Paint  Jam

General military. From the 1890s (Partridge).

This was a derisive term, referring to the poor quality of the jam provided for troops.

*Parakeet  Staff Officer (see ‘Rosella’). So called from the red gorget tabs and the red band around the hat of a Staff Officer.

World War I. Attested here and in Digger Dialects but not otherwise recorded.

‘Parakeet’ is not well attested, unlike Rosella, but it is a similar allusion.

*Parapet Joe  A German machine gunner who attempts by continuous fire to prevent our men from looking over the parapet.

World War I Australian. Attested in Digger Dialects, Hargrave, and Partridge.

Parley  Speak. (From the French).

General. From 1582 (OED).

While ‘parley’ had been adopted in English from the French from the 16th century, it is possible that this borrowing was a fresh one during World War I.

Party  Go away. (From the French).

World War I. Attested here and in Digger Dialects but not otherwise recorded.

From French ‘partir’.

P.B.I.  Poor Bloody Infantry.

World War I. From 1916 (Partridge). Attested in numerous sources.

Dickson cites the following: ‘According to Notes and Queries for December 1918, the predominantly British “P.B.I.” was “applied by the weary “foot-slogger” to himself, seeing that he gets a greater share of the kicks than, and the fewest halfpence of, any arm of the service.’

Pea-shooters  A German anti-tank gun.

General World War I (Partridge). Attested in Digger Dialects and Partridge.

This has also been applied more generally to various kinds of guns, including rifles.

*Pebble Crushing  Route marching.

World War I. Attested here and in Digger Dialects but not otherwise recorded.

The OED records ‘gravel-crushing’ in a similar sense, that is, soldiers crushing pebbles or gravel when marching. Elting records the term ‘pebble-pusher’ meaning ‘an infantryman’.

*Peek [Peck in original ms]  Give in; yield.

General. From early 20th century (Partridge). Attested in Digger Dialects and F&G.

Penguin  A member of the Women’s Royal Air Force. A nickname, because they cannot fly.

World War I. Attested in F&G.

Percy

World War I. Attested in Cutlack and Dickson.

Cutlack defines ‘Percy’ as ‘an early name for a 4.7 inch naval gun in the field’.

Perked  Drunk.

Australian. Attested in Digger Dialects, Green, and Partridge.

This probably derives from the term ‘perk’ meaning ‘beer’ current in Australian English from 1913 (AND). It derived from a shortening of ‘perkin’ meaning ‘beer’ from the brand name Barclay and Perkins (AND). AND also records ‘perk’ as a verb meaning ‘to vomit, especially from excessive drinking’ from 1941.

*Peut-etre  Perhaps; deferred pay.

World War I. Not otherwise recorded.

French ‘peut-être’ meaning ‘perhaps’ was obviously jokingly used to refer to the lateness of Army pay.

*Phosgene  (1) An anti-gas instructional officer. (2) Empty talk. (3) Profanity.

(1) General World War I. Attested in Digger Dialects, F&G, and Partridge.

(2) General World War I. Attested in Digger Dialects, F&G, and Partridge.

(3) General World War I. Attested in Digger Dialects, F&G, and Partridge.

Senses (2) and (3) derive from (1), according to Partridge. Phosgene was used as part of chemical warfare in World War I. It was carbon oxychloride used as a poison gas during WWI and later used in the manufacture of some synthetic resins and organic chemicals (OED).

*Physical Jerks   A parade for physical training.

General World War I. Attested in numerous sources.

See Jerks

Pig Arse  A contemptuous ejaculation.

General Australian. This is the earliest recorded evidence (AND). Attested in Partridge.

Along with ‘pig’s ear’ and ‘pig’s eye’, these expressions are common in Australia and the US (AND, OED).

Pig’s Ear  Beer.

General. From the late 19th century (Partridge). Attested in Hargrave, Lawson, and Partridge.

*Pig-stabber  A bayonet.

Attested here and in Digger Dialects but not otherwise recorded.

The term ‘pig-sticker’ is an attested term for a bayonet (OED, Partridge).

*Pill Battery  Field Ambulance.

World War I. Attested here and in Digger Dialects.

This appears to be a jocular use of ‘battery’, ‘an artillery subunit of guns, men and vehicles’.

*Pill Box  A concrete blockhouse built to resist shell-fire.

General World War I. From 1917 (OED). Attested in numerous sources.

