Embrace the Suck

Sure, everyone knows what an IED is. But how about a POG or a PUC or a TCP? Every war generates its own slang, and Austin Bay, a retired Colonel who served in Iraq, has complied a little guide entitled "Embrace the Suck": A Pocket Guide to Milspeak.

Bay writes, "At its core, warrior slang is a language of discipline and shared suffering, experiences that produce a tough human epoxy: the industrial strength social and emotional glue binding military comrades and building military units."

Some examples:

• All-American Decoy: A guard posted out in the open.
• Embrace the suck: The situation is bad, but deal with it.
• FOB: Forward Operations Base
• Fobbits: Derogatory term for soldiers who never leave a FOB.
• Hooah: U.S. Army slang. Actually a shout. Signals approval or solidarity. Means most anything except "no."
• Turkey peek: To glance around or over an object or surface, such as a corner or wall.

Additional links:

• 'Embrace the Suck' and More Military Speak from NPR
• Slang from Operation Iraqi Freedom
• Understanding Milspeak
• Origins of Hooah