Like all groups the Royal Air Force developed its own slang, jargon and acronyms. It was particularly prone to using terms that came from the interwar air force which had policed various parts of the Empire leading to a good deal of slang based on Arabic and Hindi. This is by no means a definitive list and we would welcome anyone who can add to this list from their own experience.

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Both Sides of a "goolie chit" (courtesy of Stan Lillburn)

A

ack - under the old phonetic alphabet, "Ack" stood for the letter "A": thus ack - ack was "A-A' or anti aircraft artillery

Adj. - short form for Adjutant the administrative assistant to the CO of a squadron

airscrew - The complete assembly of three or four propellers a hub and a spinner

aircrew - the men who actually flew the bomber into battle

Acc (Trolley Acc) - Accumulator (battery) - used to start engines on ground

a/c - aircraft

AOC - Air Officer Commanding

armourer - ground crew responsible for bombs, defensive ammunition, flares etc.

arsy-tarsy - Aircrew Reception Centre

arse end charlies - rear gunners (R/AG)

A.M.O.- Air Ministry Orders (see bumph)

angels - more a Fighter Command term - one angel was 1000 feet (thus "angels 13" was 13,000 ')

bull - the formalities of the service (parade ground bashing, saluting the King's commission etc.)

boost - the amount of supercharging given to an engine to increase power (eg: +5 lb.)

Burton - "Gone for a Burton" - killed in action - from old beer commercial for Burton Ale

brassed off - unhappy (in the extreme)

browned off - (see above)

Blitz time - The time briefed for all aircraft to pass over target

brew up - to prepare a pot of tea

belt up - kindly be quiet

to belt: to travel at a high speed or to hit target heavily

binding - whining about conditions

beatup - to fly very low over a populated airfield

B.P.D. - Base Personnel Disposal - where you went when you were O.T.E.

Blue, The - the desert

Bundoo, The - the boondocks (see Blue)

blue (RAAF) - anything Red

Brown Jobs - the army - also "pongos" and "squaddies"

bus - an a/c

Boomerang - an operation that required one to return to base with a u/s kite

Bully Beef - a "gourmet canned meat product" consisting largely of fat - so called because of the Bull on the front of the Hereford Brand of corned beef - staple of squadron diet

Blighty - the U.K.

bods - squadron personnel

briefing - a meeting of all crew before an operation to receive instructions for the op

bolshie - a crewman who took a dim view of service bull

bumph - useless paperwork

brown, to get one's knees - to have spent time in the MTO - because of the heat the wearing of uniform KD shorts was necessary

buggers, to play silly - to fool around , not take job seriously

boffins - scientific or technical types who worked on new aircraft developments

buy, to - as in "to buy it" (see Burton) - also "to buy the farm" ; eg: "Fred almost bought it over Verona last op"

bang on - to be right on target and by extension to be right on the mark about any observation (also "spot on")

best blues - parade uniform

battle dress blues - woolen "working uniform"

bags of - as in "bags of flak over the target" - a great amount

bail out - to leave an aircraft by jumping and hoping that some clot had packed your 'chute correctly

bandit - enemy aircraft

bowser - tanker truck or lorry used to refuel aircraft down the flights

Brass, The or Brasshats - commanding officers at the Wing or Group level - so called because of the amount of gold braid ("brass") found on hats ofGroup Captains, Wing Commanders and Air Vice Marshalls

bloody - at the time a fairly heavy duty profanity - often made more mild by transliteration to "ruddy"

bog - a latrine - also "biffy"

chop, to get the - see Burton

cookie - a 4000 H.C. bomb consisting of two light cased cylinders welded together and filled with amitol - aerodynamic shape of brick - used to demolish structures - also called a blockbuster

corkscrew - evasive maneuver when attacked by night fighter - sharp diving turn to port followed by sharp climbing turn to starboard

civvy street - what you did before or after you were in the R.A.F.

"circuits and bumps" - a pilot training exercise in landing an aircraft and immediately taking off again

clobber - the clothing and equipment it was necessary to wear in a wartime bomber

clapped out - an aircraft or person nearing the end of its useful life - worn out, tired

clot - a person whose intelligence should be questioned

CO - Commanding Officer

cockup - a situation that has become extremely disorganized (from the term "cocked hat")

coned - when one searchlight, often radar controlled picked up an aircraft all of the others in the target area would swing onto that aircraft, thus coning it - then the flak would be poured into the cone

Chance light - powerful light at end of runway which could be requested by a pilot in difficulty

chum - equivalent to the American "buddy" as in "wad'ya want chum?"

