Trench soldiers' slang is really jam
'Roger, Sausage & Whippet' by Christopher Moore is a new, comprehensive lexicon of the phrases, slang and lingo invented and developed by British soldiers fighting on the Western Front during the First World War.
Whether born from the desperation of gallows humour in France and Flanders - 'If it keeps on like this, someone's going to get hurt' - or borrowed from further afield - 'Cushy: comfortable, safe, pleasant. From the Hindustani, khush, pleasure' - wherever he was, whatever he was doing, the British 'Tommy' invented or borrowed his own word for it.
From 'Ammo' to 'Zig-Zag', 'Roger, Sausage & Whippet' offers a fascinating – and often moving – glimpse into the world of our First World War heroes.
'Barber's Cat' – a gossip or chatterbox.
‘Gas us’ - The request for soda water or carbonated mineral water to be added to a drink. Officers’ French. From gazeuse, carbonated, fizzy.
'Go crook' - To report sick. Australian derivation.
'Hot cross bun' - Ambulance. From the red cross on its side.
'Housewife' - A cloth wrapper containing needles, cotton and various odds and ends for patching one’s uniform. Pronounced hussif. It was part of a soldier’s kit and had to be produced at inspection.
'Jacks' - Military police, the red caps.
'Packet' - A wound. To cop a packet was to get wounded.
'Pear drops' - Tear gas, from its sweet and sickly smell.
'Potato masher' - The main Jerry hand grenade.
'Rat' - To steal from a corpse.
'Sausage' - An observation balloon. It was shaped like a bloated sausage and was non-dirigible, i.e. it could not be steered. Sausages were filled with hydrogen and raised and lowered by a steel rope attached to a winch. Its observer watched enemy lines from a wicker basket, communicating by buzzer with the artillery below, identifying targets for them and correcting the fall of fire.
'Batman' - an officer’s personal servant, responsible for his creature comforts in the field. French derivation, from 'bat', an officers pack horse, the soldier in charge of which was a 'batman'. The verb was 'to bat', as in, "if you’re looking for a cushy number, that new officer bloke is looking for someone to bat for him."
'Bellyache' – a serious wound in the stomach, usually fatal.
'Doughboy' – An American soldier. A Yank. The United states entered the war in April 1917 but the American Expeditionary Force, A.E.F., didn’t see combat on the western front until 1918. When the yanks arrived some British newspapers tried to give them the nickname 'Sammies', after the figure of Uncle Sam, but it didn’t catch on.
'Funk' – Fear; to be in funk was to be scared. To be in a blue funk was to be very scared. To be in raging blue funk was to be very, very scared.
‘Ginger’ – Any man called Jones; whether he had red hair or not.
‘If it keeps on like this, someone’s going to get hurt’ – a sarcasm sometimes heard amid the din of an intense barrage.
'Jam' – Good, a term of approval. The word jam was never used to mean the sweet fruity confection spread on bread (which was ‘pozzie’ or ‘paint’).
'Last Post' – The bugle call to signify the end of each day’s work, when all men had to be in camp. It was also the symbolic last farewell at a soldier’s funeral, after which followed Reveille, the wake up call.
‘Let’s be having you’ - An N.C.O.’s shout to rouse men for a parade or fatigue.
'Lime Light' – A signalling device. It produced a bright beam of light was produced by passing oxygen through a flame onto a pencil length of lime that burned to white hot intensity. A shutter was used to break the beam into Morse code.
'Tin can' – a tank.
'Six by four' - Lavatory paper. From the dimensions, in inches, of each sheet of hard tissue. Scraps of it blowing about were called trench butterflies.
'Yellow Girl' – A munitionette, i.e. a female worker in a munitions factory. The chemicals she handled could turn her skin yellow.
Author Christopher Moore is a BBC producer, and has presented documentaries about WW1 on Radio 4, as well as writing 'TRENCH FEVER' the story of his great-grandfather's experiences in WW1. Roger, Sausage & Whippet by Christopher Moore is published by Headline Publishing Group, priced £12.99.
