--- title: "6 terms you won’t believe have military origins" description: "While military slang can be fun, it's even more fun when it seeps into the common vernacular of everyday people." date: "2022-06-03" modified: "2023-05-31" authors: - name: "Blake Stilwell" job_title: "Editor-In-Chief, Air Force Veteran" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/blake/" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/popular/6-terms-have-military-origins/" categories: - "Entertainment" - "History" --- # 6 terms you won’t believe have military origins ![military slang]() There's a long history of military slang, probably dating all the way back to when the first people hit each other with sticks and rocks. While [military slang can be fun](), it's even more fun when it seeps into the common vernacular of everyday people. The only problem is when a word or phrase is too good, its origin gets lost in time, and people forget where it came from – but no longer. ## Here are just a few words and phrases that have military origins ### 1. "Best man" In the days of yore, it was quite possible that a betrothed man might lose his wife even before their wedding to any number of possible hazards – rival bands, enemy leaders, or even random highwaymen. So while he was in the middle of the ceremony, he would enlist his best swordsman to cover his back while his attention was focused elsewhere or hold off an attacking party while the new couple made their getaway. ### 2. "Boondocks" These days, to be way out in the boonies means you're out in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in the sticks. When the term was coined, it meant that too, only the actual boondocks are in the Philippines. In Tagalog, "bundok" literally translates to "mountains" so when Filipino fighters told American troops they were headed to the bundoks during the 1898 [Spanish-American War]() and the subsequent Philippine-American War, it meant they were headed to the islands' inner wilderness. ### 3. "Cowboys" ![revolutionary war cowboys]() *On their way to the first Cowboys-Patriots Super Bowl. Public domain.* Sorry, but the term "cowboy" used to define the ranchers and *[vaqueros]()* of the Old West was never actually used for those guys at the time. They were usually just called cow herders or cowhands. The term "cowboy" goes well past the 19th Century. The original cowboys were American colonists loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolution. They would band together in guerrilla units and lure other units of rebel farmers into ambushes using cowbells to coax them in. After the war, it was used to describe criminals from Texas who made raids into Mexico. ### 4. "Face the music" In the European military tradition (from which the U.S. tradition is derived), any disgraced officer who was summarily kicked out of his unit was done so in the most demeaning manner possible. As the regiment's drummer played on, the officer would have his sword broken, his buttons removed, and his charges read to the entire room. The officer was them marched across the parade ground to the tune of the "Rogue's March" toward the regimental band. ### 5. "Last ditch effort" ![last ditch effort military terms]() *Public domain* In the kind of [fighting that took place in the 16th and 17 Century](), troops didn't just maneuver around the battlefields in the open, in tight formations, wearing bright colors. I mean, they did that, but they also constructed a series of earthwork redoubts and other protective places to hold. Among these was a series of trenches they could fall back to if the stuff started hitting the fan – and they would dig many in case things went really wrong. But everyone knew by the time you got to your last one, you had to do something amazing, or everyone was likely to die in that last ditch. ### 6. "The whole nine yards" ![whole nine yards military terms]() *Loading up a P-51 Mustang.* This term appeared in the 1950s, after the end of World War II – and it has nothing to do with football or anything else where yardage is a factor. It refers to the length of the ammunition belts designed for American and British fighter planes during the war, 27 feet (or nine yards). When flying a particularly tough mission or otherwise using a lot of ammo, a pilot might have been said to use "the whole nine yards." ## Author Blake Stilwell is We Are The Mighty's Editor-in-Chief, covering military news, entertainment, and history, along with veteran education, employment and entrepreneurship. He is a former U.S. Air Force combat cameraman with degrees in Graphic Design, Television and Film, International Relations, Public Relations, Business Management and Middle Eastern Affairs. After leaving the military, he began working in film and television production in New York and Los Angeles, work that included ABC News, NBC Olympics, and HBO Sports. He then spent two years in Washington with White House Communications, before joining the Near East Foundation. At NEF he served as an International Development Fellow, then Communications Officer, and finally, Media Officer for the Middle East and Africa. Based in the Palestinian Territory, he coordinated strategic communications between eight country offices, international media, and government and NGO partners. He began a career focused on writing and editing in 2015 with We Are The Mighty. He left in 2019 for Military.com, but returned as Editor-in-Chief in 2025. Blake’s work has been seen on CBS News, Fox News, CBC, The Chicago Tribune, Task & Purpose, Military Times, Recoil, Skillset, American History, and was shockingly even used in a Supreme Court argument. He is an avid traveler and small business owner in Ohio, where he spends most of his energy fixing up a very old house. ### Author social links [Facebook]() [Twitter]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()