The military has always had its own argot (slang), the armies of the far
future should be no different. Some of these terms are from the real U.S. Army,
others are from GW's fluff and some are my own invention.
|
AAA |
Anti-Aircraft Artillery (see Triple A) |
|
AFV |
Armored Fighting Vehicle |
|
Amasec |
A widely available and highly alcoholic beverage
distilled from wine. |
|
Angel |
250 meters of altitude (Dive to 10 Angels then begin your drop run) |
|
AO |
Area of Operation |
|
APC |
Armored Personnel Carrier |
|
AP |
Armor Piercing |
|
APFSDSDU |
Armor Piercing, Fin Stabilized, Discarding
Sabot, Depleted Uranium (pronouced App-Fizz-Due) |
|
Aquilla |
The Imperial Two-Headed Eagle |
|
ASAP |
As Soon As Possible |
|
AT |
Anti-tank |
|
Augmetic |
Cybernetic/Bionic, usually in the sense of body implants
or repairs. |
|
AWOL |
Away With Out Leave |
|
Baby Ogryn |
Catachan trooper |
|
Barracks Ghost |
A trooper who never leaves the barracks for anything
other than duty, drills or chow and then complains how boring the duty
post is. |
|
BBs |
Batteries and Beans, supplies. |
|
Big Daddy |
Typically the largest Imperial Navy ship
in orbit over a contested world |
|
Big Mama |
The drop ship that ferried an Imperial
Guard unit to the surface (See Mama Bird) |
|
Big V |
Vacuum, Open Space |
|
Bin Rats |
Quartermaster Corps personnel, notorious for refusing to
issue anything ("it's called stores because we store stuff! If we was
meant to issue it, we'd call it issues wouldn't we?") |
|
Black Eagle Brotherhood |
Imperial Guard, especially troopers from regiments other
than one’s own. |
|
Bleed Out |
To die of blood loss before medical attention can be
given. |
|
Blood Stripes |
A promotion received as a result of the
death of the person who previously held the position |
|
Blueskins |
Tau (See Spoonheads) |
|
Blunt |
Sanctioned Psyker slang for a non telepath,
a non-combat rating in the Imperial Guard |
|
Bone 'Ead |
An Ogryn sergeant with surgically enhanced intelligence
who can interpret orders for his less advanced squad mates. Also used as
a term of abuse for anyone given to taking orders too literally to the
detriment of their subordinates. |
|
Broken Toys |
Battlefield hulks, wrecked vehicles |
|
Bugs |
Tyranids |
|
Buy the Farm |
To die in combat (see Win the Big Prize) |
|
Calling Friends |
To request artillery support |
|
Calling Friends in High Places |
To request ortillery support |
|
CAP |
Combat Air Patrol |
|
Casualty |
Both wounded & dead personnel |
|
Catachan Leave |
To go AWOL |
|
Catachan Kiss |
A head butt |
|
CATFU |
Completely And Totaly Frakked Up |
|
CCP |
Casualty Collection Point |
|
CDR |
Commander |
|
CFV |
Cavalry Fighting Vehicle |
|
Charlie |
Chaos |
|
Charlie Mike |
Chaos Marines |
|
Chart Desk/Chart Table |
A small, portable easel-like device for displaying
tactical hololithic maps and three dimensional terrain models. A chart
desk is a heavier and usually non-portable version |
|
Cherry |
New; can refer to new personnel or new
equipment (friendly or enemy) |
|
Chest Candy |
Medals and other decorations |
|
Chow |
Military Rations |
|
CinC |
Commander in Chief |
|
CO |
Commanding Officer |
|
Cogitator |
Device empowered by the Machine Spirit to perform
complex calculations and battlefield metriculations. Also Codifier or
Logic Engine |
|
COL |
Colonel |
|
'Commissioned By Mom' |
An incompetent officer of noble origins (by way of
explaining how he achieved officer rank) |
|
ComSec |
Communications Security (scrambling, channel hopping,
limiting signal interception, etc.) |
|
Cooker |
Portable Fusion Gun also called a Melta gun |
|
Counterseptic |
Antiseptic and analgesic fluid used to combat infection. |
|
CP |
Command Post |
|
CPL |
Corporal |
|
CPT |
Captain |
|
Dataslate |
Hand held device used to store and transfer information,
imagery and orders |
|
DC |
Damage Control |
|
Det-Tape |
Tape peeled off to detonate tube charges (time
delay determined by length tape is trimmed to). Also used as a general
purpose detonator material. |
|
Do a Deuce |
Perform a special operations mission. |
|
'Do A Yarrick' |
To take a trophy from a dead enemy. |
|
Dog and Pony Show |
Any event that takes soldiers away from their real
duties for the sole purpose of impressing high-ranking officers or
civilians. |
|
Doormat Mission |
slang for the duties involved in preparing a landing
zone for following forces. The term refers to the mythical last step in
this type of mission: "Be sure to put out the doormat." |
|
Dustoff |
A quick takeoff after landing. Often refers to casualty
evacuation flights. |
|
DZ |
Drop Zone |
|
Emperor's Benediction |
Euphemism for a Mercy Killing. |
|
Empyrean |
Warp-Space |
|
Engineseer |
A Techpriest of the Adeptus Mechanicus charged with the
responsibility of tending the machine spirits of a regiment's vehicles. |
|
End of Discussion |
Often used by colonels or lieutenant colonels when
addressing majors, captains, or lieutenants. Simply stated, it means
shut your face, don't say another word, do it my way, and the door is
that way. Sergeants prefer to use a longer, more colorful version.
