The British Royal Marines, like most military organizations, have developped their own slang as a means of self-identification. Since the Royal Marines are an amphibious force, their slang shows both military and naval influences. Royal Marine slang includes phrases such as:

A

B

• beasting/ beast - give someone a hard time, serious physical training
• basha - improvised low mounted shelter in the field
• bivvy - tactical camping positions - from bivouac
• boogie - (pronounced boo-jee) - similar to dhobie but applied to equipment ie a nod might be pinged to give the heads a quick boogie as a (very mild) punishment.
• booty/ bootneck - Royal Marine
• bottom field - the assualt course at CTC where the recruits spend most of their time being beasted.

C

• cabin - one's room or accommodation
• casevac - short for casualty evacuation, the US forces use Medivac
• chad - something that is considered 'cheesy' or low quality
• crab - Member of the RAF - from crabfat, the nickname for a blue-grey grease used by sailors, for RAF uniforms are that color. The RAF as a whole are known as crab air
• CTCRM/CTC - the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines at Lympstone in Devon where all ranks of the Royal Marines undergo their basic training. Usually abbreviated to CTC.

D

• dhobi - To wash or washing - from Hindi
• dip - come up short or suffer a misfortune
• dip out - to lose out on something
• drip - complain.
• DL - Drill Leader - a marine who has specialised as a drill instructor
• DS - Directing Staff
• Duchy - very sadly now defunct, a vendor of burgers at CTCRM

E

F

G

• gash - sub standard or rubbish
• gash hand - an incompetent individual
• geeps/ jeeps - RM term for General Purpose Machine Gun or the famous Belgian 7.62 belt fed FN-MAG
• grot - Accommodation

H

• heads - naval term for Latrines
• heartbreak lane - the lane leading back into CTC that forms the final part of the endurance course and 9 mile speed march Commando Tests.

I

• icers – cold weather ie "it was icers on sentry last night"

J

• Jolly - a free outing, a junket. A Royal Marine (Kipling)
• Jollies - the junior ranks bar at CTCRM

K

L

• Limers - Lime or lemonade drink

M

N

• nod (noddy) - A RM recruit before passing Commando course, in this phase they wear a blue beret, or the more tactical 'cap comforter' once they enter the commando stage of training, and the expression is thought to derive from the bend forward or not that recruits tend to do rather than keeping their back vertical in drill maneuvers during early training. Also reputed to stem from their tendency to execute the 'nodding dog' head manouvre during their training lectures, and any other period of training when they are not being 'beasted'.
• nutty – confectionery bars such as Mars bars, Topic etc. Devoured avidly by Marines requiring an energy fix. Need not contain nuts, though.

O

• oppo - best mate

• oggin - the sea (he fell into the oggin)

P

• PIG - An officer, acronym for ‘Polite Intelligent Gentleman’, used with heavy irony
• ping/ pinged - found out, or 'volunteered' - e.g. 'pinged for a duchy run', 'pinged for sigs'
• perce - Same as pongo (see below) short for Percy Pongo
• pongo - Member of the British Army
• PTI - Physical training instructor
• PW - Platoon Weapon or Platoon Weapons instructor

Q

• Q.R.s - Queen`s Regulations

R

• racing snake – someone who runs fast
• recce - Generally used throughout British forces for reconnaissance, US forces use 'recon'
• run ashore - Short leave with clear naval connection, ideally to involve large amounts of drinking, fighting and 'getting to know the local female population'
• Rupert – an officer
• redders – hot weather (the opposite of icers)

S

• sadders/ sad on – upset or annoyed
• scran – food or a meal
• shiny arse - someone in an administrative position
• SITREP - Situation Report
• skeg - a quick look
• SQ - Specialist Qualification. Royal Marines can specialize after basic training in a large number of skills earning him extra reposibilities and pay. Each qualification is usually denoted by an acronym and their level of qualification. As an example, three levels of the Assualt Engineers SQ are AE3, AE2, AE1 from lowest to highest

T

• thin out - disappear, disperse or go away quickly
• trap - to engage or chat up females ie 'lets' thin out now for a run ashore, have a few wets and then go out on the trap'
• threaders - fed up, likely to be 'dripping'

U

• ulu - jungle

V

W

• wet - a warm beverage such as a cup of tea or coffee or an alcoholic drink
• wrap - to give up

X

Y

• yomp - move with heavy packs and weapons across country, the Army equivalent is Tab

Z