Big words
 

I'm just a ignorant NCO, who happens to play with radios. But I have discovered while listening to the radio that I recieve quite an education in grammar.

So my topic for the day is, what are some of the silliest words or phrases you have heard officers use on the radio.

ex. 1 Tertiary- I heard this word and didn't have a friggin clue what it meant. Apparently it's a fancy word for "third"

ex. 2 Interogative- I quote "in response to your second interogative..."

Hearing words like that come over the radio just amuses me. Anyone else have an example?

Would that be commissioned "officers", non-commissioned "officers", or warrant "officers" or is it that you think lunacy is limited by rank and or paygrade?

Jack Moroney

I trust you never say primary or secondary, since those are just fancy words for first and second? ;) Tertiary does sound a bit pretentious though. The proper response the next time someone mentions his tertiary priority is to ask him what his quaternary, quinary and sextary ones are.

The best radio example I can think of isn't a real one, but from Smokey and the Bandit:

Sheriff Buford T. Justice: "But I'm in high speed pursuit. Don't you hear good?"
Sheriff Branford: "I hear perfectly. The fact that you are a sheriff is not germane to the situation."
Sheriff Justice: "The god damn Germans got nothin' to do with it."

Words over the radio?
No officers of any type involved here but you have made me think about some references that sometimes make little sense to me.
These are words that come from metal working that get used to describe other things.

Have you ever heard the phrase "galvanized into action"?
I never figured out how zinc coating people would get them to do stuff.

"Melded"? a word made from melt and weld, yes welding involves melting but not all melting is welding...

"Forged" is a term used on occassion to describe something other than hot forming steel with a hammer.

We can "hammer out" an agreement, another term that comes from the craft of working metals.

Main Entry: gal·va·nize
Pronunciation: 'gal-v&-"nIz
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): -nized; -niz·ing
transitive senses
1 a : to subject to the action of an electric current especially for the purpose of stimulating physiologically <galvanize a muscle> b : to stimulate or excite as if by an electric shock <an issue that would galvanize public opinion>
2 : to coat (iron or steel) with zinc; especially : to immerse in molten zinc to produce a coating of zinc-iron alloy
intransitive senses : to react as if stimulated by an electric shock <they galvanized into action>
- gal·va·ni·za·tion /"gal-v&-n&-'zA-sh&n/ noun
- gal·va·niz·er /'gal-v&-"nI-z&r/ noun

Driveway
Parkway

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Oh and some that most folks didn't know until Iraq:
Capitulation
Capitulate

Yes,

Having carried my share of radios, sending-receiving encrypted messages, been tied to a special mission commander a time or two, I've heard a few that I've asked the commander to clarify. Two that come to mind….

1. Contiguous

2. Littoral

When you work in a purple environment expect the unexpected!

TS

"Be advised" How silly is that? And the conversation that brought "Be advised" up:

Stupid Company Admin Sgt playing PL for the day: "Be advised, patrol met Nick-Papa contingent believed to be small group and had small conflagration."

Company Commander: "Say that in English son."

Stupid Company Admin Sgt playing PL for the day: "Sir, we ran into 3-4 NPA Troops south of checkpoint 2, they fired at us, we fired back."

Company Commander: "Just say that next time. Give the radio to your rat."

RTO: "Rat here, Sir"

Company Commander: "Don't let him talk on the radio anymore."

RTO: "Roger that Sir. Also we were North of CP2. Stand by 2 mikes for proper SITREP, Out."

That was his Sgt Typists last time on patrol.

Littoral is a very useful word, albeit easily confused with literal, so I would avoid using it over the radio.

How about riparian?

not interchangeable, IMNSHO...riparian is derived from the Latin ripa or river bank whereas littoral is derived from the Latin litus or seashore...both are specific terms that should be replaced with common language over a tactical radio...once again, IMNSHO...

Couldn't agree more. I love the English language (American varient) because it can be incredibly precise or delightfully ambiguous. Either way it is an incredible tool to facilitate or hinder communication as required. That said - Anything that goes out over a tacnet that can't be readilly understood by the average stressed-out eighth grader is not communications - it's babble. Save the bowling ball brain and pretentious 20 syllable vocabulary for impressing ponderous pudendii in their natural habitat (Victorian drawing rooms). :D JFTFOI - A little obfuscation. Peregrino

Well put, counsel. :D

I was not suggesting a synonym, but another obscure watery reference.

The coat of arms of my alma mater includes the motto "Collegium Georgiopolitanum ad ripas Potomaci in Marylandia," or Georgetown College on the banks of the Potomac in Maryland (Maryland because Georgetown was founded in January 1789, about a year and a half before there was a District of Columbia).

The thing about "littoral" is TS's purple reference. Littoral is both an adjective - relating to the coastal areas - and a noun - the coastal areas. Littoral warfare is a common term in Navy doctrine.

aha...very familiar with the word, from both a military standpoint and a surveyor's frame of reference...now, trying to get contiguous littoral into a sentence without misspeaking could be a real challenge...probably not an expression to be used over a tactical radio...

not busting your chops, but ignorant NCO and QP does not compute...

just an retarded ossifer... :D