F&G provide the following description: ‘The name, from the shape (often circular in plan and roughly suggesting a ship’s conning tower) for the German ferro-concrete small battlefield-redoubts or forts, employed from the autumn of 1917 onwards to defend sections of the line in Flanders. Some of the larger were quadrangular in shape. They were garrisoned by small detachments of infantry with machine guns and were proof against anything except a direct hit by a big gun. Their capture was often effected by infantry with hand grenades flung into the entrance at the rear, or through the loopholes, while other infantry kept down the German rifle fire by shooting at the loopholes.’ The OED adds that this was ‘ludicrously applied to various boxes, closed vehicles, or enclosures of narrow dimensions; specifically a small round concrete emplacement for housing a machine-gun or similar weapon’.

Pinch  Steal.

General. From 1757 (OED). Attested in numerous sources.

*Pine-apple  A light German trench mortar shell, grooved into sections to ensure a fragmental burst.

General World War I. From 1916 (OED). Attested in numerous sources.

This term was also applied to a hand grenade (Elting, Partridge). The name derives from the criss-cross lines on it.

*Pin-Head  An unintelligent person.

General. Originally US. From 1896 (DAE, OED). Attested in numerous sources.

Pink’s An abominable brand of apricot jam and marmalade made by Pinks and Son, which was served out at Anzac.

World War I Australian. Not otherwise recorded.

Pin Out  Rapidly; in a hurry. (See ‘with the pin out’.)

See With the pin out.

Pipe  Stars worn by Captains and Lieutenants as their badge, a name for a passing ailment, usually mental despondency.

World War I. Not otherwise recorded.

Pip-Squeak  A small shell. A high explosive high velocity shell fired from a field gun.

General World War I. From 1916 (OED). Attested in numerous sources.

F&G provide the following: ‘A type of German shell fired from a small trench gun. From the sound of its discharge and flight. The word was often used by young officers in semi-official and official documents until an order was issued condemning its employment.’

Plonk  The explosion of a heavy shell.

General. From 1906 (OED).

Plug  To hit or punch.

General. From 1875 (OED). Attested in numerous sources.

*Plum Pudding  A spherical iron shell filled with explosive and projected by means of a trench mortar towards the enemy trench.

World War I. From 1915 (Partridge). Attested in numerous sources.

The OED’s first recorded evidence for this is F&G, but it is attested in Digger Dialects. Partridge dates it to 1915. F&G explain that this shell was so named because of its shape and size.

Point Blank  The white wine commonly used in France. The term is used on the Rifle Range as the name of a poisonous white paste that is applied to the foresight of the rifle to aid sighting. Its adaption as a name for ‘Vin Blanc’ was brought about partly by the similarity in the spelling of the second word and also partly because of the harsh effect it frequently had on Australians who drank of it too freely.

World War I. Attested in Digger Dialects and Partridge.

Po Juggler  A batman; an officer’s servant.

World War I. Not otherwise recorded.

This derives from ‘po’ in the sense of ‘a chamber-pot’ and derives from the French pronunciation of ‘pot’ in ‘pot de chambre’ as ‘po’ (Partridge).

Poling  To do less than one’s share thereby rendering the other fellows more difficult. This term was also borrowed from Australian bullock driving parlance. The ‘Polers’, the pair of bullocks nearest to the pole of the wagon, are generally regarded as being not only the strongest, but next to the leaders the outest pair in the team, and therefore more inclined to take things easy and let the other bullocks do the pulling, if the driver is not observant.

General Australian. From 1906 (AND). Attested in numerous sources.

Pole [Poll]  To take advantage of another’s good nature.

See Poling.

Pommy  An Englishman.

General Australian. From 1912 (AND). Attested in numerous sources.

This term has often been seen as a derogatory term for a person of English origin, and was first used in Australia of British migrants. This is probably a shortening of ‘pomegranate’, and a play on ‘immigrant’ and ‘jimmygrant’.

Pompey The nickname given to Brigadier General Elliott of the 15th Australian Infantry Brigade [probably derived from ‘Pompey’ Elliott, the well-known captain of the Carlton (Vic.) Football Club].

World War I.

This nickname is widely attested. Elliott did not initially like the nickname that was first applied to him by his troops, but the name persisted (The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History). Why the footballer was nicknamed ‘Pompey’ is unclear, but ‘Pompey’ was a nickname for the British town of Portsmouth.

Pong  An evil odour.

General. Originally Australian. From 1919 (OED).

‘Pong’ is first recorded in Digger Dialects. Arthur and Ramson in Digger Dialects suggest that this may relate to the Australian use of ‘pong’ meaning ‘a Chinese’, or to pongo.

Pongo  An Infantryman. Although commonly used in some units this term could hardly be regarded as universal.

General World War I. From 1919 (OED).

