A soldier who stands in front of a regiment to demonstrate drill movements; a leader or spokesperson.
From German 'Flügelmann' (wing-man), from 'Flügel' (wing) + 'Mann' (man). The original 'wingman' — standing at the wing of a formation, leading by example.
The original WINGMAN! Literally 'wing-man' in German! A soldier who stood at the wing of the formation showing everyone the moves! Now you know: 'wingman' has a 300-year military history! 🪖✈️
Fugleman (a military drill leader) uses '-man' as default, reflecting 18th-19th century male-only military contexts. The term persists linguistically even as roles have become gender-mixed.
Use 'fugleman' generically for any drillmaster regardless of gender, or modernize to 'drill leader' or 'exemplar' in new contexts.
["drillmaster","exemplar","model soldier","drill leader"]
Women have led military drills and demonstrations for over a century; the '-man' suffix erases their participation from linguistic memory.
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