The evening times., 1899-01-17
ARMY DIALECT.
Slang Terms Evolved in the War
With Spain.

Frorn the New York Commercial Advertiser)
How those boys have managed TO pi k
I'D such a conglomeration of slang terms
in the few short months that they have
been away passes my understanding.
said an army officer the other day. he
had been listening 10 coupe OF return
ed soldiers who were swapping stories Of
the war, and was much amused and ap-
parently not little perp,exed by their
language.
1T is certainly not Spanish" he added,
but whatever it is, il is decided Y Dutch
to me- During the war tthe Civil War, L
mean-we have to distinguish our wars
now) the boys added a great many slang
words to their vocabulary, but these
young 'uns beat us out CT sight. 1t is a
sign of the times, l suppose. but If they
had stayed in Cuba much longer they
would have had to bring back an interpre-
ter with them. can't understand Id
they say as IL is.
As the officer walked off the two pri-
Yates looked at one another, winked and
commenced to laugh.
What was the 'boss'-l mean the cap
tain-saying to you?" asked one OF the
soldiers.
said you were talking so much ang
he couldn't understand you
Guess he wasn't in the South, then,
but we were pitching it rather fierce, eh
| bunkie?" TO his companion.
.'Bunkie' didn't say anything, only
| grinned.
But saw" continued the other, you'd
died to see bunkie here when he came
down TO Cuba and heard the men talk.
| Saw. il was cut o. sight. He's no sweet
| tempered angel at the best of times, and
he's been my bunkie chats my tent
mattel an so | know. He was one OF the
| last recruits to reach the island. We call
the recruits rockies now. At first they
was new boys but now they're rockies.
The grub boss, that's the quartermaster
sergeant, comes round next morning an
sees my bunkie sitting in front of the tent.
Here, rookie he calls, tell your bunkie
| to come and get his punk. Punk means
grub, bread, anything to eat, you know.
Bunkie looks at him, an then says, 'Aw,
| whatre you givin' u.s.? That's all right,
rookie said the grub boss, Jest you tell
your bunkie. That's him in the tent
| there
Then bunkie got mad. New, just you
lcok here. sergeant says he, Just you
mind who you're addressin. See? You
amt the whole push cause you got stripes
on your arm. Don't you call me out o my
name cause it don't go, see? l amt nc
bird, an i went stand for it. Gosh, he
| was madi / told him rookie was only
slang for recruit, but he said he didn'i
| want any slang in his. But you got used
to it fore long, didn't you, bunkie?"
The terms rookie" and bunkie' and
"sIops' for clothes, used so frequently BY
the soldiers are all expressions in vogue
in the English army, and are quoted fire.
quently by Kipling. Fer instance, il
Back to the Army Again. he says, 81
couldn't 'elp 'olding straight, when me ar
the other rockies come under the barricI
| gate"
The derivation of other expressions il
doubtful, il not impossible to ascertain
Most Of them probably had their genesi:
| in the fertile brain of some soldier who
| described a fact in terms that amused hi.
| companions. Others caught on" becaus,
of their literal truthfulness. AS an exam
pie of the latter class, the expression
shot" except when referring to intoxica
tion, has been changed to 'mausered."
a man was wounded otherwise he wa
probably "macheted." If he was killed
cause of injuries unknown, the soldier
would tell you he was "dagoed" and let i
go at that The reason for calling the Gu
bans "cubebs'' is not hard TO find, nor VIII,
the Spanish victims of their butchery wer
"dagoed.' The Spanish sharpshooter
were not lynched by the American sol
diers, they were strapped which is
distinction with only a slight difference
Ropes were not handy" and rifle strap
always were.
The soldier in Santiago didn't take
walk or make a march; he did hyke
ANY soldier knows what hyke is, bu
very few seem to know why it is. A vol