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Other Naval Terminology.

M

mark_rotteveel

SOC-12
After reading the Naval Technology Post by Murph (qv), just thought I'd add another one of 'not-so-official Naval Terminology'. These are official and traditional words for all sorts of things in common use while I was in the Navy. Thought it might add a bit of flavour to someone's campaign.

Macca - A candy bar, or chocolate. Also the nickname of anyone whose surname begins with Mc, or Mac.
Goffa - A salute. Also a soft drink, or soda.
Scran - Food. (short for S**t Cooked in the Royal Australian Navy).
Tiddley-Oggeys - Pastry foods, like Cornish Pasties.
Redders - Tomato Sauce, or Ketchup.
Kiy - A hot chocolate beverage.
Brew - Coffee.
Steppers - civilian clothing (worn when stepping ashore).
Rig - uniform.
Pirate Rig - Civilian clothing worn while at sea.
Sippers - having a sip from someone elses drink.
Sandy bottoms - having the remainder of a drink.
Squiz - to have a look at.
Dit - a movie (or whatever the local TL equivalent). To watch a movie is to 'catch a Dit'
Squarey - Boyfriend/girlfriend.
Tubs - to 'have a tubs' is to take a shower.
Dobey - laundry.
Fang-bosun - Dentist.
Sin-bosun - Chaplain.
Scab-lifter - Medic.
Beagle - Steward.
Greenie - an electrician. Also a big wave.
Stoker - an engineer.
Sparker - a Comms operator.
Bunting Tosser - a signalman.
Dib-Dab - someone of the Seamanship branch.
Bubbly - a Diver.
To Step - to go ashore.
Jack/Jack Tar - a veteran sailor.

So, there you go. Now you can sound like a real Jack Tar and say you're going to "Grab some tiddley-Oggeys and redders for Scran, have a tubs, and clean into some Steppers. Then grab a goffa and a macca and step to catch a dit with my squarey"... :D
 
Thanks, Rotters! Now I'm glad I resurrected the other one.

Does anyone else have any other national Navy Slang?
 
Thanks for the rsponse, guys :D

Nice list of slang - I wonder how much is pure Aussie and how much common to the 7 seas?
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Falkayn: I think most of it is pretty common throughout the Navies of the British Commonwealth. I know it's common in the RAN, RNZN, and the RN. Dunno about the RCN, though. Most of it is handed down from the Brits, and us 'colonials' tended to inherit it.

Thanks, Rotters! Now I'm glad I resurrected the other one.

Does anyone else have any other national Navy Slang?
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You're welcome, Jame. There's also a whole heap of standard nicknames in use in the RAN, which we use a lot for Tac-Codes/Callsigns, too.

Another one that sprung to mind is 'Makers' - to have a half day. That one goes back to the days of sail, when the skipper would occassionaly give the crew an early mark, so they could 'make and mend' - ie a general fix-up of clothing and gear.
 
Thank God for 200 years of "freedom from oppression"! ;)

The USN uses little of the above, although the merchants tend to lean more to the esoteric terms than the military. We didn't shed all of our heritage, but some of the above is pure Greek to me.

Some additions to the list:

Skivvy Waver - signal man
Rope-yarn - mend and darn uniforms
Wildcat - winch used to heave in on anchor chain
Gypsyhead - type of capstan
Windlass - winch (similar to capstan)
Capstan - winch used to heave in on lines
Yardarm - horizontal portion of mast
Bitter End - last length of chain attached to anchor
Shellback - an equator crosser
Pollywog - scum who've never crossed the equator
Gator - nickname for Navigator or amphibious ships
Bull Ensign - senior ensign by date of commission
J.O. Jungle - junior officer berthing
Airdale/Brown Shoe - deck officer term for aviator
(Black) Shoe - aviator term for deck officer
Jarhead - universal term for Marine

Boiler Punch - non-existent tool junior officers are sent to fetch from Boiler's Mates (many laughs to follow)

There are so many ... have fun digging them all up!
 
Boiler Punch - non-existent tool junior officers are sent to fetch from Boiler's Mates (many laughs to follow)
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I've got one of those. It's in my toolbox, next to the left-handed screwdriver and the tin of elbow grease...
 
And then there is:

The Mail Buoy - large numbers of newbies are sent to the focsle in heavy weather gear, life jackets, and boat hooks to await the passing of the mail buoy

Feeding the Bosun's Wildcat - the wildcat is the geared winch used to heave in on the anchor; this often requires the feeder to enter a very dark closet without a flashlight

Retrieving a Bucket of Prop/Rotor Wash

Asking the Chief Engineer for some Relative Bearing Grease - relative bearings are the angle between the ship's bow and the target

Asking the Combat Systems Officer "What's Cooking on the Radar Range for Tonight"?

Searching for Green and Red Lightbulbs for the Running Lights

It's all in fun ... for the Old Salts (vets)
 
Sending newbies for a "Water Slug" for torpedo tube test firings.

Telling them that their TLD (Thermo-Luminescent Dosimeter) actually protects them from radiation, instead of just measuring their exposure.

Asking them to go to the ship's dentist to get new turbo-generator brushes.

Getting them to stand next to the ventilation outlets when the F-14s are doing supersonic flybys "so they can hear the sonic boom better" (all the rust and gunk in the ventilation ducts gets shaken loose by the sonic boom and flies out).
 
Originally posted by Andrew Boulton:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr /> Boiler Punch - non-existent tool junior officers are sent to fetch from Boiler's Mates (many laughs to follow)
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I've got one of those. It's in my toolbox, next to the left-handed screwdriver and the tin of elbow grease... </font>[/QUOTE]What about the much-needed Metric Crescent Wrench?????

And, if you are on an aircraft carrier, or in aviation in general, don't forget the 50 meters of flightline and the 20 liters of jetwash (and rotorwash!)!
 
