Civil War Slang and Terms
- Absquatulate
- to take leave, to disappear
- Acknowledge the Corn
- to admit the truth, to confess a lie, or acknowledge an obvious personal shortcoming
- Arkansas Toothpick
- a long, sharp knife
- A.W.O.L.
- Absent With Out Leave
- Bad Egg
- bad person, good for nothing
- Balderdash
- nonsense
- Bark Juice, Red Eye, O Be Joyful
- liquor
- Beat the Dutch
- if that don't beat all
- Bluff
- trick or deceive
- Bragg's Body Guard
- lice
- Been Through the Mill
- been through a lot, seen it all
- Bellyache
- complain
- Big Bugs
- big wigs, important people
- Bivouac
- to camp without formal shelter or in temporary circumstances
- Blowhard
- braggart, bully
- Blue Mass
- refers to men on sick call; named after blue pill.
- Bread Bag
- haversack
- Bread Basket
- stomach
- Bully
- exclamation meaning 'terrific!' or 'hurrah!'
- Bully for You
- good for you
- Bummer
- malingerer, someone who deliberately lags behind to forage or steal on his own shrift
- Bummer's Cap
- regulation army cap with a high/deep crown, so-called because it could be filled with gathered foodstuffs
- Bust Head / Pop Skull
- cheap whiskey
- Camp canard
- tall tale circulating around camp as gossip
- Cashier
- to dismiss from the army dishonorably
- Chief Cook and Bottle Washer
- person in charge, or someone who can do anything
- Chicken Guts
- gold braid used to denote officer ranks
- Company Q
- fictitious unit designation for the sick list
- Conniption Fit
- hysterics, temper tantrum
- Contraband
- escaped slaves who sought refuge behind Union lines
- Copperhead
- Northern person with Southern, anti-Union sympathies
- Cracker Line
- supply line for troops on the move
- Deadbeat
- useless person, malingerer
- Desecrated Vegetables
- Union, dehydrated (desiccated) vegetables formed into yellowish squares
- Dog Robber
- soldier detailed from the ranks to act as cook
- Dog Collar
- cravat issued with uniforms, usually discarded
- Duds
- clothing
- Embalmed Beef
- canned meat
- Essence of Coffee
- early instant coffee, found in paste form
- Forage
- to hunt for food, live off the land; also came to mean plundering enemy property for sustenance
- Fit as a fiddle
- in good shape
- Fit to be tied
- angry
- Forty Dead Men
- a full cartridge box, which usually held forty rounds
- French Leave
- to go absent without leave
- Fresh Fish
- new recruits
- Go Boil Your Shirt
- take a hike, get lost, bug off
- Grab a Root
- eat a meal, especially a potato
- Greenbacks
- money
- Grey Backs
- lice, also derogatory term for Confederate soldiers
- Grit
- courage, toughness
- Goobers
- peanuts
- Hanker
- a strong wish or want
- Hard Case
- tough guy
- Hard Knocks
- hard times, ill use
- Hardtack
- unleavened bread in the form of 1/4 inch thick crackers issued by the army
- Haversack
- canvas bag about one foot square, which was slung over the shoulder and used to carry a soldier's rations when on the march
- High-falutin
- highbrow, fancy
- Horse Sense
- common sense, good judgement
- Hospital Rat
- someone who fakes illness to get out of duty
- Housewife
- sewing kit
- Huffy, In a Huff
- angry, irritated
- Humbug
- nonsense, a sham, a hoax
- Hunkey Dorey
- very good, all is well
- Jailbird
- criminal
- Jawing
- talking
- John Barleycorn
- beer
- Jonah
- someone who is or brings bad luck
- Knock into a Cocked Hat
- to knock someone senseless or thoroughly shock him
- Let 'er Rip
- let it happen, bring it on
- Let Drive
- go ahead, do it
- Likely
- serviceable, able-bodied
- Light Out
- leave in haste
- Long Sweetening
- molasses
- Lucifers
- matches
- Muggins
- a scoundrel
- Mule
- meat, especially if of dubious quality
- Mustered Out –
- wry term meaning killed in action
- No Account
- worthless
- Not By a Jug Full
- not by any means, no way
- On His Own Hook
- on one's own shrift, without orders
- Opening the Ball
- starting the battle
- Opine
- be of the opinion
- Peacock About
- strut around
- Peaked
- pronounced peak-ed; weak or sickly
- Pie Eater
- country boy, a rustic
- Pig Sticker
- knife or bayonet
- Picket
- sentries posted around a camp or bivouac to guard approaches
- Play Old Soldier
- pretend sickness to avoid combat
- Played Out
- worn out, exhausted
- Pumpkin Rinds
- gold lieutenant's bars
- Quartermaster Hunter
- shot or shell that goes long over the lines and into the rear.
- Quick Step, Flux
- diarrhea
- Robber's Row
- the place where sutlers set up to do business
- Row
- a fight
- Salt Horse
- salted meat
- Sardine Box
- cap box
- Sawbones
- surgeon
- Scarce as Hen's Teeth
- exceedingly rare or hard to find
- Secesh
- derogatory term for Confederates and Southerners: secessionists
- See The Elephant
- experience combat or other worldly events
- Shakes
- malaria
- Shanks Mare
- on foot
- Sheet Iron Crackers
- hard tack
- Shoddy
- an inferior weave of wool used to make uniforms early in the war; later came to mean any clothing or equipment of substandard quality
- Sing Out
- call out, yell
- Skedaddle
- run away, escape
- Slouch Hat
- a wide-brimmed felt hat
- Snug as a Bug
- very comfortable
- Somebody's Darling
- comment when observing a dead soldier
- Sparking
- courting a girl
- Spondulix
- money
- Sunday Soldiers / Parlor Soldiers
- derogatory terms for unsuitable soldiers
- Take an Image
- have a photograph taken
- Tennessee or Virginia Quick Step
- diarrhea
- Tight
- drunk
- Toe the Mark
- do as told, follow orders
- Top Rail
- first class, top quality
- Traps
- equipment, belongings
- Tuckered Out
- exhausted
- Uppity
- arrogant
- Vidette
- a sentry same as Picket but usually on horseback
- Wallpapered
- drunk
- Whipped
- beaten
- Wrathy
- angry
- Zu Zu
- Zouaves, soldiers whose units wore colorful uniforms in a flamboyant French style with baggy trousers, known for bravery and valor