The article rightly states that a principal source of slang as been the military, but it didn’t mention some durable acronyms that ended up as slang, such as Jeep (general-purpose vehicle) and flak (from the German term for anti-aircraft artillery— fl ieger a bwehr K anone). The word flak may not now be considered slang, since it is listed in Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language .

Another slang word mentioned in the article, goon , was used by Allied prisoners of war in Germany during World War II to signify their captors. A POW would alert his fellow prisoners of an approaching German with “goon up.” The Germans were told that the word meant German o fficer or n on-com. But they eventually learned better.

Oscar G. Richard
Baton Rouge, La.