What does G.I. stand for?

I always thought that the US term for kitchen duty was "KP" (Kitchen Patrol), in the UK armed forces it was always called (AFAIK) "jankers".

In some old WW11 movies, I've heard some soldiers (or maybe marines) call themselves something like "Jyrene" (sp?) or some such, where does that come from?
 
Lensman said:
I always thought that the US term for kitchen duty was "KP" (Kitchen Patrol), in the UK armed forces it was always called (AFAIK) "jankers".

In some old WW11 movies, I've heard some soldiers (or maybe marines) call themselves something like "Jyrene" (sp?) or some such, where does that come from?
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Gyrene- while dating back before WWII, it is thought to be a compilation of G.I. and Marine, hence Gyrene.

Also other popular monikers for U.S. Marines:

Leatherneck-

Devil Dogs/Teufelhunden-

Grunt-

Jarhead/Jughead-
 
Bell said:
It is possible I made that up myself, trying to figure out what G.I. stands for. It was way back in ye olde days before the interwebs :)
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No, I was the first to bring up General Infantry in this thread, because it's what I was told when I was a kid. I think my dad told me, although he was an officer in the Australian army, where the term "GI" is not used as far as I am aware. He appears to have been wrong.
 
Jankers, if I understand correctly, is whatever nasty punishment the NCO can dream up - not restricted to kitchen duties.
 
Cicero said:
Wrong on both counts. The Willys/Ford Jeep name was orignally a carton character called "Eugene the Jeep".
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This almost certainly isn't true.

The term "Jeep" was well established in military jargon long before Eugene the Jeep appeared, and was applied to raw recruits or untested vehicles. When the vehicle was first given to the military for testing they called it a "Jeep" because it didn't have a name, and was untested. Civilian visitors, unfamiliar with the tradition behind the name, would have assumed it was a pop culture reference (wrongly associating traditional terms with coincidental pop culture references is also quite common).

The Ford designation for the vehicle was indeed GP (G for Government, P designating its 80-inch wheelbase).

The first real "public" use of the term Jeep was when it was driven up the US Capitol steps. Katherine Hillyer asked what it was called, and the test driver said the soldiers called it a "jeep" which they did, because it was a generic name for any untested vehicle.

It was only after Hillyer's article was published in the Washington Daily News that the term "Jeep" became the standard term applied exclusively to that vehicle.

The "Eugene the Jeep" story was probably a case of people unfamiliar with the preexisting "Jeep" military term trying to retroactively apply an explanation for the military name for the vehicle.

This is not uncommon, the words "mayhem" and "commando" both changed their meanings dramatically due to people misunderstanding a newspaper article.
 
gumboot said:
This almost certainly isn't true.

The term "Jeep" was well established in military jargon long before Eugene the Jeep appeared, and was applied to raw recruits or untested vehicles. When the vehicle was first given to the military for testing they called it a "Jeep" because it didn't have a name, and was untested. Civilian visitors, unfamiliar with the tradition behind the name, would have assumed it was a pop culture reference (wrongly associating traditional terms with coincidental pop culture references is also quite common).

The Ford designation for the vehicle was indeed GP (G for Government, P designating its 80-inch wheelbase).

The first real "public" use of the term Jeep was when it was driven up the US Capitol steps. Katherine Hillyer asked what it was called, and the test driver said the soldiers called it a "jeep" which they did, because it was a generic name for any untested vehicle.

It was only after Hillyer's article was published in the Washington Daily News that the term "Jeep" became the standard term applied exclusively to that vehicle.

The "Eugene the Jeep" story was probably a case of people unfamiliar with the preexisting "Jeep" military term trying to retroactively apply an explanation for the military name for the vehicle.

This is not uncommon, the words "mayhem" and "commando" both changed their meanings dramatically due to people misunderstanding a newspaper article.
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I think you have confused the term "Jeep," the amorphous slang term:

1) From the Saturday Evening Post of 16 July 1938:
For a foolish or inexperienced person.

2) From a 1941 article in Jimmy Cannon’s Nobody Asked Me:
A recruit or basic trainee.

