New Britain herald., 1918-04-13
WARTIME LEXICON
OF THE TRENCHES
Lingo Of No Mans Land" Civil
ian Doesn't Understand
"The Lingo of No Mans Land"
Copyright, 1918, British Canadian

| Recruiting Misslon)
! STAND-TO-Every. evening at sun
set for half an hour. and again in the
morning at dawn, the order is given
| to "stand-to," which means that every
man stands alert, his pack on his back,
i his rifle loaded, facing the enemy in
! anticipation of a possible attack. After
''standing-to' the order is stand
| down. and the men may then go to
! their dugouts, leaving only the SELL
| tries on duty.
STAND DOWN-The order counter
| manding "stand-to.'
| PACKAGE-Anothe expression for
| q wound or "Blighty' is, a
wound serious enough to take them
home to England to recuperate. An
other version of the derivation OF
Bltghty is that the name of the
Brighton hospital especially for In
dian troops, was difficult for the In
dian soldiers to pronounce. their
tongues changing the Br, which they
could not pronounce, to Bl, and
"Blighty' resulted.
GOING OVER-The soldiers in the
trenches say going over" rather than
going over the top or lover the top"
GOING-IN-The short and ready
phrase for going into the trenches"
out of the trenches"
ARCHIBALD - Anti aircraft guns.
Term first bestowed, according to
some of the British officers, from the
name given the first anti-aircraft gun
ners, most of whom were Jews.
SILENT LIZZIE--A thousand pound
shell that makes no noise and is very
effective because there Is no warning
of it's approach.
BERTHA-The 60-ton German gun,
SO called from Bertha Krupp, the
manufacturer. This gun has a range
Of 10 or IL miles and throws a 1900
pound shell that the Tommies call
Jack Johnson" (already described),
EGGS--Another term for bombs or
grenades.
KNUCKLE KNIVES-Heavy dag
gers about nine inches long, now part
Of every Allied soldiers equipment, for
use in hand-to hand fighting. The
knives are heavy bayonet-1tke blades
and knobbed hits. They are carried
in the puttees, as the Highlanders
carry their knives in their socks.
OPEN expression for
"heginning to fire..
STOKES GUNS-A very effective
small gun used in the trenches. 1t
has a range of from so to 800 yards,
and fires a shell similar to a Mills
hand grenade, operated by a release
lever and q f1ve-second time-fuse. The
shell is of cast steel, weighs some II
pounds and carries a charge of ami
mol. The gun is operated by spring
and is so rapid in action that as many
as ten shells may be in the air at one
time. Unless the range between the
front limo trenches and the enemy is
sufficient for the gun to be used in the
fire trenches, it is usually worked
from the second line trenches.
GETTING WIND UP-Tomn1y says,
when the Germans are SO nervous and
iumpy in expectation Of an attack that
they begin firing without apparent
cause--at shadows and Imaginary OBJ
jects. A nervous sentry firing at a
shadow he thinks is a. man may set
the whole line ablaze With shellfire
over nothing.
REGULATION STRAFTNG--Regu
lar daily grist of shells sent over about
the same time every day without any
apparent purpose of attacking or do
ing more than simply harrassing the
enemy.
CHAW OR CHUCK-Bread, as dis
tinguished from "hardtack" or ships
biscuits, which are also a regular part
of the army rations.
RAT CONGRATULATIONS term
for cheese. The trench rats which
swarm about are fed-up on cheese.
JUICF,-Tea; also called Char"
MACONOCHIE-So called from the
manufacturers name, is canned Irish
stew, or "Mulligan." served out in tins.
The soldiers warm it over trench
stoves
'TOT-The regulation rum ration
of two tablespoonfuls Of rum, dealt
out in winter to men on active duty,
to warm them up. especially after a
cold "sentry-go,' morning and even
ing. Soldiers say it is the only thing
that will warm them up after d freez-
ing night on duty.
GOAT TALk-Chaf1ng: ioshing.
with the same general significance as
the common expression ito get ones
goat" If it is getting the Boches
goat" across No Mans Land so much
the better.
ESCHALON1-From the French,
meaning any fortified place. Used in
discriminatory in reference to fortified
positions, ammunition dumps, batter
les, pill-boXes airdromes, rail heads,
etc. Thus the press dispatches refer
to Allied aviators dropping bombs on
enemy "eschalons"
SCMPS-Sheli holes. A common
usage Of the word is in the phrase
connecting up sumps"; that it, build
ing trenches quickly by digging from
one shell hole to another
COMBINATION TRENCH-In low,
marshN ground the trenches cannot be
dug deep because of the water that
soon fills them so thew are usually
dug about two feet deep, and the walls
are then built up of sand bags. AS
sand bags are less substantial protec-
ton than ordinary earth walls, the
com bnation trench is more usual S