What does G.I. stand for?

[jimtron]

OK, the Internet is giving me conflicting information on this. What does GI (the military, not medical term) stand for? Wikipedia says (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GI_%28military%29) galvanized iron. Other sources say government issue. I don't have any reliable reference sources for this at the moment. I know that Wikipedia is isn't definitive, but my bet is with them--in my experience it's been a pretty reliable reference source.

[arthwollipot]

I always thought it was General Infantryman. As in G.I. Joe.

[jimtron]

I always thought it was General Infantryman. As in G.I. Joe.

From the Wikipedia article linked in the OP:

The term is often thought to be an initialism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acronym_and_initialism) of "Government Issue", "General Issue", or "General Infantry" but actually refers to galvanized iron (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanized_iron). The letters "G.I." that used to denote equipment such as metal trash cans made from galvanized iron in U.S. Army (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army) inventories and supply records.[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GI_%28military%29#cite_note-0)[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GI_%28military%29#cite_note-wordorig-1)

[MG1962]

I always thought it was General Infantryman. As in G.I. Joe.

Yes definately general infantry

Same with Jeep - it is a contraction of GP or general purpose

[Sir Robin Goodfellow]

According to Hugh Rawson in his book Devious Derivations, GI stands for galvanised iron. It's uncertain as to exactly when GI went from referring to the galvanised iron trash cans to the soldiers themselves, but by 1939, GI was being used to describe soldiers in West Point slang.

[antennafarm]

no one ever told me explicitly, but from context i always took it to mean "government issue" or "general issue" -- referring to gear as "GI" meant that you got it issued to you. referring to people, it seemed to intimate enlisted folk (especially lower enlisted, who i often hear referred to as "joes," as well).

[TsarBomba]

According to Hugh Rawson in his book Devious Derivations, GI stands for galvanised iron. It's uncertain as to exactly when GI went from referring to the galvanised iron trash cans to the soldiers themselves, but by 1939, GI was being used to describe soldiers in West Point slang.

Just a thought--perhaps it had something to do with punishment detail--cleaning out garbage cans?

[LarianLeQuella]

Gastro Intestinal? I know every time I get stuck at an Army base, my delicate Air Force constitution can't handle their chow, and I have a lot of Gastro Intestinal distress. ;)

Okay, horrid joke aside, you seem to have covered the evolution of the term.

[Soapy Sam]

I also thought it meant "General Infantryman".
I don't recall where I read this, but I certainly "knew" it before 1965, so probably TV or my father who was WW2 British Army and met plenty American troops.

[I Ratant]

I'd never heard either galvanized iron or General Infantryman in all the years and those since I've been associated with things military.
Gummint Issue is the -only- correct term!

[LibraryLady]

According to Acronyms, Initialism & Abbreviations Dictionary it stands for Government Issue.

God, I love being a librarian.

[Cicero]

Yes definately general infantry

Same with Jeep - it is a contraction of GP or general purpose

Wrong on both counts. The Willys/Ford Jeep name was orignally a carton character called "Eugene the Jeep" and "G.I." is Government Issue as others have mentioned.

[CptColumbo]

I've always heard it was "General Issue."

However:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GI_(military)
GI or G.I. is a term describing members of the U.S. armed forces or items of their equipment. It may be used as an adjective or as a noun. The term is often thought to be an initialism of "Government Issue", "General Issue", or "General Infantry" but actually refers to galvanized iron. The letters "G.I." that used to denote equipment such as metal trash cans made from galvanized iron in U.S. Army inventories and supply records. During World War I, U.S. soldiers sardonically referred to incoming German artillery shells as "GI cans"; it was assumed that "GI" stood for "Government Issue". The term was later applied to all military equipment, then to the soldiers themselves.

[jimtron]

I've always heard it was "General Issue."

However:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GI_(military (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GI_%28military))

Yep, as I mentioned in posts 1 and 3. :p

[paximperium]

I always thought it meant "Gooey on the Inside" but I could be wrong.

[Foolmewunz]

This is interesting (to people who find these things interesting).
A decade or so ago, the general consensus was that it stood for government issue but no one could say why.

They've obviously been digging, and have found the earliest cites. The Wiki aricle has a link to Wordorigin.org that has a fuller explanation. Apparently the earliest citations anyone could find were for galvanized iron back in early WWI. But while they don't pinpoint it, they note that by 1918 that meaning had sidled over to the currently accepted government issue.

Is it possible that in the bureaucratic morass of papers coming during a war someone independently came up with the expression Government Issue? I'd say yes. But the timing seems to work in favor of it morphing over from galvanized iron.

Interesting, .... but not yet conclusive.

[Björn Toulouse]

My father who served in WW2 told me when I was a kid, and the G.I. haircut was in style for kids, that it stood for "ground infantry (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_does_GI_mean)". The phrase has always sounded a bit pleonastic but poking around on the net today, it seems to have been a term in use at one time.



What G.I. Stands For


GI is short for Government Issue.


However, these are all common interpretations or misinterpretations:

General Issue


General Infantry or Ground Infantry


General Inductee


Government Inductee

[This Guy]

I always thought it meant General Issue. I suspect the Wiki has it right.

Cool thread. It's always fun to see even simple things we think we know/understand explained, even when the explanation indicates we didn't know what we thought we knew :)

[Bell]

Wrong on both counts. The Willys/Ford Jeep name was orignally a carton character called "Eugene the Jeep" and "G.I." is Government Issue as others have mentioned.

From pages 11-13, Jeeps 1941-45, (2005 print), Osprey Publishing

The term "jeep" had been around for many years, used as casual slang in the Army for anything that was insignificant, awkward, or silly, and sometimes used in the form "jeepy" to mean foolish. It was also used by army mechanics during World War I to refer to any new vehicle. The term became more populair in September 1937 with the arrival of the cartoon character "Eugene the Jeep" in E.C. Segar's Popeye comic strip.

The name jeep finally made the leap from the 1/2 ton truck to the new Willys 1/4 ton truck owing in large measure to Irving "Red" Hausmann, a Willys-Overland test driver. Hausmann used it during the trials at Holabird to distinguish the Willys vehicle from its Bantam and Ford competitors.

A populair but mistaken idea is that the word jeep was a contraction for the term GP or General Purpose.

What cemented the name jeep to the 1/4 ton truck was the power of advertising. Hausmann's use of jeep during the Holabird trials had caught on in the Willys plant in Toledo, and when Willys began to promote its role in the American war effort in magazine advertisements in 1942, it regularly reffered to their 1/4 ton truck as the jeep.

[jimtron]

According to the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, GI is an abbreviation for "government or general issue." The OED should be a reliable source, but I wonder--what would the definitive source be? Maybe there's no way to know for sure. I wonder what William Safire would say? Or Cecil Adams.

