Navy slang (1927)

[Laurence Horn]

>On Fri, 6 May 2005 03:31:01 -0400, Benjamin Zimmer
><bgzimmer at RCI.RUTGERS.EDU> wrote:
>
>>There might be some useful antedatings in here, e.g. "joe" for 'coffee'
>>(HDAS 1930, OED 1941... but MWCD11 already has 1927).
>>
>>(One oddity: "'girls' are boys"?  Huh?)
>
>Sorry, that should read "girls are 'boys'"...  The other way around would
>have made some sense, feminizing young men, but masculinizing young women?
>  I don't get it, unless it's some sort of code to confuse outsiders.
>

Well, they say that women are the new men, but I think this was different...

L



>  >-----
>>(Danville, Va.) _Bee_, May 27, 1927, p. 3, col. 1
>>
>>Gobs Slang Amuses N.Y.
>>List of Many By-Words Used By Uncle Sam's Sailor Boys
>>
>>NEW YORK. May, 27. -- (INS)
>>Q. -- What are "dogs?"
>>A. -- Feet.
>>Q. -- What is a "cocktail?"
>>A. -- A dose of castor oil.
>>Q. -- What is an "ear wiggler?"
>>A. -- One who tries to make an impression.
>>Easterners, who have been entertaining the United States fleet, could go
>>on asking these questions and giving you replies for an indefinite length
>>of time. They have learned, through contact with the "gobs" that the U. S.
>>Navy has a language or a "slanguage" all its own.
>>For instance, the cooks are "grease balls;" the kitchen workers "scullery
>>maids;" yeomen are "pen pushers;" an old sailor is a "grandpaw;" a young
>>sailor a "chicken;" girls are "boys" or "blimps;" a dance is a "hop;"
>>hospital corps men are "pill rollers;" liquor is "rum;" "chow" is
>>something
>>to eat; coffee is "joe;" milk is "cow;" spaghetti, "worms;" beans are
>>"bullets" and sugar is "sand."
>>When a sailor gets his hair cut "he gets his ears mowed dowwned." When he
>>takes exercise it is "monkey drill" and he calls marines "cowboys" or
>>"seagoing bell hops."
>>Civilian clothes are "sliders" and underwear is "skivvies." And "hit the
>>deck" is to turn to, and "hit the beach" is to go ashore.
>>Destroyers are "tin cans." Submarines "subs." A torpedo is a "fish."
>>That isn't the half of it. Sailor language is an education in itself. Join
>>the navy and not only see the world but learn a new language.
>>-----
>>
>>
>>--Ben Zimmer