Royal Navy slang for a purser — the officer responsible for supplies, provisions, and ship's stores.
Royal Navy slang for a purser — the officer responsible for supplies, provisions, and ship's stores. In the old Navy, the purser controlled everything from food rations to clothing, making them a figure of both respect and mild resentment among ordinary sailors. The word 'pusser' stuck as a casual, slightly irreverent shorthand that persists in naval slang today. It's also used adjectivally to mean strictly official or regulation-issue.
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UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.
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(UK, naval, _, slang) Boots issued by the navy.
Royal Navy slang for boots issued by the navy — 'crabs' being slang for the items supplied by the purser (the ship's supply officer). The purser was responsible for distributing clothing and equipment, and items he issued were sometimes considered inferior or uncomfortable. 'Crabs' may reference the shape of the boots or their tendency to pinch.
(UK, naval, _, slang) An accountant.
(US, military, slang, vulgar) A side cap.
Ask the pusser about getting a new uniform — he's the one who controls the kit store.
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(UK, naval, _, slang) A purser.
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