Clean and polish – We're winning the war

Clean and polish - We're winning the war: A war-time sarcastic phrase often heard at the front among men grumbling when too much importance seemed to be paid by their officers to appearances or "spit and polish," the keeping buttons etc., bright and so forth, a detail that was insisted on, for disciplinary reasons in some battalions almost up the fighting line.

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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