Trench Talk

By Peter Doyle and Julian Walker

History : Military - General

The History Press
Publication date: November 2011

ISBN: 9780752479217

Digital Book format: ePub (Adobe DRM)

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The First World War largely directed the course of the twentieth century. Fought on three continents, the war saw 14 million killed and 34 million wounded, countless millions of people displaced and the ends and beginnings of several states. Its impact shaped the world we live in today, and the language of the trenches, the common speech of the participants, continues to live in the modern consciousness. One of the enduring myths of the First World War is that the experience of the trenches was not talked about. Yet dozens of words entered or became familiar in the English language as a direct result of the soldiers' experiences. This book looks at how the first-hand and second-hand experience of the First World War changed the English language, adding words that were both in slang and standard military use, and modifying the usage and connotations of existing words and phrases. Illustrated with material from the authors' collections and photographs of the objects of war, the book will look at how the words emerged into everyday language.