army

proverb A well-fed army is most effective. The cook may be the most important person in the unit because an army marches on its stomach.

A child whose parent is in the army. The phrase is often associated with the fact that such a child has lived in many different places (as relocations are common for members of the military). After being an army brat, I'm very happy to have lived in the same place for the last 20 years. Yep, Susie's an army brat—her father is a decorated soldier.

To select, nominate, or assign someone to carry out a task or duty that they are unwilling or unprepared to undertake. My boss always army volunteers me to pick up lunch for the office.

A very large, perhaps excessive, amount of food. "Coxey's Army" was a group of unemployed workers who marched on Washington, DC, in 1894, led by US businessman Jacob Coxey. Aw, stay for dinner. My mom always makes enough to feed Coxey's Army anyway. We have enough food here to feed Coxey's Army, so please take some over to Maria and Al.

Who is going to back you up when it comes time for you to follow through on your threat? A phrase meant to challenge one suspected of bluffing. A: "I'll make sure you don't get away with this." B: "Oh yeah? You and what army? I've got more resources at my disposal than you could even dream of!" What are you going to do, force me to stop? You and what army?

Who is going to back you up when it comes time for you to follow through on your threat? A phrase meant to challenge one suspected of bluffing. A: "I'll make sure you don't get away with this." B: "Oh yeah? You and who else? I've got more resources at my disposal than you could even dream of!" What are you going to do, force me to stop? You and who else?

A childish response to a threat, implying that an adversary is not powerful enough to carry out the threat alone (hence the need for an "army"). A: "If you don't leave, I'll make you get off this playground!" B: "Oh yeah? You and whose army?"

A humorous phrase intended as a vague insult. Once I started hearing them trade stupid insults—really eye-roll-inducing stuff like, "Your mother wears army boots!"—that was my cue to step outside for some air. A: "You're a clod!" B: "Oh yeah? Well, you're mother wears army boots!"

A reference to the intensity and rigidity that accompanies military training that a new recruit is going to face. You've left the cushy life of a college student behind, kid—you're in the army now!

Prov. An army needs a regular supply of food in order to keep on fighting. The invading army will soon have to pull back. An army marches on its stomach, and they're out of food.

Inf. a phrase that responds to a threat by implying that the threat is a weak one. Bill: I'm going to punch you in the nose! Bob: Yeah? You and who else? Tom: Our team is going to slaughter your team. Bill: You and what army? Bill: If you don't stop doing that, I'm going to hit you. Tom: You and who else?

People say you and whose army? to tell someone who has threatened them that they will not be able to do what they have threatened because they are not strong enough. `I'll make you sorry.' — `Oh yeah? You and whose army?'

A child of a member of the regular army. Although brat is not a flattering term, the phrase is not at all derogatory. It dates from the first half of the 1900s. Because regular army personnel often are transferred from station to station, their children frequently had to change schools, and this circumstance is what is most often referred to. A New York Post article in 1971 had it, “I was in sixteen different grammar schools. Then I’d be whisked away because my father was in the Army and I was an Army brat.”

Shape up—things are done differently here. One of the stock comedy bits in World War II movies was the rude awakening that recruits received during basic training. Any buck private who tried to oversleep or do anything else that wasn't according to military procedure would be chewed out by his drill sergeant, with an unceremonious, “Hey, you ain't no civilian no more, mister—you're in the army now!” The phrase followed the soldiers home, and well into the '50s anyone who was corrected by an ex-GI was liable to be told, “Do it right, mister—you're in the army now!”