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GI (military)

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

GI or G.I. is a term used to describe “ground infantry” soldiers during WWII. It has also been loosely used as slang for enlisted soldiers of the United States armed forces. The term is often thought to be an initialism of "Government Issue" but the origin of the term is in fact galvanized iron after the letters "GI" that were used for equipment such as metal trash cans made from it in U.S. Army inventories and supply records.[1][2]

References

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  1. GI - Definitions from Dictionary.com
  2. "Wordorigins.org". Archived from the original on 2016-08-19. Retrieved 2008-02-20.