| Slang Expression | | Definition |
|---|
| A.W.O.L. |
| Absent With Out Leave |
| Absquatulate | | to take leave, to disappear |
| Acknowledge the Corn | | to admit the truth, to confess a lie, or
acknowledge an obvious personal shortcoming |
| Apple Lady |
| hard cider |
| Arkansas Toothpick |
| large knife |
| Bad Egg |
| bad person, good for nothing |
| Balderdash |
| nonsense |
| Bark Juice |
| hard liquor |
| Beat the Dutch |
| if that don't beat all |
| Beehive |
| knapsack |
| Been Through the Mill |
| endure a lot |
| Bellyache |
| complain |
| Big Bugs |
| big wigs, important people |
| Billy Yank | | a Union soldier |
| Bivouac |
| to camp without formal shelter or in
temporary circumstances |
| Blowhard |
| braggart, bully |
| Blue Jacket |
| Union sailor |
| Blue
Mass |
| refers to men on sick call; named after
blue pill. |
| Bluff |
| cheater |
| Bombproof |
| underground shelter |
| Bombproofs |
| Term for provost guards/commissaries due
to soft life. |
| Bones |
| dice |
| Bragg’s
Body Guard |
| body lice |
| Bread
Bag |
| haversack |
| Bread
Basket |
| stomach |
| Buck
and
Gag |
| form of punishment |
| Bugger |
| officer |
| Bull
Pit |
| Under-arrest confinement area |
| Bully |
| hurrah! or yeah! |
| Bully
for You |
| good for you |
| Bumblebee |
| mini-balls flying by |
| Bummer |
| forage cap |
| Bummer |
| malingerer, someone who deliberately
lags behind to forage or
steal on his own shrift |
| Bust
head |
| camp brewed beer or cheap whiskey |
| Butternuts |
| Rebs |
| Cabbaging |
| stealing |
| Camp
canard |
| tall tale circulating around camp as
gossip |
| Cashier |
| to dismiss from the army dishonorably |
| Chicken
Guts |
| gold braid used to denote officer ranks |
| Chief Cook and Bottle Washer |
| person in charge, or someone who can do
anything |
| Chin Music |
| having a conversation |
| Clink |
| term for jail or prison |
| Company Q |
| fictitious unit designation for the sick
list |
| Conniption Fit |
| hysterics, temper tantrum |
| Contraband |
| escaped slaves who sought refuge behind
Union lines |
| Coosh |
| hardtack fried in bacon grease |
| Copperhead |
| Northern person with Southern,
anti-Union sympathies |
| Cracker Line |
| supply line for troops on the move |
| Creeper |
| soldier’s frying pan |
| Deadbeat |
| useless person, malingerer |
| Desecrated
Vegetables | | Union, dehydrated
(desiccated) vegetables formed
into yellowish squares |
| Diggings
| | a soldier’s camp |
| Dog
Collar | | cravat issued with
uniforms, usually discarded |
|
Dog Robber | | soldier detailed
from the ranks to act as cook |
| Done
to a Turn | | a task that has been
completed |
| Duds | |
clothing |
| Embalmed Beef | | canned
meat |
| Essence of Coffee | | early
instant coffee, found in paste form |
| Fancy
Girl | | a prostitute |
| Fast
Trick | | a woman that is morally
loose |
| Fighting under the black
flag | | Soldiers killing lice |
| Fire
and Fall Back | | to vomit
|
| Fit as a fiddle | |
in good shape, healthy |
| Fit to
be tied | | angry |
| Flux | | diarrhea |
| Forage | | to
hunt for food, live off the land; also came to mean
plundering enemy property for sustenance |
| Forage
Cap | | regulation army cap with
a high/deep crown, so-called
because it could be filled with gathered foodstuffs |
|
Forlorn Hope | | a unit
chosen to begin an attack
|
| Forty Dead Men | | a
full cartridge box, which usually held forty rounds |
| French
Leave | | to go absent without
leave, AWOL |
| Fresh Fish | |
a new recruit |
| Gal-boy | | a
homosexual man |
| Gallinippers | |
insects or mosquitoes |
| Ginned
cotton | | flower bread |
| Give
the Cold Shoulder | | to snub
someone |
| Giving the Vermin a
Parole | | throwing away lice
infected clothing |
| Go Boil Your
Shirt | | take a hike, get lost,
bug off |
|
Going Down The Line | | visiting a
brothel |
| Goober Peas | |
peanuts |
| Goobers | | peanuts |
| Grab
a Root | | eat a meal, especially
a potato |
| Gravel | | condition
caused by
lack of green vegetables |
| Graybacks | | lice,
also derogatory term
for Confederate soldiers |
|
Greenbacks | | Union paper
currency |
|
Greenhorn | | officer |
| Grey
Backs | | lice, also derogatory
term
for Confederate soldiers |
| Grit | | courage,
toughness |
| Hanker | | a
strong wish or want |
| Hard Case | | tough
guy |
| Hard Knocks | | hard
times, ill use |
| Hardtack | |
unleavened bread in the form of ¼ inch thick
crackers issued by the army
|
| Haversack | | canvas
bag about one foot square, which was slung over the
shoulder and used to carry a soldier's rations when on the march
|
| Here’s Your Mule | |
insult to cavalry |
| High-falutin | | highbrow,
fancy |
| Homespun | |
cloth / clothes from home |
| Hoof
It | |
to march |
|
Hop, Step, Jump | | early ambulance |
| Horizontal
Refreshments | | acts with a
prostitute |
| Hornets | | bullets |
| Horse Collar | | blanket roll
|
| Horse Sense | | common sense, good judgement |
