Introduction
This list deals primarily with English slang that might be common during the
war years, 1939-1945, both in the military and at home. Foreign words that were adopted by the general
English-speaking public may also be included as well as words that were in use
before and after that period. It's not an academic work by any means. No sources
or references are listed. I mean this material to be useful for gamers and
writers who'd like to spice up their work with some of the language of the time
and that's all.
A great deal of WW2 slang on both sides of the Atlantic came from US pop culture such as radio programs, comic strips, music and movies. This, and the fact that I myself am American and don't know other slang as well, means that the list below is mostly from the US. Slang used by mostly jazz and swing musicians in the 1920s and 1930s can sound very modern (groovy, rock, reefer, cool cat, etc.), and, since it was not used by the average person, I haven't included very much, only bits that seem to me to have been in more common usage in the 1940s.
If anyone knows any other appropriate slang of the period, I'd be happy to add it to the collection.
Send information and questions to faskew at yahoo dot com.
NOTE: I've written the address this way to thwart the evil spam bots that harvest addresses from Web sites. Redo the address to the typical name@ company.com. before using.
Military Terms
Soldier Slang
Acronyms
US WW2 Phonetic Alphabet
WW2 Main Page
| 1A | US - (One - A) Prime candidate for for military service, likely to be drafted. |
| 4F | US - (Four - F) Ineligible for military service due to physical or other conditions. |
| all wet | US - Wrong, bad. - "This whole idea is all wet." |
| and how! | US - Strong affirmative. - "Do I want to go home? And how!" |
| applesauce | US - nonsense, silliness - "That's all applesauce." |
| Arsenal of Democracy | US - The United States, as a major supplier of weapons and material to Britain and the Soviet Union both before and after entering the war. |
| attaboy | US - That's the boy - praise for something well done. |
| balled up | US - messed up - "This operation is balled up." |
| balls-up | British - confusion, chaos |
| baloney | US - Strong negative, not true. - "Baloney! That ain't the way it happened" |
| beat it | US - go away |
| beat your gums | US - Useless chatter, "Stop beating your gums and get to work." |
| beef | US - a complaint or to complain. - "What's your beef, Mac?" |
| beeswax | US - business, concern "That's none of your beeswax." |
| brush | US - mustasche |
| buck | US - The lowest or smallest. For example, "one buck" being one dollar, the smallest US bill. |
| buddy | US - Way to address a male stranger. - "Hey, buddy, you got a light?" |
| bum's rush | US - being thrown out of a place, such as a bar - "After he started yelling, they gave him the bum's rush." |
| bushwa | US - bullshit |
| chap | British - man, guy - "He's a nice chap." - plural, chappies |
| cheaters | US - eye glasses |
| clam | US - a dollar |
| copacetic | US - very good |
| dame | US - a woman |
|
Dear John letter |
US- A letter from a wife or sweetheart at home telling someone serving overseas that she was getting a divorce or breaking off the relationship. These sometimes led the receiving solder into depression or suicidal actions. |
| dogs | US - feet - "Are my dogs tired? I'll say." |
| doll | US - an attractive woman. |
| don't know from nothing | US - Lack of knowledge - "He don't know from nothing," meaning he doesn't know. |
| don't take any wooden nickels | US - be careful, don't let them fool you |
| double-cross | US - betray |
| dough | US - cash, money |
| dry up | US - shut up - "Aw, dry up, you." |
| dukes | US - fists, "Put up your dukes," - a challenge to a fistfight. |
| earful | US - complaints, gossip, news - "I got an earful from him about his job." |
| fag | British - cigarette |
| Fair Dinkum | Australian - fair deal or OK |
| for crying out loud | US - expression of exasperation |
| four bits | US - 50 cents. In the early days one-dollar coins were often cut into eighths to make small change, each "bit" being worth 12.5 cents. |
| four-flusher | US - from poker, a bluffer, a fake |
| gangbusters | US - powerful, "He came on like gangbusters." From a popular radio show. |
| gams | US - legs, especially those of a woman |
| get in a lather | US - Become excited or angry. - "Don't get in a lather about it." |
| get lost | US - go away |
| gimp | US - a cripple, someone with a limp |
| gimpy | US - broken, not working properly |
| gin mill | US - place to buy cheap liquor |
| glad rags | US - best clothes |
| go chase yourself | US - go away |
| gold-digger | US - a woman who hopes to marry a rich man for his money, or at least to get as much of his wealth as she can before he dumps her. |
| goof | US - Person who is a simpleton OR to make a mistake |
| hard-boiled | US - tough |
| head up his ass | US - someone not paying attention, usually with disastrous results |
| heater | US - pistol |
| heebie-jeebies | US - the creeps, the jitters - from a comic strip |
| high hat | US - someone who wears a top hat, a snob. Also a verb meaning to snub- "He highhatted me at the party." |
| hooey | US - nonsense |
| hooch | US - liquor |
| ish kabibble | US - "What do I care", not my problem, dismissive. Also, the name of a musician in the Kay Kyser band. |
| I got to go see a man about a dog | US - I have to leave now - especially to go buy liquor. |
| Is this trip really necessary? | US - Slogan of a publicity campaign to get civilians to stay at home and not waste precious fuel. |
| ixnay | US - Pig Latin for "nix" - no, stop, watch out |
| jake | US - fine, good - "Everything's jake." |
| jalopy | US - a worn-out old car |
| java | US - Coffee [from the coffee producing island of Indonesia]. |
| jeepers creepers | US - swearing euphemism for "Jesus Christ!" |
| jeez or geez | US - swearing euphemism for "Jesus!" |
| jitterbug | US - A type of dance with lots of jumping and swinging. |
| joe | US - Coffee. |
| joint | US - place, for example, a bar or nightclub - "Let's blow this joint." - let's go somewhere else. |
| juice joint | US - a speakeasy or other place that sells liquor |
| knocked up | US - pregnant |
| killjoy | US - someone who kills the joy around them, a grump |
| lay off | US - leave someone alone - "Aw, lay off him, will ya.'" |
| left holding the bag | US - to be cheated or framed |
| let George do it | US - Let someone else do it. |
| line | US - falsehood, scam. "He fed me a line of bull." Standard pickup patter used by males in nightclubs, "Do you use that line on all the girls?" |
| live wire | US - lively person, full of electricity or energy |
| lollapalooza | US - Extravaganza, extraordinary [1930] |
| Loose lips sink ships | US - Part of a publicity campaign warning civilians and military alike that there were potential Axis spies lurking everywhere. Many ships were supposedly lost in the Atlantic convoys due to German U-Boats having knowledge of when the convoy left port and/or where it was headed. |
| mac | US - Way to address a male stranger. - "Say, mac, whatcha' doing?" |
| mate | British - friend, pal - "Gavin's me mate." |
| meat hooks | US - hands |
| mind your potatoes | US - mind your own business |
| mooch | US - to beg, con , or steal |
| moonshine | US - homemade liquor |
| nix | US - Possibly related to German "nichts" - negative, no |
| noggin | US - head |
| no sweat | US - easy to do, not a problem |
| nuts, nutty | US - crazy |
| off his nut | US - he's crazy |
| OK | US - Fine, all right [abbreviation of oll korrect (all correct) used by 19th century comic character?] (1839) |
| on a toot | US - on a drinking binge, drunk |
| on the lam | US - wanted by the police |
| on the level | US - honest |
| on the up and up | US - honest |
| pal | US - Way to address a male stranger. - "Hey, pal, is this your java?" |
| palooka | US - An incompetent professional boxer. Therefore, anyone bad at something. Used as an insult. |
| PDQ | US - Pretty Damned Quick, "I want that done PDQ." |
| phiz | US - face |
| pill | US - An irritating person. - "She's a real pill." |
| pinch | US - to be arrested, "The cops pinched him last night." |
| pipe down | US - shut up |
| plummy | British - Too respectable, dull, slow |
| puss | US - face |
| put on your glad rags | US - dress up in your best clothing, to go out on the town |
| regular | US - Ordinary in a good way. - "He's a regular guy." |
| rube | US - Short for Reuben - a hick or country bumpkin |
| rugged | US - Something hard to endure, "Last night was really rugged." |
| rummy | US - a drunk |
| sawbuck | US - ten dollars |
| say | US - Sentence starter. - "Say, Mac, you got a light?" |
| says you! | US - Strong negative response |
| scat | US - Jazz singing that uses nonsense words [1929] |
| scram | US - go away |
| screaming meemies | US - the shakes, terror, a bad experience - "That job gave me the screaming meemies." |
| screwy | US - crazy |
| She'll Be Right in a Fortnight or 18 Days | Australian - Things will be fine in a couple of weeks, more or less |
| shiv | US - knife |
| simoleon | US - One dollar |
| sinker | US - a doughnut [from the habit of dipping doughnuts in coffee?] |
| six bits | US - 75 cents. In the early days one-dollar coins were often cut into eighths to make small change, each "bit" being worth 12.5 cents. |
| smashing | British - excellent - used a lot in the RAF |
| schnooz | US - nose |
| so's your old man | US - a retort when insulted |
| speakeasy | US - place that sold illegal liquor during Prohibition |
| spill | US - to confess, to tell all - "He spilled his guts to the cops." |
| stilts | US - legs |
| sweat it out | US - Uncomfortable wait for action or a result, "We really sweat it out last night, but everything was OK by dawn." |
| swell (adj.) | US - good - "Gee, that's swell!" |
| swell (noun) | US - Upper class person - "He's a swell from a rich family." |
| swing | US - Big band jazz that built on the structure of pop music and blues songs. Both the music and the related dancing were often considered improper or vulgar. |
| tell it to the marines | US - I don't care about your problem. Go tell someone else. |
| the goods | US - the right stuff, the truth - "She got the goods on him." |
| the real McCoy | US - the real thing, genuine |
| torpedo | US - a hired thug or killer |
| two bits | US - 25 cents. In the early days one-dollar coins were often cut into eighths to make small change, each "bit" being worth 12.5 cents. |
| What's eating you? | US - what's wrong with you? |
| whoopee | US - fun, celebration |
| V for Victory | Allied - Part morale booster, part propaganda, the V became a symbol of the Allied war effort. Churchill was often photographed making the V sigh with his fingers. Morse code for V being dot-dot-dot-dash, the opening notes of Beethoven's 5th Symphony (dum-dum-dum-duuuum) was used as a sound version of the V symbol. |
| Victory Gardens | US - Due to the rationing of food, civilians were encouraged to use all available land for small vegetable gardens. |
| wet blanket | US - a person whose depression brings others down |
| you slay me | US - You're funny, you make me laugh. |