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" Wars generate slang. Vietnam gave us &amp;quot;frag&amp;quot;; World War II gave us &amp;quot;fubar&amp;quot; (fucked up beyond all recognition); and soldiers in the first Gulf war nicknamed the region the &amp;quot;Sandbox,&amp;quot; perhaps because our one-sided victory felt like child&amp;#039;s play. This time, soldiers call it the &amp;quot;Sandpit.&amp;quot; The gallows humor doesn&amp;#039;t end there. Below, six terms from our latest venture. battle rattle n: The gear carried by U. S. infantrymen, including body armor, weapons, and ammo, weighing up to 85 pounds. fobbit n: A soldier who rarely leaves his forward operating base (FOB). The word is a hybrid of FOB and hobbit and suggests a cushy, safe life on base that fobbits cling to like hobbits to the Shire. death blossom n: The fire-in-all-directions response of some Iraqi security forces to even minor insurgent attacks. Named after a weapon in The Last Starfighter that allows one spinning, firing spaceship to wipe out numerous enemy ships. man dress n: A dishdasha, the long robe worn by many Middle Eastern men. &amp;quot;Man dress&amp;quot; isn&amp;#039;t meant to be an insult, according to First Lieutenant Jeff Barnett of the Marines: &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s a purely utilitarian term and doesn&amp;#039;t connote any judgment on the Iraqis&amp;#039; choice of clothing.&amp;quot; Of course not. dirt sailor n: A member of the Navy&amp;#039;s construction battalions--also known as the Seabees--which have been building bases, roads, and airstrips since World War II. hillbilly armor n: Makeshift vehicle protection, often made of scrounged sheet metal. This term got a lot of attention around the time Donald Rumsfeld made his controversial statement &amp;quot;You go to war with the army you have.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a2095/esq0307eyewreck/>