Sad Sack (slang) a person who means well but is incompetent, ineffective, etc., and is consistently in trouble. Here, the kind of person Gene fears he might become under the pressure of combat.
Scharnhorst a German battleship torpedoed by British destroyers and then sunk by the battleship Duke of York in December, 1943.
seigneurs lord (French) a lord or noble, specifically, the lord of a fee or manor. Here, the term characterizes the superiority Gene and Finny feel when they jump from the tree and the others do not.
Sparta ancient city of Laconia in the Peloponnesus, a peninsula forming the southern mainland of Greece. Here, a model for the representatives of various branches of the military.
Stalingrad old name of Volgograd, city in the south central part of the Soviet Union, scene of a decisive Soviet victory (1943) over German troops in World War II.
Tunisian campaign Tunisia is a country in north Africa, on the Mediterranean. The Tunisian campaign was the series of battles between the Allied forces and the combined German and Italian forces in North Africa (January to May, 1943).
Winston Churchill (1871–1947) British statesman and writer; prime minister (1940–45; 1951–55). Here, the boys refer to Churchill in his role as prime minister of Great Britain during World War II
Yellow Peril the threat to Western civilization presented by Asian people, especially those of China or Japan; widely believed in during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in North America, Europe, and Australia. Here, Finny gives Brinker the nickname when Gene says he is really Madame Chiang Kai-Shek.
