Best Defense

Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Things I didn’t know, continued: ‘Gooks’; doubleheaders; Churchill sailing on the Queen Mary with 5,000 German PoWs

I’ve been reading dictionaries again.

Queen_Mary_New_York
Queen_Mary_New_York

 

 

— I’ve been reading dictionaries again. According to Kipfer and Chapman’s American Slang, the word “gook” dates back to the U.S. war in the Philippines at the end of the 19th century. To quote: “Originally a Filipino insurrectionary… fr gugu, a term of Filipino origin… adopted by US armed forces during the Filipino insurrection of 1899 as a contemptuous term for Filipinos.” Kind of the history of American wars in Asia in the 20th century, captured in one word.

— Less relevantly, and much less contentiously, the same book says that the baseball word “doubleheader” comes from the “railroad use for a train drawn by two engines.”

— When Churchill travelled to America in May 1943, he went aboard the Queen Mary, which also was carrying 5,000 German prisoners of war.

— And something I still don’t know: Why did the commander of the 75th Ranger Regiment get his knuckles rapped the other day?

Wikimedia Commons

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

More from Foreign Policy

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.

Can Russia Get Used to Being China’s Little Brother?

The power dynamic between Beijing and Moscow has switched dramatically.

Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.
Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.

Xi and Putin Have the Most Consequential Undeclared Alliance in the World

It’s become more important than Washington’s official alliances today.

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

It’s a New Great Game. Again.

Across Central Asia, Russia’s brand is tainted by Ukraine, China’s got challenges, and Washington senses another opening.

Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.
Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s House of Cards Is Collapsing

The region once seemed a bright spot in the disorder unleashed by U.S. regime change. Today, things look bleak.