A Different Language

The Navy as a whole, and Submariners in particular, really do speak a different language. While each occupation has its own acronyms and key words and tricky phrases (in my current job, I often find myself saying things like, "I'm taking this FOUP down to CMP and then going to talk to the MT about those SEM CDs"), but I think that submarining is among the "worst" at being understandable to someone who comes in off the street and tries to follow a conversation. From a VIP cruiser in AMR hearing the announcement "AEA, 2JV" to a visitor to the bridge being told to be careful of the bear trap when coming down the ladder, I would venture to guess that our terminology is among the hardest non-Mandarin languages in the world to learn.

What are your favorite words in the Submarine language?

(To download the paper, including Appendix 2, from the link above with many of the words and phrases we know and love, click here.)