Information Booklet for Adults

Military
Speak
A glossary for Soldiers and Chiefs

Soldiers have a language of their own.

Some of these words and phrases are technical
descriptions of aspects of the military life.
Others are slang or metaphors that have found
their way into everyday speech. You might be
using military terms without even realizing it!

As you explore the displays in the Soldiers and Chiefs exhibition,

you will occasionally find unfamiliar terms. This information
booklet provides definitions for a number of military words,
grouped into these categories:

• Kinds of Soldiers
• Army Ranks
• Army Weapons


 Kinds of Soldiers
This set of military terms for different kinds of soldiers will help you to become familiar with the

Civilian
terminology used in the exhibits. Some of these terms are no longer used in today’s armies.

Civilian
a non-military person: a soldier’s life starts as a civilian

Soldier
a soldier serves in an army, wearing a uniform and carrying a weapon

Infantry
soldiers who are trained to fight on foot
in the past, included such types as fusilier, grenadier, and rifleman

Cavalry

Hussa
soldiers who were trained to fight on horseback
the common types of cavalry were hussar, lancer, and dragoon

Artilleryman
a soldier with specialized training to operate artillery (cannons)
a term used since the 16th century

Rifleman
an infantry soldier trained to use an accurate weapon (a rifle) and to operate in small groups to
harass the enemy
a term used since the 18th century

Specialist Soldiers of the 18th and 19th Centuries

Hussar (pronounced ‘who’s-are’)
an elaborately uniformed member of a light cavalry unit (relatively small men on small horses),
trained to scout for enemy positions and to charge in battle

Lancer
a member of a light cavalry unit with a special weapon – a lance – intended to intimidate and
defeat enemy cavalry and infantry

Grenadie
Dragoon (or Dragoon Guard)
a member of a heavy cavalry unit consisting of big soldiers on big horses; when they charged, the
shock overwhelmed the enemy and broke their formations

Fusilier
originally, a soldier who used a fusil (a kind of musket); later a member of a particular infantry
regiment given elite status; fusiliers wore distinctive furry dress hats

Grenadier
the biggest and strongest men in an infantry unit, who were trained to carry and throw grenades


 Army Ranks
This illustration demonstrates the hierarchy of ranks in the Irish Army, from general to private.

General

General
Colonel

Lieutenant-Colonel

ar Commanda
n t
Commandant
(equivalent to Major in other armies)

Captain

Lieutenant
Officer

Captain

Lieutenant
Cadet

Non- Sergeant

er
commissioned Sergeant
officer
Corporal Enlisted man

Private

Private


 Army Weapons
Do you know the difference between a pike and a lance, or a rifle and a carbine? This list of

Sword
definitions with illustrations will clarify the distinctions among the weapons on display in the
Soldiers and Chiefs exhibition. The list is organised in rough chronological order, from early to
recent types of technology – from edged weapons to firearms and to weapons of the 20th century.

Sword
a hand weapon with a long, sharp, pointed blade

Lance
Pike
a long wooden shaft, tipped by a medal spearhead, used by a
foot soldier

Lance
a weapon with a metal spearhead on a long wooden shaft,
used on horseback by cavalry soldiers

Dirk
a dagger or small knife, worn by junior officers in the
army or navy


Bayonet Bayonet
a long knife (or short sword), which is attached to the
end of a rifle to turn it into a kind of pike
 Musket
Musket
a gun with a long barrel and a smooth bore, loaded from the
muzzle and fired from the shoulder

Pistol
a small gun that can be held and fired with one hand

e
Rifle
a long-barrelled gun, fired from the shoulder, with grooves
(called rifling) in the barrel, which spin the bullet for greater
range and accuracy

Carbine
a lightweight, short-barrelled version of a musket or rifle,
intended for use on horseback

Revolver
a hand-held gun with a revolving cylinder for bullets, allowing it
to be fired several times without reloading

t Machine-gun
a heavy automatic gun that fires a rapid and continuous
stream of rifle-calibre bullets


