: Military Sayings in Everyday Life
ORIGINAL: Zap
Can anyone tell us what these military acronyms are[;)]
DFAC=?
TRATS=?
DFAC = Dining Facility
TRATS = Tin Tray Rations

"Our lives begin to end the moment we become silent about things that matter". Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
- PunkReaper
- Posts: 1003
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RE: Military Sayings in Everyday Life
How about, "The die is cast", attributed to Julius Caesar on crossing the Rubicon. Either means the dice has been rollled i.e the gamble has been made or the matter is fixed i.e the metal has been cast.
RE: Military Sayings in Everyday Life
in german
0815 = means nothing unusual , average, nothing new etc.
0815 = means nothing unusual , average, nothing new etc.
RE: Military Sayings in Everyday Life
ROMFT Roll On My F**king Time(Twelve)
Term used by a hacked off or RDP matelot.
RDP Run Down Period,the period of time before the rating is released from Service,usually spent dodging work and a lot of loafing.
Term used by a hacked off or RDP matelot.
RDP Run Down Period,the period of time before the rating is released from Service,usually spent dodging work and a lot of loafing.
Press to Test...............Release to Detonate!
- pasternakski
- Posts: 5567
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RE: Military Sayings in Everyday Life
This is an old sailing term, referring to the surface of a fully deployed mainsail. "Give it the whole nine yards" meant full speed ahead, regardless of consequences. Oh, and let's not forget David Farragut's "damn the torpedoes" shtick.ORIGINAL: Jeffrey H.
Give it or gave it The whole nine yards - Something to do with a length of belted ammunition being 9 yards long. Ledgend varies on the origin.
Put my faith in the people
And the people let me down.
So, I turned the other way,
And I carry on anyhow.
And the people let me down.
So, I turned the other way,
And I carry on anyhow.
- pasternakski
- Posts: 5567
- Joined: Sat Jun 29, 2002 7:42 pm
RE: Military Sayings in Everyday Life
Ya gotta love the acronyms you ran across in the military. Some of my faves were:ORIGINAL: andym
ROMFT Roll On My F**king Time(Twelve)
Term used by a hacked off or RDP matelot.
RDP Run Down Period,the period of time before the rating is released from Service,usually spent dodging work and a lot of loafing.
BOHICA - bend over, here it comes again
GAF - give a f***, as in "I don't ..."
WDYSMRTFO (pronounced "woody smirtfo") - why don't you suck me right the f*** off?
HMNAWGSF - How many new airmen will get sore feet? Used in OTS as a mnemonic reminder of then-current USAF hierarchy (Headquarters, Major air command, Numbered air force, Air force, Wing, Group, Squadron, Flight)
STBRWO (pronounced "stuberwhoa") -sucks the big, red, wet one. Used when describing the brilliance of senior officers' ideas and plans, as in "This STBRWOs"
Put my faith in the people
And the people let me down.
So, I turned the other way,
And I carry on anyhow.
And the people let me down.
So, I turned the other way,
And I carry on anyhow.
- pasternakski
- Posts: 5567
- Joined: Sat Jun 29, 2002 7:42 pm
RE: Military Sayings in Everyday Life
I used to work for an editor in chief who used it all the time. When he approved of publishing a piece despite its potential for prompting criticism, he'd say, "Well, damn the torpedoes, let's run it."ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd
Sorry...who actually says "Damn the Torpedoes" in everyday life? [:D]ORIGINAL: Ironfist738
" Damn the Torpedoe's " I beleave was a battle cry from a American Naval officer.
means: Forward / Attack at any cost.
Just thought I'd point out the error of peoples ways [:'(]
Another one of his favorites was "hoist on your own petard," which comes from the times when grenadiers would carry bombs with lit fuses (petards) against enemy fortifications, hoping to get there, plant the d@mned thing, and get away before it went off. "Hoist" is an old verb that meant "elevated," or, as in this case, "blown sky high." Anyway, when the old editor-in-chief had to call you into his office to chew your @$$ for screwing up, he'd always say somewhere in the midst of his tirade, "Well, you were sure hoist on your own petard this time."
Put my faith in the people
And the people let me down.
So, I turned the other way,
And I carry on anyhow.
And the people let me down.
So, I turned the other way,
And I carry on anyhow.
- pasternakski
- Posts: 5567
- Joined: Sat Jun 29, 2002 7:42 pm
RE: Military Sayings in Everyday Life
In the USAF, we used ROD (relieved of duty). Same-same.ORIGINAL: andym
RDP Run Down Period,the period of time before the rating is released from Service,usually spent dodging work and a lot of loafing.
