Military organizations, like nearly all large exclusive organizations, develop slang as means of self-identification.
Military slang includes phrases such as:
- Hit the silk
- To abandon an aircraft mid-flight by means of a parachute. For example, "Johnson's plane took a lot of flak, but he hit the silk just in time!"
- High-speed, low drag, and Teflon-coated
- excellent, particularly of equipment
- Sierra Hotel
- The NATO phonetic alphabet abbreviation for the military slang Shit Hot. It is considered high praise and is the pilot's favorite and all-purpose expression of approval. For example, "That Sierra Hotel pilot just shot down six MiGs and an ICBM!" This is the "polite" military way to say that something is very impressive, and has fallen into use outside the military.
- Throttle-jockey
- A jet aircraft pilot, particularly one with a penchant for speed.
See also: List of US Army acronyms.