Does any one know the origin of this word?

R.Dub.Fusilier

the word is "Buckshe" or something similar . three of my brothers , grandfather uncles and in-laws served in the irish and british armies and a word some of them used was "Buckshe" i have always used it and have used it as a word for something that was left over or spare . i think the british army use the term aswell . has anyone heard it before?

BigDuffman

http://www.arrse.co.uk/wiki/Buckshee there ya go!

ArdMhacha

Free

iceage

Hmm I always took it to be more like aquired, as in don't ask any questions and you'll be told no lies. Not stolen more like happened across or traded and its been adopted.

NoQuarter

I think the OP is looking for the ORIGINS rather than the meaning as indicated in the thread title! Not that I can help...

iceage

Ahh. Its from the days of the old Empire dear boy.

johnny_doyle

from Arabic/Persian Baksheesh meaning gratuity/tip/bribe... obtained for free

Irish_Army01

Spare kit..

Bondvillain

Aye. As above, Buckshee : from the Persian bakhshīsh, (from bakhshīdan) to give.

Meaning : Free gratis, no charge, bonus. (Or for the Paddy army : Gotten away with )

Must admit, until very recently, I thought it came from the oul Gaeilge. Learn summat new every day.

oncevotedff

R.Dub.Fusilier wrote: »

the word is "Buckshe" or something similar . three of my brothers , grandfather uncles and in-laws served in the irish and british armies and a word some of them used was "Buckshe" i have always used it and have used it as a word for something that was left over or spare . i think the british army use the term aswell . has anyone heard it before?

Yup. Commonly used word in the DF. Means exactly what you think it does.

Stovepipe

Hi there,
A lot of other words from the time of the Raj have come into common Army usage, such as the obvious "Khaki"or the less-well known "bundook"(rifle).In the Irish Army, I regularly heard "jilty", which meant spotless clean or shipshape. I even heard "wallah" once, which is more common in the British Army, which means "fellow" and usually referred to servicemen or women who provided cleaning or admin services, such as the "dhobi wallah", who was the laundryman.Arabic phrases were often used in the Irish Army, because of the Leb, such as "Imshi", which means "go away" and the well-known "mingi", which was a kind of stall-holder / street-trader, which in Irish usage also became a byword for "dodgy".I've also heard Air Corps officers refer to the Army as "pongos", copying it directly from the RAF.Militaries tend to pick up a lot of lingo from wherever they serve and also deliberately use lingo to exclude the unknowing.
regards
Stovepipe

meathstevie

Buckshee, the other half of the noble art of scrounging. If it hasn't got a return spring declared by the owner or isn't bolted to the wall or weighs more than 20 ton it's a dead cert someone will lift it.

time lord

We used use "mufti" quite a bit. It means civilian clothes. I believe its in the dictionary too.
When we first heard it we fell about laughing and then within a month its useage was commonplace amongst us.