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Nowadays the British sailor is usually Jack (or Jenny) rather than the more historical Jack Tar, which is an allusion to either the former requirement to tar long hair or the tar-stained hands of sailors. Nicknames for a British sailor, applied by others, include Matelot (pronounced "matlow"), and derived from mid 19th century nautical slang ...
British sailor, circa 1790 "Limey" (from lime / lemon) is a predominantly North American slang nickname for a British person. The word has been around since the mid-19th century. Intended as a pejorative, the word is not commonly used today, though it retains that connotation. [2] [3]
Jack Tar (also Jacktar, Jack-tar or Tar) is a common English term that was originally used to refer to seamen of the Merchant Navy or the Royal Navy, particularly during the British Empire. By World War I the term was used as a nickname for those in the US Navy. [1] Members of the public and seafarers alike made use of the name in identifying ...
There are several less formal traditions including service nicknames and Naval slang, known as "Jackspeak". [210] The nicknames include "The Andrew" (of uncertain origin, possibly after a zealous press ganger) [211] [212] and "The Senior Service". [213] [214] British sailors are referred to as "Jack" (or "Jenny"), or more widely as "Matelots ...
The word nautical derives from the Latin nauticus, from Greek nautikos, from nautēs: "sailor", from naus: "ship". Further information on nautical terminology may also be found at Nautical metaphors in English, and additional military terms are listed in the Multiservice tactical brevity code article.
The name is derived from "tack", the British sailor slang for food. The earliest use of the term recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1830. [3]It is known by other names including brewis (possibly a cognate with "brose"), cabin bread, pilot bread, sea biscuit, soda crackers, sea bread (as rations for sailors), ship's biscuit, and pejoratively as dog biscuits, molar breakers, sheet ...
Polari, a jargon that began in European ports and evolved into a shorthand used in gay subcultures, influences much of today's slang in words like "zhuzh," "drag," "camp" and "femme."
Tommy Atkins (often just Tommy) is slang for a common soldier in the British Army, but many soldiers preferred the terms PBI (poor bloody infantry) [14] "P.B.I." was a pseudonym of a contributor to the First World War trench magazine The Wipers Times.