Royal Navy slang

Question

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.

Cheers
David

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]I've been listening to The Navy Lark recently and noticed the writer occasional threw in some obscure but genuine naval ... it made up by the writer? The term doesn't appear in any dictionary I can find, including the full OED.[/nq]
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.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]I've been listening to The Navy Lark recently and noticed ... in any dictionary I can find, including the full OED.[/nq]
[nq:1]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 ... one must conclude that the term is probably an invention/acquisition by the authors of the Navy Lark. Eugene L Griessel[/nq]
You'll be telling me next that Mr Phillips ; 'Left hand down a little.!' is not a valid helm order!

Brian

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]A valuable resource on-line is Commander Covey Crump's pages: http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.3810 ... by the authors of the Navy Lark. Eugene L Griessel[/nq]
[nq:1]You'll be telling me next that Mr Phillips ; 'Left hand down a little.!' is not a valid helm order![/nq]
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.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]You'll be telling me next that Mr Phillips ; 'Left hand down a little.!' is not a valid helm order![/nq]
[nq:1]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.[/nq]
Sounds like part of a klootch to me.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]A valuable resource on-line is Commander Covey Crump's pages: http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.3810 ... by the authors of the Navy Lark. Eugene L Griessel[/nq]
[nq:1]You'll be telling me next that Mr Phillips ; 'Left hand down a little.!' is not a valid helm order![/nq]
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.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]I've been listening to The Navy Lark recently and noticed ... in any dictionary I can find, including the full OED.[/nq]
[nq:1]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"[/nq]
... 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

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]You'll be telling me next that Mr Phillips ; 'Left hand down a little.!' is not a valid helm order![/nq]
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.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]You'll be telling me next that Mr Phillips ; 'Left hand down a little.!' is not a valid helm order![/nq]
[nq:1]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.[/nq]
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.

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.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Which reminds me that The Navy Lark sometimes used the ... down on the number of errors made by the actors.[/nq]
[nq:1]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.[/nq]
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)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Mind you, wasn't Jon Pertwee a real naval officer in ... before she was sunk. Not sure what he did then.[/nq]
[nq:1]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 ... of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth Feng Shui: an ancient oriental art for extracting money from the gullible (Martin Sinclair)[/nq]
Partial filler, someone else's memoirs on line3 Weeks In The Isle Of Man. After three months in Newcastle we leftfor 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.

Royal Navy slang

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