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Navigating the high seas of communication 🚢

Welcome aboard the linguistic rollercoaster of ship life! 

The official language on board might be English, but let me tell you, what we speak is a whole other dialect. It’s a colorful mishmash of broken English, ship slang, and a sprinkle of expressions from the 70-plus nationalities on board. It's not just about words; it’s about survival, camaraderie and sometimes, just letting off steam.... Trust me, it takes a few contracts to decode this unique lingo.

There I was in the crew mess, munching away, when the General Manager saunters in. Picture a bald, shorter Pablo Escobar (sans mustache), with an intriguing odor. He spots my name tag – "Serbia" – and drops a bomb: "You must be sexy and aggressive." I almost snapped back (he might have had a point 😆), but then he starts rambling in ship-speak, something about "Babalues" and "fixing them like banana." I'm standing there, bewildered, wondering if bananas need fixing now?

His talk with the lifeguards was even more cryptic: "The aft work was A la cartuch, Mambruko and his paisano business…" They just nodded, and I’m left deciphering his ship code like it’s the Da Vinci Code.

Post training, our Safety Officer, with his charming Irish brogue, gives me directions that might as well have been in Gaelic. I’m lost in translation, trying to figure out where the heck midship port side assembly station B1 is amidst an emergency scenario in my head.

Then, as if by magic, I meet Marija, my fellow Serbian paisano. She’s like a lighthouse in the fog, guiding this lost sailor through the labyrinth of ship life.

Walking through the I-95 corridor with her, I realize I’m back in high school, but with a nautical twist. We’re like two characters out of a shipboard drama, navigating this floating city.

And let’s talk about the officers – those pristine uniforms have me reassessing my love for a man in uniform. Yes, I know, so cliché, but can you blame me? 😍

This is just the beginning of my sea saga. Stay tuned, fellow sailors, and get ready to dive deep into the world of ship slang and life aboard the great floating city.

Ship Language Glossary: (List of terms) Ship language (lidijabuzzing.blogspot.com)


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Location: Adriatic Sea

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