Field Artille
Sub-machine-gun
a portable automatic gun that fires brief bursts of bullets

Field Artillery
large cannons that require animal or engine-power to
move around; they are often named by the weight of
the projectile they throw

Grena
Anti-aircraft gun
a mounted rapid-firing cannon used for defence against
enemy aircraft

Grenade
a small bomb, thrown by hand or fired from a rifle, and
detonated by a timed fuse

Landmine
an explosive device hidden beneath the surface of the ground,
which is triggered by the pressure of troops or vehicles going
over it

Landmin
Armoured Vehicle
a wheeled or tracked vehicle (often mounting weapons) that
has armour protection against small arms fire


ery
Military Metaphors
A metaphor is a figure of speech that is not meant literally but is intended as a comparison. In
everyday speech we use metaphors that have a military origin. Have you ever used any of these
words or phrases?

A flash in the pan

Closing
Everyday Speech: a spectacular event without effect in the long term
Military Origin: what happens when the spark from flint fails to ignite the gunpowder in a
flintlock firearm

AWOL
Everyday Speech: absenting oneself from duty without permission
Military Origin: Absent WithOut Leave

Biting the bullet

ade
Everyday Speech: facing up to an unpleasant consequence
Military Origin: legendary method of dealing with the pain of amputation, by biting down on the
soft lead of a bullet

Carte blanche (French for blank page)

Everyday Speech: permission to act without restraint
Military Origin: the term given to a surrender without conditions; i.e. the victors could write their own
terms for the losers on a blank sheet

Closing ranks
Everyday Speech: collecting people or resources to deal with an external threat
Military Origin: in the past soldiers marched shoulder to shoulder during a battle; the closer
together the ranks were, the more formidable their appearance to the enemy

Commandeer
Everyday Speech: to seize or appropriate something (perhaps illegally)
Military Origin: a term borrowed (‘commandeered’) by the British Army from the Boers in the
late 19th century

To dragoon
Everyday Speech: forcing someone to do something they don’t want to

ne
Military Origin: reflects the bad reputation of the cavalrymen called dragoons, who in the 17th
and 18th centuries often mistreated civilians

To draw a bead
Everyday Speech: aiming carefully at some target
Military Origin: the bead is the front sight on a firearm

AWOL
Facing the music
Everyday Speech: face up to an unpleasant consequence
Military Origin: when a soldier was dishonorably dismissed from his unit, the band played
‘The Rogue’s March’, a tune signifying dishonour


 Flak
Everyday Speech: criticism or trouble

Hanging fir
Military Origin: abbreviation of the German Fliegerabwehrkanone, meaning anti-aircraft cannon;
usually refers to the fire from such a weapon

To go off at half cock

Everyday Speech: act in a premature or unprepared manner
Military Origin: flintlock weapons had two settings to cock (or ready) the spring-loaded hammer;
if the gun went off at half-cock, it would fire prematurely

Grog
Everyday Speech: alcohol (particularly rum)
Military Origin: originated from the nickname of a British admiral who watered down the sailors’
rum ration; he was known as ‘old grogram’, for the kind of cloth he often wore

Hanging fire
Everyday Speech: something expected which fails to happen
Military Origin: refers to the failure of a weapon to fire

Last ditch

Long
Everyday Speech: final (often desperate) attempt or situation
Military Origin: in defending a fort, the soldiers were in a bad way if they were forced back to
the last defensive barrier or ditch

Long shot
Everyday Speech: a hopeful but unlikely trial or attempt
Military Origin: the effective range of cannons was limited, but some damage might result from
a shot at extreme range

No names, no pack drill

Everyday Speech: without relevant details, individual responsibility cannot be assigned for a misdeed
Military Origin: pack-drill was a minor army punishment

Rank and file

Everyday Speech: ordinary or lower-status individuals
Military Origin: soldiers on parade were organised into ranks (from side to side) and files (from
front to back)

