Emily Brewer Tommy, Doughboy, Fritz

Annotation

An amazing number of the words we use today were invented in World War I. They provide a unique insight into the experience of the war and the inventiveness and humour of ordinary soldiers. For millions of men the terrifying and unfamiliar experience of the war was made more bearable with a shared language that built on their camaraderie and common experience. A host of words from French, German, English, to Turkish and Hindi, were exchanged across No Man's Land and it is a mark of the war's enduring influence that many of the words they coined live on in our everyday language today. This wonderful array of trench lingo brings to life the spirit and resilience of ordinary men from different nations caught up in the war.