I hear this said on "The Unit" a lot and understand that it means "extremely quickly", but where on earth did this term come from?
2007-10-12 08:00:43 · 15 answers · asked by Molly M 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Military
RIKI TIK :
to act rapidly, quickly, urgently, hastily, speedily, swiftly, promptly, or expeditiously; often emphasized by 'more' or 'most', as "mo' riki tik". Adopted from Japanese, phrase is also spelled "riki-tik", "rikki tik", or "ricky tick".
2007-10-12 08:08:42 · answer #1 · answered by ♥♥The Queen Has Spoken♥♥ 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
When I was in the Army in the 1980's there was an older sergeant who had served in the Vietnam War who always said "most tick" when he wanted us to hurry up. I did see an explanation of this in a fiction book once, a book about MP's in Korea during the Vietnam war period. It comes from Japanese, I forget exactly what words, probably influenced by the "tick-tock" of a clock at some point. Not sure if it is entirely a US military thing, or arose while Japan was running Korea before/during WW2.
2013-09-30 09:27:18 · answer #2 · answered by John 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I have been in the military for 16 years and heard most rikki tic occasionaly but im still not sure where it originated. Good question. Im not 100% sure but I think it may have started in Vietnam. I have heard it said in some Vietnam war movies but you never hear anyone say it in World War 2 or Korean war movies.
2007-10-12 12:38:02 · answer #3 · answered by jimmy s 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
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I am curious where the military term "most rikki tic" came from? I know what it means, but what's the origin?
I hear this said on "The Unit" a lot and understand that it means "extremely quickly", but where on earth did this term come from?
2015-08-06 16:32:06 · answer #4 · answered by Jammie 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
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I looked this up too, not long ago, in the Readers' Digest Dictionary, 1959, 2002 pages of words! yah'hoo, yahoo' (n) 1. any low vicious person 2. an awkward fellow; a bumpkin. Ya'hoo, ya'-, yahoo' (n) In Swift's "Gulliver's Travels", any of the brutish beings in human form who are ruled over by the Houyhnhnms. See HOUYHNHNM (Yahoo says I have mispelled "Yahoo"!) lol!
2016-04-01 08:29:34 · answer #5 · answered by Linda 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i was in the Marines and I was told it did indeed come from Rikki Tikki Tavi as a mongoose moves quicker than the eye and thus the etymology of doing things "most Riki Tik."
2015-04-18 10:12:21 · answer #6 · answered by Joe 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yeah, I was in the USArmy 64 to 70 and never heard the phrase "most rikki tik". It was "stat"--"Mach schnell" and "now!!" "don t let the door hit you in the ***". First time I heard the reference to Rudyard Kipling s mongoose from the Jungle Book it was from a Marine after Desert Storm.
2016-01-23 16:53:21 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You mean (gasp) "The Unit" isn't real?! I thought all Army Special Ops units were like this!
There goes the neighborhood, next you'll say MacGyver was fake!
Gotta love Hollywood.
2007-10-12 11:03:09 · answer #8 · answered by dont_vote_democrat 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Riki Tik
2016-12-16 12:25:56 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Rikki Tikki Tavi. A mongoose is so fast, it can kill a King Cobra without being bitten (most of the time).
Read the book...it's a great children's story:
http://books.google.com/books?id=8uIthj2JYfoC&dq=riki+tiki+tavi&pg=PP1&ots=15zC6Sn2QF&sig=dwBI3cSQ8t4lH-l0KqkWewE2VCU&prev=http://www.google.com/search%3Fhl%3Den%26q%3Driki%2Btiki%2Btavi&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=one-book-with-thumbnail
2007-10-12 08:09:37 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