zipperhead
English
Etymology 1
zipper + head. From the leather helmets formerly used by early Canadian armoured crewmen, with a pattern of stitching resembling a zipper. There is also a folk etymology referring to the zippers on armoured-vehicle crew suits (re-purposed flight suits).
Noun
zipperhead (plural zipperheads)
- (Canada, military slang) A soldier in the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps or in the Armoured Crewman military trade.
References
- Edward C. Russell (1980), Customs and Traditions of the Canadian Armed Forces, Deneau and Greenberg, Department of National Defence, →ISBN, p 65.
Etymology 2
1960s–1970s, zipper + head. Used by soldiers during the Korean and Vietnam Wars; multiple theories exist as to the specific origin. One is that if an Asian person was shot in the middle of the forehead with a machine gun, the head would split as if being unzipped; another, that the appearance of tire tracks on a body having been run over by a military Jeep resembled a zipper.
Noun
zipperhead (plural zipperheads)
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