Contact. Wait out. #35. Disambiguation.

Contact. Wait out. #35. Disambiguation.

The army is full of lovely little phrases like this. I'd always known that an egg roll was called an egg banjo but I didn't know why until it was explained to me. Basically, if the egg splits while you're eating it, and the yolk goes down your shirt, you'll hold the roll up with one hand while wiping the yolk away with the other. The action makes it look like you're playing a banjo.

I don't know where the phrase comes from. Some people believe that it comes from Northern Ireland in the 70s, other believe that it was around in Aden in the 60's, and still more believe that it originates from India in the early post-war years. We all have a habit of thinking that the great slang we're using is brand new, so it wouldn't surprise me to learn that egg banjos were around at Agincourt.

Whatever the derivation, there's not much better than smelling somebody frying eggs and bacon while you're on some freezing cold and wet exercise. If you're in a regiment that dictates that you eat ration packs on hard routine for most of the time, an egg banjo can be the greatest morale boost in the world. Fire up the Jet Boil, get your eggs on the go, and get strumming for the egg banjo.