Royal Navy slang
David Bromage
occasional threw in some obscure but genuine slang for comic effect.
One I'm a bit puzzled about is "floggle toggle". It appears to be used
as a placeholder name, similar to thingamajig and widget, to describe a
device which if removed or incorrectly fitted will cause some some piece
of equipment to fail, e.g. an engine to stop running or the ship's guns
to fire in the wrong direction.
Was "floggle toggle" real RN slang or was it made up by the writer? The
term doesn't appear in any dictionary I can find, including the full OED.
Cheers
David
David Bromage
occasional threw in some obscure but genuine naval slang for comic effect.
Eugene Griessel
A valuable resource on-line is Commander Covey Crump's pages:
http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.3810
which does not contain the term you seek. Neither does Commander Rick
Jolly's "Jackspeak" nor Wilfred Granville's "Sea Slang of the
Twentieth Century". So sadly one must conclude that the term is
probably an invention/acquisition by the authors of the Navy Lark.
Eugene L Griessel
Willoughby's Law:
When you try to prove to the repairman
that the machine won't work, it will.
Brian Sharrock
"Eugene Griessel" <eugene@dynagen..co..za> wrote in message
news:46723252...@news.uunet.co.za...
You'll be telling me next that Mr Phillips ; 'Left hand down a little.!' is
not a valid helm order!
--
Brian
Eugene Griessel
Of course it is! Or rapidly became so after the Navy Lark had run -
much to the dismay of long suffering quartermasters on who the joke
rapidly wore very thin!
Eugene L Griessel
Golden shackles are far worse than Iron ones. - Gandhi.
Jack Linthicum
> "Brian Sharrock" <b.sharr...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>
> >"Eugene Griessel" <eugene@dynagen..co..za> wrote in message
> >news:46723252...@news.uunet.co.za...
>
> >>>I've been listening to The Navy Lark recently and noticed the writer
> >>>occasional threw in some obscure but genuine naval slang for comic effect.
>
> >>>One I'm a bit puzzled about is "floggle toggle". It appears to be used
> >>>as a placeholder name, similar to thingamajig and widget, to describe a
> >>>device which if removed or incorrectly fitted will cause some some piece
> >>>of equipment to fail, e.g. an engine to stop running or the ship's guns
> >>>to fire in the wrong direction.
>
> >>>Was "floggle toggle" real RN slang or was it made up by the writer? The
> >>>term doesn't appear in any dictionary I can find, including the full OED.
>
> >> A valuable resource on-line is Commander Covey Crump's pages:
>
> >>http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.3810
>
> >> which does not contain the term you seek. Neither does Commander Rick
> >> Jolly's "Jackspeak" nor Wilfred Granville's "Sea Slang of the
> >> Twentieth Century". So sadly one must conclude that the term is
> >> probably an invention/acquisition by the authors of the Navy Lark.
>
> >> Eugene L Griessel
>
> >You'll be telling me next that Mr Phillips ; 'Left hand down a little.!' is
> >not a valid helm order!
>
> Of course it is! Or rapidly became so after the Navy Lark had run -
> much to the dismay of long suffering quartermasters on who the joke
> rapidly wore very thin!
>
> Eugene L Griessel
>
> Golden shackles are far worse than Iron ones. - Gandhi.
Sounds like part of a klootch to me.
William Black
"Brian Sharrock" <b.sha...@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:ESrci.4211$uZ6....@newsfe3-gui.ntli.net...
It certainly was as late as 1990...
So was "Oops, back a bit..."
--
William Black
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland
I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate
All these moments will be lost in time, like icecream on the beach
Time for tea.
John Dean
> David Bromage <dbro...@omni.com.NOSPAMTHANKYOU.au> wrote:
>
>> I've been listening to The Navy Lark recently and noticed the writer
>> occasional threw in some obscure but genuine naval slang for comic
>> effect.
>>
>> One I'm a bit puzzled about is "floggle toggle". It appears to be
>> used
>> as a placeholder name, similar to thingamajig and widget, to
>> describe a device which if removed or incorrectly fitted will cause
>> some some piece of equipment to fail, e.g. an engine to stop running
>> or the ship's guns to fire in the wrong direction.
>>
>> Was "floggle toggle" real RN slang or was it made up by the writer?
>> The term doesn't appear in any dictionary I can find, including the
>> full OED.
