Roger, Sausage and Whippet: A Miscellany of Trench Lingo from the Great War

by Christopher Moore

In four long years, 1914 - 1918, the Western Front maimed a generation of young men and women bonded by combat and burdened by duty. Now, through the letters of Christopher Moore's Captain Cartwright, comes an extraordinary lexicon of the phrases and lingo of life at the front.

Whether born from the desperation of gallows humour in France and Flanders - 'If it keeps on like this, someone's going to get hurt' - or borrowed from further afield - 'Cushy: comfortable, safe, pleasant. From the Hindustani, khush, pleasure' - wherever he was, whatever he was doing, Tommy invented or borrowed his own word for it. From Ammo to Zig-Zag, this is a fascinating glimpse into the world of our First World War heroes.

So boil up the dixie and scrounge yourself some dooly. By the time you've drummed up you'll be slinging the bat like a barber's cat.

• ISBN10: 0755363671
• ISBN13: 9780755363674
• Publish Date: 27 September 2012
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 25 May 2015
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Headline Publishing Group
• Imprint: Headline Book Publishing
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 224
• Language: English

Reviews

[MurderByDeath]

When I first picked up this book, I figured I'd flip through it, stopping at words that caught my eye along the way and be finished up with it in a few hours; it's a glossary, after all.   But then I discovered that each lettered section begins with the reproduction of a letter from the front; a man named Charles, writing to his parents, his brother and his nephew.  These were good - they were better than good, they turned a freaking glossary into a narrative, and in addition to learning new words (and meanings for old words), I had to keep flipping so I could find out what happened to Charles next, always sure that I was going to get to 'Z' to find a bad news telegram or something.  I didn't.   I knocked off 1/2 a star because, while Charles makes it to 'Z', you never find out what happens to him in the rest of the war.  A letter at the very start makes it clear he survived, but with 2 years of the war left, 'Z' leaves the reader with something of a small cliffhanger.   Still, way better than your average glossary for readability!