# What is your favourite Military Saying



## Mediman14 (26 Mar 2021)

Throughout the years, many people came up with sayings or phrases we often hear. Some of them are good , some of them stick. What is your favourite military phrase? Is it “it’s not training unless it’s raining “ ? I always liked “ the grass is greener on the other side Because there is more manure”!


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## tomahawk6 (26 Mar 2021)

There is three ways to do something, the right way,the wrong way and the Army way.


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## ModlrMike (27 Mar 2021)

If you're five minutes early, you're ten minutes late.


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## daftandbarmy (27 Mar 2021)

Endex


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## Blackadder1916 (27 Mar 2021)

March the guilty bastard in.


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## dimsum (27 Mar 2021)

Secure.


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## RangerRay (27 Mar 2021)

“You look like 10 pounds of s*** in a 5 pound bag!”


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## Haggis (27 Mar 2021)

Embrace the suck.


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## blacktriangle (27 Mar 2021)

If we are including acronyms - Candidate Undergoing Normal Training.  

Many thanks to the Army of the West for teaching me that one...


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## OldTanker (27 Mar 2021)

Time to spare, fly Service Air


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## cavalryman (27 Mar 2021)

Smoke 'em if you got 'em

(pro tip, don't whip out a joint when the platoon warrant says that)


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## Journeyman (28 Mar 2021)

You need to focus*

* Fuck Off 'Cuz You Suck  (It wasn't said to me   )


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## trigger324 (28 Mar 2021)

“Living the dream” is pretty stupid


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## dimsum (28 Mar 2021)

trigger324 said:


> “Living the dream” is pretty stupid


I've only heard it said sarcastically.


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## mariomike (28 Mar 2021)

"Bought the farm". As in my father's last words, "I think I bought the farm." 

Origin, as I understand it, during the war, the family of a military member who was killed would use the life insurance money to pay off the mortgage on the family farm.


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## OldSolduer (28 Mar 2021)

reveng said:


> If we are including acronyms - Candidate Undergoing Normal Training.
> 
> Many thanks to the Army of the West for teaching me that one...


Oh we are quite a bunch lol


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## dimsum (28 Mar 2021)

reveng said:


> If we are including acronyms - Candidate Undergoing Normal Training.
> 
> Many thanks to the Army of the West for teaching me that one...


Not used anymore, but I've heard of Sub-Lieutenants Under Training.


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## cavalryman (28 Mar 2021)

And in that vein, we used Potential Leaders Under Great Stress when I was a lot younger.


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## Navy_Pete (28 Mar 2021)

Yesterdays Technology* Tomorrow! (*insert "Innovation", "process" etc as needed).

Maybe more on the equipment support side, when you look at the timeline between selection and implementation and realize that even if you get something cutting edge, it will be nearly obsolete when it's fully rolled out.

More recently, re: supportability plan; 'Maintaining via cannibalization'. 

Had enough shock value that it really hammered the point home, but will steal that one and use it again.

'Soup Sandwich' is probably my favourite insulting descriptor that is still acceptable, with 'bag of hammers' being a close second.


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## ModlrMike (29 Mar 2021)

I use those last two at my regular job quite frequently. Waste of rations, and oxygen thief come up from time to time.


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## FSTO (29 Mar 2021)

F****** SharePoint!


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## Good2Golf (29 Mar 2021)

Clusterfuck.


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## LittleBlackDevil (29 Mar 2021)

My favourite of the insults employed by instructors was always "you idle crow!" ... maybe that was a local one, as I don't recall hearing it in Gagetown but heard it a LOT around the Minto Armoury.

Since I began work as Supply Officer for my local cadet corps, I've become fond of the saying "There are three sizes in the army: too big, too small, and lucky."


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## stoker dave (29 Mar 2021)

"It's called a store room because this is where I store the kit you need.  If I were required to issue it to you, it would be called an 'issue room'."


