My favorite battlefield slang from Iraq via Austin Bay



Battle rattle: Slang for combat gear. “Full battle rattle” means wearing and carrying everything (helmet, body armor, weapons).

Beltway clerk: A derisive term for a Washington political operative or civilian politician.

Blackwater: Specifically, a private security firm operating in Iraq. Used as slang, can mean any private security firm. “Gone to Blackwater” indicates that a soldier quit the armed services and went to work for a private security firm.

Blue canoe: Slang for a portable toilet.

Bohica: Bend Over, Here It Comes Again. Pronounced “bo-HEE-ka.” Means “we’re about to get screwed, as usual.” This term was in use in the Army in the 1960s.

Embrace the suck: Phrase heard in OIF1 (the original Operation Iraqi Freedom force). Translation: The situation is bad, but deal with it.

Flash-blasted: Being screamed at or chewed out by the unit’s senior noncommissioned officer.

Groundhog Day: Every day of your tour in Iraq.

O dark 30: Pronounced “oh dark thirty.” A word play on military time. Means a very early hour during the night. (“We had to get up at oh-dark-thirty.”)

PUC: Person Under Custody. (“We got two PUCs on that last raid.”)

Turkey peek: To glance around or over an object or surface, such as a corner or wall.



Waxed: To get hit hard or get killed.