dental casualty
n.— «“In Desert Storm there were 35,000 dental casualties,” military parlance for soldiers who could not perform their duties because of problems with their teeth.» —“N.J. units prepare for active duty in Iraq” by Justo Bautista The Record (Hackensack, New Jersey) Dec. 13, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
A hundred years ago, suffragists lobbied to win women the right to vote. Linguistically speaking, though, suffrage isn’t about “suffering.” It’s from a Latin word that involves voting. Plus: military cadences often include...
It’s hard to imagine now, but there was a time when people disagreed over the best word to use when answering the phone. Alexander Graham Bell suggested answering with ahoy! but Thomas Edison was partial to hello! A fascinating new book about...