Out of the Sea Bag

(OR HANOVER TODAY)

You make with a swab and not with a mop, It's topside—not upstairs, to get to the top. You stand on the deck, though it's green grass, And it's chow, not food, that you get on a pass. Boat is to ship as hill is to mountain, And you drink from a scuttlebutt, not from a fountain, The gentlemen's lounge is known as the head; You sleep in a sack and not in a bed. You stow the gear, not put things away— You say "squared away" instead of okay. It's port and it's starboard, not left and right; A rope is a line, and a loop is a bight. You square your hat when you make it round You hit the deck at the bugle's sound. This Navy language is a pain in the pants, But they'll be glad to learn it in Poland and France!