The Following are some 19th Century words.

Try using them at the next event you’re in.

 

Bad Egg - bad person, good for nothing

Bark Juice, Red Eye, O Be Joyful - liquor

Beat the Dutch - if that don't beat all

Been Through the Mill - been through a lot, seen it all

Bellyache - complain

Bivouac - to camp without formal shelter or in temporary circumstances

Blowhard - braggart, bully

Blue Mass - refers to men on sick call; named after blue pill.

Bread Bag - haversack

Bread Basket - stomach

Bully - exclamation meaning, &'terrific!' or 'hurrah!'

Bully for You - good for you

Bummer – malingerer, someone who deliberately lags behind to forage or steal on his own shrift

Bummer's Cap - regulation army cap with a high/deep crown, so-called because it could be filled with gathered foodstuffs

Camp canard - tall tale circulating around camp as gossip

Cashier - to dismiss from the army dishonorably

Chief Cook and Bottle Washer - person in charge, or someone who can do anything

Company Q - fictitious unit designation for the sick list

Contraband - escaped slaves who sought refuge behind Union lines

Cracker Line - supply line for troops on the move

Desecrated Vegetables - Union, dehydrated (desiccated) vegetables formed into yellowish squares

Dog Robber - soldier detailed from the ranks to act as cook

Dog Collar - cravat issued with uniforms, usually discarded

Embalmed Beef - canned meat

Essence of Coffee - early instant coffee, found in paste form

Forage - to hunt for food, live off the land; also came to mean plundering enemy property for sustenance

Fit as a fiddle - in good shape

Fit to be tied - angry

Forty Dead Men - a full cartridge box, which usually held forty rounds

French Leave - to go absent without leave

Fresh Fish - new recruits

Go Boil Your Shirt - take a hike, get lost, bug off

Grab a Root - eat a meal, especially a potato

Greenbacks - money

Grey Backs - lice, also derogatory term for Confederate soldiers

Goober peas  peanuts

Hanker - a strong wish or want

Hardtack or sheet iron crackers  - unleavened bread in the form of ¼ inch thick crackers issued by the army

“Hayfoot, strawfoot"- Command used to teach recruits difference between left and right

High-falutin - highbrow, fancy

“Hornets"- Term for bullets as they whizzed past a person's head

"Horse collar" Term for a soldier's blanket roll

Horse Sense - common sense, good judgement

Hospital Rat - someone who fakes illness to get out of duty

Humbug - nonsense, a sham, a hoax

Jawing - talking

John Barleycorn - beer

Jonah - someone who is or brings bad luck

Knock into a Cocked Hat - to knock someone senseless or thoroughly shock him

Light Out - leave in haste

Lucifers - matches

Muggins - a scoundrel

No Account - worthless

Not By a Jug Full - not by any means, no way

On His Own Hook - on one's own shrift, without orders

Opening the Ball - starting the battle

Peacock About - strut around

Pig Sticker - knife or bayonet

Picket - sentries posted around a camp or bivouac to guard approaches

Play Old Soldier - pretend sickness to avoid combat

Quartermaster Hunter - shot or shell that goes long over the lines and into the rear.

Quick Step, Flux,  or Virginia Quick Step  - diarrhea

Robber's Row - the place where sutlers set up to do business

Row - a fight

Salt Horse or Salt Hay  - salted meat

Sardine Box - cap box

Sawbones - surgeon

Scarce as Hen's Teeth - exceedingly rare or hard to find

Secesh - derogatory term for Confederates and Southerners: secessionists

See The Elephant - experience combat or other worldly events

Shoddy - an inferior weave of wool used to make uniforms early in the war; later came to mean any clothing or equipment of substandard quality

Sing Out - call out, yell

Sink , Bog  "toilet"

Skedaddle - run away, escape

Snug as a Bug - very comfortable

Soiled Dove, Fancy Girl - Prostitute

Sunday Soldiers / Parlor Soldiers - derogatory terms for unsuitable soldiers

Tight, Wallpapered - drunk

Toe the Mark - do as told, follow orders

Top Rail - first class, top quality

Tuckered Out - exhausted

Try Our Metal: see how strong we are

“Uncle Sam’s Lead Pills: bullets

Yellow Dog: coward, or a staff officer