In the United States, what are now known as cadences were called jody call or jody (also jodie) from a recurring character, a civilian
named "Jody" whose luxurious lifestyle is contrasted with military
deprivations in a number of traditional calls. The mythical Jody refers
to a civilian who remains at home instead of joining the military
service. Jody is often presumed to be medically unfit for service, a 4F
in World War II parlance. Jody also lacks the desirable attributes of
military men. He is neither brave nor squared-away. Jody calls often
make points with ironic humor. Jody will take advantage of your
girlfriend in your absence. Jody stays at home, drives the soldier's
car, and gets the soldier's sweetheart (often called "Susie") while the
soldier is in boot camp or in country. (Serendipitously, the name works just as well for female soldiers.)

The name derives from a stock character in African-American oral traditions, "Joe the Grinder,"[url=http://missourifolkloresociety.truman.edu/Missouri%20Folklore%20Studies/Cadence%20Calls.htm][3][/url] who is also prominent in Merle Haggard's song "The Old Man of the Mountain."[url=http://www.metrolyrics.com/old-man-from-the-mountain-lyrics-merle-haggard.html][4][/url]
The character's name has been transcribed as "Joady," "Jody," "Jodie,"
"Joe D.", or even "Joe the ____" (in dialect, "Joe de ____") with Joe
then identified by occupation. He was a stock anti-hero who maliciously
took advantage of another man's absence. Enlisted African-American
soldiers incorporated this character into cadence songs during the Second World War.

Lineberry emphasizes conflicting uses of the calls: they are useful
to command, in that they serve as instruments to psychologically detach
the soldier from home-life, and to inculcate a useful degree of
aggression. They are useful to the soldier, who can vent
dissatisfaction without taking individual responsibility for the
expression.^{[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_cadence#cite_note-missourifolkloresociety.truman.edu-4][5][/url]} While jodies, strictly speaking, are folklore (they are not taught institutionally, and do not appear, for example, in FM 22-5, Drill and Ceremonies Field Manual), some are tolerated and even encouraged by leadership, while others are subversive. ^{[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_cadence#cite_note-missourifolkloresociety.truman.edu-4][5][/url]}

Common themes in jodies include:

Lineberry offers an alternative, psychologically and
functionally-oriented taxonomy. There are negative themes (disrespect
expressed for deities, women, homosexuals, the enemy and economically
deprived comrades; graphic expression of violence perpetrated on women
and the enemy, glorification of substance abuse) but also positive
(unit pride, encouragement of comrades) and perhaps in-between,
expressions of contempt for death and indifference to mortality.^{[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_cadence#cite_note-missourifolkloresociety.truman.edu-4][5][/url]}

One example used in the U.S. Army:^{[citation needed]}

One from the U.S. Marine Corps:

At the end of the 1949 movie Battleground (film) the cadence sung is as follows, with the call initiated by the drill sergeant and the response from the rest of the platoon: