List of United States Marine Corps Acronyms and Expressions - G

G

• G-2 – an individual's intellect, from designation for a staff intelligence organization.

• gaff off – to disregard or ignore a person or order, context usually denotes insubordination.

• gagglefuck – group of Marines grouped too closely or in an unorganized fashion; from gaggle, the term for a flock of grounded geese, and clusterfuck, a term for a messy situation.

• gangway – ship's passageway; also used to order juniors to give way to seniors in passageways, and particularly when going up and down ladders.

• garrison – in addition to the traditional meaning, an adjective referring to not being deployed or deployable, such as buildings at a unit's home base.

• garrison cap or garrison cover – soft green folded cap worn with the service uniform. See also fore-and-aft cap and piss cover/cutter.

• gear – property or equipment; usually referring to an individual's combat equipment.

• gear adrift – gear found left lying around or unguarded, from the saying "gear adrift, must be a gift!".

• geedunk – candy and other sweets, or a location where such items are obtained (such as a store or vending machine); borrowed from the comic strip Harold Teen. See also pogey bait.

• General – method of addressing a Brigadier General, Major General, Lieutenant General, or General.

• general orders – list of 11 General Orders for Sentries detailing rules for guard or sentry duty.

• gerbil launcher – M203 grenade launcher. See also blooper.

• get some – spirited cry expressing approval and the desire for more or to continue, traditionally associated in the Vietnam War to killing or sex.

• GI shower – bathing with limited water (often with the use of wet wipes); forcibly bathing an individual who refuses to meet minimum hygiene standards.

• GITMO – U.S. Naval Base, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

• Glow worm – a high visibility device, usually a belt, used during PT or other night activity; used to identify newly-arrived recruits in boot camp.

• go-fasters – running shoes or sneakers, named so because they help a person run faster than boots.

• goat rope or goat rodeo or goat screw – chaotic and messy situation. See also cluster fuck.

• gomer or GOMER – antiquated slang for a stupid person, from the character Gomer Pyle; or as a backronym for "Get Out of My Emergency Room" used by corpsmen to refer to malingerers who faked illness to avoid duties.

• good cookie – Good Conduct Medal.

• good to go – expression denoting that difficulties will be overcome; ready; well done or satisfactory.

• Gook – anything foreign or strange.

• Gore-Tex – All Purpose Environmental Clothing System (APECS), a cold/wet weather protective parka and trousers, based on the Extended Cold Weather Clothing System, usually in reference to the parka; from the fabric it is made from.

• gouge – information or news. See also word.

• grab-ass – horseplay, loafing, lounging.

• greens – service uniforms in reference to their color.

• grid squares – marked reference lines on a map; often used as a prank fool's errand where an unsuspecting Marine is asked to find a box of them when they don't physically exist.

• grinder – parade ground or deck used primarily for drill and/or formations.

• ground guide – person who walks in front of a vehicle in order to detect and avoid obstacles and guide the driver to the proper spot.

• grunt or ground pounder – infantryman, formerly a pejorative that has taken more neutral tones.

• GT score – intelligence, from the General Technical score on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery and the minimum scores that many Military Occupational Specialties require to qualify.

• guide – unit guidon-bearer; in recruit training, also the senior recruit and responsible for the actions of all recruits in a platoon.

• gun bunny – artilleryman, so named for the hearing loss associated with working around cannons. See also cannon cocker and red leg.

• gun club – slang term for the USMC at-large as in "I've been in this gun club longer than you." Use in presence of senior personnel is inappropriate. Use by civilians or members of other services is considered disrespectful.

• Gung ho – Chinese phrase meaning to "work together," it became the battle cry of the Marine Raiders.

• gunner – shortened form of Marine Gunner, a nickname for an Infantry Weapons Officer; used informally to refer to the Officer In Charge if he or she is of warrant officer rank.

• Gunny – nickname for Gunnery Sergeant, improper to call a Master Gunnery Sergeant this.

• Gunny rolls – poorly-rolled sleeves on the MCCUU, so named from the tendency for some older Marines to take a sloppier approach to uniforms.

• gyrene – nickname for Marine, often thought an insult; combination of the words "GI" and "Marine".