| HMS ENDURANCE – JACKSPEAK |
 Welcome to HMS Endurance’s occasional guide to Royal Naval slang by EWO Warrant Officer FlanaganThe Royal Navy has been in existence for more than three hundred years, during which the men, and in recent time women have developed ‘Jack-speak’! This language runs side-by-side the everyday English language we use today. However, some not so common words and phrases follow: The following are some common names that are given to different branches of the Royal Navy: Stokers - The Marine Engineers’ name comes from the days when Ships were steam driven and the boilers had to be stoked with coal. Wafu - The Air Engineers’ name comes from the phrase ‘Weapon and Fuel Users’ which used to be on their leather jackets many years ago. Droggies - The Survey Recorders were part of the Hydrographers and Metrological branch some years ago. The name ‘Droggy’ is short for Hydrographer. Pillow fluffer / Crumb duster - Is a rather unflattering name given to those members of the Stewarding branch. This branch is a very traditional one as they look after the Officers on board all Royal Navy Ships, in addition to acting as the First Aid team. Scribes - A member of the ‘Writers’ branch. This branch works within the Navy to maintain accounts and logistics paper work. A highly responsible group of accountants. Jack dusty - The stores on old War Ships used to be very dusty places and those that worked in them always seemed to have a layer of dust on themselves! So members of the ‘Stores Accountant’ branch have always been know as Jack Dusty. Cabbage mechanic - Chefs – for obvious reasons! Dabbers - The collective name for the Seaman branch as they used to ‘dab’ on paint whenever they saw a spot of rust! Cement-head - The name given to the old ‘Gunner’ or ‘Missile-men’ branch – as they were well know for being very good at marching and ‘drill’ or ceremonial work. As a result they spent along time on the concrete parade square – practicing! Forecastle - The front part of the ship on the upper deck. So named because when ships were made of wood the front was built in the shape of a castle. The Heads - The lavatory. Before the invention of flushing toilets a hole would have been cut in the deck at the front end of the ship through which your daily business would be done. The front being at the head of the ship hence the term ‘Heads’. Boatswains Call or ‘Pipe’ - Piping using a boatswain's call has been a Naval method of passing orders and information for hundreds of years. Orders thus passed are known as ‘Pipes’. In recent years there has been a decline in the use of the call and it is now generally confined to Ceremonial occasions. The use of the boatswain's call in English ships can be traced back to the days of the Crusades, AD 1248. Traditionally it was worn on board English Ships throughout the Fleet as an honoured badge of rank, probably because it had always been used for passing orders. Show a leg - A phrase used when ladies of the night (substitute “girlfriends”) were smuggled onboard (when Ships were under sailing orders). To ensure a crew member was not in bed with a young lady he would be ordered to “Show a leg”. If the leg was female shaped or shaven then that person would be left in bed to save the ladies dignity. He would, of course, be disciplined later! Slide - A name for butter or margarine. As it was fat based it made old stale bread slide down the throat more easily. Jack - Generic name for all Royal Navy sailors, derived from Jack Tar, the 18 and early 19th century sailor with his glossy black hat, carefully dressed pigtail, and canvas breeches (trousers) which like the hairs on his head were impregnated with high grade tar. The usual name associated with Jack these days is Jolly Jack, for the cheerful, willing, robust, sharp and witty individual. Jack of all trades – A sailor who can turn his hand to anything, and almost always had to, since unlike the Army who have infantry, cavalry and artillery, Jack had to provide all these features of military operations himself. Heads – The ship’s latrines/toilets, which in sailing days were located in the area between the fore’castle and the beakhead (the forwardmost point of the ship). Dhobey – Original Hindi word now\adopted for the business of washing clothes. Bulkhead - Jacks name for a wall, not formed by the ship’s side. Galley - Any area of food preparation and cooking (never a kitchen). Scran - Food: ‘ I’m off down the galley for scran’ Skin heads on a raft - Baked beans on toast. Cackle berries - Hard boiled eggs. Sickbay shackles - Safety pins. Dobby dust - Washing powder. Red Lead - Tomato sauce - In the days when sailors painted their own ships with lead based red paint. Neptune’s dandruff - Table salt. |
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