>>
>
> A valuable resource on-line is Commander Covey Crump's pages:
>
> http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.3810
>
> which does not contain the term you seek. Neither does Commander Rick
> Jolly's "Jackspeak"
... although the good Commander *does* feature 'toggle and two' for the male
genitalia and 'toggle oggling' for the dubious practice of gazing over at
the bloke in the next urinal. And he points out that the toggle is opposite
the becket on a duffle coat.
--
John Dean
Oxford
Offramp
> "Eugene Griessel" <eugene@dynagen..co..za> wrote in message
>
> news:46723252...@news.uunet.co.za...
> You'll be telling me next that Mr Phillips ; 'Left hand down a little.!' is
> not a valid helm order!
Which reminds me that The Navy Lark sometimes used the actors' names
as the characters' names. That must have cut down on the number of
errors made by the actors.
William Black
"Offramp" <alane...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1181912658.5...@p77g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
Mind you, wasn't Jon Pertwee a real naval officer in WWII.
I seem to remember reading something about him transferring out of HMS Hood
a couple of weeks before she was sunk.
Not sure what he did then.
Andrew Robert Breen
William Black <willia...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
>
>"Offramp" <alane...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>news:1181912658.5...@p77g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
>> On Jun 15, 9:13 am, "Brian Sharrock" <b.sharr...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>>> "Eugene Griessel" <eugene@dynagen..co..za> wrote in message
>>>
>>> news:46723252...@news.uunet.co.za...
>>
>>> You'll be telling me next that Mr Phillips ; 'Left hand down a little.!'
>>> is
>>> not a valid helm order!
>>
>> Which reminds me that The Navy Lark sometimes used the actors' names
>> as the characters' names. That must have cut down on the number of
>> errors made by the actors.
>>
>
>Mind you, wasn't Jon Pertwee a real naval officer in WWII.
>
>I seem to remember reading something about him transferring out of HMS Hood
>a couple of weeks before she was sunk.
>
>Not sure what he did then.
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/545943/index.html
(and many other sources) indicate some time in Naval Intelligence, but no
details of any other postings.
--
Andy Breen ~ Not speaking on behalf of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth
Feng Shui: an ancient oriental art for extracting
money from the gullible (Martin Sinclair)
Jack Linthicum
> In article <6Fwci.6830$O%6.2...@newsfe6-gui.ntli.net>,
>
>
>
>
> >"Offramp" <alaneobr...@gmail.com> wrote in message
Partial filler, someone else's memoirs on line
3 Weeks In The Isle Of Man. After three months in Newcastle we left
for the Isle of man where we were billeted in boarding houses on the
front at Douglas. Further along the front, similarly housed but behind
barbed wire, were the Italian internees, mostly harmless waiters and
restaurateurs who would probably have been a greater asset to the war
effort than some of us. Unsurprisingly, none of us realised the
welcoming officer, the Entertainments Officer, was John Pertwee, the
actor, later to be of Dr Who and of Worsel Gummage fame. It was his
job to inveigle us into contributing to the overall entertainment on
the island. With a pleasant, innocent smile he enquired if we played
rugby and those foolish enough to admit to it were promptly enrolled
in the team and issued with navy blue kit. Later he was back
recruiting volunteers for an amateur show to be put on at the local
theatre. If you have read my piece on Hypnotism, you will know the
story of the heinous hypnotist.
http://www.oldgaffer.com/category/royal-navy/
Last interview
When war broke out, I was in the Navy for six years and I finished up
running the naval broadcasting section.
John Dean
> "Offramp" <alane...@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1181912658.5...@p77g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
>> On Jun 15, 9:13 am, "Brian Sharrock" <b.sharr...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>>> "Eugene Griessel" <eugene@dynagen..co..za> wrote in message
>>>
>>> news:46723252...@news.uunet.co.za...
>>
>>> You'll be telling me next that Mr Phillips ; 'Left hand down a
>>> little.!' is
>>> not a valid helm order!
>>
>> Which reminds me that The Navy Lark sometimes used the actors' names
>> as the characters' names. That must have cut down on the number of
>> errors made by the actors.
>>
>
> Mind you, wasn't Jon Pertwee a real naval officer in WWII.
>
> I seem to remember reading something about him transferring out of
> HMS Hood a couple of weeks before she was sunk.
>
> Not sure what he did then.
Celebrated quietly, probably.
