| Military Slang: "Suzy Rottencrotch" and "Desert Niggers"? Compiled by Suzanne MacNevin in July 2001.
Does it not seem strange that the military combat term for Iraqis is "desert niggers"? During the Vietnam war they used the term "Charlie". "Charlie" was an unusual codename for calling the Viet Cong soldiers. "Desert nigger" however is the most RACIST word the American army could apparently think of, and that's why they used it. They used it during the Gulf War, during the war in Afghanistan and also in the war in Iraq. And they continue to use the term today (although not at official functions or when reporters are around). Even the African Americans in the US Army sometimes use the term, but dislike its use. The US Marines has another codename for a different group of people: Suzy Rottencrotch. That is what they call all women. Suzies. The idea behind the "Rottencrotch" is that women are just like men, except that their 'dicks rotted off' and now they have a gaping hole instead. So they're sexist AND racist. What other disgusting or interesting slurs does the US (and British) military use (or have used historically)? Note: Please do not send us hatemail complaining about the historical relevance/accuracy of this website. The historical facts have already been well documented on other websites. Don't believe us? Do a Google search for "military slang" and you will find plenty of military websites with whole lists of historical/modern slang used by various military units.
Lilith Adler - Neurosis/War - 1997 |
||
The all time most popular military word:Fuck.verb. fucked, fucking, fucks 1. To have sexual intercourse with. 2. To take advantage of, betray, or cheat; victimize. 3. Used in the imperative as a signal of angry dismissal. v. intr. 1. To engage in sexual intercourse. 2. To act wastefully or foolishly. 3. To interfere; meddle. Often used with with. noun. 1. An act of sexual intercourse. 2. A partner in sexual intercourse. 3. A despised person. 4. Used as an intensive: What the fuck did you do that for? interj. Used to express extreme displeasure. Phrasal Verbs: fuck off 1. Used in the imperative as a signal of angry dismissal. 2. To spend time idly. 3. To masturbate. fuck over: To treat unfairly; take advantage of. fuck up 1. To make a mistake; bungle something. 2. To act carelessly, foolishly, or incorrectly. 3. To cause to be intoxicated. The origin of "fuck" is German, world war I, etc. "Fech du" in German means "Fuck you". In Old German, fechen meant to "spread seeds" as a farmer does by scattering them, thus it came to mean "fechen auf" (fucking off) or to masturbate. (For more information on the word Fuck we recommend "Fuck: The Documentary", directed by Steve Anderson.) So what is the purpose of all of this? Well it shows that military (regardless of what war they are currently in) likes to come up with catchy (and racist/sexist) terms for their soldiers to use. But why do they create these terms? Because the soldiers feel better if they think they're superior and are shooting "worthless" people. It helps to keep them trigger happy. Like that time the US army accidentally shot 14 Iraqi police officers (their own allies). Or the time they they blew up an ambulance because they thought there was terrorists inside it (apparently it was driving too fast). Or the time they shot a reporter because they thought his video camera was a rocket launcher. Or the time they dropped a bomb on a group of 4 Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, and ever since Canada has refused to send troops to Iraq. (I believe the American who ordered the bomb to be dropped was thrown out of the US Army because he knew they were Canadians. Not much was published on that topic in the media.) Or the time they dropped several bombs on a group of Kurds and British reporters who were heading towards Baghdad to help the Americans. And numerous other "friendly fire" incidents in which the US military shot their own allies... Canadians, British, Kurds, reporters, & Iraqi police. The list of dead allies is rather long thanks to trigger-happy Americans. Maybe the Americans would have less problems convincing their allies that they are really in Iraq for "sincere" reasons if they stopped shooting allies and Iraqis all the time, and stopped using such racist terms? And while we're at it, what is it with the military and sex? They use prostitutes and rape women so often that they even have slang words to cover such topics. The "cluster fuck" for example, in which they actually gang rape a woman. They never admit to it however and the military rarely presses charges against soldiers and court martials them. How despicable has the modern military become? We know historically that armies in the past used rape as a weapon of war (it demoralizes the enemy), but do we still stoop to that level despite rape being a war-crime? Yes, we do.You don't actually expect all those American soldiers to go a whole year without SEX, do you? Iraqi prostitution is big business right now. The world is a lot worse than any of us thinks. And PLEASE don't think for a second that Iraqi prostitutes CHOOSE to get into that profession. Do you honestly think 12 year old girls dream of becoming prostitutes? No. They don't. They are forced into it by a combination of pimps and poverty. 
