World War I Words

The “War to End All Wars” did not accomplish that end, but one way to always remember that it happened is to acknowledge Armistice Day on November 11th. On that day in 1918, the terrible World War I was brought to a close, only to be the precursor of an even worse global conflict that began twenty-one years later, involving most of the nations of the first one.

The Great War, as it was called then, actually brought some new vocabulary to the English-speaking vernacular, much of which is still in use today. Here are some World War I words:

Grenade: The French word for pomegranate, the small but deadly weapon, where a pin is pulled and the device thrown before exploding, is now known world-wide. It does resemble a pomegranate, but otherwise has no affiliation with that fruit.

No-Man’s Land: World War I in Europe included an extensive amount of trench warfare, where soldiers from both sides dug in and fired artillery at one another for months at a time. Once in a while, orders were given to the entrenched soldiers to vacate their dugout and race toward the enemy in their trenches. The land between the trenches was called “no man’s land” because no man could survive there. In the majority of cases, those who vacated their trenches and rushed toward no-man’s land did not live to tell about it.

Over the Top: As with the above explanation, when soldiers left their trenches, there was only one way to do it, and that was to go over the top of the trench. The action usually was followed by deadly consequences. Today, the meaning evokes a sentiment of something being too much to handle, or too incredible to be believed.

Stalemate: In battles like The Somme in northern France or Ypres (Flanders Fields) in Belgium, the Allied and German troops were dug in for many months, firing repeatedly upon each other with little or no gain – only lost lives and broken men. The lack of gain for either side became known as a stalemate. The term remains in use today, where neither side wins.

Kaiser: The word means Caesar in German. The German emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm II, was the ruler of a newly united but still rather divided Germany. Like Prussian aristocrat and politician Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898), who instigated the Franco-Prussian War to unite Germany from its various provinces (Prussia, Bavaria, the Rhineland, etc.), Kaiser Wilhelm thought procuring more provinces and lands would make him – and Germany – more powerful. He therefore used the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in 1914 as an excuse to invade Belgium. He did act somewhat like an ancient Caesar by doing so, hence he seemed to earn that title. The German take on the title soon became globally used. (The Russian term Czar or Tsar means Caesar too.) It didn’t work out well for Kaiser Wilhelm, who ran when he realized Germany was not going to win the war.

Junk: A noun that means a bunch of worthless stuff actually is a German word, used to define German aristocrats, sometimes called junkers. Much like nobility from other lands in those days, aristocrats were titled landowners who were considered above work, and were raised to allow others to do all their work for them. The word became popular among the British troops in World War I and continues to this day, describing something worthless. A junker today is usually an old car that can barely operate, or a boat that hauls, well, junk, or somewhat undesired material for salvage.

Blindsided: Mustard gas, a new weapon for the war, not only killed and sickened combatants, but it also blinded them. Some were temporarily blinded, but some endured a sightless future for the rest of their lives. To be blindsided in the trenches was when a bomb containing mustard was suddenly thrown into the trench, and the gas exploded, causing terrible havoc for all. To be blindsided today is to suddenly be hit from nowhere – physically, emotionally, or verbally, to negative effect.

Camouflage: The French term for disguise received a wider audience because of World War I. As a majority of the Great War's battlefields occurred on French-speaking lands (like France and Belgium) the new noun soon widely ciruclated, and is now a term spoken world-wide.

Cooties: A term that is not used as much today as a generation ago, the word cooties signifies germs or bugs that are crawling on a person, to the chagrin of everyone else in the vicinity. To accuse someone of having them in the school yard of later years was spiteful indeed. The word became popular among the British troops in the trenches, a slang word for lice – which were abundant in the filthy and unhealthy trenches, crowded with unwashed humanity. This word for lice likely originated in either Malaysia or Australia, where the word kutu was used by the Maori and the Malaysians – their word for lice. Since both areas were British colonies, the Brits obviously knew the word, and used it often during the Great War to describe their crawling companions.

Basket Case: The word which denotes someone who is hysterical or mentally incompetent (which is hopefully only temporary) has a more sobering origin. During World War I, when soldiers hunkered in their trenches and an artillery shell managed to hit the trench and explode, combatants were killed and horribly wounded. Those who survived the explosion but were severely mangled had to be taken behind the lines to field hospitals in baskets. They were called basket cases. Many did not survive for long, but there were some who did survive, as mere fragments of who they once were.

Strafe: A verb that signifies being hit from one side to the other with a continuous firing is the German word for punish. As tanks – the new weapon of World War I – and machine guns fired all along the line toward the opposing soldiers the effect was indeed punishing.

Shell Shock: A word that represents a state of being suddenly surprised with negative effects, shell shock was one of the aftereffects of trench warfare. With constant bombardment in the trenches and explosions terrifying the hapless survivors, many soldiers could not cope with the incessant threat – and sights – of annihilation. Their mental capacities and physical abilities deteriorated as a result, and many had to be removed to hospitals. Some recovered, and some did not. It is a small wonder that World War I was called The War to End All Wars. Many who endured it hoped that, since so many millions saw its horrors first-hand that no one would ever want to fight a war again.

Dough Boys: The word is not commonly used today, except for the commercial with a personage made of dough in recent years. The word was used to describe the Allies – the late-arriving United States combatants especially – and it was a compliment. There are many possible reasons for this WWI word. One that makes the most sense is that the British word doughty is synonymous with courageous and perseverant, so the soldiers were considered, and called, valiant and persistent. The description became a famous nickname and traveled across the Atlantic; it was used for many years in the United States.

Armistice: In the United States and Great Britain, Armistice Day is November 11 – the day World War I ended. The name is unlike VE Day and VJ Day (Victory in Europe and Victory in Japan) signaling the end of World War II in 1945, and that is with good reason. An Armistice is just a permanent cease-fire. It is meant to imply no victory, no defeat. The word before World War I was just not used, as past wars of recent memory showed a clear victory for one side and an unmistakable defeat for the other. When Kaiser Wilhelm fled his country and the German officers left behind wanted the war to end, they requested an armistice – Latin for stopping an armed conflict. One can imagine the shock of the German nation when, with the Treaty of Versailles the following year, that the Germans were called the losers of the war and the instigators. They were blamed for all hostilities. In addition, Germany was forced to pay reparations to the other nations for the destruction in those countries incurred during the war. They were, not surprisingly, miffed. Just a few years later, one of those former participants started vocalizing his anger. That would be Hitler.

Please pass along these World War I words, in remembrance of the Dough Boys.