chuffed - extremely unhappy

Caterpillar Club - a club for those who had survived by jumping and using their 'chutes - the pin was a small caterpillar (representing the insect that made silk) and was given by the maker of parachutes - bomber crews usually wore only the parachute harness while airborne, clipping on their chutes as needed

dobhi - one's laundry

deck - the ground

drink - an ocean, river or lake

ditch - to perform a landing in the drink - usually when one's a/c was unable to fly any more

duff - see u/s - also "not accurate" as in "duff gen"

dicky seat - the seat originally designed for a second pilot in the Wellington - often used by the bombaimer in the Middle East until near the target time

dicky flight - a training flight where an inexperienced operational pilot would go with an experienced on on a real op

D.R. - dead reckoning navigation - based on intended track, airspeed and time modified by wind speed and direction

down the flights - the area on an airfield where the aircraft were serviced between ops

desert lily - urinal made from tin can

dicey-do - a particularly hair-raising operation

'drome - (aerodrome) - an airfield

D.F.C. - Distinguished Flying Cross - medal to officers (both commissioned and warrant) for conspicuous bravery or long term excellence while on active service in operation against the enemy

D.F.M. Distinguished Service Medal - as above but for Sergeants and Flight Sergeants

debriefing - all crews met with Intell Officer to share what had happened on the raid

dim view, to take a - to view with scepticism or disapproval

darky - a system of radio signals whereby an aircraft that was lost could get assistance to return to base

dope- nitocelluloid liquid, similiar to nail polish, used to tighten and harden fabric (linen) covering of wimpy

driver-airframe - pilot (play on the RAF quartermaster labelling of all goods as in ("gloves, airman, for the use of")

Dalton Computer - early mechanical hand held computer used in air navigation

erk - ground crew - from the Cockney pronunciation of aircraftsman

ENSA - entertainment troupe

EPIP - type of marquee tent (Egyptian Pattern, Indian Production)

e.t.a. - estimated time of arrival

Elsan - chemical toilet carried on board Wellington aircraft

F.T.U. - Ferry Training Unit - preparation for flying an aircaft out to an active theatre of war

"Faithful Annie" - Avro Anson

fishheads - the navy

fitter - ground crew responsible for engines and related controls

flak - antiaircraft fire - from German FlugAbwehrKanonen - in reports heavy flak did not refer to the concentration or degree of flak but to the calibre observed - "Heavy flak" referred to anything of 88 mm and up while "light flak" consisted of quick firing 20, 30 or 40 mm. guns. - by extension flak came to mean any grief given to you by anyone else

finger, to remove one's - to hurry up and/or to pay attention

flap - as in ("theres a flap on") - excitement or some specially chaotic event

flannel - to avoid the truth or to try and bluff one's way or deceive

Flight - Flight Sergeant

Form 700 - R.A.F. Form signed by the captain of the a/c taking responsibility for the aircraft from the ground crew

flying brevet - cloth insignia worn on all uniforms including battle dress to indicate your aircrew trade - pilots' brevets were always two winged - all other crew wore a single wing with their trade marked inside a circular area at the base of the wing

flame float - small incendiary device that would float, thrown out down the flare chute - the rear gunner would center the "pip" on his reflector sight on the point of light and then read off the degree of deviation from a scale on his turet ring - this would provide the navigator with the degree of wind drift, blowing the a/c off track

flare path - a row of lights (either kerosene gooseneck flares or on a more permanent base electric lights) that marked the boundary of the runway for taking off and landing.

flamer - aircraft shot down in flames

flaming - mild, all purpose expletive

flying log - every crew member was required to keep a flying logbook of every flight he took- including airtests, transport, training and operational flying - this book was signed by the Flight Leader each month and by the C/O of the squadron or the various Trade Leaders at the end of the tour (eg: a Bomb Aimer's log would be signed by the Bombing Leader, The Gunner's by the Gunnery Leader etc.)

fruit salad - crew would wear only the ribbons from their "gongs" in most situations - wrapped around a thin bar and sewn together - worn under the flying brevet - the various colours of the gong ribbons would look like fruit salad in a tin - term usually used for someone who had a large collection of gong ribbons

Form 78 - RAF form also called Aircraft Movement Card which followed the aircraft from the manufacturer to its final resting place.

flight - a bomber squadron was divided into two Flights - "A" and "B" consisting of 6-8 aircraft and crews and commanded by a Squadron Leader who was the Flight Commander - "A" Flight aircraft were lettered from A-N and "B" Flight from M-Z (thus JN-Q would be aircraft Q-Queenie from B Flight of 150 Squadron)

