Attaboy

Attaboy: A contraction of the expression "That's the boy." American slang used by players and lookers on at baseball matches. It became popularised in England during the later stages of the war. Mr. G. Bernard Shaw says, in describing a baseball match at which he was a spectator: "Even those players who had no gift of eloquence expressed their souls in dithryambic cries like the Greek Evoe! which sounded to me like Attaboy! I confess that I am not enough of a Greek scholar to translate Attaboy, but it is a very stimulating ejaculation."

References / notes

The above term is listed in our Compendium of the Great War on this day.

Included are trench slang, service terms, expressions in everyday use, nicknames, the titles and origins of British and Commonwealth Regiments, and warfare in general. These words and phrases are contemporary with the war, which is reflected in the language used. Sources include: Soldier and Sailor Words and Phrases, The War Book-of-Facts and Odhams' A.B.C. of the Great War. Feel free to expand upon and improve this content.

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