| Military Jargon |
| Military Jargon The trouble with the military jargon is that it hides what the military actually does. Fighting a war is a deadly business, but if you make it sound harmless enough, you can remove a lot of its hurt. And we want to believe that war no longer hurts. It may be surgical or healing or even beneficial, but it's no longer real war. assets: human beings dressed in uniforms and carrying weapons civilian: a person who is not in the military casualties: people injured or killed collateral damage: when unintended targets like civilians and hospitals are killed or destroyed degraded: damaged but not destroyed ended: killed or destroyed mop-up: assault reduced: a lot of men and women killed or wounded to re-service: to bomb again because the target wasn�t destroyed the first time around robust: involving a lot of damage to buildings, bridges, factories and population to service: to bomb special operation: a particular kind of assault surgical strikes: bombing campaigns that remove specific people, objects, and sites to take out: to destroy or kill wasted: a lot of men and women killed or wounded Here is a fictional military report using the above terms: Yesterday, the enemy attacked a site in one of our territories. We regret that there was loss of civilian life in this cold-blooded strike. We mourn for the victims and their families. We can now tell you that this terrible act has been avenged. (Translate the following sentences using the terms above) 1. This morning, we mounted a robust response, performing surgical strikes on key enemy bases. Our goal in this mission was to reduce enemy assets while minimizing our own casualties. 2. In the first wave of attacks, missile launching sites, communications centers, and munitions caches were serviced in a series of special operations. Our reconnaissance has told us that most enemy targets were taken out and/or ended. 3. In the second wave, our forces wasted enemy bunkers and command centers. We feel that we have largely reduced our enemy�s assets. 4. However, some sites were only degraded. We feel that our enemy�s assets have been sufficiently reduced for the time being. 5. We may decide to re-service certain targets in a mop-up operation. We expect that collateral damage inflicted by our strikes will be minimal. What has changed between the original and your translation? Which one would you rather hear? Can you think of why the military would communicate in the way that it does? Does this activity make you more skeptical about what you read? |