The military has always had its own argot (slang). The armies of the far future should be no different. Some of these terms are from the real U.S. Army, others are from G.W.’s fluff, and some are my own invention.
| AAA | Anti-Aircraft Artillery (see Triple-A) |
| AFV | Armored Fighting Vehicle |
| Alpha Charlie | ‘Ass Chewing‘ – A verbal reprimand |
| Amasec | A widely available and highly alcoholic beverage distilled from wine. |
| Angel | 250 meters of altitude (Dive to 10 Angels then begin your drop run) |
| AO | Area of Operation |
| APC | Armored Personnel Carrier |
| AP | Armor Piercing |
| APFSDSDU | Armor Piercing, Fin Stabilized, Discarding Sabot, Depleted Uranium (pronounced App-Fizz-Due) |
| Aquila | The Imperial Two-Headed Eagle |
| ASAP | As Soon As Possible |
| AT | Anti-tank |
| Augmetic | Cybernetic/Bionic, usually in the sense of body implants or repairs. |
| AWOL | Away With Out Leave |
| Baby Ogryn | Catachan trooper |
| Barracks Ghost | A trooper who never leaves the barracks for anything other than duty, drills, or chow and then complains how boring the duty post is. |
| BBs | Batteries and Beans, supplies. |
| Big Daddy | Typically the largest Imperial Navy ship in orbit over a contested world |
| Big Mama | The dropship that ferried an Imperial Guard unit to the surface (See Mama Bird) |
| Big V | Vacuum, Open Space |
| Bird | A flight-capable vehicle, either atmospheric or space-worthy |
| Bin Rats | Quartermaster Corps personnel, notorious for refusing to issue anything (“it’s called stores because we store stuff! If we was meant to issue it, we’d call it issues wouldn’t we?”) |
| Black Eagle Brotherhood | Imperial Guard, especially troopers from regiments other than one’s own. |
| Black on… | Out of some supply or commodity (as in black on promethium) |
| Bleed Out | To die of blood loss before medical attention can be given. |
| Blood Stripes | A promotion received as a result of the death of the person who previously held the position |
| Blueskins | Tau (See Spoonheads) |
| Blunt | Sanctioned Psyker slang for a non-telepath, a non-combat rating in the Imperial Guard |
| Bone ‘Ead | Ogryn sergeant that underwent augmentation surgery to improve cognition; also a derogatory description of an inept officer or non-commissioned officer (NCO) |
| Broken Toys | Battlefield hulks, wrecked vehicles |
| Bugs | Tyranids |
| Burn Bag | A bag used to contain documents to be destroyed; also refers to an inept officer. |
| Buy the Farm | To die in combat (see Win the Big Prize) |
| Calling Friends | To request artillery support |
| Calling Friends in High Places | To request ortillery support |
| CAP | Combat Air Patrol |
| Casualty | Both wounded & dead personnel |
| Catachan Leave | To go AWOL |
| Catachan Kiss | A head butt |
| CATFU | Completely And Totaly Frakked Up |
| CCP | Casualty Collection Point |
| CDR | Commander |
| CFV | Cavalry Fighting Vehicle |
| Charlie | Chaos |
| Charlie Mike | Chaos Marines |
| Chart Desk/Chart Table | A small, portable easel-like device for displaying tactical hololithic maps and three-dimensional terrain models. A chart desk is a heavier and usually non-portable version |
| Cherry | New; can refer to new personnel or new equipment (friendly or enemy) |
| Chest Candy | Medals and other decorations |
| Chow | Military Rations |
| CinC | Commander in Chief |
| CO | Commanding Officer |
| Cogitator | Device empowered by the Machine Spirit to perform complex calculations and battlefield metriculations. Also Codifier or Logic Engine |
| COL | Colonel |
| Comics | Maps presented by Guard intelligence. The term is a slight against the accuracy of the maps. It also refers to the brightly colored layouts and symbols usually included. |
| ‘Commissioned By Mom’ | An incompetent officer of noble origins (by way of explaining how he achieved officer rank) |
