The Rise of Naff Mil Phraseology

[The Cryptkeeper]

The latest phrase that every Officer and his dog is using in the Army is "I get that" or variations thereof - roughly translated it means "I heard what you just said, I know it's a crap idea and morale is rock bottom, but I can't/won't say anything to my Boss!"

Oh, and it's already been mentioned "piece"......

[Al R]

More generally, I have noticed that use of the definite article and personal pronouns have diminished - the effect of Tw@tter? And how often do you see an 'expert' responding to an interviewer with a series of verbal bullet points, prefaced with 'So.. ' as we get talked through the issue coz we're obviously all too thick to work it out for ourselves.

[GOLF_BRAVO_ZULU]

Indeed but that reflects a general decline in the standard of written and spoken English. Of course, if you rebel against it or even criticise, the apologists immediately assert that "English is a living and dynamic language, evolving all the time". That usually means that if enough people misuse it through design, ignorance or laziness, It will become "correct" usage. In the age of instant communication, that now doesn't take very long.

[Thomas coupling]

I believe the word 'stress' didn't exist until the late 40's.
What about PTSD? When did that come into being?

[spectre150]

Not sure if it has reached the military yet (I have retired) but those who precede the answer to a question with "Listen, ......" are particularly annoying. I think Tony Blair was the first person I heard doing this and it seems to have caught on with other politicians and 'pundits'. If I ask a question, I do not expect to be told to listen to the answer; if I did not want to listen to the answer I would not have asked the question. Mind you, there were many senior officers in my experience who did not apply this logic.

[Lightning Mate]

Force Multiplier.

WTFO?

[Torchy]

Crystal clear

Traction

and "inter alia" "outwith"

[Whenurhappy]

'Outwith' stumps my US colleagues; inter alia, and primus inter pares are succint and useful expressions. More Latin needed, me thinks.

[Al R]

GBZ,

I don't mind change in itself but when it is change for changes sake.. well. I think it probably started when we lost our manufacturing base and became expert/puindit/service orientated. Delta, by the way, for me these days refers to the relationship between the price change in an underlying asset and the corresponding change in the price of the derivative that it might be based on. Joy.

Has no one used Dead Cat Bounce in briefings yet? A DCB describes a pathetic market rally following a large fall and is based on hopeless aspiration. I wonder what context could be used for that.. or, what about Triple Witching? TW occurs when a multitude of factors culminate on the same day; usually stock options, stock market index options and stock market index futures all expiring at the same time and leading to massive trading volumes and volatility.

I can't think of a military dead cat bounce but I'm sure there must be some use out there. Maybe a brief spurt of happiness at a beer call for a unit which has dreadful morale?

[Dunky]

"I'm all over it", meaning completing a task. "Boxed", meaning task completed.

As for ID cards, my MoD 90 is getting on a bit now, it's so old it doesn't have an expiry date, and has required some running repairs with sellotape to keep it in one piece.

[Union Jack]

'Outwith' stumps my US colleagues

Well, it shouldn't do, observing how many of the cousins claim Scottish ancestry. It's a perfectly normal word in everyday use in Scotland - and sometimes by more learned English speakers elsewhere! - as a variation of "without".

Jack

[GOLF_BRAVO_ZULU]

In my experience of working with shed loads of Jocks, including 2 bosses, "outwith" invariably meant "outside". For example, "the task you've (successfully) completed was outwith your terms of reference".

It annoyed the hell out of me, particular when the non Jocks started doing it.

[Rossian]

PTSD??

... thomas coupling - came in in the wake of GW1 and from those dealing with the aftermath of Lockerbie (eg mountain rescue teams). Try and get "Trauma" by Prof Gordon Turnbull. A sobering read. He used to be the chief psychiatrist at Wroughton for the RAF.

The Ancient Mariner

[teeteringhead]

my MoD 90 is getting on a bit now, it's so old it doesn't have an expiry date,

best get a new one Dunky. MGS have been briefed not to accept them without an expiry date!

Discovered that from one of my underlings - doesn't seem to have had much (any?) publicity.

If you're lucky you'll get one warning before it gets taken away and shredded ..........

[SOSL]

"Thank you for your input, I'll take that off-line" means "I haven't a clue but I don't want everyone at the meeting to know that".

"Cost neutral" - Does that mean "it's for free" or does it mean "we can frig the budget so we don't get the blame if it goes wrong"?

"Pushing at an open door" - If the door is open you can't push it!

"Find a work around" means "deal with it". Unless, however, you subscribe to the prevalent conspiracy theory, in which case it means "frig the budget".

"That's the wrong answer" means "I asked the question but I didn't really want your opinion".

"Run it up the flagpole and see who salutes" means "lets see who is daft enough to believe us".

Rgds SOS

[Burnt Fishtrousers]

"I hear what you are saying" should elicit a response "you should be listening"

"taking on board" is another irritating one.

We have people who used to go out and install software, now they "deploy software in field" ....twats..

I love "Cluster F**k" though ...its just sums things up so nicely

[Dunky]

best get a new one Dunky. MGS have been briefed not to accept them without an expiry date!

Discovered that from one of my underlings - doesn't seem to have had much (any?) publicity.

If you're lucky you'll get one warning before it gets taken away and shredded ..........

Thanks for the heads up, I'll get a new one ordered Or should that be initiate the renewal phase

[Roland Pulfrew]

I hate the idiotic things that the comms world comm up with. UAD anyone? User Access Device apparently - or computer to those in the real world. I would love to see someone walk into PC World and say: "I would like to purchase a UAD" and see what happens.

And DSE? Display screen equipment - or monitor in the real world!! FFS

[PPRuNeUser0139]

A speaking mannerism that was guaranteed to whiten my knuckles was the practice of a speaker posing a series of obvious questions and answering them in the next breath (usually prefixed with "Absolutely.. ")

Eg: "Would I prefer it if the PVR rate was less than 5%? Absolutely - of course I would. Do I think it'll happen soon? No I don't. Do I sound like an idiot when I do this? Sure I do."

[Tinribs]

Synthetic

Its getting a bit quiet so I thought you might like,

Lots of Air Lingus air craft are named after saints, mainly Irish

BmI used to go to Dublin the use their 737 sim

Pinted on the side St Thetic