[Bell]

It is possible for an abbreviation to have multiple reverences. A new one can evolve while there is allready another abbreviation for another expression, without the persons starting the new one being aware of the older one.

So I think it is very likely that G.I. came from General Infantry (what I allways thought it meant), even though an older abbreviatons existed.

[Lanzy]

Wrong on both counts. The Willys/Ford Jeep name was orignally a carton character called "Eugene the Jeep" and "G.I." is Government Issue as others have mentioned.

Spot on.

We were all GI's; we were not all infantry.
Yep, ex-Army.

[Big Les]

I think "what does it stand for?" is a separate question from "what does (did) it mean?" or "where did it originate?". People are always looking for deep historical meanings for words and phrases, but these are often tough to distentangle. And even if you manage it, the word may have come to mean something else entirely by the present day, rendering the original meaning of academic interest only.

So if since 1918 GI has stood for "Government Issue", then that's what it (usefully) means. If there's a deeper history then that's certainly interesting. The wordorigins full article is at the least plausible. I must admit that if I'd heard someone claim the "galvanised iron" backstory, I would immediately think "folk etymology" - it so conveniently reduces soldiers to inanimate objects that it could be passed around by civvie and soldier alike, as a criticism of government or of the military, depending upon the intention of the teller.

[Gagglegnash]

Hi

The term, "G.I." as a term for private soldier was fairly new in WWII, when the soldiers themselves started calling themselves, "Government Issue."

On of the thing that helped get Patton in trouble was referring to a soldier as, "G.I." and he was called down for it.

When he said, "but, it's what they call themselves," his superior told him that, while the G.I.s could call themselves Government Issue, their commanders could never speak of them in that manner.

As Patton was a pretty fair military historian, if the term were slightly older than that, he'd probably have known about the prohibition on referring to soldiers as Government Issue.

[Big Les]

Makes sense. Found this also - a 1946 cite (http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=RqJiAAAAMAAJ&q=%22galvanized+iron%22+notes+and+queries&dq=%22galvanized+iron%22+notes+and+queries&client=firefox-a&pgis=1) for "galvanised iron".

[jimtron]

Makes sense. Found this also - a 1946 cite (http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=RqJiAAAAMAAJ&q=%22galvanized+iron%22+notes+and+queries&dq=%22galvanized+iron%22+notes+and+queries&client=firefox-a&pgis=1) for "galvanised iron".

Ah, nice find. I'd be curious to see more old sources like this.

[fuelair]

OK, the Internet is giving me conflicting information on this. What does GI (the military, not medical term) stand for? Wikipedia says (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GI_%28military%29) galvanized iron. Other sources say government issue. I don't have any reliable reference sources for this at the moment. I know that Wikipedia is isn't definitive, but my bet is with them--in my experience it's been a pretty reliable reference source.

Try this: http://www.answers.com/topic/gi

[Mojo]

OK, the Internet is giving me conflicting information...


Who would have thought that such a thing could happen?

[Silentknight]

We are obviously dealing with something of government issue that is made of galvanized iron on the outside, but is gooey on the inside, especially in its gastrointestinal region. Just keep all that in mind the next time you sing the theme song. It sure explains a lot.


"Yo Joe!"
He'll fight for freedom wherever there is trouble, G. I. Joe is there!
G. I. Joe (A Real American Hero), G. I. Joe is there

It's G. I. Joe against Cobra the enemy
Fighting to save the day,
He never gives up, he's always there,
Fighting for freedom over land and air

G. I. Joe (A Real American Hero), G. I. Joe is there

"G. I. Joe is the codename for America's daring, highly trained, special mission force. Its purpose: To defend human freedom against Cobra, a ruthless, terrorist organization determined to rule the world."

He never gives up, he'll stay till the fights won
G. I. Joe will dare
G. I. Joe (A Real American Hero)
G. I. Joe!

[Cicero]

I think "what does it stand for?" is a separate question from "what does (did) it mean?" or "where did it originate?". People are always looking for deep historical meanings for words and phrases, but these are often tough to distentangle. And even if you manage it, the word may have come to mean something else entirely by the present day, rendering the original meaning of academic interest only.

So if since 1918 GI has stood for "Government Issue", then that's what it (usefully) means. If there's a deeper history then that's certainly interesting. The wordorigins full article is at the least plausible. I must admit that if I'd heard someone claim the "galvanised iron" backstory, I would immediately think "folk etymology" - it so conveniently reduces soldiers to inanimate objects that it could be passed around by civvie and soldier alike, as a criticism of government or of the military, depending upon the intention of the teller.

During WWII, the media used the term G.I. (government issue) in reference to American Army personel in WWII, but the soldiers called each other "dog face."

William Wellam's "The Story of G.I. Joe" (1945) movie forever ensured the meaning of "G.I" was indeed government issue.

[dudalb]

Conflicting sources are very common in history. My own gut feeling is that it meant "General Issue', that seems the most logical.
And Wikipedia is not the most reliable source of information out there, precisely because is is the "encylopedia that anybody can edit"...whether "anybody" knows anything about the topic or not.

[ehbowen]

Same with Jeep - it is a contraction of GP or general purpose

Wrong on both counts. The Willys/Ford Jeep name was orignally a carton character called "Eugene the Jeep" and "G.I." is Government Issue as others have mentioned.

While I agree with you as regards the Army, Cicero, in the field of railroading the "General Purpose" etymology is correct. When General Motors' Electro-Motive Division introduced their new 4-axle diesel-electric road switcher in late 1949, they dubbed it the "GP7", for "General Purpose". It took, oh, maybe fifteen minutes for the new locomotives to earn the name of "Jeep".

[Cicero]

Conflicting sources are very common in history. My own gut feeling is that it meant "General Issue', that seems the most logical.
And Wikipedia is not the most reliable source of information out there, precisely because is is the "encylopedia that anybody can edit"...whether "anybody" knows anything about the topic or not.

If you have to use the wiki, or your gut, to determine the meaning of "G.I." then you must be of the internet generation. That could only explain the confusion about the initials representing anything other than government issue. At the time the term "G.I." was getting traction in the lexicon, non-commissioned officers were always instructing their men to only possess in their foot lockers what Uncle Sam (the government) issued them.

Anyone familiar with Bill Mauldin's Willie & Joe G.I. cartoons knows that part of the joke is how these dog faces are the quintessential representation of government issued equipment. If you substitute "general" for "government" it not only negates the point of referring to soldiers as such, but it also defuses the broader context of this affectionate term.

[Cicero]

While I agree with you as regards the Army, Cicero, in the field of railroading the "General Purpose" etymology is correct. When General Motors' Electro-Motive Division introduced their new 4-axle diesel-electric road switcher in late 1949, they dubbed it the "GP7", for "General Purpose". It took, oh, maybe fifteen minutes for the new locomotives to earn the name of "Jeep".

