Stifled...

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Evolution Of The English Language In The Army...

Recently, I spent some time thinking about the way we speak in the Army. It amuses me, sometimes, when I think about it. Apparently, names of places and people, fictional or not, are being used as verbs, nouns and adjectives.

In my camp, if you do something stupid, you immediately become a universal word. For example, Eng brought home some keys that day and got 3 extras duty. So now, if you do the same, you would have "done an Eng". Or if people remind you not to bring stuffs home, they'll say, "Don't do an Eng". If you utter nonsense all day, like Suffian, people will tell you that "you are very Suffian today". See what I mean?

This trend reminds me of the time when I was in Delta Wing, OCS. In Brunei, many people in the wing lost stuffs. They either misplaced them or people stole them. Everyone saw the trend and chose to believe that their things are stolen, very typical of humans. We didn't see that happening in Foxtrot Wing, who were with us there, so we named the trend "Delta". If you lose things, you got "delta-ed". If you need something someone else has, people will tell you to go "delta" it. "Delta" became a substitute for steal, I guess.

Recently, in my camp, a more powerful word emerged. "Jamal" is the new term for everything. There are even other forms of the word, like "Jamal-ed" and "Jamalized". What does it mean? Nothing, and everything. It can be used as a swear word, for scolding/describing people, as a substitute for someone's name, for anything bad that happens. Use it as a noun, as a verb, as a condom, as an adjective, as a vulgarity, anything. It's like Jamal (whoever he is) has become omnipresent in our lives.

So you see, the language has come a long way in the Army. A step forward or a step back? You decide.

End...

Hanged @ 9:09 PM