meat tag

n. identifying information such as name, Social Security number, religion, blood type, etc., tattooed on a soldier’s body. Subjects: English, Body, Military

Editorial Note: According to the Macquarie Dictionary, in Australia “meat tag” is a colloquial expression for “dog tag” or “identity disc.“ The 1977 and 1997 citations below are both Australian.

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Citations: [1977 Hubert Ferdinand Opperman Pedals, Politics, and People p. 234: Morale is low. I confirm that from hearing quite bitter references to taking “meat tags” on flights and hoping parachutes will open.] 1990 Dudley Price, Wade Rawlins News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina) (Aug. 19) “Gulf crisis hitting home across state Towns feel impact of troop deployments” p. A1: A few blocks down Lejeune Boulevard, Josef McDonald’s tattoo parlor had one customer. The business slowdown followed a flurry earlier in the week from departing Marines wanting “meat tags”—tattoos of their names, social security numbers and blood types inscribed on their left arms. “Nobody wants to be buried in an unmarked grave,“ Mr. McDonald said. [1997 Peter Brune The Spell Broken: Exploding the Myth of Japanese Invincibility: Milne Bay to Buna-Sanananda 1942-43 p. 76: One of his 15 platoon sections moved eastward in search of wounded.…“We took the meat tags off two blokes.“] 1999 [Joe Raisin] Usenet: alt.recovery.aa (Sept. 28) “Re: Why “treatment” doesn’t work”: These guys are getting their dogtag information tattooed just below their armpits…OUCH! They call ’em “meat tags.“ 2005 Buzz Williams Spare Parts (Feb. 7) p. 183: “What if you lose the head and the leg?“…“That’s why I have a meat tag.“…It was a tattoo on the skin over his rib cage with the same information contained on a metal ID tag. 2005 Colby Buzzell My War: Killing Time in Iraq (Oct.) p. 71: A meat tag is basically your dog-tag information (name, Social Security number, blood type, and religion) tattooed on your side, usually under your armpit. Soldiers get the meat-tag tattoo so that when and IED blows them into a million fucking pieces, there’s a better chance for the carcass to be identified. 2006 Paul Rieckhoff Chasing Ghosts: Failures and Facades in Iraq: A Soldier’s Perspective (May 2) p. 4: A meat tag is a copy of the Army dog tag you wear around your neck, tattooed on your torso, just below your armpit. A meat tag isn’t just a hard-core status symbol. It’s a way to identify your body if the torso is all that remains after you’re blown apart. 2007 Oren Dorell @ Fort Drum, New York USA Today (May 20) “Troops get different tattoos leaving war”: Robbins says that when the war on terrorism started Fort Drum soldiers wanted to identify themselves in case they were killed. They’d get what are called “meat tags”—with their name, rank, blood type and Social Security number—tattooed on their ribs. They chose that location in case limbs were lost in an explosion.

Posted 21 May 07 | Permalink | Tell a Friend

Reader comments:

Part of initiation into Marine BN Recon Unit…many I have previously served with in the Philippines…no one wears dog tags…they are noisy, cumbersome with gear..and swimming. So each new boot (provided he had passed “hell week”...was taken into town and had his meat-tag tatooed on his rib-cage just below his left armpit. SSN and bloodtype. no name…just those two things.

by Ken 05 Jun 07, 0426 GMT