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## 69yenko (29 Mar 2021)

If you're looking for sympathy it's in the dictionary between shit and syphilis. 

Or as my old SSM said about everything..  Sexual..


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## stoker dave (29 Mar 2021)

"Ignorance of the law is no excuse."

Actually, it is an excuse.  If we don't properly train people to do a job, we can't reasonably expect them to do that job.   

We don't let just anyone drive a car.  You take lessons, you take a test, you get a license.  The purpose of the lessons and test is to be sure you know the law before you are allowed to drive.


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## FJAG (29 Mar 2021)

cavalryman said:


> Smoke 'em if you got 'em
> 
> (pro tip, don't whip out a joint when the platoon warrant says that)



The full expression used to be "Hats and belts off! Smoke 'em if you got 'em!" in the days when we had hats and belts and could smoke in a lecture room.


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## daftandbarmy (29 Mar 2021)

stoker dave said:


> "Ignorance of the law is no excuse."
> 
> Actually, it is an excuse.  If we don't properly train people to do a job, we can't reasonably expect them to do that job.
> 
> We don't let just anyone drive a car.  You take lessons, you take a test, you get a license.  The purpose of the lessons and test is to be sure you know the law before you are allowed to drive.



"If my soldiers were to begin to think, not one of them would remain in the army."

Frederick the Great


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## PMedMoe (29 Mar 2021)

K.I.S.S and R.T.F.Q.


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## TCM621 (29 Mar 2021)

Some old Army ones that may have fallen out of style in the last decade or two:

Idle Crow  - Lazy bastard ie "Get moving you idle crows"
Cockjaws - Said to someone who won't shut their mouth ie "you can't keep your damn mouth shut can you, Cockjaws?"
Asseyes - Said to someone who won't won't stop eyballing you ie "What are you looking at, Asseyes?"

Other Favorites:
Soup Sandwich and Bag of hammers are classics that have already been mentioned but my favorite is "a sack (or bag) of smashed assholes"
Cow lips iced tea -   a nice soft swear to use when mildly irritated
Shitting pancakes - what TCM621 does after 25 years getting fucked  of service


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## Eaglelord17 (31 Mar 2021)

On the bus, off the bus


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## Blackadder1916 (31 Mar 2021)

daftandbarmy said:


> "If my soldiers were to begin to think, not one of them would remain in the army."
> 
> Frederick the Great


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## mariomike (3 Apr 2021)

Not really sayings, just a couple that stayed with me.

"On Time Performance". 

And our old march, "Wait for the Wagon".


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## Blackadder1916 (8 Apr 2021)

I overheard something similar yesterday and it brought back memories of when, as a young soldier, I first heard it.  Some thought it made them sufficiently bilingual for military service.

Maudit Esti Calice Tabernak!


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## OldSolduer (8 Apr 2021)

Half f*cked fox in a forest fire. 

Shake your head FFS.


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## Weinie (8 Apr 2021)

OldSolduer said:


> Half f*cked fox in a forest fire.
> 
> Shake your head FFS.


Cornwallis 1983 instructors and PERI's: 

"Give me an answer or I will beat it out of you!"

"Swim or drown, I don't care"

Not favorites, but reflects the times.


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## OldSolduer (8 Apr 2021)

Weinie said:


> Cornwallis 1983 instructors and PERI's:
> 
> "Give me an answer or I will beat it out of you!"
> 
> ...


What course number were you? I was posted there in 1983.


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## Weinie (9 Apr 2021)

OldSolduer said:


> What course number were you? I was posted there in 1983.


8309 I think. Course started on 14 March. My platoon MCpl was named MacNeil, Air Force. One PERI was Cpl Andy Mooney. Can't remember the Sgt's name. Damm, 38 years ago!