U.S. Navy traditions
http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq78-1.htm
Salt junk =salt pork or salt beef
Hard tack =biscuits baked without salt and kiln-dried
Lobscouse =hash, usually stewed.
Daddyfunk= hardtack soaked in water and baked with grease and molasses
Plumduff =flour pudding containing raisins or currants, boiled in a bag or cloth
Pale ale =water

Deck logs
http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq73-1.htm

Q-ships
http://www.history.navy.mil/docs/wwii/Q-ships.htm

Ship Naming in the United States Navy
http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq63-1.htm

Navy Uniforms
http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq63-1.htm
 
Boiler Punch - non-existent tool junior officers are sent to fetch from Boiler's Mates (many laughs to follow)
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He he.... never heard that one.
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We used to send the Newbies for:
Milk for the Seacat (which is a missile)
Tobacco for the Bosun's Pipe (which is actually a whistle, not a pipe).
And of course the bucket of striped paint, or the long weight (aka looooong wait)....

Airdale/Brown Shoe - deck officer term for aviator
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We called our aviators Birdys.

And, like your Jar-heads. We have:
Army - Pongo's (wherever the army goes, the pong goes).
Navy - Pussers (which I think comes from 'Purser', or - more likely - refers to the end result of spending too much time with the 'ladies of the night')
Air Force - Fairies (or the Blue Fairies)

oh, and..

Grunt - in the Army this means infantry, int the Navy it refers to commissioned officers (ie the noise a pig makes)

And another phrase I really liked. "Naval Officers Syndrome". This is the condition of standing on the face of the person below you in order to be able to ram your nose further up the *ss of the person above you. :D
 
Here are some long standing RCN slang terms:

NAVY: Never Again Volunteer Yourself
GRUNT: General Recruit Unfit for Navel Training
Wet: dumb, as in 'The old man sure is wet.'
Duff: dessert (and now beer thanks to the Simpsons)
Sliders: afternoon off
Old Man/Skipper: CO
Jimmy: XO
'Swain: Cox'n

Things to send a newbie for a:

50 feet/metres of 'shore line'
A box of 'Radar Contacts'
'key' to anchor pocket door (our old steamers really did have anchor pocket doors)

The Bos’n mantra

If it moves, salute it.
If it does not move, fit it.
If it cannot be fixed, polish it.
If it cannot be polished, paint it.
If it cannot be painted, through it over board, it is no good.

We do loss a number of Chiefs this way.

And finally, Bos’n Counting

One, two, three, and another, and another, and another, lots, a whole bunch, copious, copious plus. (note, have now run out of fingers)

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Navy slang:

Booter - Someone fresh from boot camp (a.k.a., 'Newbie').

BT Punch - What you get when you miff off a Boiler Technician (BT). Note: BT is no longer a Navy rate.

Bug Juice - A 'Kool-Aid' like fluid commonly used for drinking and dissolving corrossion on metallic surfaces. So named because the red color comes from the Cochineal; a small, red insect whose bodies are crushed to produce the pigment.

Radio Man - Another Navy rate made obsolete when Pentagon officials realized that radio equipment would usually fail on its own.

Shellback - (1) A fine, upstanding creature who would never, ever admit to having once been a wog. (2) Any person who has cross the equator on a Navy ship AND endured the initiation rites. Favorite saying: "Next time, it's MY turn!"

Tack on a Crow - To punch someone in the arm, when they've just become a petty officer. The shoulder patch features a 'Crow' above one, two, or three chevrons. Guess where most of the punches land?

Twidget - An Electronics Technician (ET).

Twidget, Tweeking - An ET who specializes in calibrating equipment.

Wog - (1) An amphibious lower life form of indeterminate gender; similar to maggots, but not as pleasant to be around. (2) Any person who has not crossed the equator on a Navy vessel.

Things to send a booter to fetch:

50 meters of 'Land Line' (A stronger version of 'shore line').

50 meter of 'Flight Line' (To secure a sky hook to the deck).

20 liters of 'Prop Wash' ("... in case we run out of Bug Juice.")

20 liters of 'Jet Blast' ("... nope, prop wash ain't gonna cut through this; we need sumpin stronger...").

BT Punch - What you send a new petty office for when you really want him or her to know that his crow has been tacked on.

Mail Bouy - Did you ever wonder how sailor's receive their mail? A booter is issued a gaff hook, and must stand aft of the bridge in order to snag the mail bouy as the ship rides past. If he fails to see it, then he must stand the same watch on the other side of the ship the next day.
 
Radio Man - Another Navy rate made obsolete when Pentagon officials realized that radio equipment would usually fail on its own.
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As you were, Keklas... I just happen to have BEEN on of those... although they called them Radio Operators in my day
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And thanks, Wolfman. A, for resurecting the thread, and B for 'Duff'. We also used that in the RAN :D . In the vein of Swain, here's some names for job descriptions:

Stoker - engineer
Sparker - radio operator
Bunting Tosser - signalman
Greenie - electrician
Scab lifter - medic
Bubbly - diver
Bandy - musician
Beagle - steward
 
was woundering if their where any common terms with the land forces i know a few from ferinds and releis in the service

Boots- the new guy, as in new boots (the only time a soldger has new boots is fresh out of training or long term staff job)
Fartherless SoB- Oficcer (this is conciderd a complement concidering most names for them)
Sparky/Sparks- Eletrician or ocasinaly raido opperator
Sitter- the non-com sadaled with keaping a new guy or officer alive and making shure they learn how things realy work
Sir- an insualt to Non-Coms (you only call officers Sir) as they 1)know how to do their jobs, 2)know who their perants are (usual) 3) actualy work for a living

Their are others but I can't think of them or they are far from PG13
 
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