SFMC Slang

This is a list of SFMC slang and expressions, used frequently by the Starfleet Marines.

0–9

• 360 – complete circle on a compass (360°); to put protection all around.

• 8 Ship's bell – signal for the end of a four-hour watch, so named for the increase in bell strikes by two at each hour of the watch.

A

• above my/your pay grade – old expression denying responsibility or authority (indicating that the issue should be brought to higher-ranking officials).

• acting jack – assistant drill instructor, or an acting Corporal.

• Ahoy – traditional nautical greeting, used for hailing other boats.

• Starfleet salute – to say, "I don't know" by a shrug.

• all hands – entire ship's company or unit personnel, including all officers and enlisted personnel.

• as you were – order to disregard the immediately preceding order, often in response to a call to "attention on deck" or when the orders issued were mistaken, phrased as "as I was" when speaking to a superior.

• A-O - Area of Operations, can be a Marine camp or an entire occupied area.

• ate up – person unaware of what's going on; one who is always lazy, in disarray, and unsatisfactory.

B

• baby G – Brigadier general, the lowest ranking general.

• belay – to cancel an order.

• below – down the ladder well; below decks.

• BLT – Battalion Landing Team, the ground combat element.

• boat – ship, commonly used for Starships.

• boot – recruit, or derisive term for a Marine just out of training.

• brig rat – person who has served much brig time, a habitual offender.

• Buck Fever - to quick to identify threats; a hunting term that comes from the expression to “put buck’s horns on a doe,” i.e., seeing a valid target when there is none.

• butter bar – Second Lieutenant, so named for the single gold bar rank insignia.

• "by your leave, sir/ma'am." – expression used to render respect when overtaking a senior proceeding in the same direction, in conjunction with a salute; traditionally, the senior must offer permission before the junior passes him or her.

C

• C & S – "Clean & Sober" notation formerly entered on the liberty list beside the names of Marines returning from liberty in that condition.

• carry on – order to continue after being interrupted.

• CFB - abbreviation of Clear as a F------ Bell, for someone to understand something important.

• check fire – order to stop firing due to a safety condition, possible error or mistarget.

• civvies – civilian clothing.

• Cleared hot - given permission to fire your weapon by a superior.

• corpsman – Starfleet personnel attached to a Marine unit; also known as "doc"; inappropriate to address as medic.

• cruise – deployment aboard ship; or enlistment period, inappropriately called a stint.

D

• D & D – Drunk and Disorderly, an entry formerly made on the liberty list beside the name of any Marine returning from liberty in that condition.

• Deck – floor or surface of the earth; to punch or knock down with one blow.

E

• eight ball – a Marine who lacks an aggressive spirit.

• EPD – Extra Punitive Duties, punishment assigned where the individual is required to perform cleaning duties after working hours (on his or her liberty time).

F

• Fallen Angel – Marine Officer who failed out of flight school and is now in another specialism.

• fire watch – sentry on duty specifically guarding a person, place, object, or area in a non-combat area (such as a barracks); considered under arms but usually unarmed.

• first shirt – First Sergeant

• fitness report or fitrep – report written on Marines (sergeant and above) detailing proficiency and conduct and fitness for command, reviewed for promotion.

• Frosty - Staying frosty, to keep a cool head in a battle or stressful situation, to be alert.

• FUBAR – Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition/Repair.

G

• gear – property or equipment; usually referring to an individual's combat equipment.

• get some – spirited cry expressing approval and the desire for more or to continue.

• good cookie – Good Conduct Medal.

• good to go – expression denoting that difficulties will be overcome; ready; well done or satisfactory.

• grunt or ground pounder – infantry man, formerly a pejorative that has taken more neutral tones.

• Gunny – nickname for a Gunnery Sergeant.

H

• HALO - High Altitude Low Opening parachute jump.

• hard charger or hard – term of endearment from a senior to a junior Marine when he or she completes a difficult task, so named for charging through the assignment; or general toughness.

• Head – bathroom or latrine.

• headgear – hats, helmets, caps, etc.

• high and right – losing one's temper or rationality; from the common error of a poor shooter to jerk the trigger and impact the upper right side of a target.

• high and tight – nickname for a common variant of the buzz cut, where the hair is clipped very close.

• honcho – person in charge, from the Japanese word for "boss', "hanchō". Often used for a Squadron Leader in a Marine Fighter Squadron.

