Pentagonese

American  

[pen-tuh-guh-neez, -nees] / ˌpɛn tə gəˈniz, -ˈnis /

noun

1. a style of language characterized by the use of euphemisms, technical jargon, acronyms, and circumlocutions, used especially by people working in the U.S. military establishment.

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Etymology

Origin of Pentagonese

1950–55, Pentagon + -ese

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Pentagonese

As a result, he added in typical Pentagonese, "NC3 has to inform JADC2 and JADC2 has to inform NC3."

From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2023

The Special Operations Forces that Clarke has led, known as “SOF” in Pentagonese, have carried the heaviest load in America’s Middle East wars.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 28, 2022

The bomb’s formal name is Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or MOP, in Pentagonese.

From The New Yorker ● Jul. 27, 2015

As secretary, Mr. Hagel, a 66-year-old decorated Vietnam combat veteran, would face huge decisions on budget and spending priorities; he would have to enlist deputies better versed in Pentagonese.

From New York Times ● Jan. 13, 2013

In other words, this time there will be no "mission creep," Pentagonese for the gradual expansion of tasks, which turned the Somalia intervention from an initial success to an eventual debacle.

From Time Magazine Archive