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How US troops' dealt with Mortaritaville and Bombaconda in Iraq, Afghanistan

By Super Admin
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Google Oneindia News

Washington, Dec. 14 (ANI): American solders deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq have formulated a language of their own, filled with black humor, cultural references and even the occasional crudity.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has published a list used by soldiers during the Iraq war, which included terms like "death blossom" and "fobbit".

"Death blossom" is a term originating in the 1984 science-fiction film "The Last Starfighter." It is used by servicemen to describe fire sprayed indiscriminately in all directions.

The list also includes the terms "Mortaritaville" and "Bombaconda," both referring to LSA Anaconda, a base near Balad, Iraq, that is frequently the target of mortar attacks.

"Soldiers use these terms because they try to make the best they can of their situation and give things kind of a humorous angle," Fox News quoted Lt. Col. Charles Kohler of the Maryland National Guard, as saying.

Maj. Liam Kingdon, who works for the Reserve Officers' Training Corps at the University of Maryland in College Park, said he has heard fellow service members referred to as "fobbits."

The word is a contraction of Forward Operating Base (FOB) and "hobbit," a creature from The Lord of the Rings known for its sedentary habits.

"It's basically a soldier, sailor or airman who never leaves the base. You've got people there who leave the base all the time to go on patrol, and you've got people who literally just stay on the base," Kingdon said.

Other terms link life in the military to items or concepts familiar from other environments-often, the environment is home, or a favourite movie.

At least some of these terms are likely to make it into everyday language. And perhaps the day when "couch potatoes" become "fobbits" is not so far off. (ANI)

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