Why did they call sailors "limeys" back in the day?
545372
From my understanding of history, as it turned out, the term "limey" originally applied to British sailors. In the 17th and 18th centuries, sailors suffered terribly from scurvy, a condition caused by a lack of vitamin C. Vitamin C comes mainly from fresh fruits and vegetables, but those foods weren't exactly easy to come by when you're at sea for months at a time. So the Royal Navy prescribed lime juice for all sailors to help ward off scurvy -- hence the appellation "limeys." As often happens, the term eventually lost its original context and was applied to all British, whether sailors or landlubbers.
253905
i think they probably "existed" before the 2000s. the name was just not as popular.
115175
They r called Geordies, and not Jordies. \n In any city or region that has a long history, its people attains a distinct identity. There are the cockneys of London; the Liverpudlians (Scousers) of Liverpool and the Mancunians (Mancs) of Manchester. And so it is with the North-East of England, but its a little more complicated than that.\nGeordie' is used to refer to the inhabitants of an area stretching from Carlisle to Durham.
795719
I have never heard that term. I was a navy brat for 16 years and had many Filipino neighbors and friends, not once did I hear that term though
934643
The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang suggests that the term may have been introduced in America about 1865 by a popular variety performer named Japanese Tommy. Other references suggest that it may have been sailors’ slang for a street in Yokohama that catered for what one might describe as the special needs of sailors. In Yokohama today a broad thoroughfare called Honcho-dori runs from the centre of the city to the port area, so one that would have been familiar to sailors (dori is the Japanese word for a road, in particular a broad or important one).\n\nWhat seems certain is that hunky-dory was a play on an existing sense of the word hunky for something that was fine, splendid or satisfactory. In turn, this probably derives from the adjective hunk, which means that one is all right or in a safe or good position. This derives from the Dutch honk, meaning “goal” or “home” in a Frisian variant of the game of tag. This word (and presumably the game, too) was said to have been taken by the Dutch to New Amsterdam, later New York, but was first recorded only around the 1840s. It has links to another reduplicated term, hunkum-bunkum. Though the first part sounds a bit like the hunker of hunker down (which is also of Dutch origin), the words seem not to be related.\n\nIt may be that hunky-dory was the result of a bilingual pun, perhaps invented because American sailors knew the word dori and prefixed it with hunky as an imagined Japanese street of earthly delights.
877486
its an old nautical term that refers to the width of a ship," in referance to width of her beam" and in the american lixicon of bastardized or corrupted forms of the kings english, the other words and inferences were lost thru the years especially after ww 2 indeed some women should have wide load signs attached the way that some of our country people think,
68163
because thats the name they chose. thats like asking why do the have new balance shoes and not old balance.\n\nnew navy doesnt roll of the tounge now does it?
910491
During D-Day there were some Pigeon with the units. Radios of the time  were bulky and short ranged.  So the pigeons ccould fly a message all the way back to HQ in England. As the Radios got better, the birds went out of use.
246242
Please take the time to\nvote for the best answer\n\nThank You!!\n\nThis is a euphemism replacing an earlier Pontos Axeinos "Inhospitable Sea", first attested in Pindar (early 5th century BC). Strabo (7.3.6) thinks that the Black Sea was called "inhospitable" before Greek colonization, because it was difficult to navigate, and because its shores were inhabited by savage tribes, and that the name was changed to "hospitable" after the Milesians had colonized, as it were making it part of the Greek civilization. It is, however, likely that the name Axeinos arose by popular etymology from an Iranian axšaina- meaning "dark"; the designation "Black Sea" would, after all, go back to Antiquity. The motive for the name may be an ancient assignment of colours to the direction of the compass, "black" referring to the north, and "red" referring to the south. Herodotus on one occasion uses Red Sea and "Southern Sea" interchangeably. Cf. Schmitt 1996.\n\n\nThe Black Sea has an area of 422,000 km² and a maximum depth of 2210 m.
528842
According to The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea, "Pompey" is sailors' slang for Portsmouth. Although the exact origin of this nickname is unknown, one theory is that this may be a deformation of "Pompiers" (French for "firemen"), the local fire brigade that used to exercise on Southsea Common, located near the town of Portsmouth.
574364
Because a tribe called the Angles / Engles once inhabited it. "England" literally means "land of the Angles."
540195
Legend has it that the nickname dates back to the American Civil War. Supposedly, during a battle in Virginia, the North Carolinian troops held their ground while supporting troops retreated. After the battle, supporting troops asked the victorious North Carolinians: "Any more tar down in the Old North State, boys?" and they replied: "No, not a bit; old Jeff's bought it all up." The supporting troops continued: "Is that so? What is he going to do with it?" The North Carolinian troops' response: "He is going to put it on you'ns heels to make you stick better in the next fight."
565580
Because they are dumb limeys?
850522
The ROYAL Marines (marines are some fake US outfit..) Are principally based near Britain's major Naval ports I expect because of the history. They were effectively the on board police force for the Royal Navy many moons ago. I am not sure if still the case, but on board ship they always had their quarters close to the Officers. It would be natural therefore to have them based  near Navy bases. The concentration down South could be because our major sea ports for the Royal Navy were Plymouth and Portsmouth.
476145
It means an enlisted sailor as opposed to an officer.  It comes from the early british uniform worn by enlisted sailors.
1148021
Because blacks requested it at one time .. that was after they requested that they be called black, people of color, negroes, colored people etc ... at 43 I have seen the "politically correct" requested term change many times .. it is all VERY silly.
810536
lim·ey (lī'mē) \nn. Slang., pl. -eys.\nA British sailor.\nAn English person.\n[Short for lime juicer \n(from the use of lime juice on British warships \nin order to prevent scurvy).]