Military Slang and/or Jargon GlossaryThis is a featured page

DOD Dictionary of Military Terms : From this page you can browse the DOD (Dept of Defense) Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms.


Modern Military Terms : This is a glossary of modern military terms appended to the Combat magazine website. According to them, one reason the military has trouble coordinating joint operations is that the different services do not speak the same language.


Although no longer in common use the semaphore flag code may be of interest to some given its similarity to Morse, see below:

Semaphore


Sempahore is similar to Morse code in that each letter of a message is translated into another form to allow it to be more easily communicated. While Morse code is used to send messages electronically over a telegraph line, semaphore is used to visually communicate information over long distances. To use semaphore, an operator holds a flag or lighted wand in each hand. The operator extends their arms to the correct position and pauses for each letter of the message. "Attention" is the only signal that involves movement and the "rest" position is the only time when the flags should cross.
semaphore

Morse Code and Phonetic Alphabet Page Below are listed Morse Code plus a few phonetic alphabets. The NATO Phonetic Alphabet is the most common, but the others are used in other areas. Letter Morse NATO English American Italian German International
A *- Alpha Andrew Abel Ancona Anton Amsterdam
B -*** Bravo Benjamin Baker Bologna Berta Baltimore
C -*-* Charlie Charlie Charlie Como Casar Casablanca
D -** Delta David Dog Domodossola Dora Denmark
E * Echo Edward Easy Empoli Emil Edision
F **-* Foxtrot Fredrick Fox Firenze Friedrich Florida
G --* Golf George George Genova Gustav Gallipoli
H **** Hotel Harry How Hotel Heinrich Havana
I ** India Isaac Item Imola Ida Italy
J *--- Juliet Jack Jig I lunga Julius Jerusalem
K -*- Kilo King King Kursaal Kaufmann Kilogram
L *-** Lima Lucy Love Livorno Ludwig Liverpool
M -- Mike Mary Mike Milano Martha Madagascar
N -* November Nelli Nan Napoli Nordpol New York
O --- Oscar Oliver Oboe Otranto Otto Oslo
P *--* Papa Peter Peter Padova Paula Paris
Q --*- Quebec Queenie Queen Quarto Quelle Quebec
R *-* Romeo Robert Roger Roma Richard Roma
S *** Sierra Sugar Sugar Savona Samuel Santiago
T - Tango Tommy Tare Torino Theodor Tripoli
U **- Uniform Uncle Uncle Udine Ulrich Uppsala
V ***- Victor Victor Victor Venezia Viktor Valencia
W *-- Whiskey William William Washington Wilhelm Washington
X -**- X-ray Xmas X (eks) Ics Xanthippe Xanthippe
Y -*-- Yankee Yellow Yoke York Ypsilon Yokohama
Z --** Zulu Zebra Zebra Zara Zeppelin Zurich
In Morse Code there also exist codes for numbers and puctuation: Number Code Punctuation Code
1 *---- Period *-*-*-
2 **--- Comma --**--
3 ***-- Colon ---***
4 ****- Question Mark **--**
5 ***** Apostrophe *----*
6 -**** Hyphen -****-
7 --*** Fraction Bar -**-*
8 ---** Parentheses -*--*-
9 ----* Quotation Marks *-**-*
0 -----

If the duration of a * (dot) is one unit then that of a - (dash) is three units. The space between the components of one character is one unit, between characters is three units and between words seven units. To indicate that a mistake has been made and for the reciever to delete the last word send: ******** (eight dots). Back Home


http://www.ertzaintza.net/ingles/html/home.html - police terminology used in Spain, Spanish to English
glossary, also possible into other languages


http://www.scoutingresources.org.uk/codes_naval.html - Scouting resources, how to read naval signals here from the UK Royal Navy

http://www.napoleonguide.com/sailors_ukexpect.htm - The Napoleonic guide to reading Royal Navy signals, with the archifamous 'England expects from man to do his duty' from the Battle of Waterloo



List of U.S. Army acronyms and expressions

Some abbreviations from 2x19 Conspiracy Theory / 2x19 Stimmen:

FUBAR: F(******) U(p) B(eyond) A(ll) R(ecognition)
SNAFU: S(ituation) N(ormal) A(ll) F(******) U(p)
BOHICA: B(end) O(ver) H(ere) I(t) C(omes) A(gain)
TARFU: T(hings) A(re) R(eally) F(******) U(p)



Pieman999
Pieman999
Latest page update: made by Pieman999 , Jan 11 2009, 2:21 PM EST (about this update About This Update Pieman999 Minor correction - Pieman999

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Keyword tags: acronyms jargon slang
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NCIS_fan_22 your name (page: 1 2) 37 Oct 15 2010, 11:01 PM EDT by hdavidson93
Thread started: Apr 19 2008, 12:03 AM EDT  Watch
mine is:

Tango Echo Romeo Echo Sirra Alpha
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Abbsolute55 Charlie Oscar Oscar Lima!!! 1 Jan 16 2010, 4:01 AM EST by McAbby+Tiva
Thread started: Feb 3 2008, 8:15 AM EST  Watch
It's so cool to have the phonetic alphabet here!!! I'm gonna learn it by heart to communicate with..er..well...only the few ncis fans as crazy as me who can understand it :)) . Actually I use the code "Golfindiabravo" as a username for other profiles. I was pretty sure I got the right code for the 3 first letters of "Gibbs" but wasn't that sure about the one for the "s". Now I know it's "sierra" for sure!! Yayyy!!!
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Ruby~Tears Bye 13 Mar 31 2008, 11:32 PM EDT by Abbiefan1
Thread started: Nov 8 2007, 11:27 AM EST  Watch
Bravo Yankee Echo means Bye
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