The Military: Gung-Ho Vocabulary
| This is an entry in a series about the military. It’ll be a week of Army-Stuff.
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‘Gung-Ho’ isn’t normal English. It’s a term that I hear in normal English, but it just sounds so. . . military. Do you know anybody who is so motivated, so energetic, that it seems like they can do anything they have so much energy? That person—that kind of person—is ‘gung ho.’ Sure, a teacher can be gung-ho. A student can be gung-ho, too, if they’re so excited about learning that they always do everything they can to learn. ‘Gung-ho’ is the perfect term to describe an elite soldier of some kind, and the term sounds so ‘unstoppable’ that it seems military to me.
Today, we’re going to learn some other vocabulary that you can use to describe the military, and serving in the military. In the recording, you’ll hear the following words:
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enlist
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volunteer
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draft
After You’ve Heard the Recoding
Did you know any of the vocabulary? I chose these words for two reasons. The first, of course, is that they’re words you’ll want to use if you need to describe your own military service. On the other hand, though, these are words you can use in other settings. How would you use these words to describe something else? Have you ever enlisted someone to help you?
October 14th, 2009 at 18:12
Hello Toby!
In Mexico people “volunteer” to help in emergencies: for example, after an earthquake or a flood.
In office buildings by law companies must have a fire and earthquake brigade and the usual is that employees “enlist” to it.
Now, whenever we have elections, the usual is that the government calls on some citizens to do the job. Would you say they’re drafted?
Thanks! and best regards,
Beatriz Martinez
October 14th, 2009 at 18:55
Beatriz:
Hello, and I think you have a great example of volunteering. . . There was a lot of volunteering in the U.S. after 9/11 and Katrina, for example. I didn’t know that there were employee fire brigades in companies, what do they do? They don’t have hoses and stuff, do they? And I’d say the employees enlist IN the brigade (not to).
As for drafting citizens to run an election. . . Well, it doesn’t sound right, because I’m sure the citizens can say no. A draft is something you can’t refuse. An example might be the juries in American courts: if you’re drafted to jury duty, you can’t refuse.
October 16th, 2009 at 23:10
Toby,
Hello again!
Thanks for your answer on a draft.
About the brigades: first of all, let me tell you there’s just one employee brigade per company; it acts in whatever emergency you may think of: a fire, an earthquake, a bomb (or the threaten of a bomb), etc.
In case of an emergency, the employee that is part of the brigade has to make sure that all the co-workers that are nearby follow the best procedures for the situation. That is to say, if it is not advisable to evacuate, he has to make sure no one goes out. On the contrary, if it is decided that the building must be evacuated, this employee is the last to leave because he has to make sure no one is left behind (or stays on purpose at his desk). Etc.
Now, after the emergency or upon reaching a safer place, every employee in this squad must report to another employee in the brigade but with a higher rank about any missing co-workers and/or “extra” people in his group (employees that do not have their desks within his designated area, for example). This way, companies and authorities may quickly assess if employees are missing that may be inside and a rescue operation needs to be initated, etc.
I think this procedure was adopted after the horrendous 1985 earthquake in Mexico City.
Needless to say, employees that enlist in the brigade are given some training for emergency situations (use of hoses, first-aid, what to do with a person in shock, etc.) But their priority is to make sure employees around them are safe and sound. So they should leave it to firemen to put out a big fire; however, if a computer catches fire, sure they’re expected to try to put it out immediately!
Another question: do you have a word for the person who enlists in a brigade or a squad? For your information, in Spanish we would use “brigadista”.
Best regards,
Beatriz Martinez
Mexico City
October 18th, 2009 at 07:45
Beatriz:
I’ll be honest. . . I don’t know of a name for a person in a brigade. My first guess is that we’d just say they’re members. Or ‘fire wardens’ or ‘company fire officials.’
Do the brigade members–especially the ones who have to leave last–get extra money or some kind of compensation for what they do? Or is all volunteer?
The fire brigade sounds really well organized. I wonder if there’s a similar procedure here in Germany, or in the U.S. I’ve never heard of one and, at work, they never told me who to report to if there’s a fire.
Do all companies have to have a fire brigade? Or only ones above a certain size? (My English school doesn’t have to do a lot of the things that bigger companies do here in Germany.)
Thanks for your answer!
Toby
October 20th, 2009 at 20:08
Hello again!
Brigade members do not get any money at all. I don’t know about really small companies Toby, but this I can tell: schools (no matter the size or the type) must have brigades.
Maybe there’s no need for these brigades in the US or in Germany. After all, you can anticipate when a tornado might be hitting your area and take all possible precautions. But with an earthquake it’s different: it takes place at a moment’s notice …
Best regards,
Beatriz
October 24th, 2009 at 09:53
I don’t think I’d want to be a brigade member, then: There must be extra training and it’s a lot of responsibility. If I don’t get anything extra, I’d rather be one of the people that the people that the brigade members ‘chase’ out of the building.