Fort - Boeing B-17 Heavy Daylight Bomber - flown by USAAF out of Amendola as part of 15th Airforce - Not used as a bomber in this Theatre of Operations by RAF

ground wallah - an officer who did not fly

gen - information (either good -see "pukka" or bad see "duff")

gen - a person on squadron who knew what he was doing - as in "a gen bod"

Groupie - Group Captain - usual rank of officer who commanded a Wing

goolie chit - a scrap of paper or piece of cloth that when shown to the natives of a country over which you might be shot down offered a reward if they would return you to the nearest Allied unit unharmed.

goolies - part of body that if shot off would provide a very nice soprano voice for the remainder of the owner's life - as in "I almost got my goolies shot off, last op"

gremlin - a mythical creature that lived on certain aircraft and caused it to go u/s at the most inconvenient times and then could not be located as the source of the problem

Gee - the earliest form of Ground Control Radar installed in Italy

Group - a formation of Wings

GP - General Purpose Bomb as in 6 x 250 GP

gardening - sowing mines in rivers, ports and oceans from low heights

gong - a medal, specifically a decoration, but now used to describe all service medals

gubbins - equipment or needed material (eg: "has that kite got the gubbins for dropping a cookie?")

green, to get the - to receive permission to take off (expanded to get permission for anything) - the airfield control officer would signal with a morse code Aldis Lamp with a green lens to give an aircraft permission to take off - usually the morse code was the letter of the aircraft (eg: P for Peter - .. -)

green, in the - all engine control gauges operating correctly - a needle which swung into the "red" indicated a malfunction

greens, three - both main undercart legs and the tailwheel down and locked - this was indicated by three lights on the flying panel. Up and locked would be indicated by "three reds".

grief, to come to - to be destroyed or to get into trouble

get some in - advice given to sprog crews who felt like advising old lags on their opinion of operational flying (from get some time in") - often paired with "chum" as in "Get some in chum, before you tell your grandmother how to suck eggs"

gharry - originally a horse drawn cart - came to mean anyform of wheeled transport

Guinea Pig Club - after an incident where aircrew were extremely badly burned they would be sent to East Grinstead Hospital in the U.K. where some of the foremost plastic surgeons of the day performed "cutting edge" surgery - the term was made up by the patients themselves - many today proudly wear the maroon tie of the club

Gerry or Jerry - German

Jerry Can - excellent German invention of heavy duty portable can for holding water, gasoline or other liquid - quickly replaced leaky tins used by RAF and was manufactured in England to the German pattern

"gippy tummy" - "the screaming hab dabs", dysentry, "the trots" in the extremis, gastointeritis

Halibag - Handley Page Halifax four engine bomber used by 614 in Pathfinder role

H.C. - High Capacity (see cookie)

H2S - early on airborne centimetric radar used by Halifaxes (from "How To See")

hack - a/c on squadron used for general communications duties or as the CO's private mount

hours - on 24 hour clock - time - 2345 hours would be 12:45 p.m. also could be the amount of time in the air as calculated in one's log book

Herc - A Bristol Hercules sleeve valve air cooled radial engine

intell - intelligence officer or intelligence report

illuminator - a crew tasked with dropping flares on a night target so that the following a/c could aim accurately - usual load was 54 parachute flares

Irvin Jacket - Standard R.A.F. Leather Flying Jacket lined with fleece

intercom - the system by which the various crew members communicated with each other by voice in the aircraft

jankers - to be put "on charge" for a violation of service discipline

juice - aviation fuel (as in "we are low on juice") - also "gravy" - AVGAS was 100 Octane petrol

KR's - King's Regulations - see jankers

kite - an aircraft (in the USAAF also called a "ship)

KIA - Killed in Action

khamsin - a desert dust storm

K.D. - Khaki Drill - R.A.F. tropical uniform - replaced R.A.F. blue battledress in tropical climes

keen - eager or reliable - "keen as mustard "- pun on Kean's mustard powder

knot - measure of air or ground speed - one nautical mile per hour (1.150 statute miles per hour)

kit - ones belongings, both issue and personal - (hence kitbag) - also used to mean equipment as in "Does that erk have the kit to repair the hole in the starboard wing?"  

L.M.F. - Lack of Moral Fibre - inability to continue on ops

line shoot or shooting a line - exaggerating one's accomplishments - usually responded to by the line "there I was upside down, nothing on the clock but the makers name...."

