Aye Aye Sir

Aye, Aye, Sir - Required official acknowledgement of an order meaning I have received, understand, and will carry out the order or instructions.

Starboard

The Vikings called the side of their ship its board, and they placed the steering oar, the "star" on the right side of the ship, thus that side became known as the "star board." It’s been that way ever since. And, because the oar was in the right side, the ship was tied to the dock at the left side. This was known as the loading side or "larboard". Later, it was decided that "larboard" and "starboard" were too similar, especially when trying to be heard over the roar of a heavy sea, so the phrase became the "side at which you tied up to in port" or the "port" side.

Adrift

The term, "adrift", means loose from towline or moorings, scattered about, not in proper stowage.

Brig

Brig - a place of confinement, a prison

Watches

Traditionally, a 24-hour day is divided into seven watches. These are: midnight to 4 a.m. [0000-0400], the mid-watch; 4 to 8 a.m. [0400-0800], morning watch; 8 a.m. to noon [0800-1200], forenoon watch; noon to 4 p.m. [1200-1600], afternoon watch; 4 to 6 p.m. [1600-1800] first dog watch; 6 to 8 p.m. [1800-2000], second dog watch; and, 8 p.m. to midnight [2000-2400], evening watch. The half hours of the watch are marked by striking the bell an appropriate number of times.

Took the wind out of his sails

Often we use "took the wind out of his sails" to describe getting the best of an opponent in an argument. Originally it described a battle maneuver of sailing ships. One ship would pass close to its adversary and on its windward side. The ship and sails would block the wind from the second vessel, causing it to lose headway. Losing motion meant losing maneuverability and the ability to carry on a fight.

Wardroom

Wardroom - on board ship, the officer’s living room and dining area; also used to signify all of the officers serving on the ship.

Ashore

"Ashore" refers to any place outside of a naval or Marine Corps reservation.

Swab

Swab - a mop

Ladder

Ladder - stairs

CHIT

CHIT - a receipt or authorization; a piece of paper

PFPWD

PFPWD stands for the Program for Persons with Disabilities ... it provides financial assistance to active duty family members with moderate to severe disabilities who cannot get specialized training or care through public programs.

Topside

Topside - upstairs; upper deck

Turn To

Turn To - begin work; get started

Field Day

Field Day - barracks cleanup

Mayday

"Mayday" is the internationally recognized voice radio signal for ships and people in serious trouble at sea. Made official in 1948, it is an anglicizing of the French m’aidez, "help me".

Rate

Rate - a sailor’s occupational speciality

AD

"AD" stands for Active Duty.

Skipper

Skipper - Commanding Officer

Passageway

Passageway - a hallway

Bridge

Bridge - the portion of a ship’s structure from which it is controlled when underway.

Scuttlebutt

The origin of the word "scuttlebutt," which is nautical parlance for a rumor, comes from a combination of "scuttle" — to make a hole in the ship’s hull and thereby causing her to sink —- and "butt" — a cask or hogshead used in the days of wooden ships to hold drinking water. The cask from which the ship’s crew took their drinking water — like a water fountain — was the "scuttlebutt". Even in today’s Navy a drinking fountain is referred to as such. But, since the crew used to congregate around the "scuttlebutt", that is where the rumors about the ship or voyage would begin. Thus, then and now, rumors are talk from the "scuttlebutt" or just "scuttlebutt".

Forecastle

The appropriate pronunciation for this word is fo’ksul. The forecastle is the forward part of the main deck. It derives its name from the days of Viking galleys when wooden castles were built on the forward and after parts of the main deck from which archers and other fighting men could shoot arrows and throw spears, rocks, etc.

Brow

Brow - a portable walkway from the pier or jetty to the ship’s quarterdeck

Fathom

Fathom was originally a land measuring term derived from the Anglo-Saxon word "faetm," meaning ’to embrace.’ In those days, most measurements were based on average size of parts of the body, such as the hand (horses are still measured this way) or the foot (that’s why 12 inches are so named). A fathom is the average distance from fingertip to fingertip of the outstretched arms of a man --- about six feet. Since a man stretches out his arms to embrace his sweetheart, Britain’s Parliament declared that distance be called a "fathom" and it be a unit of measure. A fathom remains six feet. The word was also used to describe taking the measure or "to fathom" something. Today, of course, when one is trying to figure something out, they are trying to "fathom" it.

Pogie Bait

Pogie Bait - a piece of candy, cookies, etc.

Gangway

Gangway - an opening in the rail giving access to the ship. A command announcement to stand aside to let someone through.

BUPERS

BUPERS stands for the Bureau of Naval Personnel

Below

Below - downstairs, lower deck

As You Were

"As You Were" refers to resuming former activity.

DEERS

DEERS stands for Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System

Fantail

Fantail - the main deck of a ship at the stern

BELAY

BELAY - to make fast or to secure, as in "belay the line," to cancel or to disregard a statement just made.

All Hands

"All Hands" refers to all members of a command.

Seabag

Seabag - the bag used to stow personal gear

MTF

MTF stands for Military Medical Treatment Facility

Chewing the Fat

"God made the vittles but the devil made the cook," was a popular saying used by seafaring men in the 19th century, when salted beef was staple diet aboard ship.

This tough cured beef, suitable only for long voyages when nothing else was cheap or would keep as well (remember, there was no refrigeration), required prolonged chewing to make it edible. Men often chewed one chunk for hours, just as if it were chewing gum, and they referred to this practice as "chewing the fat."

Field Scarf

Field Scarf - regulation Marine Corps uniform neck tie

S.O.S.

Contrary to popular notion, the letters S.O.S. do not stand for "Save Our Ship" or "Save Our Souls." They were selected to indicate a distress because, in Morse code, these letters and their combination create an unmistakable sound pattern.

Acronyms

A good website to find the definition of a lot of Navy acronyms is http://www.nadn.navy.mil/MISLO/acronym.html

Overhead

Overhead - ceiling

Geedunk

Geedunk - the place (aboard ship) where candy, ice cream, soda, and smokes can be purchased

Galley

Galley - Shipboard kitchen; kitchen of a mess hall; mobile field mess

Eight Bells

Aboard Navy ships, bells are struck to designate the hours of being on watch. Each watch is four hours in length. One bell is struck after the first half-hour has passed, two bells after one hour has passed, three bells after an hour and a half, four bells after two hours, and so forth up to eight bells are struck at the completion of the four hours. Completing a watch with no incidents to report was "Eight bells and all is well."

The practice of using bells stems from the days of the sailing ships. Sailors couldn’t afford to have their own time pieces and relied on the ship’s bells to tell time. The ship’s boy kept time by using a half-hour glass. Each time the sand ran out, he would turn the glass over and ring the appropriate number of bells.

FSG

FSG stands for Family Support Group. These groups can be helpful to spouses and family members during short patrols, or long deployments ... but in order for it to work you need to become active.

RET

RET stands for Retired

Square Away

Square Away - to straighten, make ship-shape, or to get settled. To inform or admonish someone in an abrupt manner.

Skylark

Skylark - goof off; to loiter

Ahoy

"Ahoy", referring to the traditional greeting for hailing other vessels, was originally a Viking battle cry.

Petty Officer

Petty Officer - A Navy NCO, E-4 through E-9

NEX

NEX stands for Navy Exchange. It is a great place to find lower and comparable prices on just about everything you could need. Larger bases have larger stores and sometimes NEX malls with food courts and entertainment. It depends on your area.

AFT

"AFT", referring to, or toward the stern (rear) of a vessel.

Smoking Lamp

Smoking Lamp - when the smoking lamp is lit, smoking is authorized

Quarterdeck

The ceremonial location on board ship when the ship is moored or at anchor. It is located close to the brow or accommodation ladder and is the watch station for the Officer of the Deck.

Head

The "head" aboard a Navy ship is the bathroom. The term comes from the days of sailing ships when the place for the crew to relieve themselves was all the way forward on either side of the bowsprit, the integral part of the hull to which the figurehead was fastened.

Gun Salutes

Gun salutes were first fired as an act of good faith. In the days when it took so long to reload a gun, it was a proof of friendly intention when the ship’s cannons were discharged upon entering port.

DFAS

DFAS stands for Defense Finance and Accounting Service.

Brown Bagger

Brown Bagger - a married man

Shipping Over

Shipping Over - Reenlisting

Port Holes

The word "port hole" originated during the reign of Henry VI of England (1485). King Henry insisted on mounting guns too large for his ship and the traditional methods of securing these weapons on the forecastle and aftcastle could not be used.
A French shipbuilder named James Baker was commissioned to solve the problem. He put small doors in the side of the ship and mounted the cannon inside the ship. These doors protected the cannon from weather and were opened when the cannon were to be used. The French word for "door" is "porte" which was later Anglicized to "port" and later went on to mean any opening in the ship’s side, whether for cannon or not.

Sick Bay

Sick Bay - hospital or dispensary

Holystone

The last Navy ships with teak decks were the battleships, now since decommissioned. Teak, and other wooden decks, were scrubbed with a piece of sandstone, nicknamed at one time by an anonymous witty sailor as the "holystone." It was so named because since its use always brought a man to his knees, it must be holy!

Cup of Joe

Josephus Daniels (18 May 1862-15 January 1948) was appointed Secretary of the Navy by President Woodrow Wilson in 1913. Among his reforms of the Navy were inaugurating the practice of making 100 Sailors from the Fleet eligible for entrance into the Naval Academy, the introduction of women into the service, and the abolishment of the officers’ wine mess. From that time on, the strongest drink aboard Navy ships could only be coffee, and over the years, a cup of coffee became known as "a cup of Joe."

Port

Port - left

Breakout

Breakout - take out of stock or storage, to prepare for use.

Stern

Stern - the blunt end (rear) of a ship

PCM

PCM stands for Primary Care Manager ... your main doctor / clinic that you would see through TriCare Health Services.

Secure

Secure - stop; finish; end; make fast; put away in storage

Bow

Bow - front portion of a ship

Carry On

Carry On - the order to resume previous activity

Pea Coat

Sailors who have to endure pea-soup weather often don their pea coats...but the coat’s name isn’t derived from the weather.
The heavy topcoat worn in cold, miserable weather by seafaring men was once tailored from pilot cloth — a heavy, course, stout kind of twilled blue cloth with the nap on one side. The cloth was sometimes called P-cloth for the initial letter of "pilot" and the garment made from it was called a p-jacket — later, a pea coat. The term has been used since 1723 to denote coats made from that cloth.

Crow´s Nest

The raven, or crow, was an essential part of the Vikings’ navigation equipment. These land-lubbing birds were carried aboard to help the ship’s navigator determine where the closest land lay when weather prevented sighting the shore. In cases of poor visibility, a crow was released and the navigator plotted a course corresponding to the bird’s flight path, because the crow invariably headed towards land.

The Norsemen carried the birds in a cage secured to the top of the mast. Later on, as ships grew and the lookout stood his watch in a tub located high on the main mast, the name "crow’s nest" was given to this tub. While today’s Navy still uses lookouts in addition to radars, etc., the crow’s nest is a thing of the past.

Devil to Pay

Today the expression "devil to pay" is used primarily to describe having an unpleasant result from some action that has been taken, as in someone has done something they shouldn’t have and, as a result, "there will be the devil to pay." Originally, this expression described one of the unpleasant tasks aboard a wooden ship.

The "devil" was the wooden ship’s longest seam in the hull. Caulking was done with "pay" or pitch (a kind of tar). The task of "paying the devil" (caulking the longest seam) by squatting in the bilges was despised by every seaman.

Log Book

In the early days of sailing ships, the ship’s records were written on shingles cut from logs. These shingles were hinged and opened like a book. The record was called the "log book." Later on, when paper was readily available and bound into books, the record maintained its name.

Police

Police - to straighten or to tidy up

Buttkit

Buttkit - an ashtray

Liberty

Liberty - absence of enlisted from the ship or command for less that 06 hours for purpose of rest and recreation which is not charged as leave

JAG

JAG stands for Judge Advocate General

Between the Devil and the Deep

In wooden ships, the "devil" was the longest seam of the ship. It ran from the bow to the stern. When at sea and the "devil" had to be caulked, the sailor sat in a bo’sun’s chair to do so. He was suspended between the "devil" and the sea — the "deep" — a very precarious position, especially when the ship was underway.

Gator

Gator - an amphibious ship; one who serves in the amphibious Navy

C.P.

C.P. - Command Post in the field

EFMP

EFMP stands for the Exceptional Family Members Program. This program is a mandatory enrollment program for Active Duty Service Members who have family members with exceptional medical, psychological, developmental, or educational needs.

Hatch

Hatch - door or doorway