ˈSpithead
The name of an anchorage and a strait which lie off Portsmouth, used attrib. in Spithead nightingale (see quots.) and Spithead pheasant (a) a bloater; (b) a kipper. Naut. slang.
| 1890 Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang II. 283/1 Spithead nightingales (naval), boatswains, and boatswains' mates, on account of their calls. 1948 Partridge Dict. Forces' Slang 177 Spithead pheasant, a, a bloater. (Navy.) 1954 News Chron. 4 Nov. 1/4 He had to produce: 1. a cat; 2. a Spithead Pheasant (a kipper); 3. a Sick Bay Shackle (a safety-pin). 1963 Times 26 Feb. 12/6 Spithead pheasant—slang for a kipper—still appears on the Navy's menu, but Spithead nightingales—bo'sun's mates and call boys are ‘off’. |