Put my faith in the people
And the people let me down.
So, I turned the other way,
And I carry on anyhow.
And the people let me down.
So, I turned the other way,
And I carry on anyhow.
RE: Military Sayings in Everyday Life
ORIGINAL: MadmanRick
ORIGINAL: Zap
Can anyone tell us what these military acronyms are[;)]
DFAC=?
TRATS=?
DFAC = Dining Facility
TRATS = Tin Tray Rations
Correct!
RE: Military Sayings in Everyday Life
One thats never been decyphered is Biscuits (AB) and Biscuits Fruit (AB).I reckon the AB means 'ard Biscuits as they are like ships biscuits from Nelsons time.
Press to Test...............Release to Detonate!
RE: Military Sayings in Everyday Life
NAESU - Not Always Essential, Sometimes Useless - also known as the Naval Aviation Engineering Service Unit.
RE: Military Sayings in Everyday Life
A few more:
"He was supposed to show up at the party, but instead he went AWOL."
Same sentence could be said with, "He was 'Missing in Action.'"
During a camping trip, many people use the term Bivuoac.
I have heard people say, "I don't know about the place we are having the party. I might go there tonight for a little Recon."
My favorite is the "Half-Nelson" (holding someone by jamming their arm behind their back) - reference probably to Admiral Nelson, after he lost an arm.
Or, giving something the "Full Monty" - this is debatable, some people attribute this to Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery - but this is highly contentious.
I have heard people say the following, pretty often - "Class morale is low today." Or "We need to increase the morale of our workers." Use of "morale" is common, but definitely a military term.
"Fire for Effect" - or FOE - commonly used on usenets or forums - an artillery term to denote firing at something once range is sufficient and targeting is triangulated. Common use tends to be that a person hits an opponent with a powerful argument after setting up the discussion with some minor "targeting" shots. Go off on someone...
To "Blitz" is now a term heavily inculcated in common non-military use.
Referring to low men on the corporate or academic totem-pole as "Grunts" is also a common use for a military term.
And, the best one - Booyeah! Possibly not originating in the military, now heavily associated with Jarheads.
SoM
"He was supposed to show up at the party, but instead he went AWOL."
Same sentence could be said with, "He was 'Missing in Action.'"
During a camping trip, many people use the term Bivuoac.
I have heard people say, "I don't know about the place we are having the party. I might go there tonight for a little Recon."
My favorite is the "Half-Nelson" (holding someone by jamming their arm behind their back) - reference probably to Admiral Nelson, after he lost an arm.
Or, giving something the "Full Monty" - this is debatable, some people attribute this to Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery - but this is highly contentious.
I have heard people say the following, pretty often - "Class morale is low today." Or "We need to increase the morale of our workers." Use of "morale" is common, but definitely a military term.
"Fire for Effect" - or FOE - commonly used on usenets or forums - an artillery term to denote firing at something once range is sufficient and targeting is triangulated. Common use tends to be that a person hits an opponent with a powerful argument after setting up the discussion with some minor "targeting" shots. Go off on someone...
To "Blitz" is now a term heavily inculcated in common non-military use.
Referring to low men on the corporate or academic totem-pole as "Grunts" is also a common use for a military term.
And, the best one - Booyeah! Possibly not originating in the military, now heavily associated with Jarheads.
SoM
"Neca eos omnes. Deus suos agnoscet!"
(Kill them all. God will know his own.)
-- Arnaud-Armaury, the Albigensian Crusade
(Kill them all. God will know his own.)
-- Arnaud-Armaury, the Albigensian Crusade
- pasternakski
- Posts: 5567
- Joined: Sat Jun 29, 2002 7:42 pm
RE: Military Sayings in Everyday Life
They may not have "missed" these. Perhaps they were just trying to come up with some interesting and colorful information.ORIGINAL: Son_of_Montfort
You guys missed some major ones:
SoM
Please don't criticize for their ignorance those who are just here to have a little fun.
Put my faith in the people
And the people let me down.
So, I turned the other way,
And I carry on anyhow.
And the people let me down.
So, I turned the other way,
And I carry on anyhow.
RE: Military Sayings in Everyday Life
ORIGINAL: pasternakski
Please don't criticize for their ignorance those who are just here to have a little fun.
I gave no criticism, chill out. I was just trying to have some fun too. But I will edit if the wording bugs you.
"Neca eos omnes. Deus suos agnoscet!"
(Kill them all. God will know his own.)
-- Arnaud-Armaury, the Albigensian Crusade
(Kill them all. God will know his own.)
-- Arnaud-Armaury, the Albigensian Crusade