|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Rhuby Responds: As to "Brown shoes" - in the UK, the first military aviators were army officers, with khaki uniform and brown shoes. I believe it was the same in the USA ... Did the USAAF fly from naval ships for a while, before the Naval air forces were formed? This would account a term for the strangely uniformed fellows mixed in with the blue-uniformed navy people.
Shoe color varied depending on the uniform worn. Petty officers and below invariably wore black shoes, regardless of rating. Chief petty officers wore brown or black depending on the uniform. There was a blue uniform and a khaki uniform. Officers had dress whites which took white shoes but they also had the blue and khaki uniforms which took black and brown shoes respectively. Your suggestion that the name may derive from WWII Army Air Force personnel sounds as good as anything else I have heard, but I couldn't confirm or deny the existence of Army fliers on Naval ships.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 609
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 609 |
TAFF as nautical nickname for UK sailors
I haven't heard Taff as a general nickname in that way, but my exposure to UK navy is slight, despite living in Portsmouth (UK). (As an aside the phrase "Pompey Defence" refers to someone, when charged with assault, claiming that the injured party had made an improper suggestion "Hullo, Sailor", etc. The phrase nowadays also refers to the non-existant back row in the local soccer team).
Taff or Taffy is a general nickname for Welshmen, after the River Taff and surrounding area. Maybe there were just a lot of Welshmen on those particular ships.
But I would like to know if Taff has wider usage, indicating a rank or whatever.
Rod
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 144
member
|
|
member
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 144 |
Speaking of lines - we discussed sheets, etc. - there are actually quite a few different types of lines.
sheets - line used to haul sails
shrouds - main lines used in the rigging
_________________________________________________
Sorry Hyla, but I'm going to have to disagree with you on the subject of shrouds. Shrouds are static rigging - ie, they are used to hold the mast up and to induce certain bend characteristics into the mast to achieve the otpimum sail shape and gust response for the conditions. Because of this, they cannot be likened to sheets or halyards, which are running rigging.
Some other more 'slang-like' nautical terms would be:
'Honking Billy' - when the wind is absolutely howling
'Like being in a washing machine' - when you've got really nasty confused chop that is impossible to read and is bashing you around the place
'Going up the beat like a ferret up a drainpipe' - a particularly fine piece of nautical terminology coined by the ex-UK olympic coach - basically meaning that you were going up the beat extremely fast!
'tea-bagging' - a particularly unpleasant experience for any trapeze crew, involving your helm deciding to dunk you in the water for no apparent reason.
'cow-boying' - pushing your luck on the race course.
'doing a horizon job' - winning by a vast distance
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
Very strong winds have recently been described in the RN as, "blowing a hooligan." I have also heard this term from non-naval sources, as well.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
Taff or Taffy is a general nickname for Welshmen, after the River Taff and surrounding area. Maybe there were just a lot of Welshmen on those particular ships.
That may have been true of the "Minerva" as HRH Charles, the Prince of Wales was aboard. However we are talking about five or six ships which visited Portsmouth NH, (USA) and all used the "Taff" appelation.
When I visited the Medway area in UK I heard the term used frequently in relation to seamen in the Royal Navy.
wow
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 609
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 609 |
Taff as general nickname for UK sailors, all or some
I believe you Ann, and am trying to track the reason, but no luck so far. However while searching I did find "Sharky - Navy nickname for all Wards". Since I have just been invested with a new shiny crown on a tooth this may be appropriate.
Update: Please will some of you good people reassure me that you also have, or know people who have, or at least have heard of other people who have, D'oh moments like I just had. It wasn't till I was just going to sleep hours after making the original post that I remembered my aunt on my Father's side, so her maiden name (until she married aged 63!) was also Ward. She was in the Womens Royal Naval Service=Wrens in WWII, and from 15 to 5 years ago had a dog called Sharky. I just thought it was any old canine name until now, but now presume it was from the naval nickname. I will ask her next time I see her (and also ask her about Taff). Unfortunately she suffers from a peculiar set of memory problems now, so it may take some delicate probing.
And I have some other contacts I will ask about Taff as well.
Sharky
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 544
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 544 |
shrouds - main lines used in the rigging
_________________________________________________
Sorry Hyla, but I'm going to have to disagree with you on the subject of shrouds. Shrouds are static rigging - ie, they are used to hold the mast up and to induce certain bend characteristics into the mast to achieve the otpimum sail shape and gust response
for the conditions.
I think we're saying the same thing - that the shrouds are the heavier, vertical lines used as the backbone of the rigging, and thus are not hauled on, as sheets are. Sorry if I wasn't clear - I should also make clear that my knowledge of such things comes from extensive reading of historical fiction about the age of sail, rather than any affinity for and experience with the act of sailing itself. So I'm at least one step removed from what really happens with all them pieces of rope.
Brings to mind the character in the movie Metropolitan, who consistently critiques Jane Austen, and when asked if he had ever read her, says he doesn't need to - he reads literary criticism.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379 |
Speaking of lines - we discussed sheets, etc"Hello, sailor," often works for...well it often works!! 
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379 |
when asked if he had ever read her, says he doesn't need to - he reads literary criticism.
A bunch of years ago now, an article appeared--I don't remember where--that referred to the kind of literary talk that culls all its information from book reviews "bull crit."
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
IP wrote : "Hello, sailor," often works for...well it often works!! ---------------------------------------------------------- Really gave my son (Major, Army Reserves) a "start" when I walked up to him, unnoticed, at a restaurant lounge and standing slightly behind him, whispered in my sexiest voice, "Hi, Soldier, buy a Lady a drink?" He bought me the drink AND paid my dinner check, too! So it apears it will work. Anyone done any "research" on this concerning those serving in any other nation's Armed Forces? {chuckling madly} wow
|
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,331
Members9,182
| |
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
|
0 members (),
854
guests, and
1
robot. |
|
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|
