When I read for fun, part of that experience is learning something new. My about-to-be-released novel New Heights involves a Navy man as the hero, and while the peek into another world is fascinating, the slang is so entertaining! So to celebrate the release, here’s some Navy Speak for your linguistic pleasure!

I’ll concentrate on three main categories: food-related, job-related, and general terms.

Mandatory Fun is a command-sponsored party or other entertainment: You WILL attend, and you WILL have fun!

To “pull chocks” means to get ready to leave (chocks being the wedge-shaped blocks that are placed in front of and behind the wheels of a vehicle or airplane to keep it in place).

To “get the gouge” means to get the low-down, and implies a stripped-down version of the necessary points, with no fluff.

Another Fine Navy Day is the Navy equivalent of “living the dream.”

A new sailor may be sent to fetch 1D10T for a job, not realizing that the “one dee ten tee” they seek is a mythological substance, whose name approximates “IDIOT.”

A dense sailor is called a Seaman Timmy, and the Man Overboard practice dummies are named Oscar, so it’s not flattering to say you’d like to nominate someone for an Oscar!

Food-related terms include geedunk (candy from a vending machine), too much of which can lead to one sporting a huge geedunk-a-donk. Ravioli from a can? Call it pillows of death. The meat identifier is the side dish, which serves as a clue to the meat itself (applesauce indicates pork, horseradish suggests beef). Some of the food terms are rude, like fried horse cock for fried bologna, but have a care–fried calamari is in fact an electrocuted sailor (a sailor being a squid)!

Job-related terms may be descriptive, like wire biter for electrician, or more whimsical (wizard for nuclear technician, because they never come out of the basement, like a D&D master). A Master-At-Arms, however, is a military police officer. A Blue Nose is a sailor who’s experienced crossing the Arctic Circle, a shellback has crossed the equator, while a pollywog has done neither. Many of these terms have a derisive tone indicative of inter-branch or interdepartmental rivalries, like Snake Eaters for Special Forces like Green Berets or Navy SEALs or Fresh Water Navy for the US Coast Guard. Similarly, an Air Force salute is a shrug, and Air Force Gloves refers to standing around with one’s hands in one’s pockets.

I’ll include an interesting military tradition in my next newsletter!