ARMY TALK IN VIETNAM

FROM A (ao dai) to Z (zoomie)

By
Wayne Draper
Times Staff Writer


WASHINGTON--If, as Emerson said, language is the archives of history, then U.S. soldiers in Vietnam are writing history with words as well as weapons.

 

So many slang terms, Vietnamese words and specialized usages are used by U.S. soldiers in Vietnam that language poses a bit of a problem to the new man coming over. Until he picks up the current slang, he is marked as a recent arrival.

 

With the Vietnam-bound replacement in mind, Army Times has compiled the following list of non-standard terms used in Vietnam.

 

Each Vietnam-bound soldier should find several terms below which will speed his adjustment to Vietnam.