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## Good2Golf (9 Apr 2021)

Just seeing the PERI acronym gives me the shivers with memories of those green adidas track pants and white t-shirts with the rank printed in the sleeves. 😬


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## Edward Campbell (9 Apr 2021)

Good2Golf said:


> Just seeing the PERI acronym gives me the shivers with memories of those green adidas track pants and white t-shirts with the rank printed in the sleeves. 😬


And, as with the warders at detention barracks, they were addressed as Staff. "Yes, Staff, No, Staff, Sorry, Staff!"


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## dimsum (9 Apr 2021)

Edward Campbell said:


> And, as with the warders at detention barracks, they were addressed as Staff. "Yes, Staff, No, Staff, Sorry, Staff!"


I assumed it was bc they were all Staff Sgts?  At least the Brit/Aussie ones I saw while deployed were all that rank.


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## SeaKingTacco (9 Apr 2021)

Good2Golf said:


> Just seeing the PERI acronym gives me the shivers with memories of those green adidas track pants and white t-shirts with the rank printed in the sleeves. 😬


I have nothing but pain associated with my memories of PERIs...


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## Edward Campbell (9 Apr 2021)

dimsum said:


> I assumed it was bc they were all Staff Sgts?  At least the Brit/Aussie ones I saw while deployed were all that rank.


Nope, they, like the MPs in the "digger," were Ptes and Cpls (a few Sgts and, now and again, a SSgt running something big), but they were addressed as "staff."

Strangely enough, I don't recall them as "mean." They had a job to do ~ to get us fit to pass the various PT tests ~ and my memory says that most of them wanted us to succeed. I think (almost) all of us needed some help; I was good at rope climbing but I always had poor balance and I always just barely did the required number of chin-ups. I seem to recall the PTIs (what they were called before we called them PERIs) were helpful and patient as they showed me how to negotiate the balance beams and work, properly, on the parallel bars. But it was, always, run, Run, RUN and I lost count of the number of pushups after about 1,000 in the first week.


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## OldSolduer (9 Apr 2021)

Weinie said:


> 8309 I think. Course started on 14 March. My platoon MCpl was named MacNeil, Air Force. One PERI was Cpl Andy Mooney. Can't remember the Sgt's name. Damm, 38 years ago!


I didn’t get there till July. Mooney I knew.


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## RangerRay (9 Apr 2021)

SeaKingTacco said:


> I have nothing but pain associated with my memories of PERIs...


I always thought that “PERI” meant “Sadistic Franco”...


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## Good2Golf (9 Apr 2021)

I’m with Mr. Campbell; I didn’t find them mean, but they were certainly demanding. 

Today’s hip millennial PSP clipboard holder has nothing on the PERIs!


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## Weinie (9 Apr 2021)

Edward Campbell said:


> Nope, they, like the MPs in the "digger," were Ptes and Cpls (a few Sgts and, now and again, a SSgt running something big), but they were addressed as "staff."
> 
> Strangely enough, I don't recall them as "mean.*" They had a job to do ~ to get us fit to pass the various PT tests ~ and my memory says that most of them wanted us to succeed*. I think (almost) all of us needed some help; I was good at rope climbing but I always had poor balance and I always just barely did the required number of chin-ups. I seem to recall the PTIs (what they were called before we called them PERIs) were helpful and patient as they showed me how to negotiate the balance beams and work, properly, on the parallel bars. But it was, always, run, Run, RUN and I lost count of the number of pushups after about 1,000 in the first week.


Agreed. However, as a non-swimming Nova Scotia boy (and who wants to know how to swim in the Atlantic anyways, better to succumb to drowning quickly than hypothermia 5 minutes later) I struggled to pass the swim portion of basic. The routine was to jump of the diving board, tread water for two minutes, and the head to the side. For the first six weeks, each time I headed for the side (well under two minutes) a PERI would take a long white pole and push me back into the center of the pool, where I would continue to thrash. Never drowned, so I guess there was a method to their madness. Still can't swim worth shit.


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## Retired AF Guy (10 Apr 2021)

Delegate and disappear.


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## Navy_Pete (10 Apr 2021)

Retired AF Guy said:


> Delegate and disappear.


