noun General Slang

Armored Heifer

/ˈɑːrmərd ˈhɛfər/ · noun · slang

GI slang for canned milk — the only 'cow' the army could ship to the front.

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Definitions

1

By extension, any tinned dairy product served in a mess hall or field kitchen.

“Breakfast was powdered eggs and a splash of armored heifer.”
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2

Soldier slang for canned or condensed milk, the durable tinned substitute issued when fresh dairy was impossible to supply.

“Pass the armored heifer — coffee's no good black.”
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3

Used jokingly for evaporated milk in civilian kitchens after the war.

“Grandpa still calls the evaporated milk 'armored heifer.'”
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Armored Heifer In A Sentence

We hadn't seen real cream in months, just the armored heifer.
He punched two holes in the armored heifer and poured it over the oats.
A case of armored heifer was worth trading for almost anything in camp.

Origin & Usage

U.S. military mess-hall slang of the 1940s, a wry name for canned milk — the 'armor' being the tin and the 'heifer' the cow it replaced. It was part of the colorful chow-line vocabulary of WWII GIs.

Variants armoured heifertin cowarmored cow
Tags #1940s#wartime#swing#vintage#military#food

People Also Ask

What does armored heifer mean?

It's 1940s soldier slang for canned or condensed milk.

Where did the term come from?

From WWII U.S. mess halls in the 1940s, joking that the tin 'armored' the cow.

Why couldn't soldiers get fresh milk?

Fresh dairy spoiled fast and couldn't be shipped to the front, so canned milk was issued instead.

Were there other food nicknames like this?

Plenty — GIs nicknamed nearly every mess-hall item, from 'collision mats' for waffles to 'battery acid' for bad coffee.

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