The author, Peter B. Kyne, makes mention in his book Soldiers, Sailors and Dogs, New York: HC Kinsey & Co., 1936 of what appear to be a series of expressions that probably originated during the Spanish-American War and that could have it survived until the first part of the American participation in World War I. Evidently, Kyne had some military experience or knowledge of it. In his book, some of the fictional stories take place in the United States and France during the World War. Kyne uses expressions like:

“Bluebird”: evidently a reference to someone who left the service for a period of time and then re-enlisted in the military. The connotation could be made here with the search instinct of a blue bird, which returns to the same nest year after year. Lighter does not mention this term.

“Bob” -a dishonorable dismissal from service. To be “jolted” or “jolted” was to get a dishonorable shock. “Bobtail” is Indian Wars lingo for a disgraced download. “Your bobtail is coming back in the mail, O’Reilly has gone to hell.”

In Paul Dickson’s book, War Slang … we read: “bobtailed. Dishonorably discharged; from the practice of removing (” wagging “) the honor-conferring part of discharge papers. Dickson, Paul. War Slang … Pocket Books, 1994, page 44. Also the act of cutting the discharge below the character section denotes “no character.” Rickey, Forty Miles a Day on Beans and Hay.

Elting’s “A Dictionary of Soldier Talk” presents the definition “bobtailed shock-bobtail (Old, Old Army). A discharge from service under less than honorable conditions. Not a dishonorable discharge, but the following. The term comes from the The practice of clipping the final section of the discharge form, which covered the character of the discharge, was called “discharge without honor” in World War II.

In his article “Slang of the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe, 1917-1919 (American Speech, 1972), Joathan Lighter identifies:

–bobtail as a dishonorable discharge, an expression that dates back to the US military in the late 1800s.

Paul Dickson’s “War Slang” has a “bobtail hotel, an army disciplinary barracks.”

“Soldier to the top” was going to be an exemplary soldier. To the “handle” of what?

“Fogie”: a strip of service. Lighter does not mention this term.

Elting also has “fogy, fogy, fogie (All services). A word whose origin and history would probably be very interesting, if known precisely. The oldest form, which is civil and from the mid-18th century, is” fogram , “means a retired person, an old fuddyduddy. 1. (Late 18th and early 19th century, British and American). An elderly or invalid soldier; hence, a garrison soldier. 2. (19th century, with some survivals; US) Longevity pay, time-of-service increase in salary. “Next month I have another shady one, but my wife is already spending it.” Also called shady pay, pa fogy.

Dickson’s “war jargon” offers a similar, much shorter definition, without reference to date or background. Lighter says that Fogy or fogy was a longevity bonus paid to officers and NCOs dating back to the Civil War; from “old fogy”.

In the late 1960s, a “haze” was an incremental step in your salary due to longevity. It may be that it is the consequence of the service strip, as the service strips were awarded for longevity.

One correspondent said that her father was in the United States Army from 1910 to 1940 and that during that period the military jargon for a “loose woman” was “cookie shooter.” Nothing is known about the origin of this expression.

Are all these expressions of the Spanish American war army and did any of them survive until the First World War? Although the author Kyne uses these expressions in the context of veterans of the Spanish-American War who served in the US Army during World War I, I have never seen these terms used in any other American writing of the first World War.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dickson, Paul. War slang. New York: Pocket Books, 1994

Elting, Dictionary of Soldier Talks.

Kyne, Peter B. SOLDIERS, SAILORS and DOGS. New York: HC Kinsey & Co., 1936.

Lighter, Jonathan. “Slang of the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe, 1917-1919. American Speech, 1972.