Friday, May 15, 2009

Naval Jargon


I used some naval terminology in a discussion today and the person I spoke to thought I was speaking martian. Here are some terms. Let's see how you do. I'll post the answers here on this blog in a day or two.

Charlie Noble  (galley stovepipe)
Ganked              (stolen)
Lagging Paste  (oatmeal)
Snipe                  (engineman)
Sewerpipe        (submarine)
Pogey Bait        (doughnuts or sweets)
Teakettle           (nuclear powerplant/engine)
FOD Burger     (somebody sucked into a jet intake)
Goat Locker     (chief petty officer's space on the ship)
DILLIGAF        (does it look like I give a f--k(?)
AFFF (or A-Triple F)  (fire retardant)
Purple K           (more fire retardant)
CHENG             (Chief Engineering Officer)
Overhead         (ceiling of a compartment)
Splice the Main Brace  (have a drink of alcohol)
Bulkhead                      (wall) - Opus #6 identified
Head                               (toilet) - Opus#6 identified
Pisscutter         (officer's garrison cap)
Golden Shellback (sailor-sailed across the equator and dateline)
Condition Zulu (all hatches closed and dogged shut)
Auto Dog                 (soft-serve ice cream - looks like dog dropping)
Calking Off  (daydreaming or sleeping on duty)
Boy Butter    (grease spread on torpedoes before loading in tubes)
Gun Decking (falsifying statistics)

8 comments:

Opus #6 said...

Ack, I need a glossary. Head is toilet. And is bulkhead the storage space under the bed area in the front of the boat? I recall this is where the sails/jibs are kept, in my experience.

WoFat said...

I already know many of these terms, having long ago read "Captain Fatso" - and others - by Admiral Dan Gallery.

LL said...

Bulkhead is a wall, any wall in a compartment (room) on a ship.

Head is a toilet (correct).

Opus #6 said...

Well, at least I can prove (by being wrong) that I didn't cheat and look anything up. :-D

WoFat said...

Oh, and I guess working on a few merchant ships let me in on the secret language also.

I once had a bosun I almost drove nuts by saying things like, 'I'm going up to the front of the boat and mop the floor.

LL said...

WoFat, you could have said, "I'm going to holy stone the deck or go fo'ward". Since you were a mariner, I thought you'd ace all the terminology.

WoFat said...

It's more fun to drive a real seaman nuts than to remember the correct terminology.

Opus #6 said...

I see you have added the answers. Funny! I think I was confused. I was thinking of the foc'sle.

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