It may very well be that anything post WWII with a "GP" designation will be influenced by "Eugene the Jeep".

[TX50]

So I think it is very likely that G.I. came from General Infantry (what I allways thought it meant), even though an older abbreviatons existed.

I've only ever heard it as "Govt. Issue". "General Infantry" is a meaningless
phrase, in any case.

[TX50]

...officers were always instructing their men to only possess in their foot lockers what Uncle Sam (the government) issued them.



I wonder why they were never called "Uncle Sams", or something similar,
since (I understand that) "US" was stamped on kit, not "GI".

[Mason]

From the Wikipedia article linked in the OP:
Quote:

The term is often thought to be an initialism of "Government Issue", "General Issue", or "General Infantry" but actually refers to galvanized iron. The letters "G.I." that used to denote equipment such as metal trash cans made from galvanized iron in U.S. Army inventories and supply records.[1][2]



In the Corps, we referred to the room where trash cans and other cleaning supplies were kept as the "GI shack". Trash duty was also referred to as "GI duty". We never knew why, and nobody bothered asking, but the Corps is very big on tradition and holding onto its own lingo, so it's not a stretch at all to think the GI shack was so named because 80 years ago that's where the GI cans were kept.

[Bell]

I've only ever heard it as "Govt. Issue". "General Infantry" is a meaningless
phrase, in any case.

It is possible I made that up myself, trying to figure out what G.I. stands for. It was way back in ye olde days before the interwebs :)

[dudalb]

If you have to use the wiki, or your gut, to determine the meaning of "G.I." then you must be of the internet generation. That could only explain the confusion about the initials representing anything other than government issue. At the time the term "G.I." was getting traction in the lexicon, non-commissioned officers were always instructing their men to only possess in their foot lockers what Uncle Sam (the government) issued them.

Anyone familiar with Bill Mauldin's Willie & Joe G.I. cartoons knows that part of the joke is how these dog faces are the quintessential representation of government issued equipment. If you substitute "general" for "government" it not only negates the point of referring to soldiers as such, but it also defuses the broader context of this affectionate term.

Oh, I 100% agree that all the evidence is that GI meant "General Issue".
The real problem with the Internet is people are being flooded with information, much of it bad, and they are not being taught how to sift and evaluate it, and there is a bad tendacy to believe the "coolest" sounding information.

[Cicero]

Oh, I 100% agree that all the evidence is that GI meant "General Issue".
The real problem with the Internet is people are being flooded with information, much of it bad, and they are not being taught how to sift and evaluate it, and there is a bad tendacy to believe the "coolest" sounding information.

True about the net. However, it's not as if it is impossible to get first hand information on this topic. Ask any WWII vet, as rare as they are becoming, and they will confirm that it means "Government Issue.

[Lensman]

I always thought that the US term for kitchen duty was "KP" (Kitchen Patrol), in the UK armed forces it was always called (AFAIK) "jankers".

In some old WW11 movies, I've heard some soldiers (or maybe marines) call themselves something like "Jyrene" (sp?) or some such, where does that come from?

[Cicero]

I always thought that the US term for kitchen duty was "KP" (Kitchen Patrol), in the UK armed forces it was always called (AFAIK) "jankers".

In some old WW11 movies, I've heard some soldiers (or maybe marines) call themselves something like "Jyrene" (sp?) or some such, where does that come from?

Gyrene- while dating back before WWII, it is thought to be a compilation of G.I. and Marine, hence Gyrene.

Also other popular monikers for U.S. Marines:

Leatherneck-

Devil Dogs/Teufelhunden-

Grunt-

Jarhead/Jughead-

[arthwollipot]

It is possible I made that up myself, trying to figure out what G.I. stands for. It was way back in ye olde days before the interwebs :)No, I was the first to bring up General Infantry in this thread, because it's what I was told when I was a kid. I think my dad told me, although he was an officer in the Australian army, where the term "GI" is not used as far as I am aware. He appears to have been wrong.

[CardZeus]

Got Intelligence?

[Bell]

Yes, I do. Thanks for asking, though :)

[JimBenArm]

Gastro-Intestinal.

[blobru]

G. I. 'm sorry but I think I just blew your head off...

[Big Les]

Jankers, if I understand correctly, is whatever nasty punishment the NCO can dream up - not restricted to kitchen duties.

[gumboot]

Wrong on both counts. The Willys/Ford Jeep name was orignally a carton character called "Eugene the Jeep".


This almost certainly isn't true.

The term "Jeep" was well established in military jargon long before Eugene the Jeep appeared, and was applied to raw recruits or untested vehicles. When the vehicle was first given to the military for testing they called it a "Jeep" because it didn't have a name, and was untested. Civilian visitors, unfamiliar with the tradition behind the name, would have assumed it was a pop culture reference (wrongly associating traditional terms with coincidental pop culture references is also quite common).

The Ford designation for the vehicle was indeed GP (G for Government, P designating its 80-inch wheelbase).

The first real "public" use of the term Jeep was when it was driven up the US Capitol steps. Katherine Hillyer asked what it was called, and the test driver said the soldiers called it a "jeep" which they did, because it was a generic name for any untested vehicle.

It was only after Hillyer's article was published in the Washington Daily News that the term "Jeep" became the standard term applied exclusively to that vehicle.

The "Eugene the Jeep" story was probably a case of people unfamiliar with the preexisting "Jeep" military term trying to retroactively apply an explanation for the military name for the vehicle.

This is not uncommon, the words "mayhem" and "commando" both changed their meanings dramatically due to people misunderstanding a newspaper article.

[Cicero]

This almost certainly isn't true.

The term "Jeep" was well established in military jargon long before Eugene the Jeep appeared, and was applied to raw recruits or untested vehicles. When the vehicle was first given to the military for testing they called it a "Jeep" because it didn't have a name, and was untested. Civilian visitors, unfamiliar with the tradition behind the name, would have assumed it was a pop culture reference (wrongly associating traditional terms with coincidental pop culture references is also quite common).

The Ford designation for the vehicle was indeed GP (G for Government, P designating its 80-inch wheelbase).

The first real "public" use of the term Jeep was when it was driven up the US Capitol steps. Katherine Hillyer asked what it was called, and the test driver said the soldiers called it a "jeep" which they did, because it was a generic name for any untested vehicle.

It was only after Hillyer's article was published in the Washington Daily News that the term "Jeep" became the standard term applied exclusively to that vehicle.

The "Eugene the Jeep" story was probably a case of people unfamiliar with the preexisting "Jeep" military term trying to retroactively apply an explanation for the military name for the vehicle.

This is not uncommon, the words "mayhem" and "commando" both changed their meanings dramatically due to people misunderstanding a newspaper article.


I think you have confused the term "Jeep," the amorphous slang term:

1) From the Saturday Evening Post of 16 July 1938:
For a foolish or inexperienced person.

