"Soldiers' slang for weapons" Topic

Soldiers are often infinitely inventive in devising slang terms for their weapons. We all know the famous 'Brown Bess' for the musket carried by the British for nearly a 100 years.

I was tickled (!) to note the French C19th nickname for their bayonet: specifically the French Model 1886 Lebel Bayonet (aka "Rosalie").

So: start with "Rosalie" ("giving Rosalie her breakfast" for an early morning attack) & nominate your favourites.

I would stipulate C19th or earlier.

Slang terms for a soldier's OWN weapons.

Ma Duce. When she talks y'all better listen

Meatchopper-quad fifty Maxson mount

Pa-Pa-Sha-PPSH smg-Burp gun by GI's in Korea.

Door knocker-German 37mm AT gun

pre-19thC is tough.

Thumb buster-Colt .45?

Mare's Leg-cut down Winchester

can't think of any others.

How about The Pig for the M60 GPMG and Blooper for the M79 grenade launcher in Vietnam.

Pre-ACW dragoon saber was called the old wrist breaker.

We called the M249 SAW the MiniPig and our M16's Thunder Clubs.

Jimpy – GPMG

I believe the SLR was sometimes referred to as The Mechanical Musket.

Hitlers Buzzsaw – MG42.

I've really no idea about stuff before 1900 though. Big pointy stick? Big blunt stick which goes bang?

According to wikipedia no-one really knows where the name 'Brown Bess' came from.

Notable cannon often gained nicknames, for example Mons Meg, the Queen's Pocket Pistols, Gog and Magog and Sweet Lips (allegedly named after a particular lady of negotiable virtue).

f-16 called a Viper
Its bad luck for a pilot to call his aircraft by it's given name.

Brown Bess.

Bundook

Emperor's daughters – French Old Guard 12lb cannon.

Stovepipe – Panzerschrek

Stalin's Organ – German name for BM-13 Katyusha

Apparently members of the British Army referred to SA80s (I think) as "politicians" because you couldn't make them work and you couldn't fire them.

"Stovepipe" was also used for the bazooka.

In Vietnam, we had a number of names for the M-16, none of which would make it past the auto-censor here; almost all of them featured the word "Mattel", a reference to the weapon's appearance (and performance) as something designed by a toy company.

LT

Gat, generally.sometimes gun ( but that's only to annoy weapons instructors).
GPMG often referred to as "the general".

Finnish heavy recoiless rifle, Raskas sinko 95 S 58-61, used to be called "Musti" by us tankrapers.

Musti would be the most common name for a dog and the most fitting English equivalent would be "Blackie" since the name also sorta hints to the color black.

Obviously the gun is black but it also barks like a dog. Woof! :)

link

YouTube link

In Vietnam, the planes all had nicknames. The O-1 Cessna was a "Bird-dog". The Cessna A-37B Dragonfly was the "Super-Tweet". The OV-10 Bronco was called the "Pigpen" by the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces, due to the connected twin-tailed layout. The Douglas Skyraider was a "Spad" or "Sandy," depending on it's combat role. The Republic F-105 Thunderchief was nick-named the "Thud" because 397 of them were shot down, and it was said that was the noise the plane made as it slammed into the ground. Pilots of other planes may have nicknamed the F-105.

Carl Gustav 84mm launcher – known in British service as the 'Dildo Gun'.

Large knives used for fighting on the Western frontier in the 1840s-1850s were known as "Tennessee Toothpicks."

Ive heard the SA80s were referred to as Bob Marleys, because they kept on jammin