This was originally nautical slang (1917) for ‘a marine’, but is first  attested in Digger Dialects meaning ‘a soldier’. By the 1940s, this term was used in Australian English for an Englishman (AND). Partridge’s explanation for the origin of this word was that it came from the ‘forage cap worn by the soldiers resembled that worn by the pet dog Pongo from a Punch and Judy show’. A more simple explanation may be that it derives from, or is influenced by, pong meaning ‘a bad smell’.

*Pontoon  A game of chance with cards.

General. From 1917 (OED). Attested in numerous sources.

This was the popular card game, ‘twenty-one’. The name probably is a corruption from the pronunciation of the French for twenty-one, ‘vingt-et-un’ or ‘vingtun’.

P.O.Q.  ‘Piss off quickly’, go immediately.

General World War I. Attested in Digger Dialects and Partridge.

Pork & Cheese, Pork & Beans  Portuguese soldiers.

‘Pork and beans’, World War I. From 1916 (Partridge). Attested in B&P, Digger Dialects, and Partridge. ‘Pork and cheese’, World War I. Attested in Partridge.

Partridge suggests that the term ‘pork and cheese’ was popular mainly with the New Zealand troops; it was rhyming slang for ‘Portuguese’.

*Port Holes in your Coffin, to want  To be hard to please.

General navy. 20th century (Partridge). Attested in Digger Dialects, F&G, and Partridge.

Posh  The best, neat, superlative. Flying Corps slang.

General. From 1903 (OED). Attested in numerous sources.

Despite the definition provided here, this term does not appear to have its origin in Flying Corps slang. Partridge suggests that it emerged from Cambridge University slang. It was in general usage by the end of World War I, generally meaning ‘smart’, ‘swell’, ‘classy’.

Possy Abbreviation of ‘position’; place; dug-out; home.

General World War I. Australian. From 1915 (AND). Attested in numerous sources.

There was a variety of spellings for this shortening of ‘position’ including ‘possie’, ‘pozzy’, ‘possy’ and ‘pozzie’.

Pot, To  To shoot.

General. From 1860 (OED). Attested in numerous sources.

This originated in the sense of ‘shooting something for the pot’ and was a hunting expression. This relates to the term ‘pot-shot’, ‘a shot taken at game for the purpose of filling the pot and without regard to the rules of sport’ (OED).

Pot, A  An important person.

General. From 1880 (OED). Attested in numerous sources.

*Pot-Hole  A short trench, capable of holding one or two.

World War I. This specific sense is attested here and in Digger Dialects but not otherwise recorded.

This was a transferred used of ‘pot-hole’, ‘a deep hole of more or less cylindrical shape’. Dickson and Partridge record a World War I sense of ‘pot-hole’ as ‘a shell-hole’.

*Pouter  A man’s chest.

Attested here and in Digger Dialects but not otherwise recorded.

Arthur and Ramson in Digger Dialects suggest that this derives from ‘pouter pigeon’, ‘a breed of pigeon characterised by its puffing out of the crop’.

 

Prad  A horse.

General. By the 20th century, chiefly Australian (OED). Attested in numerous sources.

Originally a British term from 1798 (OED), it was current in Australia from the early 19th century and continued to be used in the 20th century (AND). It possibly derived from the Dutch ‘paard’.

Prate  See ‘Bot’.

This sense not otherwise recorded.

Prive  A Private Soldier.

World War I. Attested here and in Digger Dialects but not otherwise recorded.

*Propaganda  Tall talk.

General World War I. Attested in Digger Dialects, F&G, and Partridge.

Proverbial  See ‘Abdominal’, ‘Gutzer’.

General World War I. From 1916 (Partridge).

Pukka  Genuine.

General. From 1776 (OED). Attested in numerous sources.

This was an Anglo-Indian term that took on general currency outside India. It derived from the Hindi ‘pakka’ meaning ‘cooked, ripe, substantial’, but came into Anglo-Indian from the late 17tth century.

Pull  ‘To have a pull’, to have influence.

General. Originally US. From 1889 (OED). Attested in numerous sources.

Pull On  To undertake.

Attested in Digger Dialects and Partridge.

This is not a well attested term. Partridge suggests that it is Australian.

Pull Out  Withdraw, stop.

General. Originally US. From 1884 (OED).

*Pump Handle  Arm.

Attested here and in Digger Dialects.

‘Pump-handle’ as verb meaning ‘to shake in greeting (a person’s hand, or a person by the hand) as if working a pump-handle; to move (an arm, etc) in such a manner’ dates from 1844 (OED) and is well attested.

