A Guide to Midshipmen Language

 
Mid Midshipman              
Sup (Soup) Superintendent    
Dant Commandant    
Plebe 4th Class Freshman [plain shoulderboards]  
Youngster 3rd Class Sophomore [1 diagonal stripe]  
2nd Class 2nd Class Junior [2 diagonal stripes]  
Firstie 1st Class Senior [1 horizontal stripe (or more if they are a "striper")]  
Brigade All Midshipmen    
  6 Battalions, 30 Companies    
Battalion 5 Companies in each battalion    
Companies 4 Platoons (135 Mids in each company)  
Platoon 3 Squads in each platoon    
Squad 11-12 Mids in each Squad    
   
AquaRock a non-swimmer; one in training for submarine duty but who lacks a submarine  
Bagit not attempting to perform to one's ability  
Basic Responses the answers to questions that are allowed to plebes are "Yes, sir", "No, sir","No excuse,   
  sir","I'll find out, sir", and "Aye, aye, sir"; of course, when speaking to a female  
  upperclassman, ma'am replaces sir in all cases  
Bilge to make a classmate look bad    
Black "N" an unofficial award given to a Mid who earns 100 demerits  
Blue Rim T-shirt that Mids must wear as part of "issue"  
BOQ Bachelor Officers Quarters    
Brace Up a plebe punishment consisting of sucking your chin into your Adam's apple  
Brick an unattractive drag    
Bulkhead a wall    
Bull Major an English, History or Poli Sci major    
Carry-On a relaxation of plebe rates (no more hassles)  
Chit in order to get permission to do anything outside of regulations (leave the Academy  
  during the week, wear civilian clothes if you're a plebe or a youngster, go outside the 22   
  mile limit, etc.) a Mid must fill out a "chit" and have it approved by the company officer  
Chop a plebe practice of running everywhere (in the center of the hallway) and squaring corners   
  (yelling "Go Navy" or "Beat Army" at every turn in Bancroft Hall)  
Chow Pkgs food from home, also called Care Packages  
Civvies civilian clothing    
Come-Arounds a grilling session where a plebe "comes around"  
Cover a Midshipman's hat    
Crabtown Annapolis    
Dant's List Mids with a 2.9 Semester Quality Point Rating or better, "B" in performance and "B" or better in
  PE    
Dark Ages the time period between Christmas and Spring Break when midshipmen continually ask  
  themselves what they are doing at a school that limits their activities, frreedom and  
  creativity;  they have just returned from spending the holidays with their state university   
  friends, being reminded that they can't even gou out for pizza on a Monday night (except  
  for Firsties); things are so dreary that they get depressed  
Darkside slang for a midshipman who dates another mid ("going to the dark side")  
Deck floor    
Dixie Cup a mid's sailor cap    
Drag a Mid's date    
E.I. extra-instruction    
Eyes in the Boat keeping your head straight ahead at all times  
Foty Year Swim mandatory 2nd class swimming marathon lasting 40 continuous minutes (just seems like  
  40 years)    
Fry assignment of demerits    
Gouge the correct information    
Gungy psyched up for the Navy    
Herndon oblique monument, app. 30' tall; each plebe class must follow tradition and climb this   
  greased monument at the start of Commissioning Week and exchange the Plebe Dixie Cup  
  with a Midshipman's cover    
Happiness Factor the number of days of Christmas leave divided by the number of days until leave, an  
  equation even the Bull Majors understand  
Irish Pennant hanging threads on a uniform    
King Hall Midshipmen dining hall which can seat and feed the whole Brigade at once  
Ladder stairs    
Leave authorized absence in excess of 96 hours  
Love Chit when two midshipmen are "romantically involved" in the same company, one of them must  
  put up a chit to move to another company  
Marchover the name for the "informal" parade from the Academy to the football stadium, during which  
  townie children throw candy at the midshipmen; Mids create their own cadences for the  
  marchover    
Middy unpopular term sometimes used in place of Midshipmen by mothers and newspapers  
Mother "B" Bancroft Hall, said to be the world's largest dormitory with 8 wings, 4.5 miles of hallways  
  and 33 acres of floor space    
Muster to assemble the crew, roll call    
NAPS Naval Academy Preparatory School    
Navy Blue & Gold a traditional song sung after sporting events by alumni of the Naval Academy; the  
  audience is asked to show respect by standing quietly until the "Go Navy" yell at the end  
Podunk your home town    
QPR Quality Point Rating; GPA on a 4.0 scale  
Rack your bed    
Rate (as in "to rate") allowances of one's class; something you are allowed to do or have  
Rates large amounts of information memorized by the plebes and recited to upperclass on demand  
Recon Missions require sneaking out of Bancroft and/or the Yard to decorate trees and buildings with Navy  
  spirit posters painted on sheets    
Report reported for an infraction of the rules    
Ringknocker proud grads sporting Acadmey rings    
Room Tours punishment for upperclass who are restricted to their rooms on the weekend  
Sandblower a short midshipman (one who walks at low altitudes)  
SAT term referring to having a satisfactory GPA in order to graduate a Mid must have a 2.0 out of
  a 4.0    
SDBs Serivce Dress Blues    
Sea Lawyer a Mid who always has an excuse for every error  
Six-N Day having classes all six periods of the day  
Scuttlebutt a rumor; container of drinking water or a drinking fountain  
Smack to kiss up or "brown nose"    
Spooned plebe being on a first name basis with an upperclassman  
Star a GPA of 3.4, an "A" in conduct and performance, and at least a "B" in PE  
Striper members of the Class Chain of Command  
Sup's list a list of stars    
Sweat someone who worries more than necessary  
T-Court where Tecumseh resides    
Tecumseh the "God of 2.0," the bronze statue that guards T-Court and is artistically decorated for  
  special occasions    
Town Liberty liberty to leave the yard up to 22 miles out, measured from the Chapel Dome  
Woop a West Point cadet, so named for the uniform cape that resembles the capes worn by the  
  Wicked Witch's monkeys in the Wizard of Oz who made the sound "woop, woop, woop"  
Yard USNA campus    
Yard dog the squirrels in the Yard    
Yard Liberty allowed to go anywhere on the Yard ONLY  
Youngster Afternoonn no classes after lunch (rack time!)    
YP Yard Patrol ship used for training    
Zoomie an Air Force cadet, so named for the sound of a jet airplane, described by Mids as a collegiate
  buddy who lives at the government play school in Colorado and wears a blue bus driver cap