• hurry up and wait – expression denoting inefficient time management or planning, often when a senior rushes a unit into a situation too fast that subsequently makes them wait.

I

• in country – phrase referring to being within a war zone.

J

• junk on [the] bunk – inspection where all uniforms and equipment to be displayed is laid on the Marine's rack.

K

• K or klick's – kilometer.

• Ka-bar – fighting/utility knife first issued during Earth's World War II to US Marine Soldiers, variations of the knife has since existed in most of Earth's armed forces.

L

• liberty – authorized free time ashore or off station, not counted as leave.

• liberty risk – a Marine with a high risk of getting into trouble on liberty.

• lifer – career servicemember, as opposed to one who serves for a single enlistment.

• Lima Charlie or lickin' chicken – Loud and Clear, an expression meaning that the communication has been received and understood; originally exclusive to radio traffic.

• lost lieutenant finder – hand-held Comm badge position scanner, a joke term on the reputation for new lieutenants to be incompetent in land navigation.

• LZ – Landing Zone, a clearing designated as the place where a shuttle of fighter can land.

M

• ma'am – proper method of addressing female officers in particular and all women in general.

• MARINE – Muscles Are Required, Intelligence Non-Essential, pejorative backronym used by Starfleet Personnel.

• MEDEVAC or Medivac – Medical evacuation|, removing a wounded person to the closest medical or triage facility using designated equipment, vehicles, or aircraft.

• mess hall – cafeteria.

• messman – Chef, cook.

• mike – minute.

• mike-mike – millimeter.

• MRE – Meals Ready To Eat, standard SFMC field rations, for when the replicator breaks down or missions where such equipment are not taken with them. Sometimes jokingly referred to with backronyms such as "Meals Rejected by the Enemy,", "Meal, Rotten to Eject"(vomit), "Meals Rarely Eaten," "Meal, Reluctant to Exit," "Mister E," or the "Three Lies for the Price of One".

N

• NCO – Non-commissioned officer.

• NCOIC – Non-Commissioned Officer In Charge, an NCO responsible for a group of Marines, but without the authority of an Officer; somes also the senior enlisted Marine acting with the officer in charge.

O

• O-course – obstacle course.

• O-dark thirty – very early hours before dawn.

• officers' club or officers' mess or O-Club – recreation facility for officers that often includes a bar, restaurant, game room, and objects of unit significance, such as a mascot or war trophy; similar to a gentlemen's club.

• officers' country – living spaces for officers aboard ship, or portion of post or station allocated for the exclusive use of officers.

• Old Man – very informal nickname for the commanding officer, considered an inappropriate term of endearment for use by a junior, thus used in reference but never in address.

• Oscar Mike – On the Move, the names of the two phonetic alphabet letters O and M which stand for the phrase. Used on the communication system and in shorthand to each other.

P

• passageway – corridor or hallway.

Q

• quarters – housing, whether bachelor (barracks) or family (government-leased apartments or houses); or periodic, muster of a ship's company.

R

• R&R – Rest and Relaxation, authorized absence from a combat area to reduce the effects of combat stress reaction.

• R/S – Respectfully Submitted, used as an end greeting in written communication.

• regulation – to be in accordance with regulations or adopted specifications or issued from government sources.

• re-up – reenlist, volunteering for an additional period of service.

S

• salty language – profanity.

• SALUTE – mnemonic device for a situation report, denotes: Size, Activity, Location, Unit, Time, and Equipment.

• sandbox – Desert area.

• say again (your last) – request to repeat a statement, question, or order, especially over the comms, or as "I say again" to preface a repetition by the sender; the word "repeat" is not to be used in this context, as it calls for a preceding to be fired again.

• scuttlebutt – gossip.

• sea story – story, tale, or yarn calculated to impress others, often contains exaggeration or even outright lies.

• spit and polish – extreme individual or collective military neatness, extreme devotion to the minutiae of traditional military procedures and/or ceremonies; from spit-polishing boots and dress shoes.

• Squid – pejorative for Starfleet personnel.

• stand by – wait, stop and wait.

T

• topside – ship's upper deck.

• tore up – broken, messy, unserviceable.

W

• wing wiper – aviation person, usually a maintenance person and not a pilot.

• winger – aviation Marine.

Z

• zoomie – Pilot, usually a Starfleet Fighter Pilot.