Nautical Slang from the Nineteenth Century
By Chuck Veit
Cape Horn fever
An illness feigned by a seaman seeking relief from duty.
Damage his pepper box
To attempt to assassinate the master-at-arms by dropping a round shot on his head from
aloft or through an open hatchway
(A) Damn-my-eyes-tar
An inexperienced seaman who tried to cover his ignorance with blustering or boisterous
behavior
Dance at the gratings
To be flogged formally with a cat
Double the grog tub
To get an extra ration of liquor by rejoining the line filing past the grog tub while
liquor was being issued to the crew.
French leave
A sailor who absented himself temporarily with the intention of returning to his ship was
said to have taken "French leave"
Horse marine
An insulting reference to a marine by the seamen. A great insult when applied to a sailor,
implying he was unhandy or lubberly.
Kiss the wooden lady
To be forced to stand facing the bole of a wooden mast with arms encircling it and wrists
lashed together as a minor punishment. Shipmates were encourage to kick the offender in
the buttocks while pasing by.
Purser rigged and parish damned
Said of a man who entered the navy to escape problems ashore; also of a man who entered
the navy in a destitute condition
Rosewater sailor
An incompetent, foppish or unseamanlike officer
Ship a quarterdeck face again
After the relaxation of normal shipboard discipline during skylarking or a theatrical
performance, officers customarily signified that all rules and regulations were back in
force by resuming their customary formal demeanor towards the crew. This was called
"shipping a quarterdeck face again."
Skin or Snake
A tube made out of livestock intestines worn wrapped around the body, esp. the ankles,
used to smuggle liquor onto the ship.
Suck the monkey
To draw liquor out of a cask with a straw. Sailors ashore would partially empty the
contents of casks of paint and refill them with alcohol. Once loaded onboard, the contents
were allowed time to settle and separate -- pigment sinking to the bottom and alcohol to
the top; presumably any remaining turpentine would end up in the middle. Piercing the top
of the keg with a straw allowed the men to draw off the alcohol. It is unknown how many
men died as a result of drinking turpentine! The phrase comes from the original practice
of filling empty coconuts with alcohol, the three dark marks on the coconut resembling the
face of a monkey.
White mouse
A lower deck informer or spy for the master-at-arms
Gun decking
Under certain circumstances drunkenness was not a naval crime. Shore liberty was granted
very infrequently and it was expected that many of the men would return to the ship drunk,
with clothes torn, and, bearing the marks of fights and riots. The officers of the deck
merely recorded the return of each man in the logbook. A man returning in reasonable
condition was logged as "CS," meaning clean and sober. A drunk was logged as
"DD," which stood for drunk and dirty. A drunken libertyman had one prerogative
that had grown up with the practice of granting shore leave. He was expected to conduct
himself as best he could in the presence of the gangway watch; but upon reaching the gun
deck, he was allowed to curse the officers, the ship, the navy, or any other institution
in the vilest language he was capable of uttering with impunity. This practice was called
"gundecking" and constituted one of the few ways which the men of the Old Navy
had for releasing pent-up emotions.