Outside of the relationship of a knowledgeable, caring adult with kids - none of it actually matters.

1. The Game
2. Tommy's Tongue
3. WW1 Encyclopedia
4. Great War Curriculum
5. Great War Resources

D - Don

Daisies:

Boots. From Cockney rhyming slang - daisy roots.

Daisy Cutter:

Shell with an impact fuse (graze fuse) designed to explode immediately on contact with the ground. Used in the clearance of barbed wire defenses.

Dekko:

Look, observe. From Hindustani dekho, look, and dekhna, to see.

Demobbed:

Demobilized, discharged from the military.

Daisy Cutter:

Shell with an impact fuse (graze fuse) designed to explode immediately on contact with the ground. Used in the clearance of barbed wire defenses.

Derby Men:

Men recruited under a voluntary scheme instituted, before conscription became law, by Lord Derby. Young and unmarried men were called for service before the others.

Derby Scheme:

British system of voluntary recruitment instituted by Lord Derby just before conscription was introduced in 1916.

Devil Dodger:

Army chaplain.

Devil's Own, The:

The Connaught Rangers.

Dick Shot Off:

D.S.O. - the Distinguished Service Order, an 'officers only' award. Ordinary soldiers substituted this phrase when these post-nominal letters were used.

Dido:

Rum. Origin unknown.

Die Hards:

The Middlesex Regiment.

Digger:

(1) Australian soldier. (2) (Less commonly) Friend, chum. Originally from the miners of the Australian gold fields.

Dingo:

Mad, insane. From the French dingot.

Dinkum:

(Australian) Genuine, right. Something proper was said to be fair dinkum. Among the Australian troops, those who had served at Gallipoli were known as The Dinkums.

Dinkum Oil:

(Australian) Truth.

Dirty Shirts, The:

The Royal Munster Fusiliers. The name is derived from the time that the regiment stormed a fort in India. As a consequence, their shirts were covered in blood, sweat and dirt.

Ditched:

A tank became ditched when the ground beneath became so soft or waterlogged as to prevent the tracks from gripping.

Divisional Comic Cuts:

DCC - reports from Divisional Headquarters (Corps Intelligence Summaries) containing morale-boosting (and often false) information. Comic Cuts was a humourous paper of the time for children.

Dixie:

Large oval-shaped metal pot with lid and carrying-handle for cooking. The lid was often used for baking (e.g. bacon and biscuit pudding) whilst the pot itself was employed to brew tea, heat porridge, stew, rice etc. From Hindustani degchi, small pot.

Dock:

Hospital. To be in dock was to be confined to hospital due to wounds or sickness. From the nautical expression for ship repairs.

Dodging the Column:

Shirking. The art of avoiding particularly dangerous or unpleasant duties. The expression originated in India and South Africa, a column being a body of troops sent forward into hostile territory.

Dog and Maggot:

Bread and cheese.

Doggo:

In hiding and keeping quiet. Probably from dog. All day we lie doggo in the dugout, partly because of the machine gun trained on the door, and partly because no good was to be got by going outside - 2Lt Frank Warren, 20th Bn, KRRC, Honour Satisfied.

Don C Emma:

Distinguished Conduct Medal. From the phonetic alphabet for DCM.

Donkey Walloper:

British cavalryman, especially a member of the Household Cavalry. The expression originated amongst the regiments of British Foot Guards, the longstanding rivals of the Household Cavalry.

Doolally:

Insane, mad. From Deolali, a place in India.

Doss:

To sleep.

Doughboy:

U. S. soldier. Originally an American flour dumpling. The buttons on the American uniforms were said to resemble this dumpling.

Draw Crabs:

To attract enemy artillery fire.

Drum Fire:

Artillery barrage fired not in salvo but by each gun in succession.

Duckboard:

(1) Slatted wooden planking used for flooring trenches or muddy ground. (2) Ribbon to the British Military Medal, awarded for bravery in the field. The striped design of the ribbon resembled the wooden slats of duckboards, used as walkways in the trenches and across muddy ground.

Duckboard Harrier:

Runner, messenger. From the term for a cross-country runner, originally derived from hare.

Dud:

A shell that has failed to explode; anything of dubious value (particularly a person, especially an officer).

Duff:

(1) Pudding, especially boiled suet pudding. (2) To perform incompetently. (3) To beat up someone.

Dugout:

(1) An underground shelter. (2) An officer who has been 'dug out' from retirement (in the reserve) and recalled to active duty, usually much to his displeasure and the displeasure of those under him.

Dugout Disease:

Facetious term for fear, which kept those thus affected (and whose rank permitted a choice) within the safety of their dug-outs.

Dum-Dum:

A split or soft-nosed rifle round (bullet). The tip would open out on impact, causing horrific wounds. From the arsenal at Dum-Dum, a town near Calcutta.