Cushy, Kiwi, camouflage and (aptly) lost generation: The top 100 words and phrases given to us by WWI are listed by the Oxford English Dictionary
- Rudyard Kipling was first to use the Urdu word cushy meaning easy
- War effort was coined in Great War as was rationing (1915), propaganda film (1916) and home front (1917)
- Term First World War mentioned in a diary in September 1918
To commemorate the centenary of the First World War, the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary have selected 100 words first recorded in, popularised during, or coined as a result of the Great War.
Surprisingly, the term First World War was recorded two months before the end of the conflict in a diary entry from 10 September 1918.
Most would think that the term did not appear until the Second World War when the scale of the first war became apparent.
The term First World War was recorded two months before the end of the conflict in a diary entry from 10 September 1918
A number of terms which are now mainly associated with the Second World War are shown to date back to the First, including demob (1918), foxhole (1915 in the military sense), and strategic bombing (1918).
The word cootie, meaning a body louse, originated in the trenches in 1917. New research shows that coot meaning ‘louse’ and cooty meaning ‘infested with lice’ were used earlier in the war, in 1915.
All are ultimately related to the bird called a coot: the phrase as lousy as a coot (referring to the reputation of these birds for being lice-infested) dates back to the 19th Century.
The word cushy was borrowed from Urdu by the British military in India; the first recorded use in English is by Rudyard Kipling in 1887, in the sense ‘easy-going’.
The Yorkshire & Lancashire Regiment off the Front Line. A number of terms which are now mainly associated with the Second World War are shown to date back to the First, including demob (1918), foxhole (1915 in the military sense), and strategic bombing (1918)
The term became widespread in the First World War, first in military slang, then in general colloquial usage, in a variety of senses including ‘easy’ and ‘comfortable’.
German was largely the source of loanwords referring to weapons and vehicles, such as minenwerfer (and the diminutive Minnie), and U-boat.
By contrast, the influence of French was more idiosyncratic; many of the French words used by soldiers at the front were informal phrases that were mispronounced forms of common French expressions, such as Alleyman (from Allemand, ‘a German’), no bon (‘no good’), toot sweet – or even the tooter the sweeter (from tout de suite, ‘straightaway’).
Viva la France: Many of the French words used by soldiers at the front were informal phrases that were mispronounced forms of common French expressions, such as no bon (¿no good¿) and the tooter the sweeter (from tout suite, ¿straightaway¿)
Sir James Murray, the first editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, in his Scriptorium at Banbury Road, Oxford
The sense that those back home are contributing to the war effort was first created in the First World War. War effort itself is a coinage of World War One, as are rationing (1915), propaganda film (1916), and home front (1917).
OED chief editor Michael Proffitt said: ‘As a historical dictionary of the English language, the OED also serves as a record of social history. On the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, we have revisited and revised the dictionary’s coverage of the language and history associated with the War.
‘As might be expected of such a prolonged global conflict, the scale and breadth of words associated with the First World War is vast.
'We have selected words that characterize the conflict: its technological innovations, its international scope, its impact on military and civilian life, and its enduring historical legacy.
'Some are familiar, others forgotten, but together they compellingly evoke the linguistic crucible of war.’
- The 100 Words that Define the First World War can be found in an animated timeline on the Oxford Dictionaries website: http://oxford.ly/ww1word
THE OED'S 100 WORDS THAT DEFINE THE FIRST WORLD WAR
Names for the war
first world war
Kaiser’s war (also Kaiser Bill’s war)
war to end all wars
Military strategy & terminology
storm troop/storm trooper
trenchoscope or trenchperiscope
Life in the trenches
Domestic and civilian life
ration n. 3d
The war of remembrance
unknown soldier/unknown warrior
The international war
Soldiers speaking french
over the top
zeppelins in a cloud
Life in the trenches
the Allies (ally n. 2c)
League of Nations
Most watched News videos
- Horrific video of men with women and child before execution
- 'He's a solid guy': Steve Bannon on Tommy Robinson
- Foulmouthed woman lashes out racial slurs in road rage incident
- 'Whatever you do is OK with us!' Trump reassures May on Brexit
- 'I understand why people think Trump is racist': Sadiq Khan
- Inspiring woman with cerebral palsy has the voice of an angel
- Hannity tries to stump anti-Trump protestors in London
- President Donald Trump refuses to take question from CNN reporter
- The Queen welcomes the Trumps to Windsor Castle
- Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrive in Scotland
- Donald Trump breaches royal protocol when meeting the Queen
- 'Trump told me I should sue the EU': Prime Minister Theresa May