From Internet:
"I can remember the "Submarine Races." I remember the long walk from the sub piers to the Bushnell tied up on the
far side. I was the only non-qual EM for awhile so I made the walk chasing down parts. I got pretty good at this.
(Cumshaw Artist, I think that's how you spell it.)

I was on the Atule (SS-403). One of our air conditioning units "quit" and was beyond repair. I was told that there was
another unit in the warehouse but it was for the Tirante (SS-420). (Sorry T-Spoon) It was a 125-ton unit. (huge for the
times) The warehouseman would not issue it to us.

To make this story short I "borrow" a uniform from a new Ensign, a "cherry-picker", one engineman, two other
electricians, and without any rank or name tag I walked into the warehouse and stated that we were from the Tirante
and came for our A/C unit. (I was 19 and looked 15) The warehouseman ensured that I signed all the copies of this
form and that form and many others before he would release the air conditioning unit. I told him his dedication to duty
and to the Navy would not go unnoticed. If we could have run back to the boat we would have. We all worked until
the "wee hours" and got underway for Gitmo that next day. The captain noticed that the boat was exceptionally cool
and started to ask but just turned away. Oh yea, on the way back to the Atule, I found a new movie projector just
sitting there. It kept saying "take me, take me". At 19 I hadn't heard that much, so I couldn't resist……….."

Gary Walker EM2(SS)

AThere was also the useful term "liberate" as a euphemism for unlawful conversion of property.

Surprised to find that 'cumshaw' comes from Xianmen dialect, China:) But this dialect is one of the most difficult dialects of Chinese! Though I was born in its neighbour province, it is hard for me to learn:(

Tomghaji
From
The T'ang Dynasty, China
:)

Subject: cumshaw

Definition: Handout to beggars

Not being Chinese, I've lived in China, off and on, for over 20 years. I have never seen "cumshaw" in print until your E-mail.

Very few of the Chinese I know (from all over China) ever even heard of it. It most certainly is not used in Chinese as a "tip" or a "gift".

The word probably originated in China among foreigners, especially tourists and beggars. While in China, I have come across the word numerous times. The word was always pronounced "kumashaw". And, was never used in any sense than the arabic "baksheesh". And, only in the sense of a "handout to beggars."

Thanks you, ren, for throwing informed light on this strange word.
Welcome to the Board!

"ten years after", as it were.

It is, therefore, a considered response, perhaps?

The comments in the weekly roundup reminded me of this true story. About 12-15 years ago, a fellow I worked with, Mike, was in charge of putting together a proposal for a prospective client. The project team included Carl, a consultant from another office. As it was getting down to the wire Mike began to wonder why he hadn't received a package of material from Carl for the proposal. Carl said it had been e-mailed through the company's system. Mike said he had never received it. There followed two hours of panic, with the denouement being the discovery that the company's spam/porn filters had quarantined the document, because Carl had said in his bio that he had graduated magna cum laude.