2) From a 1941 article in Jimmy Cannon’s Nobody Asked Me:
A recruit or basic trainee.

3) The New York Times July 31, 1938.
In this case Jeep is being used to refer to a tank, not the M38.

and how this particular vehicle and the character "JEEP" came together. Irving Hausmann, the civilian Willys-Overland engineer, the very same test-driver who replied to Hilyer it's a "Jeep," was not referring to what you beleive to be the inspiration for the term. He was testing the vehicle at Camp Holabird, MD where other soldiers, who had seen the 1940 "Popeye Presents Eugene the Jeep," and had christened the vehicle "Jeep" because it could go anywhere just like the cartoon character. Prior to this, the prototype M38's were called "Combat Car", "Reconnaissance Car", "Bantam", "Quad", "Peep", "Pygmy" and "Blitz Buggy", but there is nothing about any referance to it being called "Jeep" until after the cartoon and film short.

During this period Disney characters, Warner Brothers cartoons, and Max Fleischer's Popeye had become very prominent in U.S. military culture. This vehicle was loved by those who helped develop it (these were not WWI veterans) and their affection for it was demonstrated by naming it after a beloved cartoon figure. For you to dismiss this connection with some baseless commentary about the ignorance of civilians and their dependence on pop culture regarding military jargon is what "almost certainly isn't true." Apparently many G.I.'s, including Gunny Lee Ermey, of The History Channel's "Mail Call," also subscribe to the "Eugene The Jeep" connection and poo poo your "coincidental" theory.

From your own wiki source:

Many, including Ermey, suggest that soldiers at the time were so impressed with the new vehicles that they informally named it after Eugene the Jeep, a character in the Popeye cartoons that "could go anywhere."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep

[gumboot]

I think you have confused the term "Jeep," the amorphous slang term:

1) From the Saturday Evening Post of 16 July 1938:
For a foolish or inexperienced person.

2) From a 1941 article in Jimmy Cannon’s Nobody Asked Me:
A recruit or basic trainee.

3) The New York Times July 31, 1938.
In this case Jeep is being used to refer to a tank, not the M38.

and how this particular vehicle and the character "JEEP" came together. Irving Hausmann, the civilian Willys-Overland engineer, the very same test-driver who replied to Hilyer it's a "Jeep," was not referring to what you beleive to be the inspiration for the term. He was testing the vehicle at Camp Holabird, MD where other soldiers, who had seen the 1940 "Popeye Presents Eugene the Jeep," and had christened the vehicle "Jeep" because it could go anywhere just like the cartoon character. Prior to this, the prototype M38's were called "Combat Car", "Reconnaissance Car", "Bantam", "Quad", "Peep", "Pygmy" and "Blitz Buggy", but there is nothing about any referance to it being called "Jeep" until after the cartoon and film short.

During this period Disney characters, Warner Brothers cartoons, and Max Fleischer's Popeye had become very prominent in U.S. military culture. This vehicle was loved by those who helped develop it (these were not WWI veterans) and their affection for it was demonstrated by naming it after a beloved cartoon figure. For you to dismiss this connection with some baseless commentary about the ignorance of civilians and their dependence on pop culture regarding military jargon is what "almost certainly isn't true." Apparently many G.I.'s, including Gunny Lee Ermey, of The History Channel's "Mail Call," also subscribe to the "Eugene The Jeep" connection and poo poo your "coincidental" theory.

From your own wiki source:

Many, including Ermey, suggest that soldiers at the time were so impressed with the new vehicles that they informally named it after Eugene the Jeep, a character in the Popeye cartoons that "could go anywhere."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep



The "Eugene the Jeep" theory is nothing more than speculation. It is, in contrast, well documented that the military used the term "Jeep" to refer to any untested vehicle. This slang term pre-dates Eugene the Jeep by at least two decades, and according to Quartermaster Review (the US Army Magazine) was in use at the beginning of World War Two.

Given that the default slang term for an untested vehicle was a "jeep", and given that the vehicle in question was untested, it is pretty obvious that's why it was referred to as a "jeep", not because of a cartoon character.

Further, you're wrong about the popularity of the name "jeep" being applied exclusively to that vehicle starting with the cartoon. The cartoon first appeared in 1936, yet the term jeep did not become the standard popular name for that vehicle until after the February 1941 Washington Daily News article.

Why R. Lee Ermey should be considered an authority on the subject, in preference to the US Army Magazine, I don't know. He was neither in service during the period, nor was he in the US Army, so his insight into 1940s US Army jargon can be slight at best.

In contrast, Major E. P. Hogan, who made the claim:

‘Jeep’ is an old Army grease monkey term that dates back to WWI and was used by shop mechanics in referring to any new motor vehicle received for a test. In recent years, the word has been used especially by the Armored Force but not in relation to the 1/4-ton. Just when this generally used term was specifically applied to the vehicle it now describes is hard to say. Its popularity grew from its general use by the public.”

Was a US Army Lieutenant in the period in question, who obviously had some involvement with the development of the Jeep, having written two articles on it at the time for the US Army magazine.

Thus I'd be inclined to accept his explanation.

[Cicero]

The "Eugene the Jeep" theory is nothing more than speculation. It is, in contrast, well documented that the military used the term "Jeep" to refer to any untested vehicle. This slang term pre-dates Eugene the Jeep by at least two decades, and according to Quartermaster Review (the US Army Magazine) was in use at the beginning of World War Two.

Given that the default slang term for an untested vehicle was a "jeep", and given that the vehicle in question was untested, it is pretty obvious that's why it was referred to as a "jeep", not because of a cartoon character.

Further, you're wrong about the popularity of the name "jeep" being applied exclusively to that vehicle starting with the cartoon. The cartoon first appeared in 1936, yet the term jeep did not become the standard popular name for that vehicle until after the February 1941 Washington Daily News article.

Why R. Lee Ermey should be considered an authority on the subject, in preference to the US Army Magazine, I don't know. He was neither in service during the period, nor was he in the US Army, so his insight into 1940s US Army jargon can be slight at best.

In contrast, Major E. P. Hogan, who made the claim:



Was a US Army Lieutenant in the period in question, who obviously had some involvement with the development of the Jeep, having written two articles on it at the time for the US Army magazine.

Thus I'd be inclined to accept his explanation.


Considering that the term "Jeep" was in the U.S. Army lexicon for 20 years, but never stuck to any military person, place or thing until the Popeye cartoon character Eugene The Jeep came on the scene at the time the M38 was put into service sure makes for a more compelling argument than some Army Mag loathe to give credit to anything outside the service.

Hogan is merely confirming the obvious about the existence of the term "Jeep," however, he isn't even certain as to how, when and where the M38 forever became known as the "Jeep." His speculation that the popularity of the term "Jeep" for the M38 came from some amhophus military phrase and not the cartoon character only reveals how out of touch he was with pop culture. But what would you expect from an officer?

