Royal Air Force
Slang
Updated: January 2008
"A"
Adj = Adjutant
AOC = Air Officer Commanding
Arthur Mitchell = A.M. or Air Ministry
AWOL = Absent Without Leave
"B"
Balloonatics = Personnel in Ballon Command
Best Up = To attack, either playfully or seriously and place or thing
Big Nose = Important Person
(to) Bird Dog = Stealing another guys girl
Bit Of Fluff = A girl, often the fluffy kind
(a) Black = Something or Some Action done badly (a "bad show")
Blackout or Twilights = WAAF issue knickers (under pants) - black in colour
(a solid Lump of ) Blitz = A large formation of enemy aircraft
Bog Rat = Recruit (a bog rate is the lower form of life the RAF can imagine)
Blood Wagon or Meat Wagon = Ambulance
Bought It = Killed
Brassed Off = A variant of "Browned off"
Browned Off = Unhappy with things or Displeased
Brown Jobs = Army Personnel
Bumph or Bumf = Useless Information
Bus Driver = Bomber Pilot
Buttoned Up = Job or Task which has been completely mastered
"C"
CO = Commanding Officer
Chiefy = Ground Crew Flight Sergeant
Civie Street = Civilian Life
Civvies = Civilian Clothes
Clobber = To beat up, damage or destroy
Corkscrew = To take evasive action during a fighter attack
Cookhouse Waller = Anyone of the staff in the cookhouse
Completely Cheesed = At a complete loss or Completely fed up
Completely Surrounded = No hope at all
Crabbing Along = Flying near to the ground or water
Crate = An Areoplane
Crawler = One who suck's up to someone of superior rank
Cypher-queen = Senior Cypher Officer (WAAF)
"D"
Dead Beat = RAF non-flying personnel
(crack down on the) Deck = To crash-land an aeroplane
(down to the) Deck = Flying close to the ground
Dim = Slow-witted
(to go like a) Ding Bat = To travel at high rate of speed
Do A Bunk = To leave without permission
(the right) Drill = The correct method of doing something
(go down in the) Drink = to crash-land in the sea
Dud = Used to describe un-fit flying weather
Duff Gen = Incorrect or Bad Information
Dust Bin = Rear gunner's lower position on an aircraft
DWAAF = Director of WAAF
"E"
Erik = Aircraftsman or Aircraftswoman
"F"
Fan = Propeller
(Mr.) Fireworks = Armaments Officer
Flak = Anti-Aircraft Fire
(to) Flannel = To seek favour by fawning
Flap = A disturbance or Other general excitement
(in a) Flat Spin = Complete confused
Flat Out = Complete exhausted
"G"
Gallopers = Warrant Officers rank badges
Gen = Information of any kind
George = The Automatic Pilot
Get Cracking = Get Going
Get Some In = Get some service (time) in
Get Weaving = Get Cracking
Glamour Badge = Brevet
Glamour Boys = Fighter Command pilots
Gone For A Burton = Air Crew whose has been killed
Gong = Medal
Got The Chop = A person that was killed
Gravey = Petrol or Gasoline
Greenhouse = Cockpit cover
Gremlins = The "little men" of the RAF or Imaginary figure that causes something to go wrong
Grocers = Suppliers
Groupy = Group Captain
"H"
Harbour Master = Commanding Officer of a Station
Have Had It = To have been killed or if said ironically to mean the opposite - NOT to have been killed
Hedge Hoping = Flying so low that the aircraft appears to be flying over hedges
Hooching = Pub crawling
Hughie = Australian and New Zealand (informal) the god of rain and the god of surf
esp. in the phases "send her down, Hughie! or "Send 'em up, Hughie"
"I"
> Nothing Noted <
"J"
Jankers = Duties performed while confined to camp (form of punishment)
Jink = A sharp manoeuvre or sudden evasive action
"K"
Kee-toi-ing = Crush of any kind - often an sudden crush "in love"
Kipper Kite = Coastal Command aircraft, which convoy fishing fleets in the North and Irish Seas
Kite = Aeroplane
"L"
(to) Lay on = To arrange or produce anything
Left, right and center = All over the place
"M"
Mae West = Life-saving vest, which can be inflate if the wearer falls into the water