Lib - Consolidated B-24 "Liberator" four engine bomber

M.I.A. - Missing in action - perhaps made Prisoner of War

M & V - Tinned Meat and Vegetable Stew - part of British Army compo rations

M.T.O. - Mediterranean Theatre of Operations

M.A.S.A.F. - Mediterranean Allied Strategic Air Force

M.C. - Medium Capacity Bomb as in 500 lb. MC

Mahogany Spitfire - desk - "flown" by penguins and ground wallahs

Mae West - inflatable life vest worn over flying suit (thus called because when inflated it made one look like the "pigeon breasted" movie star

Met - Meteorology Officer or weather report

mepacrine - standard anti-malarial drug of the day

mess - the place assigned for rankers, NCO's and Officers to eat or relax - these were separated and there was a protocol as to who could enter who's mess

mickey mouse - bombing panel - consisted of a clockwork distributor and selection switches (hence like a mickey mouse watch)

M.U. - Maintenance Unit - airfield where aircraft were taken to be repaired when the work could not be done on the squadron

Nickels - propaganda leaflets

NAAFI - Navy, Army, Air Force Institute - organization which attempted to bring comforts to the crews (tea and buns, cigarettes etc.) to raise morale - distributors of "a cuppa and a wad"

N.C.O. - noncommissioned Officer - Sergeant and Flight Sergeant

Nobby - all purpose nickname for anyone called Clark or Clarke. Originally clarks (which we now almost universally spell "clerks", but in the U.K. still often is pronounced in the original fashion) wore top hats as a sign of their trade. The gentry, or "nobs" also wore top hats and thus the clarks came by the name "nobby because of their "posh" hats.

OTE - Operational Tour Expired

overload tanks - extra fuel tanks required when the Wellington was operated at its extreme range - two could be fitted in the bomb bays and one could be fitted on the rest cot in the fuselage

ORB - Operational Record Book - official account of operations of the squadron

op (operation)- an attack on the enemy (USAAF term - "mission")

oranges - Vitamin C tablets

odd bod - crew member who had lost his crew or who had fallen behind the rest of his crew in number of operational trips and who flew as a "spare" with another crew

old lag - experienced airman - often Regular Airforce

Old Man, the - the Squadron C/O

opsum - Operational Summary - prepared by the Intelligence Officer from debriefing notes recording the results of an operation

on the beam -some stations (but not many in Italy) were equipped with a landing beam which told the pilot he was on the correct glide slope for landing - if he flew too high he would hear a series of morse dots and if too low a series of morse dashes - the idea was to keep a steady tone in one's earphones - -also showed up in some aircraft as a set of lights showing that one was on the correct beam or too high or low - also used for flying on a navigation beam such as Gee or Oboe - generally translated to being on the right course of action about anything as in "I think the Wingco's on the beam about not flying over the Alps again."

PSP - Perforated or Pierced Steel Planking (also called Marsden Matting) - steel mats used on newly created airfields to hold the weight of aircraft - used as taxiways, hardstandings and runways

Pundit - a flashing light which signaled a Morse Code letter in order to assist navigation

Prune, Pilot Officer - a fictional officer in the R.A.F. training manuals who demonstrated all of the things that could go wrong if procedures were not followed correctly

Pom - Australian term for the British - also "Pommy used as an adjective as in "What a typical Pommy cockup.."

Penguin - a bird with wings that can't fly - term for ground officers with no operational experience

pukka - genuine as in "pukka gen"

prang - to crash an a/c or to hit a target well

"piece of cake" - an easy target with little opposition - anything easily done

Port - the left side of a/c as seen from pilots seat

posted - orders sending a crewman to another station or responsibility

P.O.W. - Prisoner of War

plaster - to bomb heavily and accurately

plonk - cheap Italian wine, also "AC plonk" - A/C 2 - the lowest rank in the R.A.F.

packet, to catch a - to be on the receiving end of offensive fire (as in "I heard Nobby caught a packet over Verona last night")

pack up, to - to break down as in "My port engine packed up coming out of the target area"

press on regardless - "unofficial" motto of RAF - meant to show keeness to fly through adversity to the target - often stupid advice - many men died pressing on regardless of severe icing, duff engines and died because of it. Often used in an ironic way to show resignation to keeping on with a task, no matter how ridiculous or unpleasant / also used as an expression to "buck up" those who were down about something.