| ComSec | Communications Security (scrambling, channel hopping, limiting signal interception, etc.) |
| Cooker | Meltagun or Plasma Gun |
| Counterseptic | Antiseptic and analgesic fluid that is used to combat infection. |
| CP | Command Post |
| CPL | Corporal |
| CPT | Captain |
| Dataslate | Handheld device used to store and transfer information, imagery, and orders |
| DC (Delta Charlie) | Damage Control |
| Dear John | A term referring to a significant other breaking up with a service member through a letter. |
| Det-Tape | Tape peeled off to detonate tube charges (time delay determined by the length of the tape.) Also used as a general-purpose detonator material. |
| Do a Deuce | Perform a special operations mission. |
| ‘Do A Yarrick’ | To take a trophy from a dead enemy. |
| Dog and Pony Show | A demonstration that takes troopers away from their normal duties intended to impress senior officers or important civilians. |
| Doormat Mission | slang for the duties involved in preparing a landing zone for following forces. The term refers to the mythical last step in this type of mission: “Be sure to put out the doormat.” |
| Dustoff | A quick takeoff after landing. Often refers to casualty evacuation flights. |
| DZ | Drop Zone |
| Emperor’s Benediction | A euphemism for a Mercy Killing. |
| Empyrean | Warp-Space |
| Engineseer | A Techpriest of the Adeptus Mechanicus charged with tending the machine spirits of a regiment’s vehicles. |
| End of Discussion | Often used by colonels or lieutenant colonels when addressing majors, captains, or lieutenants. Simply stated, it means “shut your face, don’t say another word, do it my way, and the door is that way.” Sergeants prefer to use a longer, more colorful version. |
| EOD | Explosives Ordnance Disposal |
| EPW | Enemy Prisoner of War |
| Expectant | A casualty who is expected to die |
| Farmer Armor | Improvised armored vehicles |
| Feth | (v) to copulate (vulgar, Tanith) |
| Flak Board | General Purpose Sheet Material for defense and repair. Fitted to the inside walls of defensive positions to prevent spalling material dislodged by weapon impacts from causing injury. |
| FNG | Fraking New Guy |
| FO | Forward Observer. (Occupies the OP & watches for enemy movement, also directs artillery or ortillery strikes) |
| Fortress World | A heavily garrisoned planet and equipped with first-rate defensive equipment like deep meson sites. These worlds can hold off almost any force. (e.g., Cadia) |
| Found Wanting | A euphemism for field execution by a Commissar; “He was found wanting at the front line.” |
| ‘Foxed’ | Destroyed, from call sign ‘November Foxtrot’ or Non-Functional |
| Frak | (v) copulate (vulgar, Valhallan) |
| Frag | (n) Fragmentation grenade; (v) Throw a frag grenade; (v) To kill an unpopular NCO or Officer |
| Freak | Abhuman, sanctioned psyker, or non-human |
| Freak Squad | Abhuman, Sanctioned Psyker or non-human unit (such as Ratling Snipers, Ogryns, or Kroot mercenaries) |
| Freek | Frequency (radio; also, freq) |
| FUBAR | Fraked Up Beyond All Recognition |
| Fyceline | Principal chemical ingredient used in the manufacture of standard Imperial Guard explosives. |
| Gak | (n) excrement (vulgar, Valhallan) |
| Garri-trooper | Rear echelon or garrison personnel, especially those who try to pass themselves off as something more heroic. |
| Ghosts | Troopers from a planet that has been destroyed or lost to Chaos. |
| GOFO | “grasp of the frakking obvious“ |
| Greenskin | Slang for an Orkoid |
| Grubby (pl. Grubbies) | Low Tech opposition forces |
| Grunt | Infantryman |
| Guard Proof | An overly simple task or way of doing things or sturdy gear. Stems from the stereotype that Imperial Guardsmen are slow-witted or unable to handle complex operations or hard on equipment. Slightly pejorative. |
| Gun | A mortar or artillery piece. Never used to describe a pistol or rifle. |
