NEW ARMY LANGUAGE

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXX, Issue 13624, 23 April 1942, Page 7

NEW ARMY LANGUAGE

"TOMMY" HEADS THE LIST

NEW ZEALANDERS AMONG

LEAST ORIGINAL

(N.Z.E.F. Official News Service) Cairo, Feb. 19. The corporal sank his boot into the tent pole and let loose a waving stream of best New Zealand invective, directed mainly at orderly officers and disorderly fatigues. "I'm browned off," he concluded, half in his chin. "A spell in the budgy-cage would do those fatigues a whole lot of good. They've farouked the works completely. When you want them. they've smoked out; when you don't want them they're sitting there with a grin as though they'd won the snowball. I'm koloss; that's me; just koloss."

Wherupon the corporal glared,, hitched his belt and departed, tripring over a guy rope as he went. Half-a-dozen recumbent forms slowly assumed right-angled positions and gazed sadly at the place where the corporal had been.

"Properly done his scone," said one.

"Kind of rotated on his axis," was the measured verdict of another. "Just sand-happy," grunted a third. "He's been here two years." "And bomb-happy,' was the grim rejoinder of a tousled "acting lancejack.'

'Took a pretty dim view of the fatigues," said the third, lying down again. "They're a pretty magnoun bunch anyway. Never shoofti themselves when anything's doing." "That spells sense to me . . ." "Oh well, maleesh. This is Sunday. Plenty time boukra to worry about these things. Sciatica George. I'm going to »leep."

It has been said that every war produces its own vernacular, and every 'separate Imperial force has its own special interpretation. To the New Zealanders serving in the Middle East, it is something unconsciously acquired from peculiarities in strange languages and dialects around them. The result is a notch potch string of cliches, of which those used in the above little scene are fairly representative. New Zealanders are probably among the least original of the Empire troops in the matter of language building, despite the striking individuality they have shown in most other spheres. Top of the list come the English themselves. The war had hardly been going five minutes when "Tommy" was talking about his steel helmet as his "battlebowler." The New Zealander on the other hand prefers + o stick to the well-tried traditional "tin-hat." He calls a suade a spade almost every time, unless he has been particularly impressed with a clever optional tPvm. generallv borrowed from another arm of the service. As is natural, much of the everyday speech of the 'troops is from language of the country they are livine in. Many Arabic words have come into the New Zealander's language for the duration. Some, as grfter the last war. may stay for good. Typical are: "Egri George." used when telling a gharry driver to o-et a move on: "mafeesh faloos," being a state of impecunity: "maleesh" meaning "never mind" or "who cares?"; "koloss". meaning "finished"- "sciatica.' a euphonious version of the Arabic form of