That's not just a saying, it's a philosophy to live by!

(Although I love working for people that are happy to delegate stuff to you but provide direction/support as required)


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## Rifleman62 (10 Apr 2021)

> Delegate and disappear


*Acronym: DND*


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## Maxman1 (13 Apr 2021)

Retired AF Guy said:


> Delegate and disappear.



One of the Principles of Leadership.


> Try yelling
> Move pers on and off the bus
> Yell louder and use knife hands
> Overstaff and under direct
> ...


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## Happy Guy (8 Jul 2021)

I kept hearing "Max flex" by the SrNCOs especially when it was one of the those "on the bus, off the bus" moments  - late 1980s and early 1990s.

"There's no life like! it."  I was inspired to join with that line.  Of course we adapted to saying it, in an ironic sense, when conditions were horrible and you were feeling beaten up.


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## dapaterson (8 Jul 2021)

Franco instructor on an Anglo course a quarter century ago: You all think I know fuck nothing.  But I know fuck all!


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## WLSC (8 Jul 2021)

_Get your self organise before someone organise you_ in the same sentence with _Easier to ask forgivness than permission._

Of course, alway inside the rules


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## FJAG (9 Jul 2021)

A young gunner on the range responding to my question about what the problem was with his GPMG: "The f*ckin' f*cker's f*cked, Sir".

Truly a man of few words.


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## Navy_Pete (9 Jul 2021)

FJAG said:


> A young gunner on the range responding to my question about what the problem was with his GPMG: "The f*ckin' f*cker's f*cked, Sir".
> 
> Truly a man of few words.


That was my BLUF when briefing my CO on an equipment fault at one point; that worked for him and gave us a chuckle while we figured out how to safely get alongside.


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## daftandbarmy (11 Jul 2021)

“Don’t shit in your own mess tins”.

 Applicable in a variety of situations


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## RangerRay (11 Jul 2021)

dapaterson said:


> Franco instructor on an Anglo course a quarter century ago: You all think I know fuck nothing.  But I know fuck all!




I swear to God I heard a Franco instructor say the same thing!


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## dimsum (11 Jul 2021)

RangerRay said:


> I swear to God I heard a Franco instructor say the same thing!


I'm pretty sure there's a quota system where at least one Franco instructor every course has to say it.  Gotta keep the legend going.


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## Maxman1 (12 Jul 2021)

It's basically the Franco equivalent of "Do this meow."


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## cavalryman (12 Jul 2021)

RangerRay said:


> I swear to God I heard a Franco instructor say the same thing!


Acadian warrant officer on my Ph3 Infantry (franco platoon) said it.


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## CBH99 (12 Jul 2021)

daftandbarmy said:


> “Don’t shit in your own mess tins”.
> 
> Applicable in a variety of situations


Senior CAF staff.  This.  Just this.


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## CBH99 (12 Jul 2021)

FJAG said:


> A young gunner on the range responding to my question about what the problem was with his GPMG: "The f*ckin' f*cker's f*cked, Sir".
> 
> Truly a man of few words.


Haha and in the Army (no experience in RCN or RCAF) - that sentence makes perfect sense


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## CBH99 (12 Jul 2021)




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## mariomike (12 Jul 2021)

"Keep 'em rolling."


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## Maxman1 (31 Jul 2021)

"Fill the Coleman stove with NAFTA gas."


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## OldSolduer (31 Jul 2021)

Half f*cked fox in a forest fire. 

Half f*cked fool.


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## Maxman1 (1 Aug 2021)

You already said that one.


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## Kilted (1 Aug 2021)

daftandbarmy said:


> “Don’t shit in your own mess tins”.
> 
> Applicable in a variety of situations


We probably could have avoided the majority of Op Honour if everyone followed that.


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## OldSolduer (1 Aug 2021)

Maxman1 said:


> You already said that one.


Yeah. Repetition is the key to retention,

There’s another one for you


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