The 'G' Word

I have a request. 

It may sound nit-picky and small-minded, and maybe even a tad stuck-up... but I have to ask anyway:

Would all the journalists, bloggers, pundits and other public/semi-public personages who didn't serve in the US military... specifically in the Marines or Navy (although I'll give you a pass if you served at all)... please stop referring to the U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba as 'Gitmo'.

I know, I know, it seems like such a small thing, and everyone seems to be doing it these days, but the truth is it simply makes you sound silly... and it makes me cringe. Hell, since I served in the Pacific fleet, I've never felt comfortable using the term 'Gitmo'!

Do you remember when 'NYPD Blue' was at the height of its popularity and people who weren't cops started peppering their conversations with police jargon and slang?  Well, while I imagine that policemen/women around the country were grateful that they were finally being portrayed fairly realistically (as compared with pretty much every other cop show/movie that had ever been made), I'll bet they were privately cringing whenever a non-cop would ask them "So, how long you been 'on the job'?", or "So who do you 'like' for the stabbing last week in Washington Square Park?".

I know a few 60's and 70's era veterans who cringe every time they hear people who never came within 1000 miles of South East Asia talking about 'Nam', estimating distances in 'kliks' or referring to our opponents in that particular conflict as 'Charlie'. 

Folks who live in the Bay area of central California are equally impatient (to put it mildly) with people from elsewhere who use expressions like 'Hella good' or 'Frisco' (I'm not sure if people from San Francisco ever actually said 'Frisco'!).

And don't don't even get me started on how the Rap community must cringe when people with no 'street cred' (like me) start talkin' 'smack' about someone's 'crib', yo.  Word!

I know that 'U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba' is a mouthful to say, and a handful to type... but I can't help thinking that there must be another way of referring to the place without sounding like a total poseur / Marine wannabe.

Never let it be said that I simply criticize and don't offer solutions! 

I'm pretty sure that if people said, "... the Muslim prisoners being held in Cuba", it would be instantly understood who and where we were talking about since, to my knowledge, Castro doesn't presently have too many Muslims in the hoosegow!

Please note that the term 'Cuba' has the same number of syllables as 'Gitmo', and is technically and geographically correct in nearly any context that the media (and those who discuss current events) are currently using the 'G' word.

So please... pretty please... if you find yourself discussing or writing about current events and/or security detainees, please try to just say 'Cuba'.  Everyone will know what you mean, and you won't sound like you've watched 'A few good men' one too many times.

That is all.