| Gun Baby | Whiteshield, or Conscript. |
| Gun Bunny | Female Trooper |
| HALO | High Altitude, Low Opening (refers to parachuting) |
| HE | High Explosive |
| HEAP | High Explosive, Anti-Personnel |
| HEAT | High Explosive, Anti-Tank |
| Hell World | A planet lost to the Archenemy (Chaos) |
| Hive | Arcology; a city contained in a single structure, some hives host populations in excess of 1 billion souls. |
| Hololithic | Three-Dimensional Imagery. |
| Hot | An area experiencing combat |
| House Specials | Private troops retained by nobles – quality varies from laughable to elite |
| ‘How copy?’ | Did you receive/understand the transmission? The proper response is, “Good copy.” |
| IFV | Infantry Fighting Vehicle |
| ‘IHTFP’ | Imperial guardsmen tell their officers this means “I have truly found paradise” – they are lying |
| Imperial Infantryman’s Uplifting Primer | Standard text manual issued to every Guardsmen, containing proper procedure for everything from marching to bayoneting techniques. Also includes prescribed prayers and hymnals. |
| ImpNav | Imperial Navy |
| ‘In Country’ | The battle zone / Area of Operations in a foreign country / region / world |
| Ink Stick | Pen |
| Interior Guards | General Term for internal security forces, a world’s PDF, or a Guard Regiment assigned colonial duties. |
| Iron Rations | Emergency rations used for survival situations |
| JAFO | Joint Arms Forward Observer (or more colorfully – Just Another Fraking Observer) |
| Jar-heads | Marines |
| Juvenat | As in “Juvenat Processes” or “Juvenant Drugs,” Techniques of prolonging youth and virility. Usually, highly expensive and reserved for senior officers or Imperial Nobility. |
| Kentucky Long Rifle | Another name for the LongLas (q.q.v.) derivation is unknown but believed to trace back to Holy Terra. |
| KIA | Killed In Action |
| Klom (also Klick) | Kilometer (1000 standard Imperial meters) (Valhallan) |
| Lamp Pack | Standard Guard Issue, compact lamp with internal (limited) power supply, designed to be handheld, or fixed onto a lasgun’s bayonet lugs. |
| Leftovers | An incomplete squad built from the remnants of squads that have suffered casualties. |
| Leg | Infantryman (pejorative nickname given to ground soldiers by Airborne troops) |
| LEO | Low Earth Orbit |
| Lho Sticks | An addictive, mild, narcotic rolled into a compact tube and smoked by guardsmen. Officio Medicae personnel have warned that they may cause respiratory damage. |
| Longlas | Any model lasgun modified or designed for sniper use. (As the name implies, they are usually longer than standard pattern weapons.) Also called Kentucky Long Rifles |
| Lords of Space | Marines (derogatory) |
| LOS | Line Of Sight |
| LP | Listening Post |
| LRM | Long-Range Missile |
| LRRP | Long Range Recon Patrol |
| LTC | Lieutenant Colonel |
| LZ | Landing Zone |
| Magnoculars | A powerful optical device for the magnification of distant objects. Can be modified to varying levels of complexity, with range finders, azimuth metriculators, and heat-sensing equipment. |
| Mama Bird | The dropship that ferried an Imperial Guard unit to the surface (See Big Mama) |
| MBT | Main Battle Tank (typically a Leman Russ or variant) |
| Meat Wagon | An ambulance or any other medical emergency vehicle. |
| Mess | Military Dining Facility |
| MIA | Missing In Action |
| Microbead | (also Micro bead link, micro bead intercom) small, short-range Vox system for inter-trooper communications in the field. Generally only found on regiments from civilized or industrialized worlds. Usually, a small earplug with a tiny wire mouth stalk. |
| MIF | Mechanized Infantry Force |
| Mike | Minutes |
| MilInt | Military Intelligence |
| Missile Monkey | Artilleryman |
| MM | Mini Missile |
| MRE | Meal Ready to Eat (Field Rations); pejoratively Meals Rejected by Everyone |
