Tactical Lingo

brmfan

New member
After recently eavesdropping on a class of new shooters at the range, I was inspired to edit some famous quotes and titles using what seems to be the latest 'tactical lingo'. Feel free to add to the list! :D

"This is my platform this is my gun, this one's for fighting, this one's for fun" - GySgt. Hartman

"A Weapon System Man Goes to War"- H.W. McBride

"The Platform Man", starring Chuck Connors

"You'll drive your eye out!" - Christmas Story

"Don't drive fast, drive good" - Clint Smith

"You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a platform behind every blade of grass." Adm. Yamamoto
 
I hate the terms platform and weapon system, just really grinds my gears.

Someone on here once called the Lee Enfield a rifle platform, I think it's one of those buzz words that helps make you a better shooter.
 
+1! And, I highly dislike being chastised or sneered at for not using and keeping up with the latest tacticool lingo... makes me feel old and grumpy and want to yell at kids for walking on my grass (I'm only 46!). I work with two younger guys who know my history, my part time job, hobbies- and it drives them nuts that I see their systems and platforms and accessories as simply rifles, tools, fads, and accessories. One fella went nuts when he heard I put a M1903-style leather sling on a black rifle. It tickled me so much I ordered a M1907(?) Kerr-style reproduction sling to put on the next one get get screwed together.
 
Apr 29, 2008 · Cpl. Womack said... Slow is smooth, smooth is fast, fast is lethal.
& then Markie-Mark (as Bob Lee Swagger) abused the quote even more.:rolleyes:

A visual aid if I may.
DSCF5397_zpscidmg0dx.jpg

(Image & text (c) Wogpotter 2008)
 
Why isn't their car a "platform" too? After all, it is the base on which all the options are added....

The one that bugs me a bit is "operator". Partly because my job title for over 30 years included the word "operator", and had noting to do with guns or shooting.

It may be technically correct, but there are accepted nuances to our language, and one is most comfortable with those in common use when one reaches the age of maturity (chronologically, not emotionally ;))

And don't even get me started on why I find "Deagle" distasteful.....
:D
 
While I generally don’t use these terms I realize that technology jargon in various fields evolves. I’ve worked in the computer industry and remember when computers connected to a server, but now they connect to “The Cloud”. Whether we like it or not terminology changes and there’s not much we can do about it.
 
I hate the terms platform and weapon system, just really grinds my gears.

"TACTICAL" is the word to me, like "No Problem", that should be banned forever.

Guns are not tactical.
 
Keep in mind that many of these terms come from the military. We used "weapon system" to refer to crew-served weapons. Our M240s were weapon systems: You had the gun, the T&E mount, the tripod, and the spare barrel bag. I think some parts of the Army might use that term even more extensively; I've got a coworker who was a Ranger who refers to all guns as a "weapon system". He's not trying to be "tacticool", it's just a term he used a lot when he was in the Army.

And "platform" is useful for describing an overall type of firearm. I'd never refer to a specific rifle as a "platform", but referring to the AR-15 platform in general makes sense in certain contexts.
 
Platform is a handy generic term that avoids having to get into the specifics of the particular item being referred to.

So when I talk about mounting a red dot sight and mention that one needs to insure that the proper adapter is available to mount the sight to the platform in question, I'm not trying to redefine the term "rifle", "handgun" or "shotgun", I'm just trying to be concise.

I could say instead that: "...one needs to insure that the proper adapter is available to mount the sight to the revolver, autopistol, rifle, or shotgun..." but it's just more words with no added meaning conveyed for the extra typing involved.

I really don't understand why people get so wound up about the use of the term. To me it makes about as much sense as getting upset when someone refers to a "stainless steel Winchester Model 70 in .243 with a synthetic stock" as a "gun" rather than spelling out all the details.
 
Dont get me started...

when people start describing their trip to the corner store like its a spec ops mission, I just roll my eyes. I actually overheard some yahoo at the range the other day say that he "deployed" his car door in a manner conducive to expedient egress. The guy he was talking to said something like.. "did you maintain op-sec"?
 
Jargon is used in closed groups to quickly communicate information using a known set of accepted phrases, codes, etc.

In the day I served, it was all about acronyms, ABC this DEF that. As it got worse there were multiple meanings which only context would sort out.

Considering weapons, yeah, military grade weapons are platforms. HK did it first expanding the range of options to the point it was almost a joke, it seemed they were trying too hard to pay for the tooling. You could get a major or intermediate caliber HK in a range from submachine gun to bipod mounted heavy squad weapon or sniper grade rifle - and it seemed it was all just rearranging parts out off the shelf.

Just like the SOPMOD poster - and many don't realize it only showed a portion of what became available due to it's early release. Most of those gun closet papers tacked up next to some honey with nothing but curves to sell never include the CQBR upper, the 10.5" barrel which became the MK18 and which is the hottest weapon going for military use by "certain small units."

So, platform away. I first built an AR15 as a dissipator, then converted it to a 3Gun stripper to lighten it up for deer hunting. I'm building a AR pistol on another platform with parts off the first build, in a different caliber, same purpose and likely another pound lighter.

To me, a platform requires more than one version in service, the AR qualifies as 20" issue and DMR's exist, 14.5" is standard with the M4, and the MK18 comes in 10.5". They take all the same accessories and mags, what's not to like?

