# Fascinating: Link to Unofficial USMC Dictionary



## American Horse (Jan 30, 2009)

One of the things I missed after leaving the Corps was the familiar &#8220;lingo&#8221;.  Because of its small population size the Marine Corps may have the best developed jargon of any of the services.  The population of the Corps is  about that of a medium sized American city, or a large university's student population. As Marines do their tours through the Corp&#8217;s duty stations they meet the same people over and over again. So once a new term or idiom catches on it makes the rounds, too.  These often have cryptic and ironic meanings a lot like a secret language.  

This is the most complete and best list of its kind I've seen. 
It's called  &#8220;Unofficial Dictionary for Marines&#8221; 

Check it out.  If you find a favorite show it here in this thread.  

Here's one of my own from the dictionary:


> "Pisscutter:
> A Marine&#8217;s garrison cover. Sometimes pisscover. The word was used extensively in the *middle 20th Century,* presently out of vogue due to a serious lack of political correctness.
> *The etymology of the word is not known.* One possible explanation comes from Kate Gladstone who says, "I have heard 'pisscutter' used by (elderly male) non-Marines to describe anything which has a sharp, spiffy-looking fold or edge or crease - e.g., a particularly well-made hat-brim, or an admirably crisp crease in a pair of pants." In the novel Shogun by James Clavell the word is used to refer to a harbor that was particularly difficult to navigate."


(wow! this is a stretch!)

 In my own day the _Pisscutter_ was the 'envelope' shaped soft cover or hat.  When the Marine was inside (under cover of roof) it could be conveniently tucked between the belt and the trousers.  Back then there was no confusion about the word's "etymology" because of the way it looked when it was being worn.  With its little folds it looked a lot like what the words describe: A part of the female anatomy which is often described as "the little man in the boat", and very close to the female urinary orifice.

Two Pisscutters






The misunderstanding, I believe, comes from the descriptive term "garrison cover".  The Pisscutter, at least in the 60's, was supposed to be worn only in the camp or base.  The barracks cover was required to be worn when travelling off base.
The meaning got lost when the term was used to describe the ordinary garrison cover was confused with a barracks cover which looks more like a jug or a jar, which inspires the term "jarhead."

A Barracks Cover




Which in no way fits the description of our favorite cover.

US Army soldiers wear a similar hat; what do they call it?

This confusion was no doubt contributed to by the common wearing of the soft "utility" cover which is now allowed in public places but then was confined to base and camp.

..


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## Sunni Man (Jan 30, 2009)

I was in the Army and all we ever called it was a "**** cap"

I never heard it called a Pisscutter


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## editec (Jan 30, 2009)

My favorite Corps euphemism was "Ding" which means wound or shoot.

As my gunny in FMSC told us one day when they were allowing us Corpsman to play war games where we actually got to carry guns and pretend to be shooting the enemy (who were wearing helmets...our team were wearing watch caps) 

"If the man's has a helmet, _ding_ him. _Ding_ him if he has a helmet. Helmet _ding_, _ding _helmet.. *got it?"*

If but only life were so simple as those happy war games we played back then.


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## American Horse (Jan 30, 2009)

Sunni Man said:


> I was in the Army and all we ever called it was a "**** cap"
> 
> I never heard it called a Pisscutter




I've heard it both ways, but pc was preferred in the Corps; pc is also a little more refined,  subtle, and clever than cc.  

So SM, was there a large enough vocabulary in use in the army to merit a dictionary?

..


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## American Horse (Jan 30, 2009)

editec said:


> My favorite Corps euphemism was "Ding" which means wound or shoot.
> 
> 
> "If the man's has a helmet, _ding_ him. _Ding_ him if he has a helmet. Helmet _ding_, _ding _helmet.. *got it?"*


Good one, and it fits the humor model.  It's probably being used in Iraq right now; those guys never wear helmets, but they do get "dinged", a useful euphemism.



> If but only life were so simple as those happy war games we played back then.



Those were dry runs; we were just practicing for the real thing.  I got very lucky and got out in 64, with no clue about what was around the curve.


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## editec (Jan 30, 2009)

American Horse said:


> editec said:
> 
> 
> > My favorite Corps euphemism was "Ding" which means wound or shoot.
> ...


 
You think _YOU_ were lucky?

I had orders to Viet Nam _twice_  -- once in 1970 and once in 1972 -- and I ended up not having to go in country_ both times._

You're an ex Marine, you know, I am sure, that NAV corpsman had an even worse motality/ morbity rates than the Marines did.

Things like the above are why some some kid tells me he's the captain of his own fate, or he's a self made man who owes nobody nothing, I laugh at his foolish conceit.

Some OTHER corpsman went to Viet Nam in my stead in 1970, and some other ARMY medic no doubt took my place in 72.

Did that make me smarter than them?

Hell NO.  It made me luckier than them is all.


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## Dante (Jan 30, 2009)

American Horse said:


> One of the things I missed after leaving the Corps was the familiar lingo.  Because of its small population size the Marine Corps may have the best developed jargon of any of the services.  The population of the Corps is  about that of a medium sized American city, or a large university's student population. As Marines do their tours through the Corps duty stations they meet the same people over and over again. So once a new term or idiom catches on it makes the rounds, too.  These often have cryptic and ironic meanings a lot like a secret language.
> 
> This is the most complete and best list of its kind I've seen.
> It's called  Unofficial Dictionary for Marines
> ...





American Horse said:


> A Barracks Cover
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 a **** cap?



American Horse said:


> This confusion was no doubt contributed to by the common wearing of the soft "utility" cover which is now allowed in public places but then was confined to base and camp.
> 
> ..


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## Sunni Man (Jan 30, 2009)

American Horse said:


> Sunni Man said:
> 
> 
> > I was in the Army and all we ever called it was a "**** cap"
> ...



gooks
slopes
zipper head
charlie
honey pots
lifers
LZ
fire base
yards
dust off
huey
dusters
slick
numb nuts
cherry
bookoo: (beaucoup)
Buff
Puff
hump
pucker factor
Di Di
round eye
skate
p-38
Jesus nut


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