|
|
EOD |
Explosives Ordnance Disposal |
|
EPW |
Enemy Prisoner of War |
|
Farmer Armor |
Improvised armored vehicles |
|
Feth |
(v) to copulate (vulgar, Tanith) |
|
Flak Board |
General Purpose Sheet Material for defense and repair.
Fitted to the inside walls of defensive positions to prevent spalling
material dislodged by weapon impacts from causing injury. |
|
FNG |
Fraking New Guy |
|
FO |
Forward Observer. (Occupies the OP & watches for enemy
movement, also directs Artillery strikes) |
|
Fortress World |
A planet that is heavily garrisoned and equipped with
first-rate defensive equipment like deep meson sites. These worlds are
able to hold off almost any force. |
|
Found Wanting |
Euphemism for field execution by a Commissar; "He was
found wanting at the front line." |
|
'Foxed' |
Destroyed, from call sign 'November Foxtrot' or
Non-Functional |
|
Frak |
(v) copulate (vulgar, Valhallan) |
|
Frag |
(n)Fragmentation grenade; (v)Throw a frag grenade; (v)To
kill an unpopular NCO or Officer |
|
Freak |
Abhuman, sanctioned psyker or non human |
|
Freak Squad |
Abhuman, Sanctioned Psyker or non human unit (such as
Ratling Snipers, Ogryns or Kroot mercenaries) |
|
Freek |
Frequency (radio; also, freq) |
|
FUBAR |
Fraked Up Beyond All Recognition |
|
Fyceline |
Principal chemical ingredient used in the manufacture of
standard Imperial Guard explosives. |
|
Gak |
(n) excrement (vulgar, Valhallan) |
|
Garri-trooper |
Rear Echelon personnel, particularly those who try
to pass themselves off as something more. |
|
Ghosts |
Troopers from a planet that has been destroyed or lost
to Chaos. |
|
Greenskin |
Slang for an Orkoid |
|
Grubby (pl. Grubbies) |
Low Tech opposition forces |
|
Grunt |
Infantryman |
|
Guard Proof |
An overly simple task or way of doing things. Stems from the stereotype
that Imperial Guardsmen are slow-witted or unable to handle complex
operations. Slightly perjorative. |
|
Gun Baby |
Whiteshield, or Conscript. |
|
Gun Bunny |
Female Trooper |
|
HE |
High Explosive |
|
HEAP |
High Explosive, Anti-Personnel |
|
HEAT |
High Explosive, Anti-Tank |
|
HALO |
High Altitude, Low Opening (refers to parachuting) |
|
Hell World |
Planet lost to Chaos |
|
Hive |
A massive archology, a city housed in a single
mega-structure |
|
Hololithic |
Three Dimensional Imagery. |
|
Hot |
An area experiencing combat |
|
House Specials |
Private troops retained by nobles -
quality varies from laughable to elite |
|
'How copy?' |
Did you recieve/understand the transmission? Proper
response is, "Good copy." |
|
IFV |
Infantry Fighting Vehicle |
|
'IHTFP' |
Imperial soldiers tell their officers this
means "I have truly found paradise" - they are lying |
|
Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting
Primer |
Standard text manual issued to every Guardsmen,
containing proper procedure for everything from marching to bayoneting
techniques. Also includes prescribed prayers and hymnals. |
|
ImpNav |
Imperial Navy |
|
'in country' |
The battle zone / Area of Operations in a foreign
country / region / world |
|
Interior Guards |
General Term for internal security forces, a world's PDF
or a Guard Regiment given colonial duties. |
|
JAFO |
Joint Arms Forward Observer (or more colorfully - Just Another Fraking Observer) |
|
Jar-heads |
Marines |
|
Juvenat |
As in "Juvenat Processes" or "Juvenant Drugs" Techniques
of prolonging youth and virility. Usually highly expensive and reserved
for senior officers or Imperial Nobility. |
|
Kentucky Long Rifle |
Another name for the LongLas (q.q.v.) |
|
KIA |
Killed In Action |
|
Klick |
Kilometer (1000 standard Imperial meters) |
|
Lamp Pack |
Standard Guard Issue, compact lamp with internal
(limited) power supply, designed to be hand held, or fixed onto lasgun's
bayonet lugs. |
|
Leftovers |
An incomplete squad built from the remnants of squads
that have suffered casualties. |
|
Leg |
Infantryman (nickname given to ground soldiers by
Airborne troops) |
|
LEO |
Low Earth Orbit |
|
Lho Sticks |
An addictive, mild, narcotic rolled into a compact tube and
smoked by guardsmen. Officio Medicae personnel have warned that they may
cause respiratory damage. |
|
Longlas |
Any model lasgun modified or designed for sniper use.