Perhaps you folks down under no longer appreciate the power of WWII Hollywood on dog faces. Errol Flynn understood how easily a cartoon character could make the difference in why "JEEP" finally found a permanent home in the M38. Maybe you think WWII bomber/fighter nose art came out of Army manuals?

[JoeTheJuggler]

Same with Jeep - it is a contraction of GP or general purpose

In high school, I had a buddy who was from Vietnam (a war refugee). I thought it was so funny when he talked about "Jeepies". When I told my mom (who was in the army just after WWII) she told me about GP. My friend was saying GPs, not jeepies!

As for GI meaning galvanized iron: there are plenty of overlapping abbreviations and acronyms. Back when I used to interpret for the Deaf, I had a very confusing conversation. I had a deaf technical school student who was meeting with someone from the Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) about a job, but his social worker thought he was thinking of transferring from his tech school to Missouri School for the Deaf, the residential high school.

There are countless examples. It's usually clear from the context which one is meant. When someone says 5 GIs left base at 5 pm, is anyone thinking they're talking about galvanized iron? If you schedule an upper GI at the hospital, I certainly hope they're not going to use galvanized iron!

[arthwollipot]

My dad (who was wrong about GI) told me that Jeep was from GP, which stood for General Purpose.

[Big Les]

Considering that the term "Jeep" was in the U.S. Army lexicon for 20 years, but never stuck to any military person, place or thing until the Popeye cartoon character Eugene The Jeep came on the scene at the time the M38 was put into service sure makes for a more compelling argument than some Army Mag loathe to give credit to anything outside the service.

Hogan is merely confirming the obvious about the existence of the term "Jeep," however, he isn't even certain as to how, when and where the M38 forever became known as the "Jeep." His speculation that the popularity of the term "Jeep" for the M38 came from some amhophus military phrase and not the cartoon character only reveals how out of touch he was with pop culture. But what would you expect from an officer?

Perhaps you folks down under no longer appreciate the power of WWII Hollywood on dog faces. Errol Flynn understood how easily a cartoon character could make the difference in why "JEEP" finally found a permanent home in the M38. Maybe you think WWII bomber/fighter nose art came out of Army manuals?

All very plausible. Plausibility isn't evidence though - neither is special pleading along the lines of "if you were a ___ you would know the truth". Is there any direct evidence for the cartoon character explanation? If not then the two competing hypotheses carry about as much weight as each other.

[Patsy]

My dad (who was wrong about GI) told me that Jeep was from GP, which stood for General Purpose.

This is the origin of Jeep that was given me by a military veteran in my family, who also explained to me that GI stood for General Inductee. He was a Viet Nam vet, which would make his service after these terms became well known though.

[Smiledriver]

I've always heard it stands for General Issue, not Infantryman. The term was used by soldiers to kinda' make light of there apparent expendability i.e., a piece of equipment.

[TX50]

Gyrene- while dating back before WWII, it is thought to be a compilation of G.I. and Marine, hence Gyrene.

Also other popular monikers for U.S. Marines:

Leatherneck-

Devil Dogs/Teufelhunden-

Grunt-

Jarhead/Jughead-

I think it's only "jarhead" that's used for US Marines, not "jughead".
I've also heard:

"Mud marines" and "Fly fly boys" (both according to John Wayne in
"The Flying Leathernecks" :) )

[Cicero]

All very plausible. Plausibility isn't evidence though - neither is special pleading along the lines of "if you were a ___ you would know the truth". Is there any direct evidence for the cartoon character explanation? If not then the two competing hypotheses carry about as much weight as each other.

Let's examine the evidance:

1) Contrary to Gumboot's theory, in LT. E. P. HOGAN's March/April 1941 "THE ARMY "BUG" New Quarter-Ton Command Reconnaissance Car," the word "jeep" is never mentioned at all.

http://www.willys-overland.com/documents/194103-04%20-%20Quartermaster%20Review%20-%20The%20Army%20'Bug'%20-%20By%20Lt.%20E.%20P.%20Hogan,%20Q.M.C..htm

2) The word "jeep" did not make it in the American Dictionary until June, 1942. In "Word Origins ... and How We Know Them: Etymology for Everyone" by Anatoly Liberman, "Eugene The Jeep" is cited as one of the two most likely sources for how the M38 got its name. The other source would be from Major General George A. Lynch, who exclaimed "Jeepers Creepers" when he test drove the prototype in 1939.

http://books.google.com/books?id=CNrYJpMM_pgC&pg=PA133&lpg=PA133&dq=General+George+Lynch+first+call+it+a+jeep&source=web&ots=gg7kVrtT_C&sig=6M0x3Mu-KUK_WxpQDuWGhWCzE6A&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA133,M1

Here is an exchange between Gen. Lynch and M. R. Bevington, of the Federal Trade Commission during a February, 1943 conference:

Mr. Bevington: General, from your knowledge, can you say just when the term "Jeep" began to be applied to this vehicle?

General Lynch: I regret that I cannot be sure.

Mr. Bevington: Can you say then that the term was associated with the car very soon after the Ft. Myer demonstration?

General Lynch: Yes, shortly after. I think there are other people who could answer that question more precisely than I can.

Mr. Bevington: General, the reason I have persisted in this line of questioning is that you have been credited with having yourself given the name "Jeep" to this car at that time.

(Off record discussion.)

http://www.willys-overland.com/documents/19430210%20-%20FTC%20Hearings%20-%20Gen.%20Lynch%20(with%20Col.%20Lee%20statement). htm

Who knows what was said off the record, but one thing is for sure, the "jeep" moniker for the M38 had zero to do with the WWI dated phrase for raw recruits or untested vehicles.

[LTC8K6]

G.I. = Government Issue going back to my dad in Korea and myself in Korea later.

JEEP = Just Enough Education to Pass = derogatory term for newbies who didn't know what they were doing and couldn't seem to catch on. Recent use in the military.

[Big Les]

Cicero – you link to an excellent summary of the evidence there – and I agree on that basis and from the references I’ve now looked up that Eugene must have been the primary reason for the application of “Jeep” to small capable military vehicles. BUT contrary to what you’ve said further up, it is clear even just from Liberman’s book that this goes further back than “the” Jeep – that other vehicles, post-Popeye but pre-M38, also bore the name. E.g. the oldest written source for the Eugene story from Life Magazine, 1941. Therein, the claim is not that the Eugene character gave his name to THE Jeep, it’s that following the cartoon’s first publication, “Jeep” was used to describe ANY “particularly satisfactory piece of equipment”. The editor of Life writes that;

It has been applied to reconnaissance command cars, light tanks, the ¼-ton reconnaissance car and to anti-aircraft directors.

