The Veteran's Tongue
Civil War soldier slang and its modern-day equivalents.
Slang is, for certain, one of the everlasting habits in the military and the U.S. Army in the 1860's was most definitely not an exception. Here is a list of some terms a Civil War soldier may have used in everyday life and their modern-day equivalent.
- Beats
- Lay abouts
- Been through the mill
- Done a lot
- Big Bug
- An officer (also: skunks, shoulder straps, brass hats)
- Blowhard
- A big shot
- Blue Pill
- Bullet
- Bubs
- Friends (also: pards, chums, messmates)
- Bug Juice
- Liquor (also: pop skull, nokem' stiff, O be joyful)
- Cheese Knife
- Officer's sword
- Company Q
- Fictitious unit where all cowards went
- Damaged
- Drunk (also: tight, wallpapered, walking like a Virginia fence)
- Dough Face
- Easily influenced person
- Hoof
- To march
- Jonah
- Klutz or worthless soldier
- Lincoln Pie
- Hardtack
- Logger Head
- Soldier from Pennsylvania
- Played Out
- Worn out
- Potato Digger
- Irishman
- Sawbones
- Surgeon
- Sucker
- A person from Illinois
- Virginia Quickstep
- Diarrhea
- Webfoot
- Infantryman