| MRL | Multiple Rocket Launcher |
| MRM | Medium Range Missile |
| MSGT | Master Sergeant |
| Multikey | Universal key/lock pick |
| Mustang | A nickname for an officer promoted from the enlisted ranks. Can be respectful when used by enlisted ranks and seasoned officers or pejorative when used by career-oriented and/or snooty academy-trained officers. |
| NCO | An addictive, mild narcotic rolled into a compact tube and smoked by guardsmen. Officio Medicae personnel have warned that they may cause respiratory damage. |
| ‘Nine Seventies’ | Imperial Guard issue entrenching tool, derived from its standard Imperial catalog number ‘M-970’ |
| Obscura | An illegal, highly addictive Narcotic |
| Old Boots | Long service guardsmen |
| Old Man | Commanding Officer – one term of many |
| One-way Ticket | Assignation to a grav chute or drop pod landing. “To be given a one-way ticket.” |
| OP | Observation Post (pronounced “Opie”) |
| OpFor | Opposing Force |
| OpSec | Operational Security (not giving/making available to the enemy information about your plans, movements, state of repair/supply, etc.) |
| Ortillery | Orbital Artillery, Orbital Bombardment of a target |
| ‘Out’ | All radio transmissions end in “Out” when the sender does not expect a reply from the receiver (never used with ‘over’ as in ‘over and out’ since this would mean ‘I am done talking and await your reply, and I am signing off and will not acknowledge any reply’) |
| ‘Over’ | All radio transmissions end in “Over” when the sender expects a reply from the receiver. Never used with ‘out’ as in ‘over and out’ since this would mean ‘I am done talking and await your reply, and I am signing off and will not acknowledge any reply.’ |
| Padre | Chaplain (without regard to religious affiliation) |
| Planetary Defense Forces | |
| PFC | Private First Class (or, Private Frakin’ Civilians) |
| Pict | A video feed equivalent of vox. |
| Plank | Idiot; a derogatory term for an Ogryn. |
| Pop Smoke | Call for extraction. |
| POW | Prisoner Of War. (See EPW). |
| Promethium | A general term for fuel, but commonly used to refer to the highly volatile and incendiary jelly used as fuel in flamer units. Designed to adhere to the target and rapidly immolate them. Promethium reaches extremely high temperatures within seconds of ignition and even burns underwater. |
| PT | Physical Training, typically 1 Hour or more of mixed workout (running, cardio, strength exercises). |
| Red Team | A red team is an independent group that challenges an organization to improve its effectiveness; also a body of subject matter experts tasked with researching and suggesting alternative methods regarding a planned course of action. |
| REMF | Reserve Echelon Maintenance Forces (or more colorfully – Rear Echelon Mother Frakkers, typically used by combat troops to insultingly refer to supply, maintenance, admin, etc. personnel.) |
| Resuscitrex | Officio Medicae device incorporating a number of specialized devices, most frequently used to fibrillate patients who have suffered Cardiac Arrest. |
| Roast Whatsit | Term for unidentifiable meals served in mess halls |
| Rocket Team | Binomial heavy weapons team armed with a man-portable missile launcher |
| ROE | Rules Of Engagement |
| ‘Roger’ | Vox shorthand for “I understand” (Note “Roger” and “Wilco” should never be used together, i.e. “Roger Wilco“) |
| RPG | Rocket Propelled Grenade |
| Ruinous Powers | Chaos gods |
| SAD | Search And Destroy |
| SAR | Search And Rescue |
| Savlar | A thief or drug addict. From the name of the penal world of Salvar |
| SAW | Squad Assault Weapon |
| Scrambled | Insane, shell shocked. |
| Scrambled Eggs | The embellishments on some officers’ caps. |
| Scope | General term for powered spotter sights, including the telescopic sights on a longlas, or a handheld “telescope” used by an officer. |