The Glossary of Army Slang (1941) says;

JEEP. A term applied to bantam cars, and occasionally to other motor vehicles; in the Air Corps, the Link trainer; in the Armored Force, the 11/2 ton command car. See peep.

JUMPING JEEP. Autogiro with jump take-off.

PEEP (SON OF A JEEP). Bantam car; used in organizations in which jeep is applied to larger vehicles.

One author claims (http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=4ywrhvzRCsEC&pg=PA16&dq=jeep+etymology) that other manufacturers of similarly sized and purposed vehicles even complained about Willys' use of the name as a de facto trademark – though only successfully as far as the design of the vehicle (http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ZXRFrTV1jgMC&pg=PA139&dq=%22minneapolis+moline%22+%22federal+trade+commi ssion%22) was concerned – not the name. Note that the same author does also cite a WW1 origin for "Jeep" with reference to certain vehicles (including aircraft). This is supported by the Army Slang book I quote above and online sources like this one (http://www.mhjc.org/jeephistory/jeep.htm), but NOT as far back as that – only post-Eugene.

There's more in American Speech, first Vol.37, No.1 -

There is no doubt that the name jeep for this car <the old command car> came from the almost omnipotent dog which appeared in Elzie Crisler Segar's comic strip 'Popeye' in the thirties (March 16, 1936, according to American Speech).' The New York Times Magazine of July 2, i944,2 reports the term jeep to have first been applied on February 22, I941, to the command and reconnaissance car. Those of us in uniform and on maneuvers during the summer and fall of 1941 referred to that car as a jeep. A smaller car, a '-ton 4 by 4 vehicle, made its first dramatic appearance during the summer of 1941 but was not in common issue to the troops till at least the winter of 1941-42, at which time some units had both types of vehicle. Those of us who were overseas in January of 1942 used jeep for the larger car, as we had for a year, and peep for the smaller one. It was a natural selection of terms to indicate similarity of function and capability but difference in size (like dog and bird). Since the first concentration of overseas troops (including the 754th Tank Battalion) was in New Caledonia in the South Pacific, it is likely that the term peep originated there.

There's more from the same journal (Feb 1943 issue - Vol 18 No 1) which confirms the Segar "Eugene" origin. Interestingly URL="http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ccwYzE4w9kIC&pg=PA119&dq=bantam+jeep+federal+trade+commission&lr="]American Notes and Queries[/URL] deride Eugene as a folk (i.e. incorrect) etymology, which when taken at face value, sans evidence, is understandable. We should bear in mind that despite the multiple sources and plausible etymology, a lot of it is just assertion and opinion. This is the hazard of the subject of course.

There's yet another confirming article in American Speech (ARMY SPEECH IN EUROPEAN THEATER, Vol. 21, No. 4 (Dec., 1946), in which the author (as others have) says that he hasn't heard of "GP". This is because (as we now know) it's not an Army designation, and never did stand for "General Purpose" - it's most likely a reference to the manufacturer's designation for "Government contract, 80in wheelbase reconnaissance car" (see here (http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=4ywrhvzRCsEC&pg=PA17&dq=ford+government+passenger+gp)). The “GP” false etymology is itself interesting, as it would appear to go right back to the earliest days of the Jeep, if McCloskey’s letter to American Queries (http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=_m7k1Oi-cakC&pg=PA123&dq=mcloskey+%22army+motors%22#PPA124,M1) is anything to go by. He describes those receiving the vehicles making the assumption/speculation (or even joke) that the “GP” designation referred to the nickname. They wouldn’t recognise it as a military designation, so it makes sense they’d assume something like that (whereas it appears GP was a Ford designation – see further down). It’s possible, even likely that this may have helped the Jeep get the monopoly on its nickname in the years since then – giving it greater claim to the nickname than other vehicles (as would its iconic design, capabilities, and unique service history in a world war). This is by the by though.

Anecdotal standard of evidence aside, Eugene the Jeep makes the most sense as distinct from the parallel and/or pejorative sense of the word that Gumboot mentioned (via Hogan). Liberman makes a convincing case for the pejorative “Jeep” having little if anything to do with the term as applied to military vehicles. And supporting this absence of evidence somewhat, I could find only one civilian instance of usage (using Google, JSTOR, openlibrary.org etc) that does parallel this other form of the word:

"Whitman College Slang" in American Speech, Vol. 18, No. 2 (Apr., 1943).

JEEP. To complain, grumble; or a complaint.

It may be that the pejorative form of “jeep” has its own lost etymological origins the civilian sphere, whilst “Jeep” derives from what was essentially the catchphrase of the popular diminutive but magical cartoon character. So I think it’s clear that “THE” Jeep was actually part of a naming tradition as Gumboot suggests (albeit a much more recent and separate one), but one started afresh by Segar and Eugene the Jeep (post 1936), as Cicero says.

[Soapy Sam]

I recall a joke about a girl who falls pregnant on a first date with a US soldier. She is unable to identify him, but knows his initials were "G.I." I remember thinking, in a very idle moment, that this did not "feel" right, if the initials stood for "General Infantryman", as I firmly (until this week) , believed they did. If the initials were stamped on clothing, the joke would make more sense.
How old the joke is I don't know, but I supposed it to be WW2 vintage.

[Cicero]

Cicero – you link to an excellent summary of the evidence there – and I agree on that basis and from the references I’ve now looked up that Eugene must have been the primary reason for the application of “Jeep” to small capable military vehicles. BUT contrary to what you’ve said further up, it is clear even just from Liberman’s book that this goes further back than “the” Jeep – that other vehicles, post-Popeye but pre-M38, also bore the name. E.g. the oldest written source for the Eugene story from Life Magazine, 1941. Therein, the claim is not that the Eugene character gave his name to THE Jeep, it’s that following the cartoon’s first publication, “Jeep” was used to describe ANY “particularly satisfactory piece of equipment”. The editor of Life writes that;

So I think it’s clear that “THE” Jeep was actually part of a naming tradition as Gumboot suggests (albeit a much more recent and separate one), but one started afresh by Segar and Eugene the Jeep (post 1936), as Cicero says.


My iniital post on the subject in this thread was:

http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?postid=4291873#post4291873

Gumboot challenged this and was proved wrong. My post had nothing to do with the origin of the word "jeep" and only concerned how the WWII Bantam/Willys/Ford M38 became known as the "JEEP." The 1930's and early 1940's articles I posted were proof that this old WWI service term was never applied to, nor the inspiration for, this vehicle.

[Edwin1988]

I don't know if my Army service means I am to be believed but it stands for Government Issue.

[David Wong]

Cicero would cling to his assertion of being right even if you could resurrect the originator of the term and get the information from him directly. It's what he does; he latches onto a position and mindlessly defends it against all counter evidence, forever, presumably out of a fear that being proved wrong on even a totally inconsequential thing will mean he's wrong on everything else, too.

