Maconochie - A scientifically compounded and well-balanced ration, so the authorities say. It looks, smells, and tastes like rancid lard. M.O. - Medical Officer. A foxy cove who can't be fooled with faked symptoms. Mess tin - A combination teapot, fry pan, and plate. Military cross - An officer's decoration for bravery. Military medal - A decoration for bravery given to enlisted men. Mills - The most commonly used hand grenade. Minnies - German trench mortar projectiles. Napper - The head. Night 'ops - A much hated practice manoeuvre done at night. No Man's Land - The area between the trenches. On your own - At liberty. Your time is your own. Out or over there - Somewhere in France. Parados - The back wall of a trench. Parapet - The front wall of a trench. Patrol - One or more men who go out in front and prowl in the dark, seeking information of the enemy. Periscope - A boxlike arrangement with two mirrors for looking over the top without exposing the napper. Persuader - A short club with a nail-studded head. Pip squeak - A German shell which makes that kind of noise when it comes over. Push up the daisies - To be killed and buried. Ration party - A party of men which goes to the rear and brings up rations for the front line. Rest - Relief from trench service. Mostly one works constantly when "resting." Ruddy - Same as bloody, but not quite so bad. Sandbag - A bag which is filled with mud and used for building the parapet. Sentry go - Time on guard in the front trench, or at rest at headquarters. Shell hole - A pit made by the explosion of a shell. Souvenir - Any kind of junk picked up for keepsakes. Also used as a begging word by the French children. Stand to - Order for all men to stand ready in the trench in event of a surprise attack, usually at sundown and sunrise. Stand down - Countermanding "stand to." Stokes - A bomb weighing about eleven pounds usually thrown from a mortar, but sometimes used by hand. Strafing - One of the few words Tommy has borrowed from Fritz. To punish. Suicide club - The battalion bombers. Tin hat - Steel helmet. Wave - A line of men going over the top. Whacked - Exhausted. Played out. Whiz-bang - A German shell that makes that sort of noise. Wind up or windy - Nervous. Jumpy. Temporary involuntary fear. Wooden cross - The small wooden cross placed over a soldier's grave. End of Project Gutenberg's A Yankee in the Trenches, by R. Derby Holmes