3) The New York Times July 31, 1938.
In this case Jeep is being used to refer to a tank, not the M38.

and how this particular vehicle and the character "JEEP" came together. Irving Hausmann, the civilian Willys-Overland engineer, the very same test-driver who replied to Hilyer it's a "Jeep," was not referring to what you beleive to be the inspiration for the term. He was testing the vehicle at Camp Holabird, MD where other soldiers, who had seen the 1940 "Popeye Presents Eugene the Jeep," and had christened the vehicle "Jeep" because it could go anywhere just like the cartoon character. Prior to this, the prototype M38's were called "Combat Car", "Reconnaissance Car", "Bantam", "Quad", "Peep", "Pygmy" and "Blitz Buggy", but there is nothing about any referance to it being called "Jeep" until after the cartoon and film short.

During this period Disney characters, Warner Brothers cartoons, and Max Fleischer's Popeye had become very prominent in U.S. military culture. This vehicle was loved by those who helped develop it (these were not WWI veterans) and their affection for it was demonstrated by naming it after a beloved cartoon figure. For you to dismiss this connection with some baseless commentary about the ignorance of civilians and their dependence on pop culture regarding military jargon is what "almost certainly isn't true." Apparently many G.I.'s, including Gunny Lee Ermey, of The History Channel's "Mail Call," also subscribe to the "Eugene The Jeep" connection and poo poo your "coincidental" theory.

From your own wiki source:

Many, including Ermey, suggest that soldiers at the time were so impressed with the new vehicles that they informally named it after Eugene the Jeep, a character in the Popeye cartoons that "could go anywhere."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep
 
Cicero said:
I think you have confused the term "Jeep," the amorphous slang term:

1) From the Saturday Evening Post of 16 July 1938:
For a foolish or inexperienced person.

2) From a 1941 article in Jimmy Cannon’s Nobody Asked Me:
A recruit or basic trainee.

3) The New York Times July 31, 1938.
In this case Jeep is being used to refer to a tank, not the M38.

and how this particular vehicle and the character "JEEP" came together. Irving Hausmann, the civilian Willys-Overland engineer, the very same test-driver who replied to Hilyer it's a "Jeep," was not referring to what you beleive to be the inspiration for the term. He was testing the vehicle at Camp Holabird, MD where other soldiers, who had seen the 1940 "Popeye Presents Eugene the Jeep," and had christened the vehicle "Jeep" because it could go anywhere just like the cartoon character. Prior to this, the prototype M38's were called "Combat Car", "Reconnaissance Car", "Bantam", "Quad", "Peep", "Pygmy" and "Blitz Buggy", but there is nothing about any referance to it being called "Jeep" until after the cartoon and film short.

During this period Disney characters, Warner Brothers cartoons, and Max Fleischer's Popeye had become very prominent in U.S. military culture. This vehicle was loved by those who helped develop it (these were not WWI veterans) and their affection for it was demonstrated by naming it after a beloved cartoon figure. For you to dismiss this connection with some baseless commentary about the ignorance of civilians and their dependence on pop culture regarding military jargon is what "almost certainly isn't true." Apparently many G.I.'s, including Gunny Lee Ermey, of The History Channel's "Mail Call," also subscribe to the "Eugene The Jeep" connection and poo poo your "coincidental" theory.

From your own wiki source:

Many, including Ermey, suggest that soldiers at the time were so impressed with the new vehicles that they informally named it after Eugene the Jeep, a character in the Popeye cartoons that "could go anywhere."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep
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The "Eugene the Jeep" theory is nothing more than speculation. It is, in contrast, well documented that the military used the term "Jeep" to refer to any untested vehicle. This slang term pre-dates Eugene the Jeep by at least two decades, and according to Quartermaster Review (the US Army Magazine) was in use at the beginning of World War Two.

Given that the default slang term for an untested vehicle was a "jeep", and given that the vehicle in question was untested, it is pretty obvious that's why it was referred to as a "jeep", not because of a cartoon character.