Queen Mary - an articulated "semi" trailer used to transport aircraft or aircraft parts by ground to M.U.'s for service or refurbishment

Roddie or rodded bombs - bomb fitted with a rod in the nose so that it would explode above the ground - used in antipersonnel ops

rigger - ground crew responsible for airframe (special areas might include "instrument basher" and "sparks" to look after instruments and electrical systems)

runup - to test engines for magneto drop before taking off - also the route taken into the target area before the bomb dropping point was reached

RAFVR - Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve - members of the RAF for the duration of the hostilities

round - one cartridge of .303 ammunition - ammunition was measured in number of rounds carried

sortie - one aircraft doing one trip to target and back

spam can - B-24 Liberator

Spam - canned meat product - produced by Hormel in the US - substitute for real meat (see Bully Beef)

S.O.C. - Signed off Charge - aircraft no longer usable or wanted by R.A.F.

strip, to tear off a- to be severely reprimanded by a superior - in extreme cases a "strip" (ie: rank stripes), would be literally be stripped off thus, demoting an airman for extreme problems

screened - a period after completing a tour when the crewman could not be called on to do operational flying

scrub - to cancel an op

SBC - Small Bomb Container - canister to hold a load of the standard 4 lb. magnesium incendiary bomb - usual load was 6 to 8 SBC's

shufti - to look

squirt - to fire a short burst from machine guns - as in " the R/AG gave him a squirt before we went into the corkscrew"

sprog - a "new boy" fresh from training - inexperienced (also a "sprog crew")

shakey-do - see "dicey do"

sparks - term for either the ground crew who looked after the electrical systems or the aircrew wireless operator

Squadron Leader - rank of officer who led a Flight (two Flights "A" and "B" on usual squadron)

starboard - the right side of the a/c as seen from pilot's seat

skipper - the captain of the aircraft and crew leader - in the air his rule was law regardless of his rank

spoof - a diversionary raid or operation

show - performance or situation - ("that was a good show over Budapest" or "he put on a bad show")

six, to hit for a - to score maximum points - to put on a very good show (from cricket)

stick - bomb selection so that bombs would be released at timed intervals from their carriers in the bomb bay (also to release only a part of bomb load - going around a second time to drop the rest)

salvo - bomb selection which released all bombs at the same time

Scramble - mainly a fighter term - to get airborne as quickly as possible

scrambled eggs - a reference to the gold braid on high ranking officers' hats

tea - next to petrol the most important liquid in the RAF

t.o.t. - time on target - time briefed for aircraft to attack target area

t.d. - time delay - fuse setting on bomb which determined when bomb would explode

tour of operations - the amount of time or number of ops that a crewman had to complete before being screened

trip - an op

T.I. - Target Indicator - coloured pyrotechnic devices dropped by Pathfinder Forces to identify targets - effectively used only after April 1944 by 205 Group

Tee Emm - R.A.F. Magazine (after Training Manual)

twit - see clot

ten-tenths - no visibility because of total cloud cover - also 10/10ths flak - very heavy concentration

type - a kind of person ( as in: "he's an aircrew type" or "he's a bolshie type")

tracer - a type of machine gun round which glowed as it moved showing the way to the target and allowing for adjustments in sighting - unfortunately also gave away bomber's position - usually every fourth round was a tracer (ball, Dewilde incendiary, tracer, armour piercing)

two - six (2 - 6) - general base call "down the flights" that all personnel were needed on a job

Tommy - after Tommy Atkins (Kipling) - originally used to denote the British infantryman - later to be used by the Germans as "tommi" as their equvalent to "Gerry" - U.S. equivalent - "G.I."

Theatre or Theatre of Operations - the geographic area where combat was taking place - eg: The Mediterranean Theatre, The Far East Theatre etc.

U

u/s - unserviceable - broken or not available

undercart - the undercarriage of an aircraft - two main wheels and a tail wheel in the case of "taildraggers" like the Wellington - two main and a nosewheel for "tricycle" aircraft like the B-24 - attempting a landing with the 'cart "up" was considered a "putting up a large black" for the pilot

vegetables - acoustic or magnetic mines sowed on gardening expeditions to various "beds"

VHF - Very High Frequency - Radio band

Vees - a brand of wartime cigarette

vic - aircraft formation in the shape of a "vee" usually three aircraft but could be more

Wing - unit made up of two or sometimes three squadrons

Wingco - Wing Commander (rank of officer who led a squadron)

Wimpy - Vickers Armstrong's Wellington Bomber - after J. Wellington Wimpy from "popeye" comic strip

window - strips of metalized paper cut to length of wavelength of enemy radar to confuse search and control radar - effective on radar controlled guns and searchlights

washed out - to fail as a student pilot or other trade - one was then usually remustered as something more suitable to one's abilities

Wizard or wizzo - excellent - superlative (eg: a "wizard prang")

weaving - a gentle form of corkscrew - evasive maneuver to allow gunners maximum view around aircraft

weaving, to get - to get going - hurry up