[chuck4842]

You guys are over analyzing something that I thought was a joke. It's not funny to me when two government issues get in a fist fight and both get charged with destruction of government property(unless one was wearing leather gloves).

[chuck4842]

I don't know if my Army service means I am to be believed but it stands for Government Issue.

Thank you, you non-commissioned, unappreciated,....love of my life! I can't believe it's even a question. PEOPLE! Don't take a break to learn without realizing why you have even been given the time to stop and learn! These government issues are praying we get it right.

[bigred]

I think it's only "jarhead" that's used for US Marines, not "jughead".
I've also heard:

"Mud marines" and "Fly fly boys" (both according to John Wayne in
"The Flying Leathernecks" :) )

OK let's clear this all up:

Army: grunts
Marines: jarheads
Navy: squids
Air Force: fly boys

GI: Gov't Issue


You're welcome :cool:

[Cicero]

Cicero would cling to his assertion of being right even if you could resurrect the originator of the term and get the information from him directly. It's what he does; he latches onto a position and mindlessly defends it against all counter evidence, forever, presumably out of a fear that being proved wrong on even a totally inconsequential thing will mean he's wrong on everything else, too.

We don't need to resurrect him as his words are already documented and they run contrary to Gumboot's reasoning.

Just because the positions I latch onto are anathema to your liberal existence, apparently even in the case of the "JEEP" and "G.I.," is no cause for despair.

[Delvo]

If the vehicle was named after a cartoon character or the exclamation "jeepers creepers", then that doesn't really answer the question of where "jeep" came from. It just takes it back one step, so the next question has to be "Why in the world would a character be called that" or "Why in the world would people exclaim that"...

[Cicero]

If the vehicle was named after a cartoon character or the exclamation "jeepers creepers", then that doesn't really answer the question of where "jeep" came from. It just takes it back one step, so the next question has to be "Why in the world would a character be called that" or "Why in the world would people exclaim that"...

Why did Bugs Bunny say "What's up Doc?" The fact that it became a catch phrase after the Warner Brothers cartoon character popularized it may not mean that nobody ever uttered that phrase before, but it will always be associated with that character. Does finding out who was the first person to say "What's up Doc?", or why they would say it, change this dynamic?

The question was not where does "jeep" come from, but how did it become associated with the M38.

[Big Les]

I'm at a loss to see why Cicero is wrong here. Reading back through the exchange, even more so. A lot of what Gumboot said is correct, but he rejects the Eugene etymology and gives credence to a continuity with the pejorative form of "Jeep" too readily (on both counts) from what I've seen, and this is what Cicero was taking issue with. I had thought that he (Cicero) was claiming that Jeep was unique to the Ford/Willys car, but I see now that this was just in the later post where he says;

...never stuck to any military person, place or thing until the Popeye cartoon character Eugene The Jeep came on the scene at the time the M38 was put into service...

In fact he'd already acknowledged a pre-Willys but post-Eugene origin for the term.

So how is he wrong?

ETA - as for where "jeep" as a catchphrase came from... it came from Elzie Segar as a cute noise for a strange creature to make. It's the noise he imagined it might make, written down so that those reading the cartoon would understand the noise he was imagine. This is wholly irrelevant to how it seems to have got attached to the Jeep vehicle.

[costa]

when the draft went into effect.new troops had to put the new duties.such as kitchen police.IE.KP.one duty was scrubboing the garbadge can insid and out.on the bottom of the garbadge can was and still is stamped G.I. (galvanized iron.)the troops thought iven the garbadge can were government issue.no ware can you find the government issue.its all dept. of defence..

[costa]

the term "you have to take his ****,or you dont have to take his ****"came from the british soldier.the british officer had an enlisted soldier to bork for him.His Bat man.the officer would give him chits coupons to buy items from the NAFFIE.the british eqivlent of our BX.hence if you work for and officer you took his chits.the enlisted man was often spoke with a cokney accent.chits sounded like *****.hence you wofor him you have to take **** from him.

[Cicero]

when the draft went into effect.new troops had to put the new duties.such as kitchen police.IE.KP.one duty was scrubboing the garbadge can insid and out.on the bottom of the garbadge can was and still is stamped G.I. (galvanized iron.)the troops thought iven the garbadge can were government issue.no ware can you find the government issue.its all dept. of defence..

Ah, The Department of Defense didn't even exist until 1947. Before that is was called the Department of War. But what does this have to do with why American troops were called G.I's? Why would anyone refer to a solder as "galvanized iron?"

[costa]

I always thought that the US term for kitchen duty was "KP" (Kitchen Patrol), in the UK armed forces it was always called (AFAIK) "jankers".

In some old WW11 movies, I've heard some soldiers (or maybe marines) call themselves something like "Jyrene" (sp?) or some such, where does that come from?
KP was initals for kitchen police.in military you police up .hence you police up the kitchen,police the area,as a twenty one year and forty days of military i had to police up more than i care to remember.

[costa]

Ah, The Department of Defense didn't even exist until 1947. Before that is was called the Department of War. But what does this have to do with why American troops were called G.I's? Why would anyone refer to a solder as "galvanized iron?"
the new troops that pulled Kp and saw themselves on the garbadge can everything was GI government issue so hence they were gi too.the civilians thought of us as GI JOE.we thought of us as troops.

[costa]

OK let's clear this all up:

Army: grunts
Marines: jarheads
Navy: squids
Air Force: fly boys

GI: Gov't Issue


You're welcome :cool:
when John Wayne plays the hero .I get sick.durring ww2 he got at least two derferment from the draft.mud marines came from ww1 when the marines served in the trenches.jarhead came from the dress (formal)cap that was worn ..as the saying goes,"you can always tell a marine,but you cant tell them much" .

[dudalb]

Navy: squids

When I was in the US Army, the term was "Swabbies".

A couple of ex Navy people I know say that they classify Sailors in three sections:

"Squids" someone on a suface vessel
"Dolphins" Someone on a Submarine.
"Airdales" someone who flies or works in Naval Aviation.

And we had a couple of terms for the United States Marine Corps: "Uncle Sam's Misguided Children" or "Uncle Sam's Mouldy Crouch".

ANd although we did not do so in the presence of officers, we borrowed a term the Marines use for West Point: "That freaking Boy's School On the Hudson".

[Skeptic Ginger]

I'm sure it's in here, but in case it isn't, GI stands for Government Issue.

[costa]

as we used to say"neva happen gi"no place will you find govrerment Issue stamped on equiptment or on the troops.dept.of the army,dept of the navy ,or good old usaf.but solly,no G.I

[costa]

Marines, just another dept.of the Navy.I am gld you are there.and i am here.and ducking.

[costa]

G. I. 'm sorry but I think I just blew your head off...
as my old first shirt used to say"you have a point there.But you keep a hat on,noone will know."

