nasho

Compulsory military training, as introduced under the National Service Act of 1951. It is also a name for a person who underwent National Service under the Act. The word nasho is an abbreviation of national with an added 'o', a common feature of Australian word formation-compare garbo ('garbage collector'), journo('journalist'), and milko ('milk man'). In the past nasho was seen as a derogatory term within the permanent military force: 'our platoon commander is a second lieutenant, or one pipper, who's a Nasho himself, a 90-day wonder (as the Duntroon and Portsea graduates call them (Glade Within the Grove by David Foster, 1996). The term was first recorded in 1953, but it is especially associated with those national servicemen who fought in Vietnam.