Ben Zimmer has the goods:
Vietnam was a breeding ground for other hurt phrases, such as in the hurt locker, in the hurt bag and in the hurt seat, all defined by Lighter as "in trouble or at a disadvantage; in bad shape." On February 21, 1966, an Associated Press article by John T. Wheeler appeared in many newspapers around the country, quoting a U.S. military adviser as saying, "If an army marches on its stomach, old Charlie is in the hurt locker." ("Charlie is an American nickname for the Viet Cong," Wheeler explained to readers not yet familiar with such slang.) Then on July 27, 1967, in another AP report by Wheeler, hurt locker showed up in a quote from a corporal: "Then old Charlie opens up with those damned AK47 assault rifles, and, whammo, we were really in the hurt locker."
There is a sub-plot here. As Zimmer reports, over at Language Log, a US army sergeant called Jeffrey Sarver is suing the makers of the film, claiming that they based the central character on him (the screenwriter was embedded in Sarver's bomb squad unit in Iraq). As part of the overall lawsuit, Sarver is claiming some sort of ownership of the phrase (which is difficult to credit given the above exposition):
Sarver explained today that the term is akin to Davy Jones Locker, where legend says drowned sailors are kept. "It's just a horrible place you go when you mess up," Sarver said. "It's a mental state. A place that's full of pain and hurt."
As he wakes up today, James Cameron may feel he has an intuitive grasp of its meaning.
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