Whether born from the desperation of gallows humour in France and Flanders - 'If it keeps on like this, someone's going to get hurt' - or borrowed from further afield - 'Cushy: comfortable, safe, pleasant. From the Hindustani, khush, pleasure' - wherever he was, whatever he was doing, the British 'Tommy' invented or borrowed his own word for it.
From 'Ammo' to 'Zig-Zag', 'Roger, Sausage & Whippet' offers a fascinating – and often moving – glimpse into the world of our First World War heroes.
Some of our favourite phrases from the book
'Barber's Cat' – a gossip or chatterbox.
‘Gas us’ - The request for soda water or carbonated mineral water to be added to a drink. Officers’ French. From gazeuse, carbonated, fizzy.
'Go crook' - To report sick. Australian derivation.
'Hot cross bun' - Ambulance. From the red cross on its side.
'Housewife' - A cloth wrapper containing needles, cotton and various odds and ends for patching one’s uniform. Pronounced hussif. It was part of a soldier’s kit and had to be produced at inspection.
'Jacks' - Military police, the red caps.
'Packet' - A wound. To cop a packet was to get wounded.
'Pear drops' - Tear gas, from its sweet and sickly smell.
'Potato masher' - The main Jerry hand grenade.
'Rat' - To steal from a corpse.
'Sausage' - An observation balloon. It was shaped like a bloated sausage and was non-dirigible, i.e. it could not be steered. Sausages were filled with hydrogen and raised and lowered by a steel rope attached to a winch. Its observer watched enemy lines from a wicker basket, communicating by buzzer with the artillery below, identifying targets for them and correcting the fall of fire.
'Batman' - an officer’s personal servant, responsible for his creature comforts in the field. French derivation, from 'bat', an officers pack horse, the soldier in charge of which was a 'batman'. The verb was 'to bat', as in, "if you’re looking for a cushy number, that new officer bloke is looking for someone to bat for him."
'Bellyache' – a serious wound in the stomach, usually fatal.
'Doughboy' – An American soldier. A Yank. The United states entered the war in April 1917 but the American Expeditionary Force, A.E.F., didn’t see combat on the western front until 1918. When the yanks arrived some British newspapers tried to give them the nickname 'Sammies', after the figure of Uncle Sam, but it didn’t catch on.
'Funk' – Fear; to be in funk was to be scared. To be in a blue funk was to be very scared. To be in raging blue funk was to be very, very scared.
‘Ginger’ – Any man called Jones; whether he had red hair or not.
‘If it keeps on like this, someone’s going to get hurt’ – a sarcasm sometimes heard amid the din of an intense barrage.
'Jam' – Good, a term of approval. The word jam was never used to mean the sweet fruity confection spread on bread (which was ‘pozzie’ or ‘paint’).
'Last Post' – The bugle call to signify the end of each day’s work, when all men had to be in camp. It was also the symbolic last farewell at a soldier’s funeral, after which followed Reveille, the wake up call.
‘Let’s be having you’ - An N.C.O.’s shout to rouse men for a parade or fatigue.
'Lime Light' – A signalling device. It produced a bright beam of light was produced by passing oxygen through a flame onto a pencil length of lime that burned to white hot intensity. A shutter was used to break the beam into Morse code.
'Tin can' – a tank.
'Six by four' - Lavatory paper. From the dimensions, in inches, of each sheet of hard tissue. Scraps of it blowing about were called trench butterflies.
'Yellow Girl' – A munitionette, i.e. a female worker in a munitions factory. The chemicals she handled could turn her skin yellow.
Author Christopher Moore is a BBC producer, and has presented documentaries about WW1 on Radio 4, as well as writing 'TRENCH FEVER' the story of his great-grandfather's experiences in WW1. Roger, Sausage & Whippet by Christopher Moore is published by Headline Publishing Group, priced £12.99.