The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1908-10-24
SLANG OF THE SAILOR
The Lingo That Is Used by Uncle
Sans Bluejackets.
MANY QUAINT EXPRESSIONS

The Man-o wars Man May Be q
"snowdisser" or a "sloper," but He
Uses the Language Of Every Other
Sailor.
There is a language that is neither
English nor American. down east nor
southern, western nor Yankee. 1t is
Just sailors lingo.
No matter what part of the country
may be the birthplace of a bluejacket
or what his language at home, sooner
or later he uses the language of every
other sailor.
To the civilian a conversation be-
tween two bluejackets about his life
on shipboard is hardly Ineligible The
other day on the water front two sail
ors were overheard talking, says the
San Francisco Bulletin.
"Oh, he's nothing but beach comb
er. He was run up for breaking it once
and got sent to the pie wagon" said
one of them.
II heard he got six months and bob
before he come here" replied the other.
A small boy standing near asked
what all those things meant. The sail
ors were in a good humor and ex.
planned.
Beach comber,' lad? why, that's a
fellow who hangs around a saloon
ashore and never wants to work
Breaking it. is staying overtime on
shore, and run up is brought to the
mast for offenses. The pie wagon is
the place where they put prisoners. and
six months and bob is sentenced to
six months in prison and given a dis
honorable discharge"
There are many other terms and ex-
pressions that do not show their mean
ing on the surface.
A "rookie" is a recruit. A man who
"ships over" enlists again. A man who
Is on the report for mast call is down
for a chance" Canned beef is known
as Canned Willie" and a bottle of
liquor is dog" All things lost on
shipboard are put in room called the
"lucky bag" An honorable discharge
Is "a big ticket" and desertion by q
sailor is Jumped" When the mail ar
rives on board and is ready for distri-
button ''mailo" is the cry which carries
the news. A ships carpenter is called
"chips," a coppersmith "coppers," a
blacksmith "blacky" and the chief of
the engineering department "the chief"
When ship is travelling at sea 1t is
"seagoing," and If it hurries it is max
ing knots" A prison ON shore Is a
"stone frigate." When a man is dis
rated to lower rating he is busted"
when he deserts and voluntarily gives
himself up within period of six
months he Is a straggler; when he is
sitting next the dealer in a friendly
game of draw" he is under the
gum" when he is continually quoting
the naval regulations he has Swallow
ed the blue book" and when he thinks
he knows more about the blue book
than the captain he is 'sea lawyer"
Pipe down" means in American
slang "shut up" PUT in his oar" is
"butt in" ''Shove off, Jack" is a hint
to move on. When a man is dishon-
orably discharged he gets straight
kick" A sailor who draws more pay
draws more water" One who talks
too much elbows of at low pressure"
Wednesday afternoon, when the crew
overhaul their clothing, is rope yard
Sunday" Any part of the United
States Is called God s country" and
the man from the eastern coast is a
"snowdigger," while his brother tar
from the west is called "sloper." The
duty of calling the men In the morning
falls to the master ut arms, and he
says SHOW a leg" or rise up and
shine" When a man has had no
night watch and gets up in the morn
ing with good appetite It is "all
night in and beans for breakfast"
One of the more familiar sea terms
is caught crab," meaning caught an
oar in the water. When a sailor has
several enlistments to his credit he is
called "a sea dog" or IAN old salt"
A gentle hint from one sailor to an
other that he does not believe some
thing which is being told to him is tell
1t to a marine" To re-enlist is TO
1slip over" and when more than half
the enlistment is in sailor is going