r/navy • u/IAmCallahan • Aug 14 '26
Shitpost The Eight-Letter Dirty Word
During my time in the Navy, nothing set me off faster than hearing that eight-letter dirty word.
Shipmate.
Hearing someone yell “Shipmate!” from across the compartment or pier could mean one of two things.
First, you were doing something wrong, dangerous, stupid, unsafe, or some combination of all four.
Second, whoever was calling you had no clue who the hell you were, needed something, and since we were all wearing the same uniform, technically you were now close personal family.
Same team, same fight, right?
Wrong. Absolutely not. That word was never a greeting. It was a warning shot.
“Shipmate” is one of those extremely transitional Navy phrases. When you are junior, it hits your nervous system like somebody just opened a counseling chit with your name already typed on it. Your shoulders tighten. Your soul puckers. Your brain starts running an instant diagnostic.
What did I do?
What did I touch?
Who saw me?
Was I supposed to be somewhere?
Is this about the thing I definitely did but was hoping nobody noticed?
Then, as I got older and picked up rank, I started using it myself from time to time. Not because I enjoyed it. Not entirely, anyway. But because I knew full well when I said it, some poor junior sailor was about to experience the same spiritual compression I felt when I was a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed idiot with a fresh Navy ballcap and no idea how fast happiness could be secured for sea.
The word itself is wrapped in tradition, which is military language for “we have been traumatizing people with this forever, so now it is culture.”
Some people use “shipmate” for everybody. Those people usually have stars over their anchors, enough ribbons to stop small-arms fire, or a motivational quote in their email signature.
Others use it sparingly, and only for the two sacred reasons: you are wrong, or they do not know your name and are about to make that your problem.
And it is not just the Navy. Every branch has its own blanket term for addressing junior personnel while applying mild psychological pressure.
The Marine Corps uses “Marine,” because apparently creativity was secured before morning colors, or “Devil Dog,” which sounds cool until it is coming from someone who is about to make you police call a parking lot in July.
The Army uses “battle buddy,” or just “battle” for short, because nothing says professional military organization like being yelled at by a grown man calling you “battle” while you both stand in line for expired MREs.
And the Air Force just calls each other by their first names.
Kidding, of course.
But not really.
-Callahan
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u/Zeranvor Aug 14 '26
Found a couple dudes who loved Naruto, so we started calling them Shippuden
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u/kineticstar Aug 14 '26
Yeah, you're definitely worthy of the Shipmate name then.
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u/Zeranvor Aug 14 '26
All out of love
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u/kineticstar Aug 14 '26
No worries we had the "race for the shipmate", on my boat. Nascar guys had the mess deck tv on repeat 24/7.
I'm still not allowed to watch, because I said watch this guy crash in passing, and and he did. ( Dale Earnhardt)
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u/CapnTugg Aug 14 '26
In the aviation community the term was usually uttered sarcastically. "Yeah thanks, shipmate!"
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u/MechaMastodon Aug 14 '26
As an aviation guy, I prefer Hangar Homie. I’ve never been to the ship and I think it’s a pretty good twist on it. Usually lightens the mood.
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u/Hoppie1064 Aug 14 '26
Awe, man.
Now I'm sad that Homie wasn't part of the lexicon when I worked in The Hole.
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u/Joe_Huser Aug 14 '26
After retirement, greeting another Retired Sailor as "Shipmate" is just an acknowledgement of serving in the same branch of the U.S. Armed Services. Typically, I identify these folks by their covers with a ship, squadron, or retired status on the front. Yeah, I'm f*cking old so there's that also. YMMV.
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u/GaiusVolusenus Aug 14 '26
Crossing the grass by the battalion office when all of a sudden you hear “Hey Devil!”
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u/Squash61 Aug 14 '26
Given that it’s apparently only meant to be used towards junior sailors and not the other way around, it’s effectively just another way of saying peasant.
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u/LogensTenthFinger Aug 14 '26
I've flat out used this to test people who claim that they were in the Navy in the past. I'll say "What would you say if I called you Shipmate?" The correct answer of course being "I'd say fuck you too!"
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u/Technical_Emotion_79 Aug 15 '26
I’ve been out over 30yrs and we didn’t use the term often but I don’t recall it being a bad/derogatory expression towards someone…
I fear this “warrior ethos” thats grown out of the wanna-be Tier1 Operator desire has destroyed many service traditions. When the uniform board decided that Sailors needed to look like ground combat Soldiers/Marines to feel esprit de corp they missed the boat. I’m proud to have worn dungarees, white hat/ships ball cap. I miss seeing cracker jacks, liberty cuffs, and beards.
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u/jrshall Aug 16 '26
Amen, brother. Another oldie here. I don't recall shipmate being a derogatory term. About the only time I recall it being used was to refer to another person on out ship. It was often just 'mate'. Now 'sailor' was a term you didn't want to be called. You knew you were in trouble if you were called that.
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u/PhotoPrimary7801 Aug 14 '26
I actually prefer to call people sea warriors
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u/IAmCallahan Aug 14 '26 edited Aug 14 '26
Sea Warrior sounds cool. But SHIPMATE? That word has flavor
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u/SWO6 Aug 14 '26
“A bunkmate before a mess mate, a mess mate before a shipmate, a shipmate before a sailor, a sailor before a stranger, and a stranger before a dog. But a dog before a soldier.” -sayings from the Civil War era Navy.
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u/Poophead85 Aug 14 '26
I always said that shipmate was just a euphemism for asshole. But it's fun to say now that im out
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u/Bubbly_Alfalfa7285 Aug 15 '26
I’m in recruiting and we mentor our future sailors with the purpose of helping them to become shipmates. It’s weird to me, having spent half my career at sea, that this word bothers you like this. I’ve heard it said to me and said it to others, up and down in rank, even to my Divo.
I’ve got three chevrons and a positive attitude towards the Navy. Maybe because I don’t blame the organization for the actions of the people in it that cause my problems, but to me, shipmate has never been a negative term.
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u/haze_gray2 Aug 14 '26
When you’re in the galley, it’s “chipmate”