The trench talk that is now entrenched in the English language

[Jazzy]

From cushy to crummy and blind spot to binge drink, a new study reveals the impact the First World War had on the English language and the words it introduced.



If you’re feeling washed out, fed up or downright lousy, World War One is to blame.



New research has shown how the conflict meant that hundreds of words and phrases came into common parlance thanks to the trenches.



Among the list of everyday terms found to have originated or spread from the conflict are cushy, snapshot, bloke, wash out, conk out, blind spot, binge drink and pushing up daisies.



The research has been conducted by Peter Doyle, a military historian, and Julian Walker, an etymologist, who have analysed thousands of documents from the period — including letters from the front, trench newspapers, diaries, books and official military records - to trace how language changed during the four years of the war.



They found that the war brought military slang into the mainstream, imported French and even German words to English and saw words from local dialects become part of national conversation.



Many of the words were created by soldiers to describe their unfamiliar surroundings and circumstances. While they had to come up with names for new items like “trench coats” and “duckboards”, other, more descriptive phrases were also developed.

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I didn't know these words were created from trench talk. Did you?

 

[The Dragon Master]

Nope

But very interesting

 

[Evil Eye]

Didn't have a clue.

The French term souvenir replaced keepsake as the primary word for a memento

How many words did you really need to describe a single concept, Telegraph?