You know you must be a member of the armed forces if you know what a "fobbit" is or what "FUBIJAR" means or where, exactly, "Marineland" is located. Morning Edition commentator Austin Bay, a retired colonel in the Army Reserve and a veteran of the Iraq war, explains some of the military jargon, which he's compiled in a little handbook called Embrace the Suck: A Pocket Guide to Milspeak.
"Marineland" is Anbar province in Iraq, which is patrolled mainly by Marines. And if you were to visit Marineland, you might hear a few new variations on the Marines' celebrated motto, "Semper Fi." For example, calling someone a "Semper I" means he's "somebody who is not helping his fellow soldiers," Bay tells Steve Inskeep and Renee Montagne.
"Part of the humor is an attack on the system, or making fun of the ridiculous elements of the system," Bay says. "At the same time, there's a reinforcement of the group identity."
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