Between the Gat and the Gap

Like so many other conflicts, Rhodesia's turmoil has also become a war of words. Among blacks and whites alike, talk about the struggle is studded with slang that derives from many sources: Afrikaans, tribal dialects, rugby and cricket jargon, even the vernacular of Viet Nam. A glossary:

Auxiliary. A guerrilla who has joined the government side, or a black who has been recruited as a counterinsurgent by one of the pro-government nationalist parties. Known in a Shona dialect as a Pfumo reVanhu (spear of the nation).

Blood budgies. Mosquitoes, which soldiers on bush patrol find almost as lethal as the guerrillas.

Flat dogs. Crocodiles, another natural menace. Also: walking handbags.

Gat. A gun, from the old Galling weapons imported by Cecil Rhodes.

Hairy backs. What English-speaking whites call the Dutch-descended Afrikaners.

Harmony pills. Bullets, coined following a failed 1977 government campaign to promote racial harmony.

Hout. Afrikaans term of derision for blacks, meaning woodenhead.

Houtie slayer. Rifle.

Mashford's militia. Term of derision for recruits who have joined the government army since draft age was raised to 59 this year; Mashford's is a well-known Salisbury funeral home.

Slot. Common euphemism for verb to kill. Others: take oiT, waste, drill.

Take the gap. White phrase for leave the country, derived from rugby maneuver of breaking past other players. The emigration route, once known as the Chicken Run, is today widely referred to as the Owl Run, because it is now considered more wise than cowardly to take the gap.

Terrs. Short for terrorists, the term whites use when referring to Patriotic Front guerrillas. Also: gooks, floppies, oxygen wasters. Blacks have a favorite term of affection for the guerrillas: the boys in the bush.

Tiny terrs. Children used by guerrillas as spotters. Also: termites.

Wombles. Elderly white police volunteers who patrol urban areas to ward off terrs. Usually they are armed only with batons, but for the election an exception was made: some wombles were given gats.

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