Further, you're wrong about the popularity of the name "jeep" being applied exclusively to that vehicle starting with the cartoon. The cartoon first appeared in 1936, yet the term jeep did not become the standard popular name for that vehicle until after the February 1941 Washington Daily News article.

Why R. Lee Ermey should be considered an authority on the subject, in preference to the US Army Magazine, I don't know. He was neither in service during the period, nor was he in the US Army, so his insight into 1940s US Army jargon can be slight at best.

In contrast, Major E. P. Hogan, who made the claim:

‘Jeep’ is an old Army grease monkey term that dates back to WWI and was used by shop mechanics in referring to any new motor vehicle received for a test. In recent years, the word has been used especially by the Armored Force but not in relation to the 1/4-ton. Just when this generally used term was specifically applied to the vehicle it now describes is hard to say. Its popularity grew from its general use by the public.”
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Was a US Army Lieutenant in the period in question, who obviously had some involvement with the development of the Jeep, having written two articles on it at the time for the US Army magazine.

Thus I'd be inclined to accept his explanation.
 
gumboot said:
The "Eugene the Jeep" theory is nothing more than speculation. It is, in contrast, well documented that the military used the term "Jeep" to refer to any untested vehicle. This slang term pre-dates Eugene the Jeep by at least two decades, and according to Quartermaster Review (the US Army Magazine) was in use at the beginning of World War Two.

Given that the default slang term for an untested vehicle was a "jeep", and given that the vehicle in question was untested, it is pretty obvious that's why it was referred to as a "jeep", not because of a cartoon character.

Further, you're wrong about the popularity of the name "jeep" being applied exclusively to that vehicle starting with the cartoon. The cartoon first appeared in 1936, yet the term jeep did not become the standard popular name for that vehicle until after the February 1941 Washington Daily News article.

Why R. Lee Ermey should be considered an authority on the subject, in preference to the US Army Magazine, I don't know. He was neither in service during the period, nor was he in the US Army, so his insight into 1940s US Army jargon can be slight at best.

In contrast, Major E. P. Hogan, who made the claim:



Was a US Army Lieutenant in the period in question, who obviously had some involvement with the development of the Jeep, having written two articles on it at the time for the US Army magazine.

Thus I'd be inclined to accept his explanation.
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Considering that the term "Jeep" was in the U.S. Army lexicon for 20 years, but never stuck to any military person, place or thing until the Popeye cartoon character Eugene The Jeep came on the scene at the time the M38 was put into service sure makes for a more compelling argument than some Army Mag loathe to give credit to anything outside the service.

Hogan is merely confirming the obvious about the existence of the term "Jeep," however, he isn't even certain as to how, when and where the M38 forever became known as the "Jeep." His speculation that the popularity of the term "Jeep" for the M38 came from some amhophus military phrase and not the cartoon character only reveals how out of touch he was with pop culture. But what would you expect from an officer?

Perhaps you folks down under no longer appreciate the power of WWII Hollywood on dog faces. Errol Flynn understood how easily a cartoon character could make the difference in why "JEEP" finally found a permanent home in the M38. Maybe you think WWII bomber/fighter nose art came out of Army manuals?
 
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MG1962 said:
Same with Jeep - it is a contraction of GP or general purpose
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In high school, I had a buddy who was from Vietnam (a war refugee). I thought it was so funny when he talked about "Jeepies". When I told my mom (who was in the army just after WWII) she told me about GP. My friend was saying GPs, not jeepies!

As for GI meaning galvanized iron: there are plenty of overlapping abbreviations and acronyms. Back when I used to interpret for the Deaf, I had a very confusing conversation. I had a deaf technical school student who was meeting with someone from the Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) about a job, but his social worker thought he was thinking of transferring from his tech school to Missouri School for the Deaf, the residential high school.

There are countless examples. It's usually clear from the context which one is meant. When someone says 5 GIs left base at 5 pm, is anyone thinking they're talking about galvanized iron? If you schedule an upper GI at the hospital, I certainly hope they're not going to use galvanized iron!
 
Cicero said:
Considering that the term "Jeep" was in the U.S. Army lexicon for 20 years, but never stuck to any military person, place or thing until the Popeye cartoon character Eugene The Jeep came on the scene at the time the M38 was put into service sure makes for a more compelling argument than some Army Mag loathe to give credit to anything outside the service.