Pup  An aeroplane (Sopwith design).

General World War I. From 1917 (OED).

This was the nickname of the Sopwith Scout tractor, a small aeroplane used for combative and instructional purposes during World War I. Dickson adds that it was described as being ‘of minute dimensions, playful temperament and powerful disposition’.

*Pup Battalion  A Btn. of the 4th or 5th Division formed from half of one of the original 16th Battalion.

World War I. Attested here and in Digger Dialects but not otherwise recorded.

Push  A general attack; an offensive.

General. From 1803 (OED). Attested in numerous sources.

While ‘push’ has been current for a military advance since the 19th century, it first became widely used in World War I. B&P elaborate: ‘The word first became popular, perhaps through journalism, in 1916, and The Big Push was the general name at that time for the first British assaults on the Somme. The word indicated the desired ideal rather than the actuality.’

*Push In  Intrude, e.g. ‘Push one’s frame in’.

General. Standard English (Collins English Dictionary).

Pushing Up Daisies  To be dead and buried.

General World War I. From 1918 (OED). Attested in numerous sources.

The phrase ‘pushing up daisies’ appears to be a term first used during World War I. The OED cites Wilfred Owen’s poems as the first recorded evidence of the exact phrase (see below). However, the terms ‘toes turned up to the daises’ and ‘under the daisies’ were current from the middle of the 19th century (OED).

‘I shall be one with nature, herb, and stone.’

Shelley would tell me. Shelley would be stunned;

The dullest Tommy hugs that fancy now.

‘Pushing up daisies,’ is their creed, you know.

To grain, then, go my fat, to buds my sap,

For all the usefulness there is in soap.

1917–18 Wilfred Owen ‘A Terre (Being the Philosophy of Many Soldiers)’

*Puss-in-boots  A bumptious officer.

General military. From the early 20th century (Partridge). Attested in Digger Dialects, F&G, and Partridge.

This was a reference to the fairy tale by Charles Perrault, ‘Puss-in-boots’.

Put his Pot On  Report him, inform against him.

General Australian. From 1864 (AND).

This is usually expressed as ‘put the pot on someone’. It derives from the sense of ‘pot’ meaning ‘to take a sitting shot’ (Arthur and Ramson).

Put it Over  (1) Beat; defeat. (2) Deceive. See also ‘Put the fangs in’.

(1) General. From 1898 (OED).

(2) General. From 1912 (OED).

*Put the Acid On  (1) Ask. (2) Test. (3) Put a stop to; to spoil.

(1) General Australian. From 1906 (AND).

This phrase derived from ‘acid test’ meaning the ‘test in which gold is distinguished from other metals by its resistance to nitric acid’. It is commonly taken to mean ‘to exert a pressure which is difficult to resist’ (AND).

(2) General. From 1908 (Partridge). Attested in F&G, Green, and Partridge.

(3) General. From 1908 (Partridge). Attested in F&G, Green, and Partridge.

Put the Fangs In  To request a favour or loan.

General Australian. From 1919 (AND). Attested in numerous sources.

Digger Dialects is the first recorded evidence of this term, possibly related to the Australian term ‘to bite’ meaning ‘to solicit money’, current from 1912 (AND).

*Put the Muzzle On  Stop talking.

This exact phrase recorded here and in Digger Dialects but not otherwise recorded.

This is a variant of ‘to muzzle’ meaning ‘to silence’, which dates to the 16th century (OED).

Put Up a Stall  Tell a fictitious story with a view to obtaining a privilege.

General. From the late 19th century (Partridge). Attested in F&G, Green, and Partridge.

This is related to a slang sense of ‘stall’ meaning ‘a pickpocket’s helper who distracts the attention of the victim whose pocket is being rifled; also the action or an act of stalling’ (dating from 1591), and ‘stall off’ meaning ‘an act of stalling off; an evasive story or trick’ (from 1812).

Putty, up to  No good.

General World War I. Australian. From 1916 (AND). Attested in numerous sources.

AND suggests this may be a figurative use of ‘putty’ meaning ‘powder’. Partridge suggests this may derive from the ‘softness of putty’ and may connect to the popular phrase ‘[one] couldn’t fight putty’ in the sense of being a very poor fighter.

*Put Up a Stunt  See ‘Stunt’, to effect something.

This phrase is attested here and in Digger Dialects.

See Stunt.

Put up, to be  To be indicted for a military crime.

General military. 20th century (Partridge). Attested in Digger Dialects, F&G, and Partridge.

This derives from the general sense of ‘to bring a person into court on a charge’ from the 15th century (OED).