# Navy/military chow nicknames **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 9, 2013, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-military-chow-nicknames/673510 "2013-11-09T14:57:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2013, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-military-chow-nicknames/673510/1 "2013-11-09T14:57:47Z")
Not great enough for Great Debates, but so as not to hijack the GQ post about eating implements (nut spoons) any further, I offer some thoughts and links on Sh\*t on a Shingle (SOS), etc. The SOS nickname has been used to refer to many concoctions, mainly creamed chipped beef (CCBOT) on toast. In my old navy days, we referred to CCBOT as creamed foreskins because its pink slices resembled (assumedly) them - not to be confused with Scotch Woodcock, which we had for Sunday breakfast. We reserved the SOS term for the darker brown ground beef on toast or ground beef gravy on toast (GBGOT). You can watch an 11-minute video of Trailer Park Cook Genie B. Delishus prepare GBGOT mostly one-handedly - lit cig in other hand) in this link. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JpF1Pey1rY) A cookbook for several navy dishes can be seen on my ship’s sister ship’s website (which does refer to CCBOT as SOS): [http://www.usslittlerock.org/Navy\_Recipes.html#Chipped\_Beef](http://www.usslittlerock.org/Navy_Recipes.html#Chipped_Beef) Then there is this: > **[Creamed+foreskins Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/creamed+foreskins)** > > Creamed+foreskins has 0 definitions. As for Scotch Woodcock, which we had for breakfast on Sunday if we had shipboard duty, ours was composed of segmented hardboiled eggs in cream sauce, rather than scrambled. > **[Scotch woodcock Recipe](https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/2564-scotch-woodcock)** > > This recipe is by Craig Claiborne And Pierre Franey and takes 15 minutes. Tell us what you think of it at The New York Times - Dining - Food. Feel free to add any more delicacies or opinions. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2013, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-military-chow-nicknames/673510/2 "2013-11-09T15:58:10Z")
My dad had scrambled eggs a lot in the Navy. He was so burned out on them that we rarely had them at home. He just wouldn’t eat them anymore. He loved sardines. Another food from his Navy days? He always bought them to eat in the woods during deer season. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-military-chow-nicknames/673510/3 "2013-11-09T17:25:52Z")
My dad was a Navy vet, and we ate a lot of GBGOT (which we called hamburger gravy) when we were kids. It was surprisingly tasty and an economical way to feed a big pile o’ kids. His military service also caused us to eat a lot of Spam-based meals. I liked them when I was a kid, but I can’t stomach Spam now. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2013, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-military-chow-nicknames/673510/4 "2013-11-09T18:13:35Z")
“Ham and motherfuckers” was our affectionate name for the can of ham and lima beans that you could end up with in your C-rations. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2013, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-military-chow-nicknames/673510/5 "2013-11-09T18:32:52Z")
The chocolate bar sometimes found in C-rats was affectionately termed a John Wayne bar. Not as good as you’d think, since it was heavily fortified with vitamins, but prized anyway. Beanee-weenees were dog turds and rat turds. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2013, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-military-chow-nicknames/673510/6 "2013-11-09T18:36:26Z")
Those murmite? cans were where the original green eggs and ham came from. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2013, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-military-chow-nicknames/673510/7 "2013-11-09T20:46:01Z")
> [@Cub\_Mistress](#): > > The chocolate bar sometimes found in C-rats was affectionately termed a John Wayne bar. Not as good as you’d think, since it was heavily fortified with vitamins, but prized anyway. Beanee-weenees were dog turds and rat turds. I thought I read somewhere that the chocolate bar was specifically designed to be high in calories, heavily fortified with vitamins, and to taste good enough to eat but not so good that the soldiers would want to eat too many of them. I think Hershey’s may have gotten the contract to design and produce it? Not sure. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2013, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-military-chow-nicknames/673510/8 "2013-11-09T22:00:17Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > I thought I read somewhere that the chocolate bar was specifically designed to be high in calories, heavily fortified with vitamins, and to taste good enough to eat but not so good that the soldiers would want to eat too many of them. I think Hershey’s may have gotten the contract to design and produce it? Not sure. That sounds like the spec for the D ration bar: Weigh 4 ounces (112 g) Be high in food energy value Be able to withstand high temperatures Taste “a little better than a boiled potato” ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2013, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-military-chow-nicknames/673510/9 "2013-11-09T23:46:20Z")
The real problem with the D-rat chocolate bar was the requirement that it not melt if the temps got over 80. The result was the chalky lump that we all know and loathe. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-military-chow-nicknames/673510/10 "2013-11-10T00:35:32Z")
In the NYS prison system, there’s always a choice of two entrees and one of them is meatless. So if Chicken ala King is the regular entree, Meatless ala King (which is made with some soy substitute) is the alternative. For reasons of space limitations, Meatless ala King usually got abbreviated as ML ala King. Which led to it being nicknamed Martin Luther King. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-military-chow-nicknames/673510/11 "2013-11-10T00:36:04Z")
Yeah, the boot polish would melt first. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-military-chow-nicknames/673510/12 "2013-11-10T02:45:47Z")
My favourite meal on the boat was breakfast with French toast. I’d get an omelette with “everything” (which usually meant ham, cheese, mushrooms, tomatoes, green pepper and onions) and two slices of French toast, eat half of the omelette, and then make a sandwich out of the remaining half and the French toast… ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-military-chow-nicknames/673510/13 "2013-11-10T04:31:24Z")
> [@](#): > > You can watch an 11-minute video of Trailer Park Cook Genie B. Delishus prepare GBGOT mostly one-handedly - lit cig in other hand) in this link. When she first lit up, I thought that it was going to be a sort of joke, an ironic commentary about trailer park inhabitants. But she’s much to adept at handling that cig while she’s cooking. When my husband was in the Air Force, I know that some of the cooks smoked while cooking. It just gives that food a special flavor, you know? I’m not saying it’s a GOOD flavor, mind you, just a noticeable one. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-military-chow-nicknames/673510/14 "2013-11-10T05:21:24Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > “Ham and motherfuckers” was our affectionate name for the can of ham and lima beans that you could end up with in your C-rations. You beat me to it. We also referred to beef chunks and gravy as “beef in gravy chunks.” ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-military-chow-nicknames/673510/15 "2013-11-10T08:15:25Z")
From WWII novels I have read, Bologna sandwiches were often referred to as “Horsecock Sandwiches” ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-military-chow-nicknames/673510/16 "2013-11-10T09:12:05Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > The real problem with the D-rat chocolate bar was the requirement that it not melt if the temps got over 80. The result was the chalky lump that we all know and loathe. Possibly didn’t loathe it any worse than Allied troops in Burma hated canned corned beef, which at those temperatures did come out of the can as very thick beef soup. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-military-chow-nicknames/673510/17 "2013-11-10T14:50:16Z")
> [@movingfinger](#): > > From WWII novels I have read, Bologna sandwiches were often referred to as “Horsecock Sandwiches” The polite term was “pony peter sandwiches”. The can opener that you always got in a C-rat box was officially designated a [P-38](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-38_can_opener), but was universally called a “John Wayne”. ---
**Author:** ![Fugazi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-military-chow-nicknames/673510/18 "2013-11-10T22:30:05Z")
MREs (Meals Ready to Eat). We always called them Meals Rejected by Ethiopians. ---
**Author:** ![Fir\_na\_tine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fir\_na\_tine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fir_na_tine)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-military-chow-nicknames/673510/19 "2013-11-11T00:24:11Z")
My USAF base on Okinawa specialized in Mystery Meat and Chew-awhile. Chew-awhile was so named because the longer you chewed, the bigger it got. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-military-chow-nicknames/673510/20 "2013-11-11T00:45:26Z")
The early MRE’s would change the color of your poo to a light tan color; we called that “Champagne Gold”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-military-chow-nicknames/673510.md?page=2)