Glossary

Term	Definition
AC/DC	Bisexual
Anti-flash Gear	White cotton hood and long white cotton gloves treated with flame retardant chemicals, and worn at Action Stations in HM Ships.
ASDA	A British supermarket chain
Babies Heads	A naval dish: small individual steak and kidney puddings.
Bank Holiday	Public Holiday.
Basil Fawlty	A character played by John Cleese in the British comedy classic, Fawlty Towers, produced in the 1970s.
Beagling	Hunting rabbits and hares, on foot, with the aid of a pack of beagles.
Benidorm	A British comedy series surrounding the experiences of fictional plebeian holidaymakers in the Spanish resort of Benidorm.
Blighty	An archaic term for the UK.
Blue Peter	A children’s feature programme, started in the 1950s, that encourages participation and charitable work.
Bootneck	A Royal Marine.
British	An inhabitant of Great Britain (comprising England, Scotland and Wales) or Northern Ireland.
British Isles	England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.
Bulkhead	Wall.
Bum Fluff	Derogatory term for the immature, sparse and fine-haired beard growth on some young men.
Bundu	The great outdoors; the outback; the prairies.
Burberry	A naval raincoat. So named after the well-known British clothing manufacturer.
Burn	A cigarette.
Caisson	(Pronounced ka-SOON). A watertight gateway to a dry dock or dockyard basin that can be swung open for ships to pass. It also forms part of the roadway.
Capabar	The misappropriation of naval property for personal gain.
Capstan	A winch with a vertical axis, used to haul in an anchor chain or to handle ropes. See also Windlass and Gypsy.
Cheesy Hammy Eggy	A naval snack: ham with toasted cheese on toast, topped by a fried egg.
Colours	The ceremony of hoisting the ensign in the morning (0800 in the summer, 0900 in the winter). See also Evening Colours and Sunset.
Condenseritis	Saline contamination of boiler water. A condition endemic in steam ships that keeps Marine Engineer Officers awake at night.
Cuddy	The Captain’s cabin.
D-Notice	An official request by the UK government to news editors not to publish a story as it would compromise the national interest on security of defence grounds. Now called a DSMA Notice.
Dad’s Army	A popular British classic comedy of the 1970s about the Home Guard in WW2.
Deckhead	Ceiling.
Del Boy	A colourful Cockney character in the popular British comedy series, Only Fools and Horses.
Devonport	A district of Plymouth where the naval dockyard is located.
Dhoby	Laundry or (verb) to launder.
Dog Robbers	A plain clothes outfit favoured by naval officers comprising a sports coat, shirt and tie, smart casual trousers such as flannels, and leather shoes.
Dogwatch Zizz	A little sleep, usually taken between 1600 and 1800 (the First Dogwatch).
Droit des commandes	A right to be at the controls
Dunnage	Personal belongings; luggage; kit.
Ease Springs	To un-cock a hand-held weapon and hence ease the strain on the mechanism. Often used as a euphemism for passing water.
English	An inhabitant of England (not to be confused with Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish). See also British.
Evening Colours	The ceremony of hauling down the ensign at 2100 in the summer months, when the proper sunset is after that time. See also Sunset and Colours.
Fanny	A rectangular shaped bucket made from aluminium and once used to carry cooked food in RN warships.
Fender	An inflated balloon-like sausage or a buffer made from whicker or rope, used to cushion and protect a ship or boat’s side against damage from other boats or a jetty.
Figgy Duff	A suet pudding flavoured with currants, similar to Spotted Dick.
Flag Rank	An Admiral, Vice Admiral or Rear Admiral.
Flanders & Swann	A popular musical duo of the 1960s, much given to producing droll or satirical songs.
Fo’c’sle	Pronounced, “folk – sull”. The front part of a ship where the anchors and windlass are housed and usually, in merchant ships, a raised enclosed compartment above the upper deck, the deck above being referred to as the “fo’c’sle head” (but not in the Royal Navy). At one time the enclosed compartment was used to accommodate the seamen. Derivation from “fore castle” of medieval sailing ships.
G+T	Gin and tonic.
Gash	Rubbish or garbage.
Grog	A mixture of rum and water (or lime juice originally), latterly ¼ pint of water to ⅛ pint of rum.
Gypsy	A rotating drum on a Windlass or Capstan specially adapted to grip the links of an anchor chain.
Handy Billy	A block and tackle (pulley) arrangement.
Heads	Lavatories.
HKLP	Holds Knife Like Pen. A reference to the ‘non U’ method of holding cutlery.
HMCG	Her Majesty’s Coastguard.
Horse’s Neck	Brandy and ginger ale (with ice and lemon): a popular wardroom drink.
Iceland	A British supermarket chain specialising in frozen food.
Jodrell Bank	A radio telescope located in Cheshire, England.
Jonah’s Lift	The process of heaving an unwelcome crew member over the side.
KC	King’s Counsel – senior barristers ie lawyers. Previously QC, Queen’s Counsel.
Kendal Mint Cake	A traditional peppermint flavoured confection, usually in bar form, that is favoured by British hikers and mountaineers.
Ki	A rich frothy hot chocolate made from shavings of solid chocolate mixed with water and boiled up with steam.
Le banquier et l’âne	The banker and the donkey.
La maîtresse de maison	The mistress of the house.
Lidl	A British (German) supermarket chain.
Narrowboat	Often incorrectly referred to as a barge, a narrowboat is a long, low boat, exactly 6′ 10″ wide, for use on the narrow canals of Britain. Clumsy, flat-bottomed, usually manufactured in steel, and originally intended for carrying cargo, they are now predominantly used for recreation and can be up to 80 feet long.
NHS	The National Health Service (UK).
Night Clothing	The uniform worn by a ship’s company (other than fire party) at sea in the evening after showering. Defined as any item of uniform other than working rig, it usually comprises a tropical shirt or sailor’s white front, with smart dark blue trousers and shoes.
No Better Than She Ought To Be	A woman of dubious morals.
NQOCD	Not Quite Our Class Dear
OAP	Old Aged Pensioner. In the UK, a person drawing a state pension.
Oxfords	Black or brown formal lace-up leather shoes, usually with five pairs of eyelets and with the lacing system closed at the bottom.
PLU	People Like Us.
Pompey	Portsmouth.
Pongo	Naval slang for a soldier.
Portland Race	A sea area off Portland in Dorset, England, notorious for its tide rips and much favoured for naval exercises.
Pot Mess	A naval dish: a makeshift stew of meat and vegetables, traditionally boiled up in a fanny in a machinery space with steam. Any sloppy food easily eaten with a spoon or fork.
Pukka Sahib	A person of some class. See also PLU.
Pumps	Soft footwear such as tennis shoes, trainers or sneakers.
Pusser	A broad term for the Royal Navy or, more specifically, the Logistics Officer or the Logistics Branch (previously the Supply or Supply & Secretariat Branch). Usually referred to as The Pusser. Derived from Purser.
Pythonesque	A reference to the off-beat British TV comedy show, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, which featured a sketch about a dead parrot.
RADA	Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Red Sea Rig	The uniform worn by naval officers at sea in the evening, comprising tropical shirt with epaulettes, dark blue uniform trousers, mess boots or shoes, and a cummerbund (see also ‘Night Clothing’).
RIB	Rigid Inflatable Boat
RNLI	Royal National Lifeboat Institution. An organisation entirely funded by charity and, at operational level, manned by volunteers dedicated to saving lives in the seas surrounding the British Isles.
RNSA	Royal Naval Sailing Association
Scranbag	A repository for the collection of any personal belongings left lying and unstowed in a messdeck or ship, reclaimable by payment of a fee to the ship’s (charitable) Welfare Fund.
Secure	Finishing time, when routine work ends. The opposite of ‘Turn To’.
Set	Beard
Sh*t on a Raft	A naval breakfast dish: kidneys on fried bread.
Sin Bosun	A priest or chaplain.
Smalls	Underwear, particularly ladies’ underwear.
Soogee/Soogeeing	Soap suds/wiping down with soap suds or detergent.
Squaddy	A soldier. See also Pongo.
Steaming Boots	Naval issue footwear with reinforced toecaps and non-slip soles, worn at sea.
Submarine Sweater	A thick white woollen roll-neck sweater issued to the ship’s companies of RN submarines and minor war vessels, and used as informal working uniform.
Sunset	The ceremony of hauling down the ensign at the time when the sun sets, provided the time of sunset is before 2100. See also Evening Colours and Colours.
Tempora mutantur, et nos mutamur in illis	(Latin). Times change and we must change with them.
Tesco	A British supermarket chain.
The Clangers	A children’s science fiction animation series of the late 1960s-early 1970s, featuring creatures who communicated by whistling.
The Hamoaze	The stretch of water in the River Tamar in Plymouth adjacent to Devonport Naval Base (see also ‘Devonport‘).
The Ponderosa	The ranch house of a popular TV cowboy series of the 1960s, Bonanza.
The Royal Green Jackets	A former infantry regiment of the British Army, now merged with others into The Rifles, with a rapid marching pace of 140 paces/minute.
Thimble	A ring fitted into the spliced or swaged eye of wire rope to prevent chafing.
Tiddley	Smart; of neat appearance; shipshape.
Tompion	A plug, usually bearing the ship’s crest, that fits into the end of a gun barrel to protect the bore from sea spray and weather.
United Kingdom (UK)	The united countries of England, Scotland, Wales (ie Great Britain) and Northern Ireland.
Waitrose	An up-market British supermarket chain.
Weathertop	A high vantage point that features in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.
Weigh	The process of hauling in an anchor.
Windlass	A winch with a horizontal axis, used to haul in an an anchor chain or to handle ropes. See also Capstan and Gypsy.

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