Pat in the army

Posted by Bruce Kahl on April 09, 2001

In Reply to: Pat in the army posted by R. Berg on April 09, 2001

: : Does anyone know the origin of this phrase?

: It SOUNDS like British army slang (World War I?), Pat being a fictitious Irishman stereotyped as incompetent, but my reference books don't have it.

I saw it as a Southern US term mostly in Virginia and W.Virginia. I could not find an origin though.