Beats having to order different scope mounts for the different rifles in the gun safe, nothing interchangeable. I work auto parts and hear a LOT of consumers complaining "why don't they make them all the same it would be so simple?"

We got that with the AR and we hear, "Why did they invent a platform that works so easy these things are everywhere I cant stand them."

I can legally swap my 16" 6.8 rifle upper onto my pistol lower and use the 6.8 mags hunting. (Don't even suggest what could be done with the leftovers.) That's a platform, same as the HK and SIG handguns that ship with 4 barrels in different calibers.

Nope, what we are really talking about are people spicing up their conversation by misusing jargon and catch phrases - and I heard a lot of that in the military, too. It was always done as a device to impress the unknowledgeable, which seemed to work most of time. I could catch it, but saying something would have only raised a big stink and brought out the rulers to see who was the Alpha Male.

If you see the jargon phrases from LEO psych work in that last paragraph no doubt you can contribute something to this thread, too.

In their context words and phrases make communication richer and impart more knowledge more quickly. Used abusively it's all about being a poser. Simple as that.
 
"TACTICAL" is the word to me, like "No Problem", that should be banned forever.

Think of it as an opportunity.

I think of all my rifles as "strategic", since they are part of my strategy of shooting something.
 
JohnKSa said:
Platform is a handy generic term that avoids having to get into the specifics of the particular item being referred to.

So when I talk about mounting a red dot sight and mention that one needs to insure that the proper adapter is available to mount the sight to the platform in question, I'm not trying to redefine the term "rifle", "handgun" or "shotgun", I'm just trying to be concise.

tirod said:
Nope, what we are really talking about are people spicing up their conversation by misusing jargon and catch phrases
These are the two best quotes from this thread. Used appropriately, terms like "platform" fit a valid need from a vocabulary standpoint. Used inappropriately, they becomes meaningless and annoying. But condemning ALL usage of these words is ridiculous.
 
My piece or my roscoe.

In a class, some guy drew his gun and threw it 10 yards in front of him.

He said that he seemed to have lost his piece.
 
Tirod, we have even more acronyms in the military than we did just ten years ago: now some of our acronyms even contain acronyms (anyone ever heard of a CCMRF? Thankfully that went away a few years ago). And about the jargon, I recall 20 years ago as a young 2LT teasing one of our peers about speaking "army" so fluently... You know the guy who manages to fit a cool "operational" term or phrase into nearly every sentence?

Back on topic, I honestly read more here of annoying gun-talk from the mall ninjas than I ever hear in person. Most everyone I shoot or speak with uses everyday terms. But I do enjoy reading some of the things quoted here (deploying a car door? That's a good one)
 
I too do not come across many people using jargon in my circle of gun friends. Maybe this is something more associated with the gaming generation?
 
Platform is a handy generic term that avoids having to get into the specifics of the particular item being referred to.

So when I talk about mounting a red dot sight and mention that one needs to insure that the proper adapter is available to mount the sight to the platform in question, I'm not trying to redefine the term "rifle", "handgun" or "shotgun", I'm just trying to be concise.


Well said John.

I see this whine about the use of "platform" on just about every gun forum once a month or so. I put in in the same boat as the Grammar Nazis, spell checkers and the "Clip vs Mag" folks. Who really gives a rats ear as long as folks are gun friendly? Besides, many of those folks using the word "platform" probably know more about guns that those whining about them using the word.
 
I was a soldier for a decade and a half...
We never used most of the terms I read on gun boards ....

The only time the word tactical was used was mostly when there was a difference in operation than that what was in garrison...

For example, tactical chow was a method used to keep everyone from congregating in one area...

Mostly we used common terms, sights were sights, scopes were scopes, goggles meant- night vision-. Lots of acronyms, but nothing cool sounding. Rifles were called "guns", weapons and rifles.... Never a platform.... Most equipment was called a generic name or "M" designation if it was not a mouthful.

Never heard the term "optic"
"Platform"

A weapon system would be a little device like a Bradley, paladin, Abrams
Rifle was never called a platform.
Rifle was technically an "individual weapon"
M60, M2 were "crew served" weapons

Ranger type tacticool terms were reserved to make fun of PXrangers.

"Operator"made it's appearance in GI Jane. I have heard it used in reference to delta

Most of the terms I hear used in the gun forums I first heard on video games...
Local LEO seems to be the driving force behind most of these terms and jargon... Military guys are mostly regular guys just doing their job, or doing their time or both...

I hear braggarts blowing and going at family reunions and other venues trying to impress the rest... I keep quiet and know that they are full of it. Occasionally another vet will call them out

I keep my veteran status to myself... More often than you think, people don't like veterans or the military. There's many reasons for this.

Most of the time when I hear something on the civilian and LE market refered to as tactical: I think that it means extra stuff... Extra attachments, extra Velcro, extra pockets, extra pouches, extra laces... And in the case of attire, extra comfy...
I've found that tactical socks are way cushier than military sock... Tactical boots are like heaven. Tactical pants ain't bad....
Earth tones, lots of earth tones, with boutique names, like "coyote" lol and boutique bullets with boutique names.
It really is the grandest marketing plan ever, capitalized on the gaming market... Those games are fun, I'll admit.
 
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