| Hospital Rat | | someone who fakes illness to get out of duty |
|
Housewife | | sewing kit |
| Huffy | | angry, irritated |
| Humbug | | nonsense, a sham, a hoax |
| Hunkey Dorey | | very good, all is well |
| Irish Shanty | | outhouse
|
| Iron Clad Possum | | An armadillo dinner |
|
IW | | in the war |
| In a Huff | | angry, irritated |
| Jailbird | | criminal |
| Jawing | | talking |
| Jayhawked | | stolen |
| John Barleycorn | | beer |
| Johnny | | a Confederate soldier |
| Johnny Reb | | a Confederate soldier |
| Jonah | | someone thought to bring bad luck |
| Joy juice | | liquor |
| Kid Glove Boys | | insult to a soldier |
| Knock into a Cocked Hat | | to knock someone senseless or thoroughly shock
him |
|
Let Drive | | go ahead, do it |
| Let 'er Rip | | let it happen, bring it on |
|
Light Out | | leave in haste |
|
Likely | | serviceable, able-bodied |
| Long Sweetening | | molasses |
|
Lucifers | | matches |
| Mind Your Beeswax | | mind your own business |
| Mudsill | | Union soldier |
| Muggins | | a scoundrel |
| Mule | | meat, especially if of dubious quality |
| Muster In | | enlist in the Army |
| Muster Out | | discharge from the Army |
| Mustered Out | | wry term meaning killed in action |
| No Account | | worthless |
| Nokum | | stiff liquor |
| Not By a Jug Full | | not by any means, no way |
| Oh-Be-Joyful | | home brewed beer or liquor |
| Oil of Gladness | | home brewed beer or liquor |
| Old Scratch | | the devil |
| On His Own Hook | | on one's own shrift, without orders |
| Opening of the Ball Units | | waiting to move into battle |
| Opening the Ball | | starting the battle |
| Opine | | be of the opinion |
| Paleface | | new recruit |
| Parlor Soldier | | insult to a soldier |
| Patent Bureau | | knapsack |
| Peacock About | | strut around |
| Peaked pronounced peak-ed | | weak or sickly |
| Peas on a Trencher | | breakfast call |
| Pepperbox | | multi-barreled pistol |
| Picket | | sentries posted around a camp or bivouac to guard approaches |
| Pie Eater | | man from a rural area |
| Pig Sticker | | knife or bayonet |
| Play Old Soldier | | pretend sickness to avoid combat |
| Played Out | | worn out, exhausted |
| Pop Skull | | camp brewed beer or cheap whiskey |
| Possum | | a buddy or pal |
| Pumpkin Rinds | | insult to lieutenants |
| Pumpkin Rinds | | gold lieutenant's bars |
| Quartermaster Hunter | | shot or shell that goes long over the lines and into the rear |
| Quickstep | | diarrhea |
| Rag Out | | dress well |
| Red Badge of Courage | | wounded |
| Riding a Dutch Gal | | being with a prostitute |
| Rio | | coffee |
| Roast Beef | | noon meal |
| Robber’s Row | | sutlers area |
| Rocks | | money |
| Row | | a fight |
| Salt Horse | | pickled beef or salted meat |
| Sardine Box | | cap box |
| Sawbones | | surgeon |
| Scarce as Hen's Teeth | | exceedingly rare or hard to find |
| Screamers | | diarrhea |
| Secesh | | derogatory term for Confederates and Southerners: secessionists |
| See the Elephant | | experience combat |
| Shakes | | malaria |
| Sham Fight | | mock battle |
| Shanks Mare | | on foot |
| Shebang | | a temporary shelter |
| Sheet Iron Crackers | | hardtack |
| Sheet of Iron Crackers | | hardtack |
| Shin Plasters | | paper money |
| Shine | | liquor |
| Shirker | | soldier not doing his job |
| Shoddy | | an inferior weave of wool used to make uniforms early in the war; later came to mean any clothing or equipment of substandard quality |
| Sing Out | | call out, yell |
| Skedaddle | | run away / scatter |
| Skunk | | officer |
| Slouch Hat | | a wide-brimmed felt hat |
| Smoked Yanks | | Union soldiers cooking over a fire |
| Snug as a Bug | | comfortable, cozy |
| Soldier’s Disease | | opium addiction |
| Somebody’s Darling | | dead body |
| Sound on the Goose | | those who favored holding slaves |
| Sow Belly | | bacon |
| Sparking | | courting a girl, kissing |
| Spondulix | | money |
| Sunday Soldiers | | insulting words to a soldier |
| Take an Image | | have a photograph taken |
| Tar Water | | liquor |
| Teeth Duller | | hardtack |
| Tennessee Quick Step | | diarrhea |
| Tight | | drunk |
| To Be Mustered Out | | killed in battle |
| Toe the Mark | | do as told, follow orders |
| Toeing the Mark | | obeying orders |
| Top Rail | | first class, top quality |
| Toss Bones | | play dice |
| Tough as a Knot | | in good health |
| Traps | | soldier’s gear |
| Tuckered Out | | exhausted |
| Uppity | | conceited, arrogant |
| Vanguard | | front row of advancing troops |
| Vidette | | a sentry same as picket but usually on horseback |
| Virginia Quick Step | | diarrhea |
| Vittles | | food |
| Wallpapered | | drunk |
| Web Feet | | being in the infantry |
| Whipped | | beaten |
| Worm Castle | | hardtack |
| Worth a Goober | | being worth something |
| Wrathy | | angry |
| Yank | | Union soldier |
| Zu-Zu | | Zuoave soldiers |
