"Aw, go easy, Mike; how'n'ell am I goin' to buy a toothpick, with wood so expensive in France?"
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SEA SLANG PUZZLES POILU.
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Trips on an Idiom and His Pride
Takes a Fall.
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Among the idiomatic terms adopted by United States Marines everywhere, the expression "shove off" is used more frequently than any other. In the sea-soldier lingo, if a Marine goes home on furlough, leaves his camp or garrison or goes anywhere, he "shoves off."
A story comes from France of a Marine who had been acting as orderly for a lieutenant. The officer sent him on an errand, and when he returned the lieutenant was nowhere about. A poilu, who happened to be loitering in the vicinity, was questioned by the Marine:
"Have you seen the lieutenant?"
"Oui, monsieur, oui," replied the poilu, proud of his newly acquired Marine Corps English, "he have—what you call—pushed over."
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HOW ABOUT THEM?
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Things that make all the difference in the world:—
A letter from —— (fill in name to suit yourself.)
A real soap-and-hot-water bath.