Hogan is merely confirming the obvious about the existence of the term "Jeep," however, he isn't even certain as to how, when and where the M38 forever became known as the "Jeep." His speculation that the popularity of the term "Jeep" for the M38 came from some amhophus military phrase and not the cartoon character only reveals how out of touch he was with pop culture. But what would you expect from an officer?

Perhaps you folks down under no longer appreciate the power of WWII Hollywood on dog faces. Errol Flynn understood how easily a cartoon character could make the difference in why "JEEP" finally found a permanent home in the M38. Maybe you think WWII bomber/fighter nose art came out of Army manuals?
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All very plausible. Plausibility isn't evidence though - neither is special pleading along the lines of "if you were a ___ you would know the truth". Is there any direct evidence for the cartoon character explanation? If not then the two competing hypotheses carry about as much weight as each other.
 
arthwollipot said:
My dad (who was wrong about GI) told me that Jeep was from GP, which stood for General Purpose.
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This is the origin of Jeep that was given me by a military veteran in my family, who also explained to me that GI stood for General Inductee. He was a Viet Nam vet, which would make his service after these terms became well known though.
 
I've always heard it stands for General Issue, not Infantryman. The term was used by soldiers to kinda' make light of there apparent expendability i.e., a piece of equipment.
 
Cicero said:
Gyrene- while dating back before WWII, it is thought to be a compilation of G.I. and Marine, hence Gyrene.

Also other popular monikers for U.S. Marines:

Leatherneck-

Devil Dogs/Teufelhunden-

Grunt-

Jarhead/Jughead-
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I think it's only "jarhead" that's used for US Marines, not "jughead".
I've also heard:

"Mud marines" and "Fly fly boys" (both according to John Wayne in
"The Flying Leathernecks" :) )
 
Big Les said:
All very plausible. Plausibility isn't evidence though - neither is special pleading along the lines of "if you were a ___ you would know the truth". Is there any direct evidence for the cartoon character explanation? If not then the two competing hypotheses carry about as much weight as each other.
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Let's examine the evidance:

1) Contrary to Gumboot's theory, in LT. E. P. HOGAN's March/April 1941 "THE ARMY "BUG" New Quarter-Ton Command Reconnaissance Car," the word "jeep" is never mentioned at all.

http://www.willys-overland.com/docu...e Army 'Bug' - By Lt. E. P. Hogan, Q.M.C..htm

2) The word "jeep" did not make it in the American Dictionary until June, 1942. In "Word Origins ... and How We Know Them: Etymology for Everyone" by Anatoly Liberman, "Eugene The Jeep" is cited as one of the two most likely sources for how the M38 got its name. The other source would be from Major General George A. Lynch, who exclaimed "Jeepers Creepers" when he test drove the prototype in 1939.

http://books.google.com/books?id=CN...X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA133,M1

Here is an exchange between Gen. Lynch and M. R. Bevington, of the Federal Trade Commission during a February, 1943 conference:

Mr. Bevington: General, from your knowledge, can you say just when the term "Jeep" began to be applied to this vehicle?

General Lynch: I regret that I cannot be sure.

Mr. Bevington: Can you say then that the term was associated with the car very soon after the Ft. Myer demonstration?

General Lynch: Yes, shortly after. I think there are other people who could answer that question more precisely than I can.

Mr. Bevington: General, the reason I have persisted in this line of questioning is that you have been credited with having yourself given the name "Jeep" to this car at that time.

(Off record discussion.)

http://www.willys-overland.com/docu...gs - Gen. Lynch (with Col. Lee statement).htm

Who knows what was said off the record, but one thing is for sure, the "jeep" moniker for the M38 had zero to do with the WWI dated phrase for raw recruits or untested vehicles.
 
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G.I. = Government Issue going back to my dad in Korea and myself in Korea later.

JEEP = Just Enough Education to Pass = derogatory term for newbies who didn't know what they were doing and couldn't seem to catch on. Recent use in the military.
 
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