The DNB (which is generally reliable) says:
"When the Second World War broke out Pertwee joined the navy as a wireless
operator. On 29 November 1940 he was drafted on to HMS Hood, but he was
transferred to the Dunluce Castle to train as an officer cadet just before
HMS Hood had its fateful battle with the Bismarck on 24 May 1941. Following
an incendiary bomb attack on Portsmouth barracks, he suffered a severe blow
to the head and was dropped from the officer cadet course to be posted to
the Isle of Man as a divisional officer. There he formed a small company of
local amateurs and servicemen which became known as the Service Players."
--
John Dean
Oxford
M. J. Powell
<willia...@hotmail.co.uk> writes
I thought that was a bomb aimer's comment.
Mike
--
M.J.Powell
William Black
"M. J. Powell" <mi...@pickmere.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:6XR+beDu...@pickmere.demon.co.uk...
I certainly heard it used as an order used on one of Her Majesty's ships...
george
A short while ago in a group far away we had an enterprising kook
claiming to have gained some honour from the RAN sunday sailors..
His knowledge of 'pusser speak' was nonexistant and after a short time
he went away.
The 'floogle toggle' term I understood to be as one taking themselves
in hand so to speak
Daniel James
wrote:
> Mind you, wasn't Jon Pertwee a real naval officer in WWII.
>
> I seem to remember reading something about him transferring out of HMS
> Hood a couple of weeks before she was sunk.
Typical Time Lord!
Cheers,
Daniel.
Arved Sandstrom
news:46722f10$1...@clarion.carno.net.au...
One thing to remember is that small communities can create their own
temporary language. It may happen in a company, a military unit, or a
household. Forever after, the originator or user of the unique term may
persuade himself that in fact everyone used it, when it was not so.
It's "genuine" slang insofar as the people involved know what it means. But
that doesn't mean it was prevailing.
AHS
Jack Linthicum
wrote:
> "David Bromage" <dbrom...@omni.com.NOSPAMTHANKYOU.au> wrote in message
Boontling was a "community" language of the tiny town of Boonville CA.
and the surrounding Anderson Valley.
Malcolm
<asand...@accesswave.ca> writes
stock characters particularly a Mexican bandit who had creepy way of
pronouncing "Gingo" as "Green-go". Some bright stoker suddenly piped
up "Has anyone noticed how Green-go sounds almost tike "tifff- ee".
From that point on all Artificers (Tiffies) were called Gringos onboard
- doubt if anyone in any other ship would have known why we meant.
>
>
--
Regards
Malcolm
HMS SOLEBAY ASSOCIATION
HTTP://www.solebay.org
Eugene Griessel
>Yep. During the med commission we had been watching a Western, fully of
>stock characters particularly a Mexican bandit who had creepy way of
>pronouncing "Gingo" as "Green-go". Some bright stoker suddenly piped
>up "Has anyone noticed how Green-go sounds almost tike "tifff- ee".
>From that point on all Artificers (Tiffies) were called Gringos onboard
>- doubt if anyone in any other ship would have known why we meant.
Hello Malcolm! Long time no speak! Good to see you are still with
us.
Eugene L Griessel
What's the use of having power if you don't plan to abuse it?
Malcolm
<eugene@dynagen.?.co.?.za> writes
>Malcolm <mal...@clarkeassoc.com> wrote:
>
>>Yep. During the med commission we had been watching a Western, fully of
>>stock characters particularly a Mexican bandit who had creepy way of
>>pronouncing "Gingo" as "Green-go". Some bright stoker suddenly piped
>>up "Has anyone noticed how Green-go sounds almost tike "tifff- ee".
>>From that point on all Artificers (Tiffies) were called Gringos onboard
>>- doubt if anyone in any other ship would have known why we meant.
>
>Hello Malcolm! Long time no speak! Good to see you are still with
>us.
>
Yep, still around, getting older, getting crankier. Just been busy with
other things. Glad to see you and some of the stalwarts are still
livening things up.
Jack Linthicum
> In article <Gsxdi.32164$kY6.31078@edtnps82>, Arved Sandstrom
>
> >"David Bromage" <dbrom...@omni.com.NOSPAMTHANKYOU.au> wrote in message
That movie was more authentic than you might imagine, the use of
"gringo" is supposed to come from the American soldiers singing "Green
Grow the Rushes" during the Mexican War, 1846. The bandit was probably
a Harvard graduate, a Yale man would not be that precise.
There is another version, written by some obscure English poet, called
Green Grow the Rashes. Never caught on.
http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/green_grow_the_rushes.htm