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When I was in the Navy, "shipmate" was a negative term because you only heard it when someone, most likely a khaki (senior enlisted or officer), didn't know you
by krenzo 5y ago
When I was in the Navy, "shipmate" was a negative term because you only heard it when someone, most likely a khaki (senior enlisted or officer), didn't know your name and wanted to chew you out. "Hey shipmate! Your haircut is unsat!"
- lithos 5y agoYep shipmate is only used against people too new to know you’re actually insulting them (in boot camp and earlier schools it’s more of a cute jest), and when someone is so fucked up that they’re not worth reading the name on their uniform.
- claytongulick 5y agoI can't think of any time, aside from maybe bootcamp, that I was ever called "shipmate" by anyone other than a green khaki, as you say.
- bin_bash 5y agoI imagine it's kind of like when someone called me "kid" in elementary school