Recce (pronounced 'wreck-y')

Recce
Everyday Speech: the process of exploring the possibilities
Military Origin: short for reconnaissance, the process of finding out what the enemy is doing

To ride roughshod over

Everyday Speech: to treat with disregard
Military Origin: cavalry horses were sometimes given special sharpened horseshoes (shod
rough) to harm any infantry they charged

The scuttlebut
Everyday Speech: rumour or gossip
Military Origin: the scuttlebut was the water barrel where sailors gathered to drink and gossip,
just as people do today at the office water cooler


 To steal a march
Everyday Speech: obtain an advantage by a ruse or trick

re
Military Origin: opposing armies once camped by night and marched by day; if one began the
march during the night, it would gain an advantage

(Not enough) space to swing a cat

Everyday Speech: a confined space
Military Origin: the cat is the cat-of-nine-tails used to punish sailors; below decks on the ship the
space was very limited, so the punishment took place on deck

Spiking his guns

Watchw
Everyday Speech: invalidating his arguments
Military Origin: muzzle-loading cannon had a touch-hole used to fire the gunpowder within; if a
nail was hammered in this hole, the gun became useless

Turncoat
Everyday Speech: a traitor
Military Origin: supposedly, the process of dismissing a renegade soldier involved making him
wear his coat inside out; another explanation suggests that a German prince kept a jacket that
was Saxon blue on one side and French white on the other; he could ‘turn his coat’ to match that

shot
of the prevailing power

Watchword
Everyday Speech: principle governing all activity
Military Origin: the password for the ‘watch’, the soldiers on sentry duty around the camp

With flying colours

Everyday Speech: great success
Military Origin: warships returning from a victory at sea would decorate all their masts with flags
(colours) as a sign of their success

Words from the Wardrobe

Some terms for clothing have a military origin.

Balaclava hat
Everyday Speech: a knitted head covering, protecting the ears and face
Military Origin: first introduced during the Crimean War, which included the Battle of Balaclava

Camouflage
Everyday Speech: to disguise or conceal from view
Military Origin: disguising the appearance of troops and equipment to conceal them from the enemy

Cardigan
Everyday Speech: knitted jacket with buttons down the front
Military Origin: named after Lord Cardigan, the leader of the Light Cavalry Brigade during the
Crimean War


 Khaki
Everyday Speech: a dull, yellowish brown cloth

Mingy
Military Origin: from the Urdu word for dust or dust-coloured, originally adopted by the British
Army in India; Urdu is an Indo-Aryan language spoken mainly in Pakistan and India

Raglan sleeve
Everyday Speech: a sleeve that has no defined shoulder seam
Military Origin: the one-armed Lord Raglan, commander of the British forces in the Crimea, wore
garments with this kind of sleeve

In Other Words
These terms entered common usage as a result of soldiers stationed overseas talking to local
people.

Buckshee
Military Meaning: something for free, often a tip or bribe

Mufti
Original Language: from the Persian word for a present

Mingy men
Military Meaning: the term used by the Irish Defence Force soldiers to refer to shopkeepers in
the Lebanon
Original Language: from a local dialect in the Congo, meaning 'many'; sellers of goods to Irish
soldiers told them: 'I have 'mingy' gifts for you to look at'

Mufti
Military Meaning: British Army slang for civilian clothing
Original Language: from the Arabic mufti (holy man); the soldiers were joking about the contrast
between the loose, informal civilian clothes of the Arabs and their own tight uniforms

uckshee
10
Notes

11
 Information Booklet for Adults

Military Speak
A glossary for Soldiers and Chiefs

Want to know more?

For more information on exhibitions and education programmes,
contact the Education and Outreach Department of the National
Museum of Ireland.
Tel: 01 648 6453 Fax: 01 679 1025
email: [email protected]
© Education and Outreach Department,
National Museum of Ireland, Dublin. 2008

12 Cover image: The Welcome Arrival 1857 by John Dalbiac Luard, National Army Museum