Click Here to see more documented evidence of soldiers torturing/raping Iraqis.
I received the following email from a member of the Canadian Armed Forces: "> I was disappointed to read that you hate the military, and that they are
And my response: "Actually, I disagree with your statement that "The military is no different than any other organisation". The military is there for a purpose, to defend the people. Just like politicians are there to lead the people. How would you feel if our politicians used racist and sexist slurs? Politicians and the military should both have the same standards for public decency. We don't allow our politicians to support racist ideas, why should we allow the military to do the same? Yes, there will always be people who discriminate, but why should people in the military be given the GREEN LIGHT to discriminate against anyone they choose? When a person joins the military, they take a vow to defend their country and its citizens. Using racist slurs doesn't help the country, it only increases future problems by making the military "look racist", because frankly members of it ARE racist. Don't you think the military should set higher standards? Racism in any form should not be tolerated. On one hand, those people have their right to their opinion, freedom of speech, etc... but on the other, they have a duty to defend the country in a HONOURABLE fashion. Members of the military who are tried in a military court and determined to be racist in their actions and/or their speech should be tossed out of the military for dishonourable conduct. Let me repeat that a different way: Racists should be tossed out of the military for dishonourable conduct and for giving the military a bad name. Strange how the word "military" starts to sound like a bad word itself when you realize that members of it are sometimes racists and get away with it. I don't intend to generalize about the military and the many fine people who do their duty without inflicting unnecessary harm. But what I do want to point out is that there is still many members of the military who do get away with it, whether it be racism, sexism , classism, religious discrimination or otherwise. And sadly other members of the military often ignore these faults because they don't want to "rock the boat, especially when they're sitting in it".
Standard Hatemail We've Received: And so I've decided to post my Standard Response in advance: So you are asking us to censor the website because it hurts your delicate sensibilities? Nope, sorry. While you may disagree with the terminology on this website, please remember that NOT ALL people use those words. Don't generalize. A lot of the terms listed are historical in origin and no longer used. Some of the words were only used during the Vietnam or Korean wars, or even WWI and WWII and thus the website is still important for historical reasons. But some people in the military do use some of those words. Maybe not YOU, but others do. Quite likely some of the people who tortured Iraqi prisoners used MANY of those words and invented a few new ones. Remember, censoring history would be every bit as callous and cruel as saying "The Holocaust didn't happen." or "The British didn't deliberately exterminate 90 million Native Americans and steal their land." Anyone who is Jewish or Native American should get very upset at such statements. I've noted in the past that this website does get quite a few complaints from soldiers and ex-soldiers. The website itself is not slandering the profession of being a soldier. Keep this in mind. It is merely pointing out historical terminology that has been used by some soldiers in the past and saying "Shame on you! Boo!" If it was a website about German WWII slang used to describe Jews and Africans, would you still be as upset? No, not likely. If a German officer who had served in WWII told me to censor it, do you think I would? No, definitely not. So why should I censor it for you? The only reason people are upset and complaining now is because of the 2002-2006 wars in the middle east, which is shining a light on American/British racism. This website is a historical example that we can be every bit as racist as Germany was during WWII. How can you measure racism? You can't. How many millions of Jews, Native Americans and Arabs killed/raped/exterminated does it take to make something racist? Racism cannot be measured with mere numbers. | ||
|
