Rees Don't You Know There's A War On?

Words and Phrases from the World Wars
1. Auflage 2014
ISBN: 978-1-84994-289-8
Verlag: Batsford
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 240 Seiten

Nigel Rees presents a nostalgic and witty guide to wartime catchphrases, from the now ubiquitous 'Keep Calm and Carry On' to lesser-known gems such as 'lions led by donkeys'. Following his hugely popular survey of domestic sayings, More Tea Vicar?, Rees returns with a witty and fascinating examination of the catchphrases that saw us through wartime Britain and are still relevant in times of crisis today.  Including domestic phrases of the time, propaganda, and slang developed by soldiers abroad, the book describes the provenance and development of these intriguing, quirky and sometimes crude phrases that were born out of times of conflict and have in many cases become part of our language.

Nigel Rees is an outstanding author whose many books have mostly been concerned with the popular use of the English language and especially the humour that derives from it. As a broadcaster, he is best known as deviser and presenter of BBC Radio's Quote...Unquote programme, which has been delighting audiences for over 25 years. He lives in London. He is the author of More Tea, Vicar? (ISBN 9781905400744)

Autoren/Hrsg.

Rees, Nigel

Leseproben

(air) ace

‘ and many other of our air warfare terms were coined or popularized by the British in 1915, including: or , a pilot who had shot down at least five enemy planes’ – according to . The , however, defining an ‘ace’ as ‘a crack airman’ and providing a citation from of 14 September 1917, puts the qualifying tally higher – at ‘ten enemy machines’. The origin of the term may lie in its use to describe an ‘expert’ in late 19th-century America and/or it could reference the ace in a pack of cards.

ack-ack

In telephone communications, a system of pronunciation guides had been established by 1898. The idea was to make clear whichever letter was being spoken and thus to prevent any misunderstanding. Thus, in the First World War, telephone code for the letter ‘a’ was ‘ack’, so ‘A.A.’ – the abbreviation for ‘anti-aircraft (gun)’ was ‘ack-ack’ (by 1917). ‘Ack’ was replaced by ‘able’ in December 1942, but such a gun was not renamed an ‘able-able’ ...

action this day

Instruction phrase, for office use, by the time of the Second World War. ‘ACTION THIS DAY’, ‘REPORT IN THREE DAYS’ and ‘REPORT PROGRESS IN ONE WEEK’ were printed tags that Winston Churchill started using in February 1940 to glue on to memos at the Admiralty (where at that time he was First Sea Lord). Subtitled ‘Working with Churchill’, the book (1968) is a collection of the reminiscences of those who had been closely associated with Churchill during the Second World War. ‘She [Margaret Thatcher] had the draft of that circular on her desk that night. She said “Action this day” and she got it. We didn’t stop to argue’ – Hugo Young, , Chap. 6 (1989).

Adler Tag [Eagle Day]

This was the German code phrase that would have signalled the invasion of Britain, mooted in 1940 but never launched. The main attack plan was known as [attack of the eagle]. The overall operation was code-named [sea lion].

all over by Christmas

At first, it was thought that the European War would not last very long. Having started in August 1914, it would be ‘over by Christmas’, hence the unofficial, anti-German slogan ‘Berlin by Christmas’. The phrase ‘all over by Christmas’ was used by some optimists as it had been in several previous wars – none of which was over by the Christmas in question. The fact that this promise was not fulfilled did not prevent Henry Ford from saying, as he tried to stop the war a year later: ‘We’re going to try to get the boys out of the trenches before Christmas. I’ve chartered a ship, and some of us are going to Europe.’ He was not referring to American boys because the United States had not joined the war at this stage. An alternative version of his statement is: ‘[The purpose is] to get the boys out of the trenches and back home by Christmas.’ The announced: ‘GREAT WAR ENDS CHRISTMAS DAY. FORD TO STOP IT.’

In her (1977), Agatha Christie remembered that the South African War would ‘all be over in a few weeks’. She went on: ‘In 1914 we heard the same phrase, “All over by Christmas”. In 1940, “Not much point in storing the carpets with mothballs” – this when the Admiralty took over my house – “It won’t last over the winter”.’ In (28 April 1944), George Orwell recalled a young man ‘on the night in 1940 when the big ack-ack barrage was fired over London for the first time’, insisting, ‘I tell you, it’ll all be over by Christmas.’ In his diary for 28 November 1950, Harold Nicolson wrote, ‘Only a few days ago [General] MacArthur was saying, “Home by Christmas,” and now he is saying, “This is a new war [Korea]”.’ has the comment: ‘ was a popular 1861 expression [in the American Civil War]. Since then several generals and politicians have used the phrase or variations of it, in World War I, World War II, and the Korean war – and none of the wars was over by Christmas.’ (Clever-clogs are apt to point out, however, that all wars are eventually over by Christmas ...)

