G.I. is a noun used to describe members of the United States armed forces

United States armed forces

The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...

 or items of their equipment. The term is now used as an initialism

Acronym and initialism

Acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations formed from the initial components in a phrase or a word. These components may be individual letters or parts of words . There is no universal agreement on the precise definition of the various terms , nor on written usage...

 of "Government Issue" (or often incorrectly "General Infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

"), but originally referred to galvanized iron

Galvanization

Galvanization is the process of applying a protective zinc coating to steel or iron, in order to prevent rusting. The term is derived from the name of Italian scientist Luigi Galvani....

.

The letters "G.I." were used to denote equipment made from galvanized iron, such as metal trash cans, in U.S. Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 inventories and supply records. During World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, U.S. soldiers sardonically referred to incoming German artillery shells as "G.I. cans." In that same war, "G.I." started being interpreted as "Government Issue" and said as an adjective of anything having to do with the Army.

In comparison, the term intti

Intti

Intti is a slang term referring to the Finnish Army, in particular to the compulsory national service. The origin of the term stems from the fact that when the Finnish Army was founded, all property was marked by stamps reading "SA-INT", which stood for "Suomen Armeijan Intendentuuriosasto", or...

in the Finnish Army

Finnish Army

The Finnish Army is the land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces.Today's Army is divided into six branches: the infantry , field artillery, anti-aircraft artillery, engineers, signals, and materiel troops.-History of the Finnish Army:Between 1809 and 1917 Finland was an autonomous part of...

 has a similar history: items were marked S.A. Int. (Suomen armeijan intendentuuriosasto, Finnish Army Quartermaster General's Department), thus the word intti eventually gained the meaning "military service", "army".

See also

• Dogface (military)
  Dogface (military)
  Dogface refers to a U.S. Army foot soldier serving in the infantry, especially in World War II.-History and usage:The origin of the term is difficult to ascertain. According to the recollections of veteran Phillip Leveque:...
  
  
• Doughboy
  Doughboy
  Doughboy is an informal term for an American soldier, especially members of the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I. The term dates back to the Mexican–American War of 1846–48....
  
  
• G.I. Generation
• G.I. Bill
• G.I. Jane
  G.I. Jane
  G.I. Jane is a 1997 American action film directed by Ridley Scott, produced by Largo Entertainment, Scott Free Productions and Caravan Pictures, distributed by Hollywood Pictures and starring Demi Moore and Viggo Mortensen. The film tells the fictional story of the first woman to undergo training...
  
  
• G.I. Joe
  G.I. Joe
  G.I. Joe is a line of action figures produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier , Action Sailor , Action Pilot , Action Marine and later on, the Action Nurse...
  
  
• G.I. Blues
  G.I. Blues
  G.I. Blues is a 1960 Elvis Presley musical motion picture played as a romantic comedy. It was filmed at Paramount's Hollywood studios, with some pre-production scenery shot on location in Germany before Presley's release from the army. The movie reached #2 on the Variety weekly national box office...
  
  
• Folk etymology