Posted on Aug 3, 2015
SSgt Forensic Meteorological Consultant
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We have all heard expressions that were new to us but very common to others. One of the first I heard was the term 'Short' and 'xx amounts of days and a wakeup'. One instructor alluded to 'hammers' when referring to members of the opposite sex and of course, 'The GI Party'.

What are your recollections of these timeless cliches?

LTC Stephen F. COL Charles Williams COL Mikel J. Burroughs SSG Matt Murphy SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" PO2 Ed C. PO2 Jonathan Scharff SPC Charles Brown SGM Matthew Quick Lt Col Timothy Parker, DBA SMSgt Minister Gerald A. Thomas SFC A.M. Drake Capt Richard I P. CPT L S (Congrats Leo) GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad
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Responses: 32
MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca
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FUBAR
BOHICA
"If it ain't raining, we ain't training"
"Every paycheck a fortune, every meal a banquet, ever formation a parade"
"Commander's time"
"First Sergeant's time"
"Get these barracks squared away"
"A day in the Army is like ..."
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CPT Chris Loomis
CPT Chris Loomis
>1 y
LOL!!! Sir, "If it ain't rainin we ain't training!!!!!" LOL!!!
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PO1 John Miller
PO1 John Miller
>1 y
"Every formation a family reunion!"
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MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca
MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca
>1 y
Yes PO1 John Miller, before all my aunts up moved down to FL (a seemingly RI Italian tradition - you reach a certain age and all of a sudden the winters are unbearable) it used to be like that for me. At least 4 times a year weather it was the holidays or a nice summer day we'd have 50 of us all at someone's house.
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MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca
MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca
>1 y
CPT Chris Loomis The oldies but goodies never go out of style :-). But then in CA it ain't been raining for a while.
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LTC Stephen F.
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Edited >1 y ago
SSgt (Join to see), these my only apply to the Army but I think they could apply to the services as well:
"Hurry up and wait"
"Short timer"
"Blanket Party" was anything but a party
"Drop and give me 20, 30, 40 or 50" good military push-ups
"1,1,1" When going through the APFT and doing push-ups and the grader sounded like a broken record because he did not think you were executing a proper push-up. Also applies to the APFT of the 1970's when pull-ups were tested.
SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4", SGT Forrest Stewart, SPC (Join to see), LTC Stephen C., SGT (Join to see), SGT Robert Hawks, SP6 Clifford Ward, CH (MAJ) William Beaver
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LTC Stephen C.
LTC Stephen C.
>1 y
LTC Stephen F., "Just keep pushing away Georgia (or any state) 'til I get tired!" SSgt (Join to see)
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CMSgt James Nolan
CMSgt James Nolan
>1 y
LTC Stephen F. no sir, they are not unique to Army, most specifically-hurry up and wait...
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LTC Stephen F.
LTC Stephen F.
>1 y
CMSgt James Nolan - In my experience "Hurry up and wait" seems to apply to all government interactions with their constituents :-)
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CPT Manager
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Edited >1 y ago
"Need to know", "Loose lips sink ships" and "top secret..limdis."or "i'm sooo short...I need a parachute to get out of bed."
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SP5 Joel O'Brien
SP5 Joel O'Brien
>1 y
Short-Timer Sayings. "I'm so short, I can't hold a long conversation!" Then there's the ever-popular one when you hit the 99 days-until-I'm-out mark, "I'm so short, I'm now a 2-digit midget!"
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LTC Stephen C.
LTC Stephen C.
>1 y
F8db082a
SGT Randal Groover, the phrase, "Loose lips sink ships", first appeared during WWII on this poster by Seymour R. Goff, also known as Ess-ar-gee. CPT (Join to see)
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CPT Manager
CPT (Join to see)
>1 y
LTC Stephen C. & SGT Randal Groover While in OCS, we were loading into deuce and a halfs to go to the firing range, the TAC Officer would tell us to tighten it up and get closer, "make the man in front go you smile." :-)
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LTC Stephen C.
LTC Stephen C.
>1 y
CPT (Join to see), when I was in OCS, the Tac Officer would always sit in a folding chair, butted against the back of the cab. We usually spent the entire trip (to wherever we were going) with one or more OCs in the bed of the truck doing pushups and lying the dying cockroach position!
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