| Screamer-Killer | Tyranid “Carnifex” genus. |
| SEAL | Sea, Ether, Air & Land; type of special forces troops |
| SFC | Sergeant First Class |
| SGT | Sergeant |
| Shell | Carapace Armor, also artillery |
| Short | A trooper nearing the end of his enlistment |
| Sierra | Sniper |
| SitRep | Situation Report |
| Six | Behind you (“Check your Six“) |
| Skellies | Necrontyr (see Toasters) |
| Slap | Disciplined by a senior officer for minor infractions (possession of unauthorized publications, for instance.) |
| SMG | Sub-Machinegun |
| Smoked | Destroyed, also a particularly one-sided engagement as in ‘We smoked the Tau at Gatorsville’ |
| Snake Eater | Member of a standing Kill Team |
| SNAFU | Situation Normal, All Frakked Up |
| SPA | Self-propelled artillery as opposed to towed artillery. An artillery gun mounted on a motorized chassis. |
| Sparks, Sparky | Anyone who deals with radios or things electronic. |
| Spook | Tyranid “Lictor” Genus |
| Spoonheads | Tau (see Blueskins) |
| Spyrers | Upper-class Hive-worlders |
| Squared Away | cleaned up; in military shape; ready for inspection. |
| Squawk | Transmit |
| SRM | Short Range Missile |
| SSG | Staff Sergeant |
| ‘Stand By’ | Wait for instructions/approval. |
| ‘Stand Ready’ | Get prepared for action. |
| ‘Stand To’ | Proceed to action/battle stations & be ready to take action if warranted by the situation. |
| Super Wammy-dyne | New or experimental technology |
| Sweeper/Sweeper Set/Sweeper Broom | Man-portable Mine Detector. |
| Tango | Traitor |
| Target Discrimination | The capability of a surveillance or guidance system to choose certain targets when multiple options are presented. |
| TDX | A gravitationally polarized explosive that channels the blast along a plane parallel to the local gravity field. Blast effects can be extreme in that plane but nonexistent even at minor heights. |
| ‘The Emperor Protects’ | Common soldiers’ blessing or refrain. |
| “The Green” | Jungle Terrain (Catachan), Deathworld Class Jungle. |
| Those People | The enemy |
| Titans | War machines of the Collegio Titanicus |
| TNN | ‘Trooper News Network,’ barracks gossip |
| Toasters | Necrontyr (see Skellies) |
| TOC | Tactical Operations Center |
| Top | Senior NCO of a company |
| Torch | Flamer |
| Toy Soldiers, Glory Boys | Storm Troopers, Special Operations teams |
| Tread Fether | Man-portable, shoulder-launched anti-tank weapon. (Tanith phrase) |
| Triple-A | Anti Aircraft Artillery (see AAA) |
| Trooper Eggs | Drop pods |
| Tube Charges | 20cm (approx) long metal tubes filled with explosives for demolition work or grenades type work. |
| Twist | Imperial Slang for a mutant. |
| Voluntold | Man-portable, shoulder-launched anti-tank weapon. (Tanith phrase) |
| Vox Caster | A powerful, usually backpack carried, communications gear. “A vox set“ |
| Vox Officer | Member of a squad or platoon trained to carry the vox caster and operate it and other communications systems. The general term for this branch of specialization is “Signals.“ |
| Warp | See Warp-Space, analogous to ‘hell’ in modern English as in “To the Warp with that!” |
| Warp-Space | An alternate reality where time and physical laws don’t apply – used to traverse interstellar distances. Home to many chaos entities. |
| Weepers | The Imperial Guard’s notoriously inefficient morale corps |
| WIA | Wounded In Action |
| Win a Dirty Medal | Die doing something heroic – something that would likely win a commendation. |
| Win the Big Prize | Die in combat (see Buy the Farm) |
| ‘Wilco’ | “(understood,) Will Comply (with instructions)” (Note “Roger” and “Wilco” should never be used together, i.e., “Roger Wilco“) |
| World, the | Your hometown/homeland/homeworld |
| WP | White Phosphorous (a.k.a. “Pappy’s Whiskey”) |
| XO | Executive Officer (unit second in command) |
613th Lyubov Rifles 