all quiet on the Western Front

A familiar phrase from military communiqués and newspaper reports on the Allied side in the First World War – also taken up jocularly by men in the trenches to describe peaceful inactivity. It was used as the title of the English translation of the novel [From the Western Front – Nothing to Report] (1929; film US 1930) by the German writer Erich Maria Remarque. The title is ironic – a whole generation was being destroyed while newspapers reported that there was ‘no news in the west’. / hears in it echoes of ‘All quiet on the Shipka Pass’ – cartoons of the 1877–8 Russo-Turkish War that Partridge says had a vogue in 1915–16, though he never heard the allusion made himself. For no very good reason, Partridge rules out any connection with the American song ‘All Quiet Along the Potomac’. This, in turn, came from a poem called ‘The Picket Guard’ (1861) by Ethel Lynn Beers, a sarcastic commentary on General Brinton McClellan’s policy of delay at the start of the Civil War. The phrase (alluding to the Potomac River, which runs through Washington DC) had been used in reports from McLellan’s Union headquarters and put in Northern newspaper headlines. ‘All quiet along the Potomac’ continues to have some use as a portentous way of saying that nothing is happening yet.

(the) Allies

Featuring in both the world wars, these were the forces or states that banded together to fight against the CENTRAL POWERS in the war of 1914–18, or against the AXIS (POWERS) in that of 1939–45. In the First World War, the term was being used in by 2 November 1914. The Allies included, at one time or another, Russia (until the Revolution of March 1917), France, the British Commonwealth, Italy, the United States, Japan, Romania, Serbia (defeated in 1915), Belgium, Greece (from July 1917), Portugal and Montenegro (defeated by the end of 1915).

Anderson (shelter)

A British prefabricated air-raid shelter in the Second World War, named after Sir John Anderson, Home Secretary and Minister of Home Security (1939–40). Compare MORRISON SHELTER. It was created by (later Sir) William Paterson, a Scottish engineer. From the 3 June 1939: ‘Goats sheltered from high explosive in Anderson shelters were claimed to be quite unhurt.’ From (29 December 1939): ‘An Anderson shelter [is] erected in a kitchen because there is no garden space available.’

Angel of Death

A nickname bestowed in the Second World War upon Dr Joseph Mengele, a notorious German concentration-camp doctor who experimented on inmates – ‘for his power to pick who would live and die in Auschwitz by the wave of his hand’ ( Magazine, 17 June 1985). It is not clear at what point or by whom this nickname was applied. ‘Angel of death’ as an expression to describe a bringer of ills is not a biblical phrase and does not appear to have arisen until the 18th century. Samuel Johnson used it in in 1752. From Byron’s (1815): ‘For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast.’

angels one-five

In Royal Air Force jargon, ‘angels’ means height measured in units of a thousand feet; ‘one-five’ stands for fifteen, so ‘20 MEs at angels one-five’ means ‘twenty Messerschmitts at 15,000 feet’. was the title of a film (UK 1952) about RAF fighter pilots during the Second World War.

Any gum, chum?

Remark addressed to American GIs based in Britain during the Second World War. ‘Crowds of small boys gathered outside American clubs to pester them for gifts, or called out as American lorries passed: “Any gum, chum?” which rapidly became a national catchphrase’ – Norman Longmate, (1971).

Anzac

An acronym. ‘Anzacs’ were members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who fought in the First World War, initially (and especially) at Gallipoli. Anzac Day in both countries is 25 April, commemorating the landing on the beaches there, exposed to Turkish fire, in 1915. The term was first used in military communiqués in that year. Up to that point British troops had tended to use the words ‘Aussie’ or ‘digger’, but American forces picked up the new coinage after 1917. Hence, ‘Anzac Day’ is still used to describe the anniversary of the Gallipoli landings of the Corps on 25 April 1915.

appeasement

A name given to the policy of conciliation and concession towards Nazi Germany, around 1938. The word had, however, been used in this context since the end of the First World War. On 14 February 1920, Winston Churchill said in a speech: ‘I am, and have always been since the firing stopped on November 11, 1918, for a policy of peace, real peace and appeasement.’ The word may have become fixed following a letter to (4 May 1934) from the 11th Marquess of Lothian: ‘The only lasting solution is that Europe should gradually find its way to an internal equilibrium and a limitation of armaments by political appeasement.’ Often used disparagingly with reference to the attempts made by Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime...