British Admiral Faux Pas info

Funny Thing about the Ol’ Canoe Club… We’ve got so many damned acronyms they pile up like dry leaves on a fire hydrant!!!

One day while working at US Navy Recruiting Headquarters I was asked to sit in a briefing with the Admiral and his COS of the British Navy Recruiting Command! They flew over to gain some ideas from us about how to recruit!! There were six of us in the conference room… two of which were female Captains!!!

The Admiral during one of his many questions said the word ‘Shit’ which was followed by dead silence! The Admiral looked embarrassed so as a Chief and the only enlisted in the room, with some disjointed type of ‘Sailor Speak’ I quickly spoke up…

"Sir, don't sweat it, Shit is a nautical term!"

Everyone in the room looked at me, my Captain rolling her eyes, I said…

"Yes Sir, back in the days of iron men & wooden ships, occasionally the cargo would be pressed cow manure stacked on pallets and placed in the hold. During the deployment the bilge would start to gain water and the hold would become very humid. The manure would start to decay and produce methane gas. When the Sailor would enter the space with a lantern the hold would explode. Once they realized the reason for these mysterious occurrences, they started to place banners on the sides of the pallets… ‘Store High In Transit!’ That Sir is the origin of the word, so feel free to express as much Shit as you want anytime you feel appropriate!"

… Everyone laughed and we got back to work!!!