(As the name implies, they are usually longer than standard pattern
weapons.) Also called Kentucky Long Rifles |
|
Lords of Space |
Marines (derogatory) |
|
LOS |
Line Of Sight |
|
LP |
Listening Post |
|
LRM |
Long Range Missile |
|
LRRP |
Long Range Recon Patrol |
|
LTC |
Lieutenant Colonel |
|
LZ |
Landing Zone |
|
Magnoculars |
Powerful optical device for the magnification of distant
objects. Can be modified to varying levels of complexity, with range
finders, azimuth metriculators and heat sensing equipment. |
|
Mama Bird |
The drop ship that ferried an Imperial
Guard unit to the surface (See Big Mama) |
|
MBT |
Main Battle Tank |
|
Mess |
Military Dining Facility |
|
MIA |
Missing In Action |
|
Microbead |
(also Micro bead link, micro bead intercom) small, short
range Vox system for inter-trooper communications in the field..
Generally only found on regiments from civilized or industrialized
worlds. Usually a small ear plug with a tiny wire mouthstalk
|
|
MIF |
Mechanized Infantry Force |
|
Mike |
Minutes |
|
MilInt |
Military Intelligence |
|
Missile Monkey |
Artilleryman |
|
MM |
Mini Missile |
|
MRE |
Meal Ready to Eat (Field Rations) |
|
MRL |
Multiple Rocket Launcher |
|
MRM |
Medium Range Missile |
|
MSGT |
Master Sergeant |
|
Multikey |
Universal key/lock pick |
|
Mustang |
A nickname for an officer promoted from the enlisted ranks. Can be
respectful when used by enlisted ranks and seasoned officers, or
pejorative when used by career-oriented and/or snooty academy-trained
officers. |
|
NCO |
Non Commissioned Officer, i.e. Corporal, Sergeant or
Petty Officer (in any of the several grades) |
|
'Nine Seventies' |
Imperial Guard issue entrenching tool, derived from
its standard Imperial catalog number 'M-970' |
|
Obscura |
An illegal, highly addictive Narcotic |
|
Old Boots |
Long service guardsmen |
|
Old Man |
Commanding Officer - one term of many |
|
One way Ticket |
Assignation to a grav chute or drop pod landing. "To be given a one
way ticket." |
|
OP |
Observation Post |
|
OpFor |
Opposing Force |
|
OpSec |
Operational Security (not giving/making available to the
enemy information about your plans, movements, state of repair/supply,
etc.) |
|
Ortillery |
Orbital Artillery, Orbital Bombardment of a target |
|
'Out' |
All radio transmissions end in "Out" when the sender
does not expect a reply from the receiver (never used with 'over' as in
'over and out' since this would mean 'I am done talking and await your
reply, and I am signing off and will not acknowledge any reply') |
|
'Over' |
All radio transmissions end in "Over" when the sender
expects a reply from the receiver (never used with 'out' as in 'over and
out' since this would mean 'I am done talking and await your reply, and
I am signing off and will not acknowledge any reply') |
|
Padre |
Chaplain (without regard to religious affiliation) |
|
PDF |
Planetary Defense Forces |
|
PFC |
Private First Class (or, Private Frakin' Civilians) |
|
Pict |
A video feed equivalent of vox. |
|
Plank |
Idiot, also a derogatory term for an Ogryn. |
|
Pop Smoke |
Call for extraction. |
|
POW |
Prisoner Of War. (See EPW). |
|
Promethium |
A general term for fuel, but commonly used to refer to
the highly volatile and incendiary jelly used as fuel in flamer units.
Designed to adhere to the target and rapidly immolate them. Promethium
reaches extremely high temperatures within seconds of ignition, and even
burns underwater. |
|
PT |
Physical Training, typically 1 Hour or more of mixed
workout (running, cardio, strength exercises). |
|
REMF |
Reserve Echelon Maintenance Forces (or more colorfully - Rear Echelon Mother Frakkers
, typically used by combat troops to
insultingly refer to supply, maintenance, admin, etc. personnel.) |
|
Resuscitrex |
Officio Medicae device incorporating a number of
specialized devices, most frequently used to fibrillate patients who
have suffered Cardiac Arrest. |
|
Roast Whatsit |
Term for unidentifiable meals served in
mess halls |
|
ROE |
Rules Of Engagement |
|
'Roger' |
Vox shorthand for "I understand" (Note "Roger"
and "Wilco" should never be used together, i.e. "Roger Wilco") |
|
RPG |
Rocket Propelled Grenade |
|
Ruinous Powers |
Chaos gods |
|
SAD |
Search And Destroy |
|
SAR |
Search And Rescue |
|
Savlar |
A thief or drug addict. |
|
SAW |
Squad Automatic Weapon |
|
Scope |
General term for powered spotter sights. May be the
telescopic sights on a longlas, or a hand held "telescope" used by an
officer. |
|
Scrambled |
Insane, shell shocked. |
|
Screamer-Killer |
Tyranid "Carnifex" genus. |
|
SEAL |
Sea, Ether, Air & Land; type of special forces troops |
|
SFC |
Sergeant First Class |
|
SGT |
Sergeant |
|
Shell |
Carapace Armor. |
|
Short |
A trooper nearing the end of his enlistment |
|
Sierra |
Sniper |
|
SitRep |
Situation Report |
|
Six |
Behind you ("Check your Six") |
|
Skellies |
Necrontyr (see Toasters) |
|
Slap |
Disciplined by a senior officer for minor infraction
(possession of unauthorized publications, for instance.) |
|
SMG |
Sub-Machinegun |
|
Smoked |
Destroyed, also a particularly one sided engagement
as in 'We smoked the Tau at Gatorsville' |
|
SNAFU |
Situation Normal, All Frakked Up |
|
SP |
Self propelled (often used to classify whether and
artillery piece is "towed" or "self propelled") |
|
Sparks, Sparky |
Anyone who deals with radios or things electronic. |
|
Spook |
Tyranid "Lictor" Genus |
|
Spoonheads |
Tau (see Blueskins) |
|
Spyerers |
Upper class Hive-worlders |
|
Squared Away |
cleaned up; in military shape; ready for inspection. |
|
Squawk |
Transmit |
|
SRM |
Short Range Missile |
|
SSG |
Staff Sergeant |
|
'Stand By' |
Wait for instructions/approval. |
|
'Stand Ready' |
Get prepared for action. |
|
'Stand To' |
Proceed to action/battle stations & be ready to take
action if warranted by situation. |
|
Super Wammy-dyne |
New or experimental technology |
|
Sweeper/Sweeper Set/Sweeper Broom
|
Man-portable Mine Detector. |
|
Tango |
Traitor |
|
TDX |
Gravitationally polarized explosive that
channels the blast along a plane parallel to the local gravity field.
Blast effects can be extreme in that plane but nonexistent even at minor
heights. |
|
'The Emperor Protects' |
Common soldiers' blessing or refrain. |
|
"The Green"
|
Jungle Terrain (Catachan), Deathworld Class Jungle. |
|
Those People |
The enemy |
|
Titans |
War machines of the Collegio Titanicus |
|
Toasters |
Necrontyr (see Skellies) |
|
TOC |
Tactical Operations Center |
|
Top |
Senior NCO of a company |
|
Torch |
Flamer |
|
Toy Soldiers, Glory Boys
|
Storm Troopers, Special Operations teams |
|
Tread Fether |
Man-portable, shoulder launched anti tank weapon. (Tanith
phrase) |
|
Triple A |
Anti Aircraft Artillery (see AAA) |
|
Trooper Eggs |
Drop pods |
|
Tube Charges |
20cm (approx) long metal tubes filled with explosives
for demolition work or grenades type work. |
|
Twist |
Imperial Slang for a mutant. |
|
Vox Caster |
A powerful, usually backpack carried, communications
gear. "A vox set" |
|
Vox Officer |
Member of a squad or platoon trained to carry the vox
caster and operate it and other communications systems. General term for
this branch of specialization is "Signals." |
|
Warp-Space |
Alternate reality where time and physical laws don’t
apply - used to traverse interstellar distances. Home to many chaos
entities. |
|
Weepers |
The Imperial Guard’s notoriously inefficient morale corps |
|
WIA |
Wounded In Action |
|
Win a Dirty Medal |
Die doing something heroic - something
that would likely win a commendation |
|
Win the Big Prize |
Die in combat (see Buy the Farm) |
|
'Wilco' |
"(understood,) Will Comply (with instructions)" (Note
"Roger" and "Wilco" should never be used together, i.e. "Roger Wilco") |
|
World, the |
Your hometown/homeland/homeworld |
|
WP |
White Phosphorous (a.k.a. "Pappy's Whiskey") |
|
XO |
Executive Officer (unit second in command) |
