The Walkie Talkie

Brian has a good point here.

When I was in the Air Force, I recall one night when a new guy, fresh out of training, came to work on our shift. In military police work, you rely on your "radio" or "portable" quite a bit for communications with the dispatcher or other patrols. We do not, under any circumstances, refer to them as "walkie talkies."

This night, the new guy was out on patrol on his own, and the dispatcher was trying to reach him over the radio, but no answer. So other patrols were dispatched to determine if he was okay or was in trouble. When one of the patrols finally caught up with him, they quickly learned he had accidentally turned down the volume on his radio.

So he turned it back up and called the dispatcher, explaining, "I must have turned down the volume on my walkie talkie."

Needless to say, this poor young guy was the butt of much laughter for quite a while. To his credit, he took it in great humor, and even humorously told other new troops about his misfortune when they would arrive.