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WWII/old-fashioned military slang for passing gas.

Ticklishchap

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Please don't be offended by this topic, chaps. It is simply for a passing reference in some fiction I am working on in my spare time. ... I am looking for old-fashioned military expressions for flatulence, passing gas, etc., whether US or UK, the type that would have
been prevalent in the WWII period and just after. 'Guff' is the only retro word I can think of (and recall hearing from men of that generation) but there
must be others. When did 'trouser cough' come in, for instance?

At my age, I admit that should not find this subject either interesting or amusing. ...
 

Shangas

I'll Lock Up
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Melbourne, Australia
"I admit that I should not find this subject either interesting or amusing"...

...But you do.

Otherwise you wouldn't have said so.

I've heard of the term 'Trouser cough' before, but not that other one.

If old WWII memoirs and such-like are anything to go by, if such an event happened in the company of other men, and someone kicked up a fuss about it, the typical response was: "Better out than in, old boy", and then just forget about it. That seemed to be the prevailing attitude in the British armed forces, it seemed.
 

Ticklishchap

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"I admit that I should not find this subject either interesting or amusing"...
...But you do.

Otherwise you wouldn't have said so."


"I've heard of the term 'Trouser cough' before, but not that other one."



"If old WWII memoirs and such-like are anything to go by, if such an event happened in the company of other men, and someone kicked up a fuss about it, the typical response was: "Better out than in, old boy", and then just forget about it. That seemed to be the prevailing attitude in the British armed forces, it seemed.

Yes, I admit it: I do find this subject interesting and amusing, and more rather than less so with age I'm afraid.

I like the term 'trouser cough', which I think is of US dervation. 'Guff' was a synonym for fart that I recall from my boarding school days. The word fart itself is probably the oldest term as it derives from Anglo-Saxon 'feortan'.
'Flatulate' is a word I sometimes use as it has a nicely pedantic and ridiculous quality.

"Better out than in, old boy,' is something that a gentleman of that vintage did actually say to me, some years ago. I think you're right about the prevailing attitude in the British armed forces then. And it's a good attitude too.
 
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p51

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Well behind the front lines!
I have been researching trivial info from GIs and the 40s since I was a kid and have talked to countless vets in that time...
...and this subject never once came up.
 

the hairy bloke

Familiar Face
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83
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U K
It just has to be said.

In the UK, an oft used word is "trump".

I'll leave that there for our American friends to think about.
 

Ticklishchap

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Crepitation, I have also heard, which sounds nicely archaic.
Silent But Deadly is the worst but removes much of the satisfaction.
 

Juanito

One of the Regulars
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246
Location
Oregon
Not sure if it is from WWII or not but my grandfather would always blame it on barking spiders. Then again, he called everyone a fartknocker.
 

Ticklishchap

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"Who made that stink?" asked my ex-Army History master at school, frequently and without ever getting an answer.
 

Ticklishchap

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The head of the Naval section of the Officers' Training Corps at university was constantly farting and referred to farts as 'smellies'. I haven't heard that anywhere else and used to laugh at it at the time.
 

ron521

One of the Regulars
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207
Location
Lakewood, CO
Please don't be offended by this topic, chaps. It is simply for a passing reference in some fiction I am working on in my spare time. ... I am looking for old-fashioned military expressions for flatulence, passing gas, etc., whether US or UK, the type that would have
been prevalent in the WWII period and just after. 'Guff' is the only retro word I can think of (and recall hearing from men of that generation) but there
must be others. When did 'trouser cough' come in, for instance?

At my age, I admit that should not find this subject either interesting or amusing. ...
My navy veteran father who served in the Korean War would refer to gas passed as a "poot", and the act of releasing one as "pooting"
 

Ticklishchap

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London
My navy veteran father who served in the Korean War would refer to gas passed as a "poot", and the act of releasing one as "pooting"
I like that. I'm assuming US Navy, although your profile gives no clue as Cair Paravel is in Narnia!
I couldn't help thinking that we've already had Trump and now we have Putin. ...
 

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