Every war produces its slang coined by men who interpret their surroundings in much more vivid terms than in civilian life. The last war produced an extensive vocabulary, of largely a sanguinary nature, but in those branches of the services requiring a technical vocabulary, such as the Royal Air Force, great inventive ability was shown. But like all things, language and slang change, and the pilot of the last war would imagine hímselt in an utterly strange land of strange people were he to listen to some of the slang terms used nowadays because the Air Force vocabulary evolved during the last war has gone into history. A new one is rapidly being invented and codified. No longer does the enterprising airman "win" a wanted article; he "organised." When supplies arranged, those supplies have been If an airman is "fed up" he is "browned off." When something displeases "a poor view" is taken of it. Something badly done is "a black." A job properly completed is "buttoned up," and the correct method of doing anything is "the right drill" A few of the expressions from Royal Flying Corps days sur-i grown dignified with years. "hedge-hopping", "stall", "ceiling" are no longer regarded as slang. Some newer ones are "fan" for airscrew, formerly "the prop"; "stationmaster" for the Commanding Officer; and "spun-in" for a bad mistake. To "pancake" an aircraft is now to "crack down on the deck". This calls for "tearing off a strip", otherwise a reprimand, A "blonde job", surprisingly, is a young woman with fair hair.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.