Mickey Mouse = Bomb dropping mechanism
"N"
"Nothing On The Clock Except Smiths" = To run out of altitude, fuel, etc. (nothing showing on the instruments except the markers name "Smiths"
"O"
Office = Cockpit
One your knees = Too tired to stand
One Piper = An Army second lieutenant
Operational = Anything that actually "does the job". For example an aircraft, fountain pen, shoes, the weather
"P"
Pack Up = To cease to function
Pancake = To land an aircraft, formally meaning a crash landing, but used now to refer to any landing at all
(to) Peel Off = To break formation
Pickled As A Newt = Tiddly or Slight drunk
Piece Of Cake = A gift from the gods something easily obtained or completed with little effort
(to) Play Pussy = To hide in the clouds
Pleep = A Squeak, similar to a high pitched klaxon
Plonk = Recruit
Plumbers = Engineers
Pulchritude = Wizard wench - A glamour girl
Pull You Finger Out! = Stop loafing and get going
Put You Props Up = To be promoted to Leading Aircraftsman or Leading Aircraftswoman - which allowed for the sewing on of a propeller insignia on the sleeve
Prang = Crash = usually referring to the crash of an aircraft but sometimes used to describe braking up with a girlfriend
Plug Away = Continue for fire or to keep after a target
Pukka Gen = Accurate information of any kind
Pulpit = Cockpit
"Q"
Queen Bee = Senior WAAF (Administrative) Officer on a Station
Quick Squirt = Short burst of fire (machine gun)
Quickie = A quick anything
"R"
Rang the bell = Got good results
Ring Conscious = Conscious of rank (officer)
Ring = Rank designation on an officers cuff
Rack Ape = RAF Regiment
Ropey = Uncomplimentary adjective - rope landing, ropey type, ropey evening
"S"
Schooly or Schoolie = Education Officer
Scrambled Egg = Oak leaf decoration on the peal of a senior officer's cap
Screaming Downhill = Executing a power dive
(to) Scrub = To wash out or Abort
Second Dickey = Second pilot
Shaken = To be suddenly taken aback
Shaky Do = A dangerous operation or Event
Shagging = Making love
"She a night-fighter" or "That's where the night-fighter's were" = Night-fighters were "prostitutes"
Shooting A Line = Exaggerated talk, generally about ones own abilities
Show Down In Flames = Crossed in love or Severely reprimanded
Show "good." "poor" or "bad" = Anything can be a "show" - a dinner party, outing, operation
Sicky Dog = To feel ill
Snake About = Operational aerobatics
Snowdrop = RAF Police
Spun In = Any bad mistake
Sprog = Brand new in uniform - newly commissioned officer
Squaff = Squadron Officers (WAAF)
Stooge = A sind-in, a deputy, anyone who does something for someone else
Stooging About = Patrolling, flying slowly over an area, usually looking for trouble
"T"
Tail-end-Charlie = Rear Gunner in large bomber
Tapes = Non-Commissioned Officers "stripes"
Tate And Lyles = Warrant Officers rank badges
Tear A Strip Off = Reprimand severely, a dressing down, a speaking too
The Sky Pilot = RAF Chaplin
Tick Off = Slight less serve than a "tearing a strip off"
Tiddly = Slight drunk
Touch Bottom = Crash
Toys = A great deal of training equipment
(driving the) Train = Leading more than one squadron into battle
Type = Classification = often referring to people: good, bad, ropey, etc
"U"
U/S = Unserviceable - anything that is broken
"V"
View = RAF Personnel always take a "view of things" - good, poor, dim, etc.
"X,Y,Z"
> Nothing Noted <
"W"
Walt Disney = W.D. or War Department
(to) Weave = To take evasive action in an aircraft, but not so sudden as to make in "jink"
Weaving A Uneven Course For Home = Tiddly or Slight Drunk
Wizard = Really first class, superlative, attractive, ingenious - anything that deserves getting the highest prize
Wizzed As A Bee = Tiddly or Slightly Drunk
Worthy Type = Aid ironically and sarcastically of a soleman and self-rightous individual