Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1917-09-27
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
~ has occurred to nobody who writes letters to
the newspapers that the American soldier has
gone through several wars without any fixed
slang name such as the English soldiers Tommy
Atkins.
Most OF the letters advocate the Sammy ap-
pendage. 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 uninanly.
That is not so in England and British possessions.
Tommy Atkins sprang, according to well.es-
tablished reports, from a word written on a 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 or
Fuslliers.
With Sammy as a basis the letter writer's next
decided on Samson rs a ftdng name--less eff
Terminate. THE Sons Of Sam-Uncle Sam'--ine
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
wouldn't do because Yankee came from an Indian
word which meant coward. That isn't shown by
Webster, who gives a dozen other theories about
the origin of Yankee. Like all other slang words
1t comes from so far back that %nObOdy's memory
would serve in untangling the mystery.
In the Civil war the Northerners were yankees"
or "Ynnks," meaning properly in the States a
New Highlander, but n word applied abroad to all
Americans. The Southerners were "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 "Anzac," a conbi
nation of the initial letters Of Australian and New
Zealand army corps. The Scotch retain their name
Of "kiltles," Of course, from the kits they wear.
The German soldiers are said to call them 'the
ladies' OF hell" but that was too long a title to re-
main, although It probably pleased the "kilties.'
There has been much discussion about "boche,'
the name for the German soldiers, and 'poilu," the
French soldier. "Boche'' Is French slang, and Its
birth is clothed In mystery almost always sur
rounding u slang word. It means q most despicablt
sort of person and Is an insult. Il
In that connection the American army alread,
II NS SNuuk VeEIu AOT uu luAuutkyuiuu' ~ "
used commonly In tho army, but generally I'm
known to tho civilian. The term Is "doughboy.'
Since "doughboy' long has been an American In
fantryman the United States army already has a
explicit q slang term as the French army has II
'poilu." "Doughboy" Is In Webster as aeaninI
an infantryman In the United States.
Probably "doughboy.' by reason OF It's use IN,
popularity in the American army, will become tn
general word for the American soldier before tn
war ~ over. "Gringo" also may become common
usage, for the American soldiers have seen q
much service In and near Spanish speaking couu
tries that they often refer to themselves IN fun a
"gringos."-New York Herald.