Overview

On a sailor's first day in the Navy, they are plunged into a strange world where the walls are bulkheads and the floors are decks. Initially, the jargon can be confusing to newcomers, especially when it's noticed that there is more than one term for a given situation. For example, a lazy person can be called a skiver, skate or be described as swinging the lead. A sailor might sleep in a pit, cart or rack, but only occasionally in a bunk. As well, there are nuances that must be learned. You might call a shipmate a winger or refer to them as a fellow hairy bag, but you would never call their party a nice piece of trim or try to cut their grass. That would certainly lead to a parting of brass rags. In some cases, the term has a variety of meanings, such as Mess, which can carry no less than three different meanings in a Canadian warship. Other terms are far more colourful. Up top on the bridge, you'll find Nelson's Balls ; down in the mess you will find Nelson's Blood. In the galley, a stoker might begin to moan and drip when they see Newfie Steak on the menu for the second time in a week. The Canadian Navy's unique language can be traced back to its Royal Navy roots. In fact, commonly used words such as pusser, and nicknames such as Nobby are directly derived from British Navy forefathers. Still, many other terms have been formed directly from use in the Canadian Navy such as CDF and Navy Gravy. Hopefully, you haven't grown weary of all this, because there's much more! What's the difference between duff and no duff. What about no joy, no names, no pack drill, no room to swing a cat and No! No! ? It's all explained inside. Pull up a bollard and enjoy the colourful language of the RCN.

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Since first jumping into a pair of uni-bags on Canada Day in 1980, the author has been forever fascinated by the language of the Navy. After 26-years of undetected crime, awarding a bright red ribbon with a bullet hole, two different sailor suits, two different MOCs, six different ranks, serving in steamers, sweepers, tankers and pigs, as well as fleet schools on both the left and right coasts, and then finally landing back in the middle... SITREP: Enjoyed every minute of it.</p>

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