shellback
3
9.5
- noun
- /ˈʃɛlˌbæk/
- Jargon
- During the initiation, the captain welcomed the latest shellback into the crew with a hearty handshake.
- a trusty shellback
- miserable shellbacks
Examples
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Gibbs, you filthy, besotted shellback, you made it!
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That's Shellback.
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Tincan Sailor Trusty Shellback Vietnam 1965-66. Sempre Fi to all USMC.
Blog text (6) -
It sounds pretty much exactly how an Adam Levine—sorry, Maroon 5—song produced by Max Martin and Shellback should sound, which is to say, it sounds like a No. 1 single, albeit one no one will remember in 10 years.
Blog text (21) -
As a proud shellback, he shared stories of his adventures sailing across the equator.
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The ceremony celebrated the new shellbacks who had just crossed the equator for the first time.
Surface Forms
Etymology
Shellback means a sailor who has crossed the equator. One popular story says sailors broke the word into shell + back and compared these veterans to hardy 'sea turtles' with a shell, so a shellback became someone who has made the big crossing and is honored in the ship's ceremony.