Transmitting Orders from Top to Bottom

Question

EXECUTIVE OFFICER TO COMPANY COMMANDER:
"By order of the Colonel, tomorrow at 2000 hours, Halley's Comet will appear above the battalion area. If it rains, fall the men out in fatigues, then march to the theater where this rare phenomenon will take place, something which occurs only once every 75 years."

COMPANY COMMANDER TO LIEUTENANT:
"By order of the Colonel be in fatigues at 2000 hours tomorrow evening. The phenomenal Halley's Comet will appear in the theater. In case of rain in the battalion area, the Colonel will give another order, something which occurs once every 75 years."

LIEUTENANT TO SERGEANT:
"Tomorrow at 2000 hours, the Colonel will appear in the theater with Halley's comet, something which happens every 75 years. If it rains, the Colonel will order the comet into the battalion area."

SERGEANT TO SQUAD:
"When it rains tomorrow at 2000 hours, the phenomenal 75-year-old General Halley, accompanied by the Colonel, will drive his comet through the battalion area theater in fatigues."



Link: http://www.ahajokes.com/war009.html

Answer 1

I think it was this kind of transmission of orders that led to the acronyms SNAFU and FUBAR. 

Comments

Lol, T(h)ink - indeed!

Answer 2

Marianne, as I child we used to play the game "telephone"...whispering a message to each other down the line of children, and then compare the result with the original message!

Comments

Lol, Virginia - yes, "Chinese Whispers" was also the first, which came to my mind.

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Chinese Whispers! That is an exotic and wonderful expression for this phenomenon, Marianne...

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Lool - Virginia, as T(h)ink is pointing out, it might sound kind of racist - but there are also nicer interpretations; I like your definition "exotic and wonderful expression", which reminds of skills, arts and inventions like paper and printing, for instance.

Answer 3

Sounds about right! Tink got it right! LOL.   

Comments

Lol, Rooster, indeed, and there were also the "Chinese Whispers" ...

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@Marianne: I had to look that one up! LOL. Looks like it originated in the U.K. Much nicer language than us G.I.'s used!    

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@ Marianne and Rooster,

I dunno... "Chinese Whispers" sounds kinda racist by today's PC standards, much like "Chinese fire drill".

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Lol - actually, it might sound a bit racist, but, one can also think of something nicer, like, for instance, that the Chinese were the first to have invented this popular game. After all, they were pioneers in many domains:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chinese_inventions

Actually, citing a name, a nationality, a race, group or culture can also be used in a positive, respectful way - it simply depends on the wording.

As to the "Chinese fire drill" - well, what I saw myself on site didn't look chaotic - quite the opposite was the case, and everything was very well organised. The only exception was the extremely dense road and street traffic, but it is much the same in most big cities of the world (except for those which go "green").

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Lol, Rooster - yes, there are some differences between British and American English, and Great Britain is part of Europe - lol.

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Lol, T(h)ink, the answer to Rooster was for both of you.