elenawicker.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

Political scientist here - just received the perfect spam text… #BowlingAlone

submitted 48 days ago • 2 comments

“To study history is to study humanity. And to try to foretell the future without studying history is like trying to learn to read without bothering to learn the alphabet.” Octavia Butler

submitted 48 days ago • 0 comments

“The thing about words is that meanings can twist just like a snake. And if you want to fight snakes, look for them behind words that have changed their meaning.” -Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies

submitted 50 days ago • 0 comments

SUBORDINATION, from an 1885 US military dictionary. “It is subordination that gives a soul and harmony to the service: it adds strength to authority, and merit to obedience; and while it secures the efficacy of command, reflects honor upon its execution.” (Insubordination not defined.)

submitted 58 days ago • 0 comments

Most important article of a soldier’s rations? COFFEE. For its “exhilarating and refreshing properties.” (1885)

submitted 60 days ago • 0 comments

Trying to clarify how threads of military jargon unfurl from 1700/1800s terms like stratagem, strategical ops, stratotic, stratarithmetry, stratarithmometry, and strategos and I keep returning to these @ldfreedman.bsky.social pieces in TNSR… mandatory reading! t.co/JF8YYkodmL

submitted 61 days ago • 0 comments

My military dictionaries (and I) are in @finebooks.bsky.social magazine! www.finebooksmagazine.com/fine-books-n...

submitted 62 days ago • 1 comment

I’m gaining some followers so I’ll introduce myself… Hi! I talk about military jargon, terminology, and buzzwords. I research military documents and how words shape orgs, move money, and/or make everyone confused. If you’re interested in if/when/how language shapes militaries - welcome!

submitted 111 days ago • 3 comments

Three holiday parties last week and I only talked about navy encyclopedia editors shipwrecked by hurricanes to TWO PEOPLE. And they ASKED for fun facts.

submitted 88 days ago • 0 comments

Dammit, Margaret Atwood. Didn’t have to push the knife so deep Cc all my fellow military historians 🗃️ (H/t to @joelhanes.bsky.social for making me aware of this poem) www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47788/...

submitted 90 days ago • 20 comments

Not an exhaustive list, but we're all likely exhausted.

submitted 106 days ago • 41 comments

Annual NDAA fun fact: The first NDAA from June 1961 was half a page long and had only three sections: aircraft, missiles, and naval vessels.

submitted 106 days ago • 0 comments

Last night in Elena Does Very Serious Military History, I compiled a list of one hundred years worth of “nonexistent things new recruits were told they had to find.” My current favorite is pie tickets, WWII Navy. Followed by grid squares. What are your favorite examples?

submitted 107 days ago • 6 comments

Navy dictionary from 1941.

submitted 108 days ago • 3 comments

Apparently in 1779, there were these things called message balls or message shells. You hollowed out a howitzer shell, put your letter inside, and then SHOT IT AT YOUR INTENDED RECIPIENT.

submitted 525 days ago • 5 comments

Need help. Trying to find every way that “hooah” can be used. Motivation, agreement, acknowledgment, …???

submitted 109 days ago • 5 comments

Swacked, 1941 Navy slang:

submitted 109 days ago • 0 comments

Second starter pack. If you’re looking for well researched and thoughtful analysis, you could do worse than these folks. This list is composed of academics I admire and whose research has influenced my thoughts in some way. Follow them if you value depth over click bait. go.bsky.app/FQ9AZBy

submitted 111 days ago • 1 comment

In 1940s U.S. Army slang, chaplains were called “Holy Joes.”

submitted 110 days ago • 0 comments

Alright people. Hit me with your favorite words.

submitted 111 days ago • 8 comments

I’m gaining some followers so I’ll introduce myself… Hi! I talk about military jargon, terminology, and buzzwords. I research military documents and how words shape orgs, move money, and/or make everyone confused. If you’re interested in if/when/how language shapes militaries - welcome!

submitted 111 days ago • 3 comments

Military cyphers from 1810 👀 Silver, vinegar, rocks, spirituous particles…

submitted 115 days ago • 0 comments

The “favorite back position” for marksmanship from an 1885 U.S. military encyclopedia…

submitted 124 days ago • 0 comments

If various philosophers were active on social media or the internet, where would they be posting?

submitted 134 days ago • 1 comment

I'm honored to be part of the Institute for Future Conflict's (IFC) inaugural cohort of non-resident fellows, alongside @elenawicker.bsky.social & other great scholars. Created in 2021, the IFC is located at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO. www.ifc.usafa.edu/articles/ifc...

submitted 141 days ago • 0 comments

The type of archival document bullet that I have no ability to resist. Font wars?! Sans serif siege!

submitted 163 days ago • 1 comment

You missed it the first time, don’t miss it this time! We talked about Buzzwords and how to make them with Dr @elenawicker.bsky.social , and you can hear it on YouTube or your favorite Podcast App. #USMC #TeamKrulak www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaNr... spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/bjpgDVnuvEb

submitted 486 days ago • 0 comments

A #BruteCast next Monday!? We leave the sea for a moment and talk jargon and words with @elenawicker.bsky.social. She wanted someone to build a buzzword with and we complied with her demands! Join us with the link below. #USMC #TeamKrulak #DoYouWantToBuildABuzzword www.eventbrite.com/e/7327885593...

submitted 498 days ago • 0 comments

Just going to drop this definition of “Pentagon English” here for you all…

submitted 504 days ago • 8 comments

As a military jargon researcher, AUSA is simultaneously my Barbieland and my villain origin story. Loved every second of it.

submitted 511 days ago • 0 comments

A caution from your friendly military jargon researcher: remain wary of folks who seem to have learned all the biggest baddest words of military operations and strategy in the last few days. Vet all of your sources. Jargon can be excellent camouflage for ignorance.

submitted 513 days ago • 2 comments

Living my best life at #AUSA2023, hanging out with mobile protected firepower. #NotATank

submitted 513 days ago • 0 comments

Favorite fun fact about the NDAA: The first NDAA from June 1961 was half a page long and had three sections: aircraft, missiles, and naval vessels. (It is a little bit longer now.)

submitted 516 days ago • 0 comments

MANEUVER as defined in the first official Army Dictionary in 1944. I love that for aircraft it depends on “movements out of the ordinary”…

submitted 516 days ago • 3 comments