Ever get lost in translation during those Vietnam movies and/or video games?
Well, I'm going to help some of you out. Here is Everything2's very own Vietnam Lexicon!
(Under Construction: Dated: Friday 21 April 9:54 PM)
(Another note: If there's anything you would like to
see added, please feel free to message me.)
A
ACAV - Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle
AF - Air Force
Agent Blue - Herbicide created to destroy vegitation
Agent Orange - Herbicide created to destroy vegitation
Agent White - Herbicide created to destroy vegitation
Air Cav - Air Cavalry (Helicopters)
AO - Area of Operations
AP - Armor Piercing
APC - Armored Personnel Carrier
Arty - Artillery
ASAP - As Soon As Possible
ARVN - Army of the Republic of Vietnam
AWOL - Absensce Without Official Leave
B
BAR - Browning Automatic Rifle
Bird - Any aircraft, usually a helicopter
Bloop Gun - See "M-79"
Boondocks - Wild and dense jungle, rural country.
Boonies - See "Boondocks"
Bouncing Betty - Anti-personnel mine
C
Charles - See "Vietcong"
Cherry - Green troops
CIDG - Civillian Irregular Defense Group
Claymore - Anti-personnel mine
CO - 1. Commanding Officer 2. Conscientious Objector
CP - Command Post
C-Ration - Combat Ration, Canned food
CS - Tear gas
D
Dustoff - Medical evacuation by helicopter
E
Evac - Evacuate
Exfil - Exfiltrate
F
FIGMO - Fuck it, I Got My Orders
FNG - Fucking New Guy
Frag - Fragmentation Grenade
FUBAR - Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition (Roots in WWII)
G
Gook - Slang for anyone of Asian descent
Greased - See "KIA"
H
Hanoi Hilton - Hoa Loa Prison in Hanoi
HE - High Explosive
Ho Chi Minh - North Vietnamese Communist leader
Ho Chi Minh Trail - North Vietnamese supply route through
the neutral countries of Laos and Cambodia into South
Vietnam
Hootch - Living quarters, bunker
HQ - Headquarters
Hump - 1. To carry 2. To march
I
J
K
K-Bar - Combat knife
KIA - Killed in Action
Klick - Kilometer
L
LAW - Light Anti-tank Weapon
Lit Up - See "KIA"
LLDB - Luc Loung Dac Biet (South Vietnamese Special Forces)
LP - Listening Post
LZ - Landing Zone
M
M-16 - American small arm, 6.5 lbs, 5.56mm round
M-60 - American light machine gun, 18.75 lbs, 7.62mm round
M-79 - American grenade launcher, around 6.5 lbs, 40mm round
MAC-SOG - Military Assisstance Command Studies and Observations
group
MACV - Military Assisstance Command Vietnam
MIA - Missing in Action
MP - Military Police
N
Napalm - Incendiary bomb created to deplete oxygen and to
not burn out.
NCO - Non-commissioned Officer
NLF - National Liberation Front
NV - 1. North Vietnam 2. North Vietnamese
NVA - North Vietnamese Army
O
P
PAVN - People's Army of Vietnam
PTSD - Post-Traumatioc Stress Disorder
Q
R
RPG - Rocket Propelled Grenade
RTO - Radio Telephone Operator
S
Seabees - Naval Engineers
Sitrep - Situation Report
SNAFU - Situation Normal, All Fucked Up
SOP - Standard Operationg Procedure
SV - 1. South Vietnam 2. South Vietnamese
T
Tet - Vietnamese Lunar New Year
TOC - Tactical Operations Center
Toe Popper - Booby trapped grenade usually set off by
tripping a wire.
Made to blow off toes and feet.
U
USAF - United Stayes Air Force
USMC - United States Marine Corps
V
VC - See "Vietcong"
Victor Charlie - See "Vietcong"
Vietcong - South Vietnamese communist guerillas
Ville - Village
W
White Phosphorous - Incendiary grenade
Willie Peter - See "White Phosphorous"
X
Y
Yard - Montagnard Soldier
Z
Zapped - See "KIA"