Doc Jargon guesses about a cover

Photo By Collen McGee | Doc Jargon, cutting through the jargon that is the U.S. Army.  

UNITED STATES

10.13.2023

Story by Collen McGee 

Fort Riley Public Affairs Office

Dear Doc Jargon,

I haven’t been around the military long so I’m probably not going to be an expert on terminology. So, I’m turning to you for help. I keep hearing the term “cover” used for the hat — no matter what kind — on any uniform. I’ve even used Google and haven’t found how that term came to be used in that way.

How did it come about that a hat was called cover?

Sincerely,
Uncovered in Kansas


Dear Uncovered,

You’ve got a great question there and I’m almost as stumped as you. But in looking at the etymology of the various words for hat, the term “head covering” kept popping up as part of the definition. Specifically, I saw it in an Old English reference to the term “haet” which was where the modern English word hat comes from. If you look in old supply catalogues, military names for things were often also descriptors. Though I can’t prove it, I believe that a hat was usually listed and then the type was included in the military supply listing. I’m also betting that as most military lingo has, it was a term that was shortened from the definition rather than the item itself that influenced the terms we use today. So, a head covering, or hat would eventually become a cover.

I couldn’t find reference to when that term was first used, but there was some buzz that it would have been sometime in the late 50s and one that the Marines might have first started using. Eventually, the rest of the services followed. However, that too was an urban military legend.

I hope that at least gives you a plausible idea of how the term might have come about. If you find anything out, make sure to let me know too.

Sincerely,

Doc Jargon

• Date Taken: 10.13.2023
• Date Posted: 10.12.2023 11:05
• Story ID: 455606
• Location: US