Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
bend one's dog tags
English answer:
take away his officer's commission
Added to glossary by
Valentin Cirdei
Nov 14, 2006 22:38
17 yrs ago
3 viewers *
English term
Romania
As good as my words
Native in: Romanian 
Works in: English to Romanian, French to Romanian, Romanian to English
bend one's dog tags
English
Other
Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
military
"What are you going to do ? Bend my dog tags and send me to Iraq ?"
A colonel uses this phrase in annoyance when a fellow enforcer threatens retaliation for some of his (perceived) misdeeds. What could that possibly mean ?
A colonel uses this phrase in annoyance when a fellow enforcer threatens retaliation for some of his (perceived) misdeeds. What could that possibly mean ?
Responses
+3
10 mins
Kim Metzger
Mexico
Mexico
Native in English
&
English
Works in field
Mexico
Committed to Quality and Service
Native in: English (Variant: US)
Works in: German to English
Related KudoZ points
:
55
Selected
take away his officer's commission
A US soldier's dog tag is:
"A metal identification tag worn on a chain around the neck by members of the armed forces."
http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/d/d0325500.html
I've been a US soldier and worn dog tags, but I'm not entirely sure what the colonel means. It's possible that to "bend a soldier's dog tags" is another way of saying "to make take away the officer's commission" and then send him to Iraq as an ordinary soldier.
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Note added at 1 hr (2006-11-14 23:53:32 GMT)
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This question got me looking around, and I now believe the phrase comes from the Korean war. It appears that in Korea a sergeant could bend a soldier's dog tag as a marker indicating that this soldier was to be sent to Korea as punishment for something. One of my sergeants used to tell me he'd have me sent to Thule, Greenland if I didn't shape up.
The personnel sergeant's motto: "All they can do to me is shave my head, bend my dog tags, stamp "no dessert" on my meal card and send me to Korea." And when there's a war that won't ever be over being waged right now, Korea looks pretty damn good in comparison.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=...
Anybody remember the line from M*A*S*H*, "What are they gonna do? Bend my dog tags and send me to Korea?" [We used to use that the whole time we were stationed there!]
Hubby now has a new one: "What are they gonna do? Bend our dog tags and send our son to Iraq?"
http://zoia.blogspot.com/2004_07_01_zoia_archive.html
"A metal identification tag worn on a chain around the neck by members of the armed forces."
http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/d/d0325500.html
I've been a US soldier and worn dog tags, but I'm not entirely sure what the colonel means. It's possible that to "bend a soldier's dog tags" is another way of saying "to make take away the officer's commission" and then send him to Iraq as an ordinary soldier.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2006-11-14 23:53:32 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
This question got me looking around, and I now believe the phrase comes from the Korean war. It appears that in Korea a sergeant could bend a soldier's dog tag as a marker indicating that this soldier was to be sent to Korea as punishment for something. One of my sergeants used to tell me he'd have me sent to Thule, Greenland if I didn't shape up.
The personnel sergeant's motto: "All they can do to me is shave my head, bend my dog tags, stamp "no dessert" on my meal card and send me to Korea." And when there's a war that won't ever be over being waged right now, Korea looks pretty damn good in comparison.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=...
Anybody remember the line from M*A*S*H*, "What are they gonna do? Bend my dog tags and send me to Korea?" [We used to use that the whole time we were stationed there!]
Hubby now has a new one: "What are they gonna do? Bend our dog tags and send our son to Iraq?"
http://zoia.blogspot.com/2004_07_01_zoia_archive.html
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Romanian Translator (X)
2 hrs
|
| agree |
Robert Fox
12 hrs
|
| agree |
Alfa Trans (X)
1 day 20 hrs
|
3 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks."
14 mins
Alexander Demyanov
Works in field
Software Engineering background
Native in: Russian 
Works in: English, Russian, Russian to English, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
7
A way of labeling "at fault"
From the few examples of usage I've managed to find, it seems plausible that bending a serviceman's dog tags may be an old way of marking the soldier "at fault".
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q="bend my dog tags&b...
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Note added at 31 mins (2006-11-14 23:09:56 GMT)
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It may also mean just "nothing", as in "nothing can be done to me that would make my situation worse than it already is", similar to when a prisoner or a person already under arrest says something like "well, arrest me".
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q="bend my dog tags&b...
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Note added at 31 mins (2006-11-14 23:09:56 GMT)
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It may also mean just "nothing", as in "nothing can be done to me that would make my situation worse than it already is", similar to when a prisoner or a person already under arrest says something like "well, arrest me".
Discussion
Alexander, I think that's a good lead - maybe the tags remain bent, as a kind of branding. Thank you both for answering.