[Big Les]

the term "you have to take his ****,or you dont have to take his ****"came from the british soldier.the british officer had an enlisted soldier to bork for him.His Bat man.the officer would give him chits coupons to buy items from the NAFFIE.the british eqivlent of our BX.hence if you work for and officer you took his chits.the enlisted man was often spoke with a cokney accent.chits sounded like *****.hence you wofor him you have to take **** from him.

I have to say that sounds pretty retrospective to me. "don't take his ****" is pretty self-explanatory if you ask me, given the wide range of use the word sees - what's that ****, what a load of ****, don't talk **** etc etc.

Do you have any evidence for your "soundalike" hypothesis?

[UnrepentantSinner]

William Wellam's "The Story of G.I. Joe" (1945) movie forever ensured the meaning of "G.I" was indeed government issue.

I suspect the G.I. Bill had more of an effect in cementing the meaning into our collective concience.

I recall a joke about a girl who falls pregnant on a first date with a US soldier. She is unable to identify him, but knows his initials were "G.I." I remember thinking, in a very idle moment, that this did not "feel" right, if the initials stood for "General Infantryman", as I firmly (until this week) , believed they did. If the initials were stamped on clothing, the joke would make more sense.
How old the joke is I don't know, but I supposed it to be WW2 vintage.

I think it's funny but I can think of several improvements to the punch line such as "his initials were A.G.I" or "his name was Omar Bradley", etc.

No articles of clothing had GI on them and for that matter, I'm not sure if service or utility uniforms of the time even had a name tag/plate. At Texas A&M they were WW II era uniforms an they have nameplates ex:
http://www.aggiecorps.org/CadetLife/Uniforms/midnights.htm
http://www.aggiecorps.org/CadetLife/Uniforms/summeralphas.htm

[UnrepentantSinner]

When I was in the US Army, the term was "Swabbies".

A couple of ex Navy people I know say that they classify Sailors in three sections:

"Squids" someone on a suface vessel
"Dolphins" Someone on a Submarine.
"Airdales" someone who flies or works in Naval Aviation.

And we had a couple of terms for the United States Marine Corps: "Uncle Sam's Misguided Children" or "Uncle Sam's Mouldy Crouch".

ANd although we did not do so in the presence of officers, we borrowed a term the Marines use for West Point: "That freaking Boy's School On the Hudson".

We're probably the only two people on here who knows what redleg means without having to look it up.

[costa]

I recieved a dad suburn during my time off in fla.i spent one full day in the base hospital.i had to pay back that day at the end of one of my hitches.so i gave them one day extera befor i got out.unauthorised damage .i had to compinsate the af one day.

[costa]

OK, the Internet is giving me conflicting information on this. What does GI (the military, not medical term) stand for? Wikipedia says (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GI_%28military%29) galvanized iron. Other sources say government issue. I don't have any reliable reference sources for this at the moment. I know that Wikipedia is isn't definitive, but my bet is with them--in my experience it's been a pretty reliable reference source.
when the troops early in ww 2 started to pull KP(kitchen police )it in cluded detailas such as cleaing trash cans.the new troops not to familar with chemical terms.such as GI (galvanised iron)assumed (assume makes ass out of you and me .)every thing we wear or work with is government issue.if something belongs to the military,property of the air force,navy,never marines.they are navy.weather they like it or not.Never government issue.

[costa]

hay,because some troop figured "GI" stood for government issue .DUH

[Euromutt]

We're probably the only two people on here who knows what redleg means without having to look it up.Three. It means artilleryman, derived from red being the arm of service color of the artillery, and the artillery's trousers used to have red piping (probably still do on ceremonial uniforms, as well as red backing on officers' rank insignia), just like the cavalry had yellow and the infantry blue.

[Euromutt]

I've only ever heard it as "Govt. Issue". "General Infantry" is a meaningless phrase, in any case.It might be meaningless in an American military context, but it has its uses. In the Royal Netherlands Army, the term "general infantry" is used to indicate an infantryman (usually trainees) who has not (yet) been assigned to a unit with a regimental lineage. Rather than wearing a regimental badge on their berets and collar patches, the soldier wears the badge of the "Arm of the Infantry (general)." Dutch has separate words for "general" in a general sense (algemeen), and in the sense of the military rank (generaal).

This is not uncommon, the words "mayhem" and "commando" both changed their meanings dramatically due to people misunderstanding a newspaper article.So what, accordingly to you, is the origin of the word "commando," and how did it come to mean what it does now?

[arthwollipot]

So what, accordingly to you, is the origin of the word "commando," and how did it come to mean what it does now?Not to mention "mayhem". I'd be fascinated to know the story behind that one.

I know that "Commando" is used in the British infantry as a unit designation, in place of "Brigade" - ie, the "3rd Commando". Most other countries as far as I know use it as a general term for special forces units.

[Euromutt]

I know that "Commando" is used in the British infantry as a unit designation, in place of "Brigade" - ie, the "3rd Commando".Close, but not quite. A "Commando" is the equivalent of a infantry battalion. The 3rd Commando Bde (which is Royal Marines, not army, by the way) is composed of 40, 42 and 45 Commando, IIRC.

During the Second World War, there were 21 Commandos, or so; 12 composed of British (and exiled allied) army personnel, nine from the Royal Marines. According to legend, Churchill came up with the term "Commando" for these units, borrowing the term from the Boers (Churchill was a war correspondent in South Africa during the Second Boer War). In Afrikaans, a kommando was essentially a scratch militia force, the word simply meaning "command" (in the same sense as, say, "Central Command"). Boer kommandos in the Boer War were generally lightly equipped (compared to the British troops, anyway) but highly mobile, and relied on "hit-and-run" tactics to compensate for the superior weight of British numbers.

At some point during WWII, the term "Commando" seems to have been misinterpreted as referring to the members of the units, rather than the units themselves. I assume this is what gumboot is referring to.

"Mayhem," apparently (I had to look this up), is a somewhat archaic term for intentionally and maliciously removing or destroying another person's body part for the purpose of reducing the victim's capacity for self-defense (e.g. cutting off a hand or putting out an eye). It shares a common root with the verb to maim.

[arthwollipot]

Close, but not quite. A "Commando" is the equivalent of a infantry battalion. The 3rd Commando Bde (which is Royal Marines, not army, by the way) is composed of 40, 42 and 45 Commando, IIRC.Okay, thanks for clarifying/correcting. My dad was career military (Lt Col. ret.) but I never had much of an interest, so most of my knowledge is by osmosis.

"Mayhem," apparently (I had to look this up), is a somewhat archaic term for intentionally and maliciously removing or destroying another person's body part for the purpose of reducing the victim's capacity for self-defense (e.g. cutting off a hand or putting out an eye). It shares a common root with the verb to maim.Wow, cool. I love how language changes. Thanks.