Common MILITARY expressions & vocabulary in everyday life

Do you know what it means to go “AWOL“ or to be “MIA“? And what is the point of saying “alpha, bravo, charlie“ when referring to letters? In this lesson, you will learn many different military words and expressions that have made their way into everyday English. We will discuss the meaning of “I’ve got your 6“, “collateral damage“, “FUBAR“, and more. This lesson is definitely not a dud, so make sure to watch and do the quiz at afterwards! Copy that? Roger! TRANSCRIPT Hi, everybody. Welcome back to . I’m Adam. In today’s lesson we’re going to look at some military expressions and slang that are used in everyday English. So, in many situations, when there is a war and there’s obviously going to be a military all the time, many words that are used by the soldiers eventually become common in everyday English and are used all the time. Now, especially if you watch war movies, you’re going to hear some of these words. Actually, you’re going to hear a lot of these words, so it’s a good idea to know what they mean. But we also use them in everyday situations, and I’ll explain some of these as we go. So, first we’re going to look at the actual words and expressions. “AWOL“, this means Absent WithOut Leave. Okay? Although... So, I’ll explain that in a second. “MIA“ means Missing In Action. Okay? Now, you can “have someone’s 6“, “copy/roger“, I’ll explain these. These, similar. A “dud“, “snafu“, “alpha, bravo, charlie, x-ray, yankee, zulu“, “Uncle Sam“, “collateral damage“, “coup de grace“, and “FUBAR“ or “soup sandwich“. Okay, let’s start with “AWOL“. Absent WithOut Leave. So, in the military, if you leave your base or leave your post without permission... So, “leave“ basically means permission. If you leave... If you go away from your base or your post and you don’t have permission, then you are considered AWOL. If you’re gone long enough, then you will go to jail. Okay? The military... In the military, you can’t leave your post, you can’t leave jail. But we use this in everyday situations. So, I planned an organization, like I’m helping some people, I’m a volunteer, and I got a group of people to help me, and at our meeting one person didn’t show up. And I say: -“Where’s Mike?“ -“Ah, he’s AWOL.“ It means nobody knows where he is. He left, he didn’t show up. Sometimes we call it a “no-show“. A “no-show“ means the person didn’t appear where he was supposed to be. He didn’t come to the meeting, he didn’t come wherever. In an office, somebody is supposed to get all this work done, but the boss is asking: -“Where’s the work? Where is this person who had to do it?“ -“I don’t know. He’s AWOL. He’s gone AWOL.“ It means he’s disappeared. Okay? It’s not very dissimilar from “missing in action“. So, in a war, sometimes soldiers, they’re fighting, everybody’s working together, but one soldier, nobody knows where he is. Maybe he got killed, or maybe he got injured, or maybe he’s making his way back. But right now, I don’t know where he is. He is missing in action, in the middle of the battle. So, it’s the same thing in everyday life. If somebody is MIA, it means he’s disappeared. So, it’s very similar to absent without leave, but MIA means he was here but then disappeared. I don’t know where he went. So, we had a meeting and in the meeting we had a break, and we come back from break and one person didn’t return. -“So, where is he?“ -“I don’t know. He’s MIA.“ He’s missing. He’s gone somewhere. Maybe he’ll come back later. Just in case you’re wondering: “killed in action, KIA“ is another expression. Now, to “have someone’s 6“, you’ve seen this on police shows or in war movies all the time. In a clock: 12 is forward, 6 is behind you, 3, 9, all the numbers of the clock. Okay? So, to “have someone’s 6“ means to have someone’s back, to watch out for them or to support them, or to make sure that nothing bad is going to come where they can’t see it. Okay? So, 6, behind; 12, ahead. “Copy“ and “roger“. When you’re talking on a walkie-talkie or on a telephone these days, however way you communicate, “copy“ means message received. So, your boss or your commander sends you the message: “Copy“, means I got it, I understood. “Roger“ if an order comes in: -“I want you to do this.“ -“Roger.“ It means I got the message, and I will do what I’ve been asked to do. And we use this in everyday life. On the phone your boss says: -“This is what I need.“ -“Copy. Roger. No problem.“