The Best of U.S. Troops Politically Incorrect Vietnam War Slang
Like any large organization, the U.S. military has its own distinct culture. Most civilians know that official military lingo is like a language of its own, and they can probably discern most of it from Hollywood movies and TV shows. What is harder to learn is the lingo troops develop while in the field. Every generation of American troops develop their own slang, but the Vietnam era might be the most unique.
The first American combat troops landed in Vietnam in March 1965. Over the course of eight years, 2.7 million men and women would come, and most would go home – not all, of course. It was the last U.S. conflict where troops were drafted to serve and one that allowed the troops to mingle with the civilian population. To put it mildly, that mixture of people and personalities created quite an interesting vocabulary – and it wasn't always politically sensitive.
For anyone offended by the following terms, just remember: war is hell.
Baby San: Children in a Vietnamese village.
Barbecue: How armored cavalry units requested napalm on a target.
BOHICA: An unofficial acronym, like FUBAR. It means "Bend over, here it comes again."
Bong Son Bomber: A very large joint, which is a marijuana cigarette for those who don't know.
Boom Boom: An easy, onomatopoeic way for Vietnamese ladies of the night to let a young GI know what they were selling.
Charles/Charlie: From the military phonetic alphabet, "Victor Charlie," meaning VC or Viet Cong, the communist guerrillas fighting American and South Vietnamese troops. Sometimes shortened to "Chuck."
Charm School: Initial training and orientation troops were subject to when arriving in Vietnam.
Cherry: Like a new car, this is what they called replacement troops who had never been to Vietnam. They are also known as the FNG (f*cking new guy).
Coka Girl: Derived from the Vietnamese pronunciation of Coca-Cola, the most American of all things, a Coka Girl is a Vietnamese woman who sold everything except boom boom.
Dinky Dau: Insane.
Disneyland Far East: Headquarters building of the U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam. It was derived from "Disneyland East," also known as the Pentagon.
Donut Dolly: The women of the American Red Cross who would go deep into the bush to bring a bit of home to GIs.
Fallopian Tubing: This is the same prank U.S. troops have been using for generations. It's a snipe hunt for a Cherry. Fallopian Tubing was used for tankers the same way "Prop Wash" or "Flight Line" is used by the Air Force or "Grid Squares" for young soldiers.
F*ck You Lizard: The Tokay Gecko is a large species of gecko native to Asia. It earned its military nickname because of its nighttime mating call, which sounds like "f*ck you."
Heads: Any troop who used any kind of illicit drugs. The most common was marijuana, but heroin was also used by American troops.
Ho Chi Minh Road Sticks: An ingenious recycling of old truck tires used by the Viet Cong to make sandals.
Idiot Stick: A curved yoke used by Vietnamese women to carry two baskets, water buckets, or anything else on either end of the stick.
Indian Country: Area controlled by Charlie outside of a firebase. It's also known as the boonies, the field, the jungle, the bush, or the sh*t.
Juicers: GIs who drank too much.
Little People: Radio code for South Vietnamese soldiers.
Mad Minute: Order for all bunkers to shoot across their front for one minute to test fire weapons and harass the enemy.
Mama San: An elderly Vietnamese woman
Marvin the Arvin: Stereotypical South Vietnamese Army soldier, similar to a Schmuckatelli or Snuffy. The name comes from the acronym for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, or ARVN.
Number-One GI: A service member who threw around a lot of cash while in Vietnam.
Number-Ten GI: A cheap service member.
Ok Sahlem: What U.S. soldiers called children in villages who begged for menthol cigarettes.
Papa San: An elderly Vietnamese man.
Real Life: The civilian world; the life a GI leads when not fighting in Vietnam.
Remington Raider: Derogatory term for anyone who manned a typewriter. Today, we call them Keyboard Warriors.
Re-Up Bird: A name for the Blue Eared Barbet, a bird whose song sounds like "Re-Up," which means sign on for another enlistment or another tour in Vietnam.
Search and Avoid: A term for an all-ARVN mission, the implication being that it would ultimately fail to find the enemy.
Straight Arrow: A GI who remained completely faithful to his girlfriend or wife back home. A "Broken Arrow" is a GI who did not.
Zippo Raids: Burning of Vietnamese villages, often with Zippo lighters.
There are, of course, other slang terms used by troops in Vietnam that are either timeless (like Un-Ass, which means to move out quickly) or non-offensive (like Zoomie, which refers to anyone flying a plane).