General
pongo
What does pongo mean?
What the Royal Navy and Royal Marines call a soldier — specifically a British Army squaddie. The line is 'where the army goes, the pong goes' — i.e. soldiers stink because they're stuck in the field without proper washing facilities, unlike sailors on a ship with showers.
"The matelots spent the whole run ashore winding up the pongos at the bar."
Origin
Royal Navy slang, late 19th/early 20th century. From the smell of unwashed soldiers on campaign vs sailors with shipboard plumbing.
Frequently asked questions
What does pongo mean?
Pongo is a Royal Navy and Royal Marines nickname for a soldier in the army.
How do you use pongo in a sentence?
"A few pongos got attached to our unit for the exercise."
Where does the nickname pongo come from?
It comes from the old jibe "where the army goes, the pong goes," a dig at soldiers by naval personnel.
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