golden shellback

adj. A US Navy (and possibly other nations) tradition that occurs when a ship and it's company crosses the equator and the international dateline simultaneously. In doing so, the wog, and even plain shellbacks must go through an initiation process; an accepted form of hazing in todays military. Its should also be noted that when the dateline is crossed, you skip a day. Davey Jones Himself as well as Neptune join in on the fun as well. After all is said and done, a steel beach picnic usually follows this time honored tradition.

sailor #1- "Back in the day, when I was aboard the USS Forrestal during a WESTPAC cruise we obtained our Golden Shellback status."

sailor #2- "What's a Golden Shellback?"

sailor #1-"You're such a slimey wog!"

by Sanctimonious January 30, 2008