Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1917-09-28
WHERE SOME MECHANICS GIVEN WORLDS
FIGHTING MEN HAD ORIGIN

Will it be "Sammies?" Probably not. The
history of slang shows that nicknames of soldiers
Cor anything else) come from the soldiers them
Selves or very often from the enemy. 1t apparent
ly has occurred to nobody who writes letters to
the newspapers that the American soldier has
gone through several without any fixed
slang name such as the English soldiers Tommy
Atkins.
Most of the letters advocate the Sammy APP
rendage Who started it nobody knows. Prob
ably the idea of Sammy after Uncle Sam broke
out in eruption in several quarters at the same
time. Word from France says that the men OF
the Pershing expedition do not like the idea.
Sammy or any word ending in the affectionate
diminutive to the American mind is unmanly.'
That is not in England and British possessions.
Tommy Atkins sprang, according to well-es-
tabshed reports from word written SAM
pie form of application to the British army. 1t
represented the British "John Doe" And anyway
Tommy applies only to the English soldier, usu-
ally a little fellow, and not to the big-bOned Co
lonials Scotch "Kilties' or Irish Dragons
Fusiliers.
With Sammy as basis the letter writer's next
decided on Samson a fitting name-less eff
Terminate. 1.-The Sons of Sam-Unce Sam"-fne
and manly they argued But Samsons didn't
stick either. Then many advocated "Yanks from
Yankees, the old Civil war nickname for the Union
troops. That of course, did not appeal to the
Southerners. Somebody wrote in that Yanks
word which meant coward. That isn't shown by
Webster, who gives dozen other theories about
the origin of Yankee Like all other slang words
it comes from so far back that nobodys memory
would serve in untangling the mystery.
In the Civil war the Northerners were Yankees
or "Yanks,' meaning properly in the States
New Highlander, but word applied abroad to all
Americans The Southerners ''Rebs, from
rebels or Johnny Rebs. 1t is apparent that
each got his name from the enemy. So in the
Mexican war the only slang name the American
soldiers had was .gringo,' also given to him by
the enemy. "Gringo" means nothing in Spanish.
The Australian and New Zealand soldiers of the
British army have been dubbed Amaze cOmbi-
nation of the initial letters of Australian and New
Zealand army corps. The Scotch retain their name
of "kilties' of course, from the kits they wear.
The German soldiers are said to call them 1.-The
ladies of hell" but that too long title to
main, although it probably pleased the 'kilties."
There has been much discussion about "boche"
the name for the German soldiers, and "poilu 1.-The
French soldier. "Boche' is French slang, and it's
birth is clothed in mystery almost always sur
rounding slang word. 1t means most despicable
sort of person and is an insult.
In that connection the American army already
has it's slang term for infantryman. 1t is
used commonly in the army, but generally I'M
known to the civilian. The term is "doughboy"
Since "doughboy' long has been American in
fantryman the United States army already has as
explicit a slang term as the French army has in
'poilu" 'Doughboy" is in Webster meaning
an infantryman in the United States,
Probably "doughboy,' by reason Of its and
popularity in the American army will become the
general word for the American soldier before the
war is over. "Gringo' also may become common
usage for the American soldiers have seen so
much service in and near Spanish speaking coun-
tries that they often refer to themselves in fun aa
"gringos New York Herald