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Do you ever wonder why we say some of the things we do? Many of our present day sayings originated hundreds of years ago in the Royal Navy. It’s not surprising that in naval areas, such as Portsmouth and Plymouth, naval terms were quickly adopted by local people. These then gradually spread until they were in common use by the whole country.

When HMS Victory was sailing out of Portsmouth she carried square wooden plates for the men. Due to the shortage of cooking fuel and because it wasn’t safe to have the galley stove constantly lit, only two cooked meal a day was provided. Ships biscuits (occasionally complete with weevils) were issued in the evenings. Therefore a “square meal” was a proper cooked meal. These plates had wooden beading called fiddles around them. If a sailor had too much food, it spilled over this and both the food and the sailor was said to be “on the fiddle”.

Even today the ships (and galley kitchens) can be very short of space, often “there’s not enough room to swing a cat”. This cat was actually the cat o’nine tails, a type of whip used as a harsh punishment. It was carried in a red bag. When “the cat was out the bag” you knew someone was in trouble. As no anti septic was available the surgeon would clean the wounds either with salt or vinegar and paper to try to prevent infection. So “rubbing salt into the wound” an example of “being cruel to be kind” as infection would almost certainly have resulted in death.

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The cat o’nine tails was more humane than keel hauling (a brutal and uncommon punishment) which involved weighting a man and then dragging him underneath the barnacle clad ship. He would certainly have “undergone a hardship” so perhaps explains the origin of this phrase.

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The rum ration was issued diluted to the men and was known as grog, after Admiral Vernon who intriduced this practice (his nickname was “Old Grog” because of the grogram coat he habitually wore). No doubt an over indulgence would cause a sailor to feel “groggy”. At one time rough wine was stored in pig skins, if anyone had “a skin-full” they would certainly have not been fit for duty!

To send messages to the ships crew, signals would be piped. Originally a whistle was blown, although a tannoy system is now used except for ceremonial occasions. Announcements in Navy establishments are still referred to as pipes, and if you want to spread information you will need to “pipe up”. The galley will pipe when food is ready and if you fetch it quickly enough it will still be “piping hot”. There would be a “pipe down” to mark the end of the day and the start of “silent hours” after which all would become quiet. At the end of a watch eight bells would sound meaning the end of that watch. To “knock seven bells out of a man” would be to beat him severely but not quite to his end. “Hell’s bells” would be the sound heard at the end of your life when you “rang eight bells”.

Due to the hardships suffered by sailors there were often not enough volunteers and press gangs were needed to obtain more sailors. Depending on the force used you could be “pressed into service” or even “hard pressed”. Naturally these pressed men would not initially have been experienced sailors, in fact many of them were “waisters” fit only for scrubbing decks on the ships waist. Some were just boys who were responsible for the “nippers” or short ropes attaching the anchor to the cable. These young “nippers” as they came to be known had to work quickly and became quite “nippy”. Once a man or boy “knew the ropes” he could become promoted. Many pressed men would opt to stay in naval service after their first voyage which may have lasted for up to three years.

Sailors today use their own slang known as “Jackspeak”. Naturally some of the terms are used at home as well as at work. It is only a matter of time before many present naval terms enter into more common usage. So if you find that you are being called the “long haired commander” and that your other half is going to put on his “ovvies” and start “ditching” the “gash” before going for a “run ashore” and “sippers” with his “oppo” from “old ships”, perhaps you will need to “double” down to “Pompey” or “Guzz” to get “Rembranted”!*

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*For those of you without a Matelot to ask, this means you’re the boss, he’s going to wear protective clothing whilst clearing up and disposing of some rubbish before going out for drinks with old friends. Pompey and Guzz are Portsmouth and Plymouth. Getting Rembranted is being put in the picture.

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