burlies: archaic military slang for troops formally designated, at the time, as grenadiers; specifically, those equipped with a BRL (“Backpack Rockets Launcher”) as their primary weapon, specializing therefore in high-angle indirect fire. While the derivation from the acronym is obvious, a secondary cause was the effect of the BRL and its control package on the profile of those equipped with it.
(Just a random thought I had today. Incidentally, today I also learned a new word: flathatting.)
Wait, does the derivation also work in Eldraeic?
Not even slightly the same way.
(As Iain Banks said when he named a Culture ship GCU It’ll Be Over By Christmas, sometimes the translation is a lot more cultural than literal.)
I swear the best translations are cultural, not literal.