“Hurt locker” is United States military slang that first emerged during the Vietnam War. After the Vietnam War, the slang remained popular due to media, movies, documentaries, and literature. The phrase became popular again in 2008 after the release of the film Hurt Locker, which depicted an army bomb squad. However, Master Sergeant Jeffrey S. Sarver claimed he coined the slang in 2004, even though the slang appeared frequently in previous wars and military venues. Sports writers also use the phrase “the hurt locker” to describe injured players or those teams that are having a poor season. In other areas, such as economics, the phrase “hurt locker” is often used to describe a poor economic season during which stocks and investments have taken a significant plunge. In the poem “The Hurt Locker,” the “hurt locker” represents a place of deep pain and significant discomfort. It is a place of uncomfortable memories the speaker keeps hidden and rarely, if ever, shares. Because the phrase can also refer to a state of agony or injury, the speaker’s reliance on the imagery of the locker can represent the speaker’s affected mental and emotional state.