Jargon (1/n)

General
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Originally published at: Jargon (1/n) | The Associated Worlds

burlies: archaic military slang for troops formally designated, at the time, as grenadiers; specifically, those equipped with a BRL (“Backpack Rockets Launcher”) as their primary weapon, specializing therefore in high-angle indirect fire. While the derivation from the acronym is obvious, a secondary cause was the effect of the BRL and its control package on the profile of those equipped with it.

(Just a random thought I had today. Incidentally, today I also learned a new word: flathatting.)

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Wait, does the derivation also work in Eldraeic?

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Not even slightly the same way.

(As Iain Banks said when he named a Culture ship GCU It’ll Be Over By Christmas, sometimes the translation is a lot more cultural than literal.)

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I swear the best translations are cultural, not literal.

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