Sailors have unique ways to get under each other’s skin.
A comment that may seem harmless to an outsider might be a jab to a shipmate. Just add the word “SHIPMATE” to the insult to take it to the next level. Consider yourself warned and use the following sailor insults at your own risk:
140 sailors go down, 70 couples come back.
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Submariners hate this one, used by surface sailors to mock submariners going on deployment.
“Unsat”
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“Unsat” is short for unsatisfactory. This is not derogatory, but sailors hate the term being used to describe their work, something they did, their appearance — anything. When the chief says, “Shipmate, your haircut is unsat,” sailors know they’d better do something about it.
B.U.B.
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Stands for ‘Barely Useful Body.’ Sometimes used in a derogatory manner, but sometimes used to describe someone who’s been injured or physically unable to perform 100 percent. Either way, it hurts the ego.
The Bulls–t flag
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This is an imaginary flag someone raises when they believe that what you’re saying is pure bulls–t. It’s usually phrased, “I am raising the bulls–t flag on that one.”
Buttshark
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Otherwise known as a brown-noser or butt snorkeler. This is a person who tries too hard to buddy up with another – usually a superior – to gain favor.
Check Valve
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Also known as a “one-way check valve.” This is a term used mostly by submariners and surface ship snipes to describe someone who does things for him or herself but doesn’t reciprocate.
C.O.B.
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This one has several different derogatory meanings to describe the senior enlisted person aboard a ship: Chief of the Boat, Crabby Old Bastard, and Clueless Overweight Bastard.
F.L.O.B.
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It stands for Freeloading Oxygen Breather. This is a term mostly used by submariners to describe someone who is not carrying their share of the load.
“How’s your wife and my kids?”
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A phrase used to get under the skin of sailors from opposite crews.
Joe Navy
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A derogatory term used for a lifer with no life outside the Navy who engages in a lot of buttsharking.
Pecker Checker
This is the official, unofficial term used to describe a Navy doctor or corpsman. Sailors know better than to address the doc this way